Name : Debbie Laporte
Employer or your business/company name : Orterra Landscape Architects
Job title/role : Director/Registered Landscape Architect
If we had to step into your shoes, what could we expect a day in your life to feel like?
My day is varied. I generally drop my kids at school and head into the office. I swap between going on site visits and (working) in the office so you never know what is going to happen in a day sometimes. It does mean that I keep my boots, high vis and hat in the car at all times. There have been times when I have been dressed for a day in the office in a skirt and heels and had to swap to my steel cap boots to head out on site in the afternoon.
If I am in the office I am normally working on designs for projects in meetings and running the business. If I am out on site I could be doing workshops with school students, measuring up a site, working through a construction problem or talking to clients and developing options with them for their project.
It is fun and challenging and I find I am always solving problems.
What do you enjoy about your role? What is the favourite part of your job? :
Favourite part of the job is when a project is complete and we can see the clients using the space we designed or they tell us how much they love it and send photos. I love getting photos afterwards.
How did you get into your trade/industry/role? What did you study or how did you learn your skills? :
I stumbled across this profession. It all started a few years ago now when I was studying science at university with the intention to be a vet. I had desperately wanted to work as a vet since my grade 10 work experience. I was hooked when I saw my first operation on a baby lama the day I arrived.
However, years later while working towards this goal at university it changed. I was in the middle of an animal anatomy subject, standing there cutting up a calf foetus. I realised this is not what I want to do anymore.
So, as you do in life when these things happen - and I had what I like to call my mid-uni crisis - I followed my mother’s advice (thanks, Mum) and took one of those quizzes that spit out what jobs would suit you.
Now, of those top 20 jobs, landscape architecture was Number 1. Knowing completely nothing about landscape architecture or what it was, I did what any self-respecting person would do in the days before smartphones: I got out a phone book and called one.
That day, when I randomly ran my finger down the page titled Landscape Architects, randomly stopping at one and calling, turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
After I completed my science degree I went on to study at university to become a Landscape Architect. Studying Science and then Landscape Architecture was a completely different experience for each degree. Since then, I have spent a lot of time doing additional study which compliments my work and practical experience on site and talking to people who know a lot more about some things than I do.
Have you won any awards, earned any special recognition or been involved in something “out of the box”? :
I started PLAN which is the Parents in Landscape Architecture Network for parents or people on that journey in Landscape Architecture to find support and get advice if needed. We have been working to get more flexibility and understanding for working parents within our industry.
What advice would you give to other women? What are some tips you’d give to other people in the industry?
My advice would be, be kind to yourself and others and you are doing an amazing job. I have experienced and seen a lot of women tearing each other down. It is better to support each other, cheer each other on and lift each other up.
Do you have a favourite saying or quote, or mantra that you live by?
One of my favourite all-time design quotes is by a man called William H Whyte. He did a famous study on public spaces back in the 1970s that looked at how people use space.
The best quote out of the whole study is: “People tend to sit where there are places to sit”
So simple but true.
Have you ever encountered any negative experiences that, although difficult at the time, may have helped shape who you are today? :
When I first read this question so many moments in my work life popped up, things I or my colleagues have experienced during our working careers that we should not have to. I think there are probably so many that I could write a book.
The thing that makes me sad about it all is that it still happens to me today. There are times when I say to myself, “We are in 2025! What in the world is wrong with the world and why are women still treated like this?”.
It has definitely made me a lot stronger and I stand up for myself and my team more these days and demand better.
How do you feel about your she wear boots? Any comments you’d like to make.
I love my boots, I tell any women I can about them, they are always comfortable and reliable for long days walking around.
Debbie's choice of boots are our Does steel cap hiker range. You can shop our entire women's safety work boot range here.