Congratulations are in serious order! After 24 years with Quatrefoil, our Managing Partner Roula Tsapalas has just retired. With a team-focused approach, her compassionate management style offers some actionable lessons for creating better work environments and more authentic relationships with colleagues and clients alike. We sat down with Roula to glean some insights from her decades of design and leadership experience.
Roula received her degree in Architecture from the University of Maryland. For more than 15 years, she was a Senior Design Architect with the global firm RTKL Associates. Switching gears in the early 2000s, Roula focused her attention on early childhood education in museums through a pilot Head Start initiative. She remembers going to a conference at the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Museum that brought teachers, artists, and designers together to discuss the impact of creative project-based activities on learning. The whole approach was personalized and led to profound, tangible impacts in classrooms and beyond. Roula was inspired by the idea that design could shape a student’s educational journey and that museums could help play a part in making information and ideas more accessible. Complex stories could be presented in multimodal ways to connect with different types of learners.
Roula brought that education-first mentality to Quatrefoil in 2002, stepping into a full-time design role a few years later. The transition from architect to exhibit designer wasn’t necessarily easy, however. While the two professions speak similar languages, their design solutions can look incredibly different.
Roula’s new colleagues at Quatrefoil came from truly eclectic backgrounds, rather than having the same academic degrees and training. “It was uncomfortable at first,” she admits, “but I really grew to appreciate those multiple and very valid viewpoints—from the graphic designers to the writers. It felt messy in the beginning.” And yet, somehow out of an organic soup of ideas, the best designers visualize a cohesive plan that accommodates a wide range of needs, preferences, and learning styles for diverse audiences.
Within a few years, Roula would go on to help design exhibitions for dozens of museums, cultural sites, and nature centers, including the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, the National University, the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Birch Aquarium, Discovery Place, the Go For Broke National Education Center, the Museum of Boulder, the Champion’s Club at Washington Nationals Park, and Johnny Cash’s boyhood home, among many others.
In 2019, Roula became a Quatrefoil partner, directing internal and external project teams while also mentoring staff members—skills that required emotional intelligence as well as adaptability and honesty. We asked Roula what lessons she learned in her 24 years with Quatrefoil.
Museum of Boulder installation and launch party
- Give people agency.
“In working with our various teams, there was always complexity—personalities, roles. I enjoy that part, but it’s not straightforward. How do you make sure everyone is working well together? How do you really encourage someone?”
“I think the key is knowing how much to step back and let it happen. I would always observe the dynamic of the entire team first and then think about being able to guide the group but not take over. People should feel like they have agency. It’s a balancing act. I gravitate less to being the one with all the answers. I don’t have all the answers,” but we can get there.
- Lead by stepping back and reassessing.
“If I were to do it all again, I’d step back even more. I wouldn’t be the first one to talk. See if somebody else comes up with the big idea…”
“I’m still learning about what helps people. Being a good teacher is about the process, not the product, and helping everyone grow—helping them figure it out, not telling them the answers. It’s not about completely driving the project, just supporting.”
“Animal Connections: Our Journey Together,” a mobile truck exhibition Quatrefoil created for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
- Be mindful of when to let things go.
If you have too many things on your plate, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. “It takes discipline to say no to things. If your focus is stretched, scheduling your time wisely and understanding how long things actually take,” is so important. “Design can feel like it’s never quite done,” but you have to find an end point and move on to the next opportunity.
- Be holistic.
“Over the years, I worked really closely with clients. I learned a lot about what works [in exhibition design], developing insights and knowledge about what successful museums look like, in general, not just when it comes to exhibits but also their programming, fundraising, and community engagement. I like those strategic challenges and love to think about the big picture. . . Evaluation and feasibility studies are also so important. Develop a strategy that’s about more than just the exhibition experience. . . You’ve got to lift your head up from the day to day to evaluate things from a more global perspective.”
- Really listen.
“Listen to people and what they need. Don’t just default to the way you’ve always done something. There are best practices, of course, but listen to where a client or colleague is. They all come from different places and have different needs. Don’t just put people into buckets. Sometimes, you’re the one that needs to adapt or change,” so that they feel comfortable and ready to trust you.
- Be open and honest.
“People have asked me how they can be a good client. Two things—trust us but also question us. Tell us when you don’t understand. They should ask us, ‘what’s next?’ and ‘what should I be doing now?’ Generally, people really appreciate that open communication. Meet them where they are, explain and listen to build trust.”
Roula visits a fabrication shop to see Quatrefoil’s exhibitions being built.
Roula’s years of leadership changed people’s lives. Here’s what some of her colleagues said, in their own words:
Elva, Junior Designer
“Roula has been a large part of my growth as a designer during my time at Quatrefoil. From sketching to site visits, and even to a picnic while out in the field, Roula was a key part of my experience working here. I hope that she finds joy and happiness in the many years following Quatrefoil and knows how integral she is to helping so many institutions bring their dreams to life.”
Cole, Senior Graphic Designer
“Roula’s demeanor is so comfortable. I’ve worked on a lot of projects with her, and she doesn’t just jump out in front of everyone and take control; you don’t have to take a backseat.
She enables you, encourages you. It reminds me in a way of being back in college and having a professor who always finds the right words, inspiring you to figure something out and continuing to cheer you on once you’ve done it. If there was something she thought could be improved, it was always constructive. It always came together in the end.
She feels almost like family. She’s just so sweet, likeable, easy to work with and talk to. I’ve never looked at her like a boss. I just trust in what she knows and what she has to offer. It’s about trust.”
Paloma, Exhibit Designer
“Roula made an effort to stay in touch outside of work. She tried to make sure we were still connected even though I wasn’t in the [Maryland] office frequently.
We came from different design backgrounds; we were taught differently, but she never imposed that background on me. She was always very collaborative, always open to trying something new. She was a co-worker who made you feel you could be open with them. I’ve learned a lot from her—different expertise and examining how you think everything went” after a project was completed.
Auburn, Associate/Senior Experience Designer
“From the beginning of my time at Quatrefoil, Roula was a beacon guiding me into a new company and navigating the complexities of each project. Roula’s thoughtful and warm approach to client relationships modeled one of Quatrefoil’s core pillars—listening to our clients and being a partner in the creative process. She set an example for all staff to follow.
That warmth extends far beyond client relationships though. Often my sounding board for processing creative or client challenges, Roula always made herself available to talk. Even if there wasn’t an easy solution to a particular problem, I left those conversations feeling that there was a way forward.
One afternoon after a client meeting in Washington, DC, we had some time to kill so we popped into the National Building Museum to see the Building Stories exhibit. It’s a great exhibit, and in my mind, perfectly captures Roula’s design language—environmental graphics that gave a nod to the fine arts. They were imaginative, immersive, and with a touch of playfulness.
I deeply appreciate my time working with Roula—thank you for being a teacher and an overall delight to work with!”
Roula speaks at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Maryland.
Even though Roula has stepped away from Quatrefoil’s Studio, we continue to try to embody what she taught us all: be open, be mindful, be respectful. Our next generation of thinkers and makers is stepping into Roula’s shoes with these principles in mind. In a culture that’s seemingly obsessed with mindless AI outputs and endless productivity, the quiet benefits of listening can’t be overstated. Thank you, Roula, for reminding us what makes good design such a human endeavor. We all look forward to hearing about your next adventure!