A familiar headline for a newspaper feature has often read “Hometown Boy Makes Good!”

With the groundbreaking this week for three-story, 50,000 square foot Winn Community Health Center complex, a twist of that headline might now read “Hometown Girl Makes Good.”

Lisa Peddy Frontaura, 2000 graduate of Winnfield Senior High School and daughter of Darrell Peddy amd Jan Starks who grew up in Tannehill, is the vice president of operations for TBA Studio Architecture in Bossier.  She is the lead architect in this grand addition to Winnfield.

Her career path to architecture wasn’t a lifelong dream, she told the Journal.  It wasn’t even hatched in high school although counselor Ernie Bamburg provided some direction when he advised students that if they liked their parents’ lifestyle, they would have to work hard to achieve the same for themselves.

“I loved to be creative but I could never draw with my hands,” she mused.  “Finally when I was a sophomore at Louisiana Tech, the light bulb went on when I realized that I could have that through architecture which Tech offered.  It was just as well that I came up with a plan for my folks were starting to worry.”

Tim Brandon, an experienced architect, had recently launched his own business, TBA, in West Monroe and gave Lisa an internship.  When she graduated two years later, he offered her a fulltime position and she’s been there since.  But there’s more.

“Tim gave me the opportunity to open our office in Bossier.  I started it by myself.  Ten years later it’s quite a success.  I’m vice president of operations there where I run the Bossier operation.  This success was due in large part to my first hire in Bossier, Megan Young, who has been integral in helping me grow and establish this office.  Dedication and teamwork has led to us being where we are.

“There are now five in the office, with three drawing on this Winnfield design:  myself, Megan and Trinity Smith…all women.  Also in that office are Don Young and Angie Parish.  We try to use our job to be good stewards for our clients, creating space that impacts lives in a positive way.”

Lisa is excited to be able to do just that in her hometown.  “I didn’t think I’d be able to do this in Winnfield.  It’s a pleasure to be involved.  At TBA, we do anything, big or small.  We’re not too big for our britches.  Through small jobs, we can build relationships.”

In fact, it was that relationship that helped bring the architectural firm and Winn Community Health Center with CEO Deano Thornton together for this major project.  “We’ve done some other projects for Deano on school-based clinics plus the clinic in Ruston.  He reached out to us in the very early stages.  Other cool projects from the Bossier office include the NSU Health Performance Center and the Walter B. Jacobs Memorial Nature Center in Caddo Parish.”  

As the architect’s role oversees a project throughout its construction, Lisa should be seeing more of her hometown over the months to come.

This licensed architect married Pablo Frontaura, her “college sweetheart” and they have two sons, Alexander, 9, and Christian, 6.