Episode Description

This episode from Beyond the Surface features Jesus Jimenez, a recent graduate from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), designer, veteran, father, and husband. Jesus shares his compelling journey to becoming an architect, discussing the setbacks, challenges, and achievements he experienced along the way. Jesus’s path to architecture is one of resilience, service, and starting over with purpose. In this first episode of Beyond the Surface, Jesus reflects on how a childhood fascination with designing and building evolved into a calling that had to withstand war, trauma, and the realities of beginning an architecture career later in life.

From an early age, Jesus imagined a future shaping the built environment, but after high school he chose to enlist in the Marines, a decision that led to deployment in a combat zone during the First Gulf War and fundamentally reshaped his understanding of responsibility, risk, and what it means to protect others. He later joined the National Guard and served again in the Second Gulf War, deepening both the weight of his experiences and his commitment to service. Coming home brought a different kind of battle: adjusting to civilian life, navigating PTSD, and learning how to translate military discipline into a new professional context, all while fiercely holding onto his vision of becoming an architect.

“I need someone to be willing to take a chance, give me an opportunity…and I’ll do the rest”

Before fully re-entering architecture, Jesus took on demanding roles across construction management, city inspection, and operations, gaining a ground-level view of how projects really get built and how decisions affect workers, communities, and timelines. Yet the pull of design never went away. “I need someone to be willing to take a chance, give me an opportunity…and I’ll do the rest.” Returning to school later in life became both an act of courage and a turning point, as he committed to finishing his degree and now works diligently toward licensure, demonstrating that it is never too late to realign your life with your purpose.

“As an architect you’ve always got to grow. You’ve always got to improve yours. You’ve always got to be willing to expand your way of thinking and you’ve got to expand with the environment that you’re in…”

Throughout the episode, Jesus insists that architects can never stay static: “As an architect you’ve always got to grow. You’ve always got to improve yourself. You’ve always got to be willing to expand your way of thinking and you’ve got to expand with the environment that you’re in…” His story becomes both a personal journey and an invitation to look beyond traditional timelines, honor the experiences people carry into the profession, and recognize how persistence through detours can lead you exactly where you are meant to be.