Maja Kovacic-Kalra

Maja Kovacic-Kalra

What is your first memory of architecture, and how old were you when you found out about it?

As many architects would probably say, I really enjoyed playing with Lego as a child.
Not by following step by step instructions, but by building from my imagination.

Growing up in ex-Yugoslavia, getting Lego was only possible from our neighbouring countries Austria or Italy.
So when my dad went on a trip to Austria, he always brought me a new small box of Lego.

I don’t know if that was the start of my architectural career, but it was something I really enjoyed.
Drawing and art were always nice to do, but I never really thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up.

When we had to decide what to study in secondary school, I actually had no clue.
Until my school friend Luka said, “I’m going to study architecture.”
And I thought, that sounds really attractive and cool.
Yes, I actually thought it sounded cool.
So I put it down as my first choice.

Coming from a grammar school, I didn’t know how to draw properly or use perspective.
So every weekend, I took a one and a half hour bus ride from my hometown to Ljubljana to join lessons on drawing and how to think about architecture.

The entrance exams for architecture studies counted for around 80% of the whole grade, so to get in, I had to learn lots of things I had never done before.
I still remember getting a ski boot to draw for one part of my entrance exam, where each clip was facing a different direction.
It was the hardest thing I had ever drawn.
Later, I found out I got a 10, the highest score you could get.
Not bad, I would say.

Did you know any architects when you were growing up, and if so, how did they influence you?

I wasn’t really focused on architecture growing up.
So no, there were no particular architects who influenced my decision to study it.
The only person who influenced me was my school friend Luka, who was sitting in front of me.

Did you visit any significant architect designed buildings, and what impact did they have on you?

Living in London now, there are buildings and structures that are impressive, but for me, the biggest enjoyment is looking at really well designed homes.
Probably because I can always imagine living in one and how life would look there.

I also enjoyed designing residential projects the most.
I can really feel the spaces, even when they are just 2D drawings in AutoCad.

So great, sustainable, contemporary homes that fit well with their surroundings are my greatest inspiration.

And I work with an architectural practice in Cornwall at the moment, where I write stories for their projects. Each one of them is amazing. 

If I still worked as an architect, those would be my dream projects.
And honestly, I would live in any of them.

Did you do work experience in an architecture studio, and how did that affirm your choice of career?

Yes, I worked with two small practices, one in Ljubljana and one in London, on residential and commercial projects.

I saw a lot of great things and some not so good.
I experienced the joy of working on projects where you have the freedom to do bold design and work with clients who are easy to collaborate with.
And I also experienced doing projects that were only there to pay the bills, where creativity was rare.
That was quite boring.

But the worst part was when there were not enough projects coming in and I did not have much to do. That was extremely boring and also stressful for my boss.

I use all these experiences now.
I don’t work as an architect anymore, but I help architects with storytelling, marketing, and LinkedIn.

What made you step away from architecture and choose a different path?

I changed my career path not really by plan, but because of different life priorities.

When I got pregnant with my first child, I went on maternity leave.
My husband worked long hours, and I wanted to be at home to raise my daughter as much as I could, so I decided to go back to work only three days a week.
Then I got pregnant with my second child, and after that maternity leave, I also went back part time, from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon, five days a week.

Working part time meant I was always rushing.
Taking the kids to nursery and school, rushing to work, not being able to run a project because I wasn’t there full time, and rushing back to pick them up.

And of course, young kids get sick.
When they were ill, my boss wasn’t very understanding about me needing to stay at home, and that became a problem.

So I decided to stay at home full time and raise my kids while my husband earned for the family.
But during that time, I still wanted to do something small from home. In my own time.

What first sparked your interest in marketing and storytelling?

When being a stay at home mum, I came across a social media course for mums, which really spoke to me.
Well, the part for mums did.

I had no clue about social media. They must have marketed it really well because I saw myself in it straight away.
After I did the course, I started managing social media for different businesses. I wasn’t focused on any specific niche, I just took on whatever came.

Then I started reading more books about marketing.
One of them, Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller, completely changed how I saw marketing.
It showed me that you should always put the client first because, at the end of the day, you are using your services to make their life better.

Looking back, that’s what we do as architects too.
We design for clients, we focus on them when we design, we listen to them when we have meetings, and we listen to their briefs.

But I realised something.
When it comes to communicating our work on websites, in posts, blogs, or portfolios, we suddenly change.
And most of what we write becomes about us.
There is so much more I, Our, and We, and not enough You, Your, or Yours.
And on top of that, we often write in a complicated, dry, and technical way that most people can’t really connect with.

How did that realisation shape what you do today?

When I realised how much marketing relies on storytelling, it all started to make sense.
Because that’s what architects do too. We tell stories through design.

And that’s what I really want to help architects change and benefit from: how they talk about their work.
When we communicate in a clear and simple way and put clients front and centre, things change.
We build trust, people understand our value better, and most importantly, they can see themselves in our words.
That’s where real connections happen.

And I know architects don’t like to sell.
But posting finished projects next to words that only talk about what we did and ending with “Hire me” can sound salesy.

So I want to change that.
I want to help architects take all that amazing knowledge, experience, and creativity and communicate it in a way that feels natural to the people reading it.

Because an image of a finished project filled with architectural jargon doesn’t tell people much, apart from “that’s beautiful.”
And I believe, as most architects probably do, that behind every project there are stories.
Stories with challenges, solutions, celebrations, and frustrations.
Stories about people, clients, architects, and contractors, and the emotions that come with bringing a project to life.

A project is so much more than a finished building.
Each one holds multiple stories that can be turned into content that connects.
Not just one post about the result, but smaller stories that show the process, the decisions, and the transformation along the way.

This matters because potential clients need to see themselves reflected in those stories.
And they need to understand them, which is why clear, simple language is so important.

A common mistake architects make is writing for other architects.
That means too much jargon.
But clients don’t talk like that.
They didn’t study design, and they don’t want to spend time trying to figure out complicated words.

What kind of work do you focus on now?

That’s why I focus on helping architects tell those stories on LinkedIn, on websites, in project portfolios, and across their marketing material.

So they can communicate their value clearly, build trust, and attract the right kind of clients and projects, without feeling like they’re selling.

I used to be an architect, so I understand what architects do and how they think. And I definitely want to make this industry better and help every architect make their life a bit better too.

Maja Kovacic-Kalra is an Architect turned Marketing Coach based in the United Kingdom. She helps architects turn LinkedIn into a reliable source of leads. Connect with her on LinkedIn today.