Name: Walter Hood On His First Job With National Park Service At Blue Ridge Parkway
Uploaded: 2023-10-26T15:00:00Z
Duration: 5 min 5 s
Description: In this interview for WSJ. Magazine’s Innovators Issue, Walter Hood of Hood Design Studio talks about his first job for the National Park Service and what that taught him for the rest of his career. Photo: David Keller

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In this interview for WSJ. Magazine’s Innovators Issue, Walter Hood of Hood Design Studio talks about his first job for the National Park Service and what that taught him for the rest of his career. Photo: David Keller

https://m.wsj.net/video/20231026/fe947dcb-1457-4038-a3c1-5a1b2fe181aa/2/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Walter Hood On His First Job With National Park Service At Blue Ridge Parkway

What did it feel like to get my first paycheck? It felt like going to the bank, cashing it, and let's have a party.

Interviewer: Tell me about your first job.

It's kind of complicated because it starts out while I'm still in school. I went on a co-op, cooperative education job, in my junior year, and that was with the National Park Service. That then led to an offer from the National Park Service in Falls Church, Virginia, outside of DC. My job title, I think I was probably a junior draftsperson or junior landscape designer.

Interviewer: How did you prep for your first day on the job?

I think I had to get a tie because of the job was actually in a high-rise building, and I had never worked in a high-rise building as a 19, 20-year-old. And so I think I probably had to get a good shirt and a good tie. My first day on the job, I remember getting in the elevator. Others in the elevator asked me where was I going? And as a young African American in Asheville in the '80s, I think I was probably the only white collar worker in that building. First of all, I felt out of place, but then when I arrived up to the office, I saw all of these other designers who welcomed me in, and so that was these two different kind of experiences, one outside, but one inside.

Interviewer: What were the most valuable skills you learned at this job?

Drawing. I could draft and draw like no one. I mean, I really dedicated myself to learning and practicing the art of draftsmanship, Drafting is, it's mechanical drawing, so you're constantly sharpening the pencil because you don't want the line that you're trying to, like, get fat. You want it to stay the same size. And so the idea of twirling your pencil when you draw, which keeps it sharp. So there were all of these kind of tools to kind of think about technical drawing. And by the time I got back to school, I mean, it was just, drafting was nothing. You could tell, too, that practice, those three months of practicing every day really paid off.

Interviewer: What did it feel like to get your first paycheck? I

I probably went home and showed it to my father. You know, my father was a career service person. He was very proud that I actually went to college and I actually graduated, 'cause I was the first in my family, and I think I probably went home and shared that with him.

Interviewer: And what were some of the projects you worked on in this job?

A visual inventory of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Imagine if you're driving a car and you're looking out of the window at the landscape. The entire road experience is choreographed. Most people don't know this, but as you're driving, we would go out and we would take photos of what you would see. And in some cases, we would actually manipulate the landscape in certain ways to actually make it more beautiful or more rugged. The thing that I learned about making projects from the beginning was it was a very empowering position to be in, that I could actually have an idea, make something, and people would actually use it. And if you did it right, they would use it and love it. When I work on projects, I'm interested in the people. I'm interested in people in the place. And once you understand how people live in a place, the design then comes out of that.

Interviewer: Can you think of any challenges you overcame while working at the job?

In most rooms that I go in, I'm the only person that looks like me, and it took me a while to get comfortable with that. And I wouldn't even say I've gotten comfortable with it, but I recognize that within the profession of architecture and landscape architecture, urban design, that there are very few people of color who achieve a certain platform in the profession where they can actually make work.

Interviewer: And did you have a favorite boss or any memorable instructors?

Oh, I had a ton of memorable people. I've never shied away from people who are offering advice, and that's something that I really, really relish now, being the director of the program and to be mentors to those under me, so that I'm paying it back.

Interviewer: What are some of the usual words of advice you share with mentees?

One of the things I talk to them a lot about is prolificity. You have to find ways of doing certain things if you're a designer, and that practice, right? That prolificity of making is only going to make you better. You know, people always ask, "How did you come up with that?" But people are not seeing, they're not seeing the work, right? They're not seeing the weekends that I'm in my studio working. They're not seeing that, and I don't talk about that, because in a way the work becomes magic in a certain way.

Interviewer: Looking back, what would you share with the younger version of yourself who is starting that job on their first day?

What would I say to the younger version of myself? Man, it's gonna be a long, long ride, and it's gonna be a long career.