In 25 years in business, Mueller and her staff have designed 35 million square feet of office and retail space; specified 2 million square yards of carpeting for clients; moved 175,000 people, usually into new or renovated spaces; designed 5,176 projects and pulled more than 2,000 building permits.

"It's surprising how much we've done," Mueller said with a laugh.

Mueller founded Ambiance Associates Inc. in 1979. Now called AAi, it's a firm that specializes in "design solutions for the workplace."

Solutions is a purposely-broad term as the firm's work deals with every phase of the planning and design process.

Services include feasibility studies, compliance analysis, site planning, cost analysis and budgeting, lighting design, graphics and signage programs, product display design and more.

"We do the full package," Mueller said.

Now working out of 1036 The Alameda, Mueller and her staff put their preaching into practice for themselves before moving into the space on New Year's day of 2001.

After purchasing the building that was formerly home to the American Safe Company, they designed a new storefront, converted what had been a tool shed into the office library and replaced a roll-up door with glass.

From day one, Mueller has attracted an impressive clientele.

At the age of 23, her first client meeting was with Nolan Bushnell, creator of the Pong game and founder of Atari.

In her first year of business, clients included Atari, Lockheed, Prudential and CPS Commercial Properties.

In the years since, her client roster has grown to include Apple Computer, Orchard Properties, Hyundai Electronics, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and Safeway.

Landmarks to local residents include the Century Plaza Office Building on Winchester Boulevard at Highway 280, often called "the paper clip building" and the Ferraro Plaza, under construction at the corner of Meridian Avenue and West San Carlos Street.

Susan Camarlinghi, who named Ferraro Plaza in honor of her late parents Pat and Jane Ferraro, said she's been working with AAi for about two years now.

"They've been beyond belief," Camarlinghi said. "I would have walked away from this project with all its headaches. AAi and Devel Construction kept me going."

Camarlinghi initially worked with Mueller and then architect Jeff Blaeix became her contact person at AAi.

"They took my ideas and implemented them architecturally and came up with a design," Camarlinghi said. "They kept us in a very positive direction. They gave me great feedback and, above all, moral support."

Mueller said the Ferraro Plaza project was somewhat difficult dealing with the planning permits.

However, she said getting the permits through planning and building and coordinating the overall project is part of their services.

Mueller considers San Jose as "one of the easier cities" to work with on building projects.

Mueller's first office was in Sunnyvale and in 1984 she opened her second one in Pleasanton.

"At that time we had a lot of clients in the area," Mueller said of Pleasanton. "They were putting together Hacienda Business Park, and to do improvements successfully, you need to be in the area. We wouldn't have been successful unless we were really there."

Today, Mueller has 24 employees with seven of them in Pleasanton where she spends one day a week.

AAi was originally located in Mountain View when the dot-com boom caused office prices to quadruple and Mueller to decide to look elsewhere.

The Alameda location "has been a great move for us," she said.

Business in downtown San Jose has grown with their move. They are now working with Park Center Plaza and its tenants.

"It's a great project for us. They're going to do a lot of remodeling and we're excited to get in on that."

The location is good for Mueller personally, as she lives in Saratoga with her three children, Jason, 19, Chad, 17 and Holly, 12.

She said it's also an easy commute for her employees as many live in the Willow Glen area.

Through the last 25 years, Mueller said she's seen many workspace trends.

"In the dot-com days, they had playrooms. Business has learned a lot from those last few years," she said.

"Right now it's really just back to basics and practicality. It's not the extras."

Mueller said she has no single favorite project from the last 25 years, but two that gave her a lot of satisfaction were both for Alameda County.

One was for the county assessors' office, which she said, "hadn't changed for years. They had those old battleship gray desks and were making their own wooden trays. It wasn't a great situation, but now it's very ergonomic and much cleaner and the air flow is much different."

The second project was a homeless shelter for Alameda County, where she worked with Clara-Mateo Alliance, the homeless services agency, which recently merged with InnVision.

"That project had no budget, but it had a huge impact on the people using the facilities. Our work is not only just doing pretty spaces, but it's the function," Mueller said.

"It's improving the quality of life. It is fun creating new environments and the whole design side of things, but there's a lot more to it than what meets the eye."