Mark Madsen
Business Development Director
William H. Smith and Associates (WHS)
“Failure is the best teacher, and repetition is the way to success. Because you figure it out as you go.”
Milestones
My road in life has taken me all over.
Delivering newspapers (taught me to get up early)
Slinging ice cream for a coach of mine at her store. Taught me to be on time, work for a demanding boss in a high stress environment.
Framing, ok I’m lying. I really delivered wood to framers. My favorite learning there if I’m honest, was that I didn’t want to be a framer.
College, I learned to figure it out by asking others a lot of questions. Learned to not give up just cause I was confused. (Confusion was a constant)
Highway construction with WYDOT. I liked being out on construction and not really office time.
Technical sales (I found through the construction jobs that I belonged in that job).
Business development—was pushed into that from the sales clients. It’s really similar with higher failure rates. But I love it.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Billings West
Billings West
Bachelor
Civil/Architectural Engineering
University of Wyoming
Civil/Architectural Engineering
University of Wyoming
Career
Business Development Director
Client, government, vendor and contractor contact, marketing our company’s services to all that can benefit from them.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Engineering
Business
Being Creative
Day to Day
Never, ever, the same. Projects change, every day is different. I get to travel. I may not know today where I’ll be tomorrow.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for everyone
Find folks in that industry and ask them to tell you about their role, how they got where they are. Just asking will open doors.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Bachelor
Civil/Architectural Engineering
Civil/Architectural Engineering
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"Shouldn’t you be working?"
Challenges I Overcame
Learning Issues
