Curated Authentic Dad on the Street: Adam Schultz

curated authentic

As an architect, artist, and athlete, curated authentic Adam Schultz is is an all-around renaissance man. We’re not sure how he does it all, but no matter what it is, he does it with wisdom and passion.

Meet Adam

As a child, whenever Adam was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, ‘A Soccer Player’ and ‘An Architect’ were always his enthusiastic response! He is passionate, driven, and sees his goals through to the end. As a teenager, Adam played for the US youth national soccer team and after college, he turned pro. He later hung up his cleats to pursue Christian youth ministry with Young Life, which focuses on mentoring and serving high school students. To best connect with the students, he became a high school art teacher and soccer coach. It was through Young Life that he met and fell in love with his wife, Sarah (married 13 years this week!). Though he was passionate about his role as an educator and mentor with Young Life, he decided to get back on the path of his lifelong dream of designing buildings.

He’s now an Architect and Associate at Hanbury in Norfolk, VA where he’s involved in designing civic/commercial buildings regionally and living and learning environments for colleges and universities nationally. He spearheads their Summer Scholar Legacy program, in which undergraduate and graduate design students work side by side with firm professionals during the summer months. Adam also serves on Virginia Beach’s Planning/Design Review Committee (PDRC) which aims to improve the quality of design and development of the built environment for the beach community.

It’s not uncommon to find Adam painting through the night, surfing or fishing at the crack of dawn, coaching soccer in the evenings and weekends, and kayaking with his family. Adam and Sarah have two children Isla, 6, and Graydon, 4.

Curated Authentic Style

A surf lesson from Graydon!

Which three words best describe your style? Curated, authentic, autonomous

What are your favorite places to shop? Jerry’s Artarama, Woodcraft, and Princess Anne Tackle; Oh, wait, if you meant for clothes then I would say wherever I can get quality materials for cheap.

Who is your favorite artist? It’s a tie between Paul Klee and Louis Kahn. These two speak to my soul.

What’s your best style advice? Own it! Just understand what you’re owning and let it roar.

What trend did you love at the time, but now cringe when you see old photos? In the ’80s I often wore a heavy cardigan sweater and turtleneck paired with soccer shorts in 90-degree heat. Cringe-worthy for sure! I guess I could have just stopped the description when I mentioned the ’80s.

What’s your dad superpower? I think my dad superpower is creating wonder from the mundane. I was in my element during homeschooling this year! If anyone wants a lesson plan or project for the kids, hit me up!

Facial hair or clean-shaven? You’d typically only find me clean-shaven if I’ve just had a recent and important business meeting. However, to avoid looking fresh out of college, I’ll probably rock the stubble all the time now that my grays are showing through (as my wife reminds me often!).

Curated Authentic Family

Adam and his wife, Sarah

What’s your favorite way to spend time with your family? Camping in Hatteras or our recent kayaking adventures.

What’s been your best family vacation? Our annual Thanksgiving vacation with family and friends on Hatteras Island is always a highlight of our year. We drive on the beach, surf fish at the point, hunt for shells, and have seen awesome sea creatures – 10’ hammerhead shark, giant sea turtle, seals, and whales.

Best parenting advice: 1. Listen and respond well to how your children accept and give love; and, 2. When you ask your child to do something allow for a little extra threshold of time for your child to transition out of their world into yours

Parenting true confession: I can get extremely competitive and quite critical when playing Barbie dress up

What’s your go-to family dinner? Chick-fil-a

What’s your favorite family restaurant? Also Chick-fil-a

Curated Authentic Life

What’s your favorite show to binge-watch? Probably Songland right now, but The Office will always be a staple for our family – even our kids find it hilarious!

If you could pick anyone to star as you in a movie based on your life, who would it be? A lot of people used to tell me I look like Daniel Craig, so yeah that works for me. That also reminds me that I should probably start working out again.

What’s your favorite sport and why? (Bonus: who is your favorite player?) My favorite sport has always been soccer. It’s the perfect balance of grit and grace, it can be adapted to almost any space and surface, and the global camaraderie and passion inspire me. Plus, it’s fitting for short dads like me. Lionel Messi has recently outpaced my long-time soccer idol Pele as my favorite player.

What’s your favorite family dance party song? Stargirl’s version of “Just What I Needed” or “The Man” by Taylor Swift

If you could hang out with anyone from history, living or deceased, who would it be? As cheesy as it sounds, I would definitely say I’d choose my main inspiration in life, my wife, Sarah.

What’s at the top of your travel bucket list? Chicago – I’ve traveled a bunch internationally for soccer and vacation, but now want to focus on finding architecture. Chicago’s where it’s at for architecture.

What’s your favorite way to unwind at the end of a long day? I love to round up the fam and walk down to the beach for a sunset swim.

Your Curated Authentic Style

Whether he’s creating something new, putting on his cleats, or spending time with the ones he loves, we love the passion he brings towards his hobbies and life with his family. And due to his answer about who in history he would like to hang out with, we’ll forgive him for his 80’s fashion choices.

For more fun and stylish dads, be sure to check out FamilyApp’s Dad on the Street Channel!

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