San Diego Family November 2009 : Page 66

Read reviews of new Lego toys at SanDiegoFamily.com Finalists work on their models during the 2-hour Ultimate Build-off. (Brian, center) Turning Play into Professions San Diego Model Builders land dream jobs at Legoland Louise Julig I magine a job where you handcraft models using a favorite toy from childhood, bright, creative people surround you and millions of people from around the world enjoy your creations. Sound too good to be true? For model builders at Legoland California, that dream is their reality. In June, Legoland held a competition for hopefuls trying for a job at the theme park building models with the iconic stackable bricks. Ultimately, four men and one woman rose above the competition to secure positions as Model 66 San Diego Family Magazine Builders. Kristi Klein, Legoland model shop supervisor, says that new builders first go through a 10-week training period to learn every aspect of assembling and gluing models, and afterwards will be responsible for creating “anything that would go into a theme park: people, cars, buildings, animals ... whatever we need.” The park’s parent company is gearing up to open Legoland Malaysia, and many of the models for that park will be built here in Carlsbad. In the beginning, builders get direction from a designer, November 2009 and as they gain more experience, they are given more complicated designs. Model Builders come from many different backgrounds, says Klein, “But all of them are very mathematical and creative.” When asked for any advice for kids who would love to work with Legos, Klein says, “There’s no reason why kids can’t have a goal of working as a model builder. It’s a real job. If it’s something you really love, go for it.” The two newest Model Builders from San Diego County, Brian Heins sandiegofamily.com Photo by Sandy Huffaker.

Turning Play into Professions

Louise Julig

Imagine a job where you handcraft models using a favorite toy from childhood, bright, creative people surround you and millions of people from around the world enjoy your creations. Sound too good to be true?

For model builders at Legoland California, that dream is their reality. In June, Legoland held a competition for hopefuls trying for a job at the theme park building models with the iconic stackable bricks. Ultimately, four men and one woman rose above the competition to secure positions as Model Builders.

Kristi Klein, Legoland model shop supervisor, says that new builders first go through a 10-week training period to learn every aspect of assembling and gluing models, and afterwards will be responsible for creating “anything that would go into a theme park: people, cars, buildings, animals ... whatever we need.”

The park’s parent company is gearing up to open Legoland Malaysia, and many of the models for that park will be built here in Carlsbad. In the beginning, builders get direction from a designer, and as they gain more experience, they are given more complicated designs.

Model Builders come from many different backgrounds, says Klein, “But all of them are very mathematical and creative.”

When asked for any advice for kids who would love to work with Legos, Klein says, “There’s no reason why kids can’t have a goal of working as a model builder. It’s a real job. If it’s something you really love, go for it.” The two newest Model Builders from San Diego County, Brian Heins of Poway and Mandy Jouan of Chula Vista, share their different paths to this unique job.

Brian Heins has always kept Legos. Unlike some kids who pack up or sell their Legos after a certain age, Heins said he never really had a “dark ages” where he didn’t have Legos out. “Even if I wasn’t actively building with them, they weren’t packed away in storage,” he says.

The Poway High class of ’92 graduate still kept some models in his room at college and at home. Even when he worked at a desk job doing computer animation, he kept a small box of Lego bricks on his desk. “It’s a good way to alleviate stress when you’ve been staring at a computer screen all day.”

When he saw the opportunity to compete for a Model Builder job, it seemed like a good fit. He and his family had recently moved back to San Diego after living in Venice Beach and Taiwan, and the timing was right. “I wasn’t in a 9-to-5 job and things were kind of slow in my area. It was the right time to change industries.”

Heins applied for the competition and was waiting for a callback, when one day out of the blue, his 6-year-old son said he’d like to work for Legoland. “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good idea,” said Heins. A week later he got the callback for the competition, and soon afterwards was offered a job.

This will not be the first time Heins has had a job working with Legos. While in Taiwan with his wife, he had a contract job with the Lego Education division teaching basic mechanics and physics principals using Legos in popular afterschool classes at the English-speaking schools there.

Heins is looking forward to getting creative in his new job. “I’d forgotten about the art of Legos,” he says. “It really is a sculptural material.”

His advice for kids with Legos?

“Don’t sell them!” he says. “Even if you think you won’t play with them anymore or that they’re not cool, keep your Legos. I’ve got some Legos that are older than me, that are 40 and 50 years old, and I can buy a new set and they work together. That’s a great system.”

“Also, don’t just follow the instructions on the box,” when making models. “The idea is that you can build anything. If you follow the instructions on the box you are a Lego builder, but when you make models up on your own, then you’re a Lego designer.”

Mandy Jouan Patience and persistence pay off

Mandy Jouan is a self-described “artsy person.” The 2009 UCSD graduate majored in fine arts and made plush toys on the side, at first just for herself, but later as a small business.

She first applied for the Model Builder position three years ago and didn’t get the job, but always had the idea in the back of her head. “It looked like a good opportunity,” she says. This year shortly after graduation she saw the competition again and went back.

Jouan says the competition was really fun, but the first day she was very nervous. “I like Legos, but some of the people there are way above me in loving Legos. The first day it seemed like everyone there knew each other and I didn’t know anyone. They were all part of this Lego community and I was thinking, ‘I don’t play with Legos, I don’t know anything!’”

Three timed tests comprised the first day’s competition: a copy build of a seahorse, a team building project, and a free-form build where contestants had one hour to make whatever they wanted. For her free-form, Jouan built a duck in a pond with fish and grass surrounding it. The second day was for traditional interviews, and the next day was a twohour build inside the park based on the new Land of Adventure theme.

“On the second day of building, I had no nerves. I told myself I’m just having fun.” That relaxed attitude paid off. Legoland offered Jouan a position that started this summer. The job is ideal for her because, “I like to always be working with my hands. This lets me express myself not on the computer.” It’s a great work environment, she says. “Everyone is so nice, and working with Legos everything is bright and colorful and happy. Some days I look around and say, ‘Is this really my job?’”

When asked what skills she drew upon in the competition, Jouan says, “Patience, time management and organization. You need patience because if you’re building something and everything falls apart you need to tell yourself, ‘It’s okay. Just start over.’”

Though she was not that into Legos before, Jouan says that after starting to work there, “You will become a fan of Lego in one week.”

Now her whole family shares her interest. “Once I started this job, all the people in my family started to play with Legos, from age 4 to 75. There’s no age limit on them. I inspired a lot of people to become a kid again.”

Louise Julig is a mom and freelance writer from Encinitas who has made many trips to Legoland.

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