Jonathan Moody’s company has been a part of his life since birth. That’s because Moody Nolan, the country’s largest African American-owned and -managed architecture firm, is a family business, with Moody following his father’s footsteps to now serve as president and CEO of the firm.
“A story one of our partners tells is that my dad came in (to work) to make a model, and someone asked how was his weekend, and he was like, ‘Oh, I had a baby this weekend,’” Moody says. “I think that was me!”
Moody’s father, Curtis J. Moody, is the founder of Moody Nolan, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in March, and he continues to serve as chairman of the board. The elder Moody grew the Columbus firm from a mere two employees to the architectural powerhouse it is today.
Even though Jonathan Moody grew up alongside the firm, it was never a sure thing that he would one day work for the business. Even when he left home to study architecture at Cornell University, Moody Nolan was just one option.
“I was always open to multiple possibilities,” he says. “It was always in the back of my mind of, ‘I’m going to school for architecture. I want to see what makes sense for me in architecture.’ It seemed like a great path if I would be able to come back and work with my dad one day, but I wasn’t ever committed to it.”
Moody continued to the University of California, Los Angeles for a master’s in architecture. Still, he wasn’t ready to pledge his future to Moody Nolan.
His dad had other ideas.
“It was about 12 years ago now that he called me and asked if I was ever thinking about moving back,” Moody says. “I said, ‘Probably sooner or later.’ He said, ‘Sooner or later should probably be sooner.’”
Moody began working at the firm in 2011 and says working with his family made the position a natural fit.
“Some of those things that can be strange or intimidating circumstances, like an interaction between a boss, was always easy,” Moody says. “It was like, ‘Oh, well, I know my dad. He has my best interest in mind.’ So it really helped in our relationship in that regard.”
Moody lives in the Westerville with his wife, Montra, who works at the Columbus Metropolitan Club, and their two children, Nathaniel and Elise.
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In 2019, Moody assumed the role of president and CEO of Moody Nolan. The firm oversees 12 branches across the country, with offices in major cities such as Atlanta and New York. Still, Moody Nolan has its heart in Ohio, as does Moody himself.
“I’d still say a majority of our work is in Ohio, but we do so many things in other places that it complements it and enhances it as well,” Moody says. “One of the things that we keep learning or keep seeing is we talk about how Ohio is like a test market for everything.”
Often, Moody says, approaches that proved successful in Columbus set the foundation for what the firm will try in other markets.
One major local project for Moody Nolan has been working with the Columbus Metropolitan Library. In recent years, the firm designed the Karl Road, Martin Luther King, Parsons and Shepard branches. It’s currently renovating and expanding the library’s Linden branch.
“We did the original branch, which is starting to become a recurring story that’s also exciting, especially from a generational perspective, because I remember the old Linden Library branch,” Moody says. “It was one of the first branches I attended when I was a kid, and I think it was another story of, ‘Oh, I know my dad worked on that project.’”
Similar to the Linden branch, Curtis designed the original Karl Road branch in 1988 and the younger Moody led the creation of a new branch that opened last year.
Beyond a business partnership, the Moodys are still a family. Though they spend plenty of time together in the office, they enjoy spending their leisure time together, too – fishing and watching sports are favorite pastimes.
“One of the things I just have always treasured and really appreciated is that we tend to think of it not as work versus family,” Moody says. “I think it began to set the tone for all of our interactions as I really joined the firm as the, ‘No, we’re family first, right?’ And the business is a part of our family and the family dynamic. … That’s how we interact and treat it.”
Lindsey Capritta is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
