Meet Josh & Mauricio (Brother & Associate) Ramirez | Residential Architects and Interior Designers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josh & Mauricio (Brother & Associate) Ramirez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh & Mauricio (Brother & Associate), we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Josh: When my brother and I started the firm, the thought process was driven by a very clear, two-part vision.

First, I wanted to focus on a specific type of work that I wasn’t able to do yet: designing gorgeous, legacy homes for clients who had achieved their goals. I wanted our firm to be the one that helped people cross that ultimate dream home off their bucket list.

The second part of the vision was equally important: the culture. The idea was to create a team of high-achievers who were also genuinely fun to work with. I wanted to build an environment where our days didn’t feel like ‘work,’ but rather like we were all immersed in and excited about the projects we were collaborating on.

That vision has been our guide. We’ve evolved over the years, we were once a team of 24 where the focus was heavily on sales, and we’ve since refined our team to a dedicated group of 11. This shift allowed us to place our entire focus back on what matters most: design.

Today, I can confidently say we have the right team for our clients and for our mission. We’ve found that perfect blend of passion and high performance. While our goals continue to shift as we grow, we are absolutely on the right path.

Mauricio: I truly believe that good design and intelligent architecture create better cities and societies. From the kindergarten where our children study to the retirement home where we may spend our later years, every space in which we live, learn, grow, fall in love, work, and develop must be thoughtfully design, not only considering its intended use, but also its economic and social context, because these spaces will be part of our lives for a long time.

Therefore, it is essential that they are appropriate and well-conceived.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Ever since the beginning of our professional careers, we learned that high-end customer service and user experience will always beat product quality.

From day one, we wanted to make sure every single one of our clients felt heard, felt special, and felt that working with us was the only right decision. Today, we have an excellent product, but our customer service is out of this planet.

When others don’t reply to emails, we reply within hours, same day. When others don’t send proposals for weeks, we send them over the same week. And we don’t just email them; we always present our proposals live to explain the ‘why, how, and when.’

When we start working with our clients, we make sure they are part of the process. They understand exactly what is happening as we progress, so they aren’t just a client; they become part of their home’s design team. Having this level of responsibility keeps our firm engaged in every project, and eventually, our clients become close, sending us updates on their lives. We understand our service changes their life, and we take that seriously

We believe people think running a business must be extremely hard. In a way it is, if you aren’t prepared. But for us, it’s all about showing up daily, focusing on the one thing you need to work on that day, and then rinse and repeat.

In practice, we just have to be here every day, be observant, and hire and trust the right people to take over tasks we can no longer do.

A huge part of our growth as leaders has been learning to let go. We’ve learned to delegate to keep our firm growing. We now understand that a task is not as hard as we might have thought, and that somebody else can often take it over and deliver a much better outcome

We definitely want us to be known for our design style and our projects. We want people to see our work and ask, ‘Who designed this? Because wow, this is bold. But just as importantly, we want us to be known for truly caring for our clients. We understand that building a custom home is no easy task: it’s a huge, ‘bucket list’ process

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Josh: Oh, that’s easy. They’d have to start with the food, as soon as they got here, I’d take them to my favorite Thai place: J’S NOODLES & STAR THAI, great people and amazing food. For the second day, I love pho, so I’d have to take them to my favorite spot on Federal Street. And I’m a sucker for the carne asada fries from Tacos Rapidos, it’s not gourmet, but man, do I love that dish.

But for me, Colorado is the capital for hiking, sightseeing, and running by streams. Without a doubt, I’d take them in my Subaru to some of the closest hikes. I love Hanging Lake, I’d definitely take them to Breckenridge for a snowboarding day, and if we could, we’d go camping for a weekend just about anywhere. I also love visiting towns like Boulder and Estes Park.

I’m probably the most cliché, but I really believe these are the basics that any person new to Colorado must experience

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Josh: I have to start with my brother and associate, Mauricio. He’s the one who said, ‘Let’s do it,’ gave me the confidence to start, and has supported every decision I’ve made for the company.

To my brothers, Rick and Alex, for being mentors who always listened and helped me find solutions to any problem.

To my incredible sister, Sophie, a loving, caring, and empathetic true leader, the kind this world needs more of. She taught me how to truly run a company, perhaps without even knowing she was doing it.

And to my mom and dad, my authentic motivators. In their own ways, they always pushed me to become the man they knew I could be. My mom is always there, fully trusting what I’m doing, even with her eyes closed, always caring for me, and worried that I work too much. And my dad, even after being 80 years old, is day and night worried about me, coming into the office to see how he can help so I can keep growing.

To my cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends who have always made me feel special and trusted that I would win since I was young. Thank you for always cheering for me.

To my amazing grandma, who has always been my partner in crime, always been there for me, and always makes me laugh.

To my incredible girlfriend, 10 years and counting, the mother of our coming daughter, Olivia, who I am sure will make me smile for no reason.

Thank you for the love to all of my family, and to Magnum and Yaki, my dogs, who are always wagging their tails for me.

Mauricio: Without going for the obvious answer, I’d say my family, because it’s thanks to them that I was able to study where I did, which led me to meet people who have been important in my professional life and eventually to develop the career I have today.

But a lot of credit also goes to the bosses I’ve had and the people I’ve worked with, both at Think and in my previous jobs, since I’ve learned a great deal from them, and our office today is partly a reflection of the experiences they helped shape in me.

Website: groupthinkarchitects.com // https://thehut.company/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groupthink_architects/ // https://www.instagram.com/thehutcompany/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-ramirez-57a71b196/ // www.linkedin.com/in/group-think // www.linkedin.com/in/the-hut-company

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@groupthink_architects // https://www.youtube.com/@thehutco

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