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Evelyn Lee

Practice of Architecture: How Joann Lui built a portfolio career on her own terms

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

2026

Hello Reader,

Happy Lunar New Year.

The celebration was just this past Tuesday, and the season's message is still fresh. Renewal. Intention. Permission to carry forward the lessons while setting something new in motion.

Growing up as the daughter of two Chinese immigrants, I was handed a very specific formula for success: keep your head down, work hard, and you will be rewarded. It took years in my career before I realized that formula, while well-intentioned, was also quietly keeping me invisible. Speaking up, taking up space, building something on my own terms, none of that was in the original script.

This week's guest rewrote her script entirely.

🎧 Joann Lui on Matcha, Marketing, and the Portfolio Career​

Joann is an architect, a content marketer, and the co-founder of OIKA, now the largest matcha refinery in the United States. She made an early decision that she never wanted to start her own architecture firm, and instead of apologizing for it, she followed that clarity straight into tech startups, community building, and eventually a brick-and-mortar business she helped design herself.

What I love about her story is that she didn't abandon her architectural thinking. She applied it to everything. Designing a cafe, building a brand, and solving operational problems from scratch. The skills transferred. The mindset translated. The career just looked different than what anyone expected.

"Burnout comes when you're doing work that's not aligned with your values," she told me. And I think that says everything.

What formula were you handed about what a successful architecture career should look like? And what did it take for you to start questioning it? I'd love to hear from you.

Keep learning and growing,

Evelyn M Lee, FAIA | NOMA

Founder, Practice of Architecture

Host, Practice Disrupted & Fractional COO

/// PoA Podcast - Practice Disrupted ///

Architect, And: Joann Lui on Matcha, Marketing, and the Portfolio Career

Can you be an architect, a tech marketer, and a business owner all at once?

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Evelyn Lee

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