Meet Sirkku Huisko, Chief Operating Officer at Lunden Architecture Company, a Helsinki-based architecture office focused on contemporary challenges of housing, cities, and their development + innovations of building technology.
From working in low-standing positions to making her way to become a leader, Sirkku Huisko’s career trajectory is as inspiring as it can get. She started her first summer job at 14 and has been working ever since. Born and raised in Southern Finland, she grew up in a safe and loving environment. Living in the countryside, when not working, Huisko likes to spend her time outside, riding and wandering in the forest. With a MSc in Landscape Architecture, she took up her first full-time job and built her career from the ground up. She currently holds one of the top positions at an architectural firm in the country.
Talking about the company, she says, “We are an architectural office, but not a traditional one. We do, for example, management consulting, strategic land use planning and development, public buildings, and housing design. We believe in empowering our employees to build their own future and supporting them in doing it. We have at the moment seven nationalities in our office family. We want to create a sustainable world with our small input.”
Huisko believes in doing things she feels right about. This idea has given her peace of mind that whatever happens is good for her and will take her in the right direction. Over the years, she has learned to stand her ground and say no to the things that don’t seem right to her. It has been a challenge, but she is making progress to become braver. Huisko has had the opportunity to connect and network with many people through work. She takes pride in her network and considers it her powerful achievement. She wants people around her to succeed and the company to grow further while gaining the trust of their clients, an attitude that only leaders have.
Sirkku is a simple and hardworking professional who believed in herself and the process, and it has made all the difference. It took her various stops on the way to reach the top, but she made it. Your choices are yours, and you need to trust your gut while making them. Leaving a short but inspiring message for her readers, she says, “Be kind to yourself, all other living things, and make choices that you feel are right for you.”