SMPS Boston Member Spotlight: Kim Sousa
Posted on Jun. 20, 2023 / Member Spotlight / Subscribe 0
Our Member Spotlight Blog serves as a platform to welcome new members to SMPS Boston and highlight our established members within the A/E/C community. This week, we're getting to know Kim Sousa, President/Founder/Principal Consultant at iMAKE YOUR MARKeting.
Name: Kim Sousa
Company: iMAKE YOUR MARKeting
Title: President/Founder/Principal Consultant
Years Involved in SMPS: 26 years! (yikes)
What SMPS committees are you involved with?
Currently I’m just a member and trying to figure out how to re-engage and best support the local chapter leadership. Over the years, I have typically been very active in the Programs Committee, having chaired it multiple times, been BOD liaison and then I was also Secretary, VP, President (2000) and Past President on the Board. I helped the programs committee for many years with getting speakers when the committee makeup didn’t have as much client facing involvement or connection and at one point I formed an advisory committee of past engaged SMPS veterans to support the programs committee as well.
Why did you decide to join SMPS?
Back in 1997 I had just moved to Boston and landed in the AEC industry in marketing and didn’t know anyone or the firms. The one industry friend I had told me I needed to join SMPS and I did…best thing I ever did for my career and myself. The rest is history!
What advice would you give to someone considering joining SMPS?
Dive in! The only way to really get the most out of your membership is to participate. That’s how you build your network for life. It’s the old adage, you get out of it what you put into it. I firmly believe that. I can truly say that my SMPS involvement is the key ingredient of how I built my industry relationships (with peers, clients and employers), gained visibility and learned the best practices of marketing in the AEC industry.
What do you work toward in your free time?
It’s changed over the years of course, but now I work toward spending time on myself, with my family/friends, being outside and being constantly active. Our jobs can be intense with lots of deadlines, travel and after work events and I was fully committed to doing all of those things, maybe even at the expense of family commitments at certain points over my career. You reach a point when you realize that nothing is more important than what’s important to you, and if you work hard and focus, you CAN do it all in a way that makes sense for you and your employer. Starting my own firm was a big catalyst for being able to make my own schedule and isolate time to better support my needs and my family. It wasn’t easy, but it has been a true gift in meeting my goals (both personally and professionally).
What are you currently watching, reading, or listening to?
I don’t watch much TV, but I’m a sucker for OBX and The Summer I Turned Pretty (mainly because I have 2 girls and they are both filmed in our favorite NC areas). My husband and I like watching Million Little Things. I’ve enjoyed Working Moms and randomly Only Murders In the Building. I just read “Maybe in a Different Life” and “Hello Beautiful”...both deep but page turners.
If you are interested in being featured in an upcoming spotlight or would like to nominate a member, please reach out to Ethan Olkovikas, SMPS Boston Membership Committee Member, at [email protected], or Jenn Robertson, SMPS Boston Blog Manager, at [email protected].
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