Baratnom Rachel

Az alabbi cikk Rachel-rol szol. O volt az eskuvomon a Maid of Honor, ami kicsit olyan mint otthon a tanu. O es ferje Patrick, Chicago-ban elnek. Mindketten epiteszek. Patrick, Rob evfolyamtarsa volt az egyetemen es azota is legjobb baratok. Rachel januarban veszitette el allasat leepites kovetkezteben, harom honapos terhesen...

A cikk a Chicago Business nevu ujsagban jelent meg.

Rachel Miller Branagan * Photo: Stephen J. Serio

Dream job interrupted
By: Andrew Schroedter March 16, 2009

Rachel Miller Branagan found her dream job in 2005 at a firm run by noted Chicago architect Lucien Lagrange, a designer of high-end condominium towers.
A residential architect, she worked on buildings like Lincoln Park 2520 and the X/O Condominiums. But the projects have been slow to get off the ground, and with new construction stalled, Lucien Lagrange Architects has reduced its staff by more than half to 26 people, a spokeswoman confirms.

Let go in January, Ms. Branagan says it still stings to have lost a job she loved so much.
But the setback did have an upside. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native is scheduled to give birth to her first child in July.
She had planned to work right up until her baby was born, but this summer, if she's still unemployed, she can take more time to get ready.
"It's a blessing because things were getting stressful, sitting there every day wondering if you're going to have a job," says Ms. Branagan, 31, a South Loop resident whose husband, also an architect, works at DeStefano & Partners. "That wasn't good for my baby."
After being laid off, Ms. Branagan, president of Chicago Women in Architecture, an industry organization, reached out to people she knew in the field. But with business at most residential firms declining, she knows she may have to switch her design focus to schools or hospitals, sectors that are regarded as relatively recession-proof.

To help pay the bills in the meantime, Ms. Branagan baby-sits and works three days a week at Lincolnshire-based developer ECD Co., which is completing the 298-room Wit Hotel, 201 N. State St.

She says it's crossed her mind to switch careers, possibly to become a teacher.
"But I have a lot of time invested in this profession," she says. "I have the passion. This is what I love to do."
©2009 by Crain Communications Inc.