Alice Guess, Forty Under 40 winner 2009

Age: 39

Partner, Gibson Thompson Guess Architects

Works with her team to find ways to weave storytelling, food, humor and family into every project, whether residential or commercial, emphasizing the experiential qualities and the opportunity to create and recall memories.

Community involvement

Volunteer, Backpack Buddies.
Sunday school instructor.
Mentor, Charleston Academic Magnet High School.
Advisory board member, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.

Best career advice you’ve ever been given: Better to have frayed cuffs than frayed nerves. I think it originated from the Andy Capp comic strip.

What made you select your chosen profession? Seeing a model of the city of Boston in an architect’s office when I was in the sixth grade.

Favorite music artist or musical genre: New Orleans funk with a horn section makes me happy when nothing else will.

Best stress reliever: Yoga or drawing pictures with my daughter, Cayleigh.

Person you would like to meet: Alive: Tom Waits. Dead: George Eliot.

Favorite vacation spot: Paris.

First job: Wrapping presents in my dad’s hardware store.

Favorite hour of the day and why: 6-6:30 a.m. is not an hour, but it is mine, all mine, for coffee, breakfast, reading a magazine or staring out in space.