SMPS Boston Member Spotlight: Caroline Fitzgerald
Posted on Sep. 25, 2024 / 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 Caroline Fitzgerald, Director of Northeast Client Relations at RMF Engineering!
Name: Caroline Fitzgerald
Company: RMF Engineering
Title: Director of Northeast Client Relations - but that doesn’t accurately describe what I do!
Years Involved in SMPS: 15
What SMPS committees are you involved with, if any?
None at the moment but it was a lot of fun to participate on the awards jury in 2018.
What is your favorite SMPS memory?
In 2012, I joined Kim Sousa, Tricia Soulard, and Lizetta Fenessy in giving a workshop at the national SMPS conference in San Francisco on insights into how to be simultaneously successful in your professional career and raising a family. We had a very engaged audience, and I thought about it often during those first weeks of the pandemic when suddenly everyone had a front row seat to the challenges of doing two or three jobs at the same time.
Why did you decide to join SMPS?
I joined SMPS when I transitioned to a new job in 2009. Up until that point my career had been focused on private institutional work, and I recognized that I would need to broaden my network to people working in other sectors. Since SMPS engages people from all firms in the AEC industry it made sense to me to invest time with this organization.
What advice would you give to someone considering joining SMPS?
As with any professional organization, you will get the most value when you become engaged at the committee and leadership levels. I would suggest that in addition to attending events that you volunteer some time on a committee; you will learn more and also forge stronger relationships with your peers.
What do you work toward in your free time?
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” is often attributed to St. Augustine. No matter the source, they are words that I can live by. Exploring a new city through its architecture and food is a true joy for me.
What are you currently watching, reading, or listening to?
Marketers need to be good story tellers, and reading great writers, both fiction and non-fiction, should be a part of your professional growth. Julia Reed, David Sedaris, Anne Patchett, and Junot Diaz are some authors that always impress me with their keen sense of observation and humor. The Wall Street Journal’s Mansions section on Fridays is a real treat; it features real estate that takes your breath away and the people that own it.
For listening, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s ‘Wiser Than Me’ podcast is fantastic as is ‘Ruthie’s Table 4.’ Rens Hayes’s Design Development provides good insight into career paths and business strategy in the AEC industry as does Architecture 5 10 20. My commute provides me with too much time in the car; please send suggestions my way!
If you are interested in being featured in an upcoming spotlight or would like to nominate a member, please reach out to Jenn Robertson, SMPS Boston Blog Manager, at [email protected].
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