Member Spotlight - Michelle Eguia, Regional Proposal Manager at Colliers Engineering & Design.
Posted by [email protected] on Jan. 27, 2023 / Subscribe 0
SMPS Tampa Bay loves to show off our wonderful members and highlight their journeys, successes, and how they got to where they are today. Have someone in mind that would be a great fit for our next membership spotlight blog post? Send a message to our Director of Communications, Laura Crowdis or our Membership Spotlight Chair, Amanda Hamende!
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
A: I was born and raised in Tampa and was married over 18 years ago at Saint Leo Abbey (Saint Leo, FL). We have two beautiful daughters, Gabrielle, 15 and Sofia, 12. My husband I met while attending Hillsborough Community College, where I earned my A.A. and A.S. in Architectural and Building Construction Technology. From there, I attended Saint Leo University earning a Business Administration degree specializing in Management. I started working for American Consulting Engineers while earning my Associates degree, where I completed a required internship for my A.S. Through this internship, I gained a variety of experience in the disciplines of surveying, CADD design, and bridge inspection. I continued to grow and gain various levels of technical experience, which included proposal management. Over my 25 years of experience, my professional career has carried me to FDOT District Seven, Volkert, GHD, and now Colliers Engineering & Design as a Regional Proposal Manager.
Q: Why did you join SMPS? And how long have you been a member?
A: I joined SMPS while working for GHD to expand my marketing relationships with other marketing professionals as well as gain additional professional experiences. I have been a member for over four years.
Q: Why did you start/choose a career in professional services Marketing/BD?
A: Early in my career, becoming a marketing professional was not even on my radar as I didn’t think I would have done well in the marketing world. However, as I grew my technical experience, I was also gaining more and more “marketing” experience and just didn’t realize it. While working at Volkert, there was a marketing opportunity that I was asked to consider. The promotion was to become the Assistant Marketing Manager for Florida and I almost didn’t take the position until several colleagues reminded me that I had been doing this “marketing” role for years while wearing many hats. So, I took the promotion and never looked back.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self about your career choices?
A: I have been fortunate throughout my career to progressively gain skills and experience. Reflecting on this, my advice would be to remain persistent and confident in the career choices you make. Sometimes it is difficult to know how a certain opportunity will end up; however, if we are persistent and confident, we can achieve our overall goals even through adversity.
Q: What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
A: Not sure I have a favorite hobby or pastime anymore. However, I enjoy watching my girls and their activities. My oldest plays flag football and cheers for her high school and is also on a competitive recreational cheer team. My youngest is a dressage rider and enjoys riding her horse. These girls keep me very busy, and I love it.
Q: What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
A: I have received a lot of advice over the years; however, I would have to say that three individuals along the way have given me words of wisdom. They would say similar “things” to me, but the bottom line was always: take one day at time, always believe in yourself and you know what to do. The most important bit of advice was “you know what to do and how to engage our team.” This was something I didn’t believe until only a few years ago, and it has truly accelerated my confidence and career.
Q: What has been your favorite event or experience that was offered to you by your company, professional organization, etc. that either aided in professional or personal development?
A: In my professional career, I have been a part of several successful winning opportunities from the technical side, as well as the proposal side, which aided in my personal development. Most recently, my favorite experience was assisting the environmental team at GHD win their Environmental Engineering contract with Port Tampa Bay and re-winning their FDEP Hazardous Waste Contract. These two pursuits were the true meaning of successful prepositioning “know your client” efforts. I gained so much from working and managing the team of professionals for these pursuits, that it gave me the confidence to move into my new role with Colliers Engineering & Design. I am looking forward to working with a new team to pursue key opportunities that will facilitate our future growth. Also, throughout my career, I have always offered to assist in the organizing and planning of social/holiday events for staff and clients. Although I don’t consider myself an outgoing person, I believe I am most successful when I feel integrated with my co-workers during these events, which strengthens teams and builds client relationships.
Q: What is your favorite or most recent book you’ve read?
A: Last year as part of a book club, we read “The Walk” series by Richard Paul Evans. These books are beautifully written and basically walk you through different emotions in a person’s life, but no matter how tough things are for someone, you never give up. The series includes five total books and each one leaves you with thoughts in your personnel/professional life to contemplate and grow.
Connect with Michelle Eguia on LinkedIn and follow SMPS Tampa Bay to get connected with the AEC Marketing community. Like what you read? Stay tuned for future membership spotlight blog posts.
By: Amanda Hamende, Marketing Coordinator | Patel, Greene and Associates, LLC
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