Ruben Valenzuela
Account Manager
Chipman Design Architecture
In his 11 years at Chipman Design Architecture (CDA), Ruben has profoundly impacted the retail industry with his innovative design approach in partnerships with clients such as Ulta Beauty, Uncommon James, Mejuri, Lolli&Pops and Fusion Academy. Renowned for merging practical solutions with creativity under tight budgets and schedules in the beauty, jewelry and retail sectors, Ruben excels not just in client relations but also in leading a team of architects and designers at CDA across the country.
Ruben skillfully manages projects from start to finish, ensuring successful outcomes — from due diligence to grand openings. A crucial aspect of Ruben’s work is his dedication to sustainability. He champions eco-friendly practices in tenant improvement projects, focusing on reusing and repurposing materials to minimize waste and environmental impact. This approach showcases his commitment to sustainable development in retail architecture.
A highly regarded leader within CDA’s 140-person firm, Ruben collaborates with all experience levels — mentoring college interns and staff that are straight out of school to partnering with CDA architects and designers with 40 years of experience. As a mentor in the CDA Mentor Program, Ruben works with young staff on a one-on-one basis, helping them develop their technical skills and providing ongoing feedback and support.
“While we certainly work in a results-driven industry and we should take great pride in the quality of our construction documents and final product, we must not forget that at our core, we are in a service industry. The majority of what we do is behind the scenes and hard to quantify. A client may not always look back on a project thinking about how great a section detail was, but they will remember how responsive and reliable you were through each obstacle.”
How do you explain your profession to people outside of the industry? What do you find most exciting and/or rewarding about this work?
What are the core requirements of your job and how do you measure success?
What is one notable professional achievement you've made over the past year that you are most proud of?
What professional challenge or failure has stuck with you, and how did you embrace it?
What trend or technology do you believe will have the most profound impact on your work (and the work of your peers) over the next year?
If you could say one thing to your younger self, what would it be?
