PEOPLE OF PLANO: MICHELLE LYLES

MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR, MICHELLE LYLES

story LIESBETH POWERS

Michelle Lyles is the CEO of Lyles Home Design, mom of two, resident of Plano and an architect and homebuilder with more than 17 years of experience. Her projects have included restaurants, grocery stores, retail spaces, residential homes and movie theaters throughout the United States.

WHAT SERVICES DOES LYLES HOME DESIGN OFFER?

Initially starting out in 2012, Lyles Home Design was mainly a design firm established to help home and business owners organize their spaces and help provide direction for clients unclear about their vision. As of 2021, Lyles Home Design is a custom homebuilder, but we also handle architectural design services for residential remodels and home additions, including interior design. Many clients that we work with on the remodel side have already contracted with an interior decorator not really understanding that interior design and architectural design are a little different. We create permitting plans, bid documents for your contractor, along with helping you find what finishes fit your home. Our new construction team focuses solely on development and design builds. Beginning fall 2021, we will have customizable blueprints for sale. We have a team of general contractors for clients, even if they are looking for recommendations only and not in need of design services. Our goal has always been to help our clients in any way we can, and sometimes that’s not always with us providing full-service design.

HOW DID YOU CREATE LYLES HOME DESIGN AND BRING IT TO PLANO?

I started Lyles Home Design in 2012, shortly after I accepted a role to help a startup MEP firm. At that time, I’d been working in the commercial architectural field for a little over six years and was really looking for a change. The MEP was a great opportunity for me, but I didn’t want to stray too far from my passion for architecture, so I established myself at that point as a freelance designer while still working full time.

HOW DOES YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND BACKGROUND BRING SOMETHING NEW TO THE INDUSTRY?

This year marked my 15th year working in commercial architectural design and construction before officially stepping out and focusing solely on my homebuilding company. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work within an architectural firm designing restaurants and retail spaces. I worked under an electrical engineer for about four years designing electrical systems and understanding power as a whole. I’ve worked on the owner side for a few years as a design and construction manager for a luxury cinema company building theaters nationwide. I concluded my commercial experience working for a general contracting company as a project manager building grocery stores and storage facilities. Over those 15 years, I have always been the minority and certainly have faced my own struggles, but it’s really given me the courage to work harder and stand behind my beliefs and experience. Being a woman in the construction industry is a challenge all on its own, but I have always made it a point to be knowledgeable about the project, materials and budget that I’m working with, so when I am onsite working with superintendents and sub-contractors, I can be an equal in all of the conversations. I try and always remain one step ahead.

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