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I am currently transitioning my role at CD Companies. I have been with the company for 3 years now and was previously in an administration role, but in the last few months I have been transitioning into the Marketing Department. With that transition I just recently joined SMPS and I’ve been a member for about 4 months. Previously my involvement has been attending local SMPS events, however, after attending Amplify A|E|C, I definitely want to get more involved with SMPS.

What led you to apply for the chapter’s SMPS Build Business Scholarship? When you applied, what were you hoping to gain from the SMPS Build Business Conference and the sessions? Had you attended a conference before?

I had never attended a conference before Amplify A|E|C, so I was very excited to really jump in and be able to meet SMPS members from across the country. Since I am new to the marketing side of the industry, I was really excited to be able to just learn as much as possible.

After attending the conference, what do you feel you gained from the sessions? What was the most memorable session you attended? What do you feel was the best part of the conference as a whole?

I would say I gained some valuable tips for some things that could be implemented in my firm. I would say the most memorable session I attended was the Maisha Hagen session. I really liked attending her seminar when she was in St. Louis a few weeks prior, so I knew that was a session that I wanted to attend. It was also cool that she remembered me from when she was in St. Louis. As a whole I think the best part of the conference was getting to know everyone a little better, since I wasn’t previously involved much I didn’t really know anyone in the chapter, but after attending the conference I feel excited to get more involved and build more connections with people.

If someone was thinking about attending Build Business in the future but are unsure about it, what would you them and why they should attend?

I would tell them that they should definitely go! I had a great experience. The sessions were informative, and they sparked so many different ideas. It is also a great chance to be able to not only get to know our chapter members better, but also meeting with people from chapter all over the country. Even just talking to people can spark ideas about things that they do in their chapter as far as SMPS or even things that they do at the firms that they work out that maybe you could implement in your own firm.

How did you get your start in the AEC industry and any advice to those just starting out?

Honestly, I kind of just fell into the AEC industry. I had been jumping around just trying to find something that I could really see myself doing long-term. I had previously been in the education, travel, and orthodontics industries, and I knew I didn’t really see myself sticking with them long-term and really building a career. When I joined the AEC industry, I knew within the first few months that this was something that I could really see myself loving and building a career in. My advice for anyone joining the industry, especially without any previous knowledge would be to really jump into it. There are so many different sectors and facets of the industry that it’s easy to find something that excites you.

What excites you about your work and the contributions you make to CD Companies every day?

What excites me about my work is that I know it’s being recognized by the company. They definitely see the value of marketing and understand why it’s so important to invest in marketing and business development efforts. Since I am so new to the marketing world it is so nice to have a boss that celebrates all of my successes, no matter how small they might seem to me.  

 If you could travel to any place in the world, where would you go? And why?

If I could travel anywhere in the world, I think I would go to Scotland. In college, I started out as an art major, and one of my professors was hosting a trip to Scotland. Well, things changed and I ended up switching majors and was no longer in the art department. Ever since then I’ve always wanted to go to Scotland since I didn’t get the change to in college.