Page 44 - PC Living Jan-Feb 2017

valli & Joe SorciTHE FOUNDATION OF FLORIDA ARCHITECTS, INC. BY VAL SCHOGER PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAVANNAH DEANThis is something they have not done before. Valli and Joe Sorci sit at the conference table in their offices in Panama City and answer inquisitive questions about their life and work together. It is obvious, they are having fun. Joe chooses his words carefully. Valli’s eyes sparkle with wit and laughter.Framed pictures of nished design projects hang on the walls and are a shining backdrop for Joe and Valli Sorci’s shared thoughts. Since 1988, they have worked together, they say. It is evident. The mutual respect and understanding is palpable.After several career moves, in 1995 Joe founded Florida Architects, an Orlando-based architectural rm. Valli joined the rm a few months later. In 2009, one of their projects, the design of the Advanced Technology Center (ATC) at Gulf Coast State College, brought them to Panama City. They loved our area so much they decided to open a second o ce. It was nota tough decision a few years later to migrate the Orlando o ce to Panama City, they explain. Today, Florida Architects employs a team of seven and Joe and Valli continue to travel all over Florida for clients and projects.PC Living: How did you meet? And after so many years of working together, how did you nally become a couple?Valli Sorci: (laughs) Do you want to take that one? Joe Sorci: No, you tell the story.Valli Sorci: Actually, we met in high school in Orlando. He is a transplant from Chicago. I'm a transplant from Ohio, not far from Cleveland. We lived in the same neighborhood, but didn't really know it. He is two years ahead of me and we went separate ways in life until we both started working for the same company in Orlando in 1988. We have worked together since. We married in 2004.Joe Sorci: We kind of grew together. There was a lot of trust there from long history. We have always worked well together.PC Living: How do you share responsibilities in the company? Who does what and how do you work together?Valli Sorci: He's the Principal Architect, Director of Design and manages the studio and I cover business services which is everything else, from IT to marketing to accounting. Sometimes I jump in and help him get started on project tasks that involve writing or coordination. We don't44 • January - February 2017 • www.PanamaCityLiving.com