To celebrate MARKETLINK’s Sweet 16, Principals Stephanie Craft and Keri Hammond present the 16 (sweet) reasons they love the A/E/C industry.

1. Creativity

“The majority of my family is involved in the industry as engineers and contractors,” says Keri. “I like being part of the creative, ‘softer’ side.”

2. Inspiration

Stephanie sees Keri’s creativity and raises it: She gains inspiration from the creativity, skill, and passion of her A/E/C peers.

3. Influence

"Understanding how our industry influences the environment of an owner or end user’s entire organization is profound,” says Keri.

4. Association

“I love attending SMPS conferences,” Stephanie emphasizes.

5. Learning

“Listening to those that teach and educate me every day is a joy,” says Keri.

6. Service

“Everyone knows it is all about service,” notes Stephanie.

7. Strategy

“Knowing the details of projects and pursuit strategy and even the interview preparation is special,” Keri states.

8. Impact

“It is a privilege to see how development makes a positive impact on the communities where it happens,” says Stephanie.

9. Street Cred

“I know my kids are sick of hearing ‘so-and-so designed, constructed or engineered that building,’” laughs Keri.

10. Accomplishment

“Going on project tours and seeing the vision from inception to completion is humbling,” notes Keri.

11. Knowledge

Both Keri and Stephanie love that the entire industry is always ready to learn and be taught new processes and best practices.

12. Competition

“Sometimes you compete with each other and sometimes you team up, so there’s always a friendly rivalry,” says Stephanie.

13. Camaraderie

“Working with architects is fun and crazy,” Stephanie informs. “Working with engineers is fun and even crazier and working with contractors and CMs is always a good time!”

14. Organization

“Databases, spreadsheets, server organization,” Keri lists off some of her favorite organizational tools. “I geek out on that.”

15. Friendship

Both Keri and Stephanie value the people they work with every day; many have become dear friends.

16. Helping

Finding that ‘one thing’ that helps set a client apart from the competition is very fulfilling.