Rhianna Riggs | Senior Marketing Coordinator, Parametrix
Posted by Communications2 on Feb. 25, 2021 / Member Spotlight / Subscribe 0
How long have you worked at your company?
I have been with Parametrix for four years now. We are a multi-disciplinary transportation planning, engineering, and environmental sciences firm with a focus on transportation planning, highway design, and bridge design. We have more than 550 employees in our company, total.
Total, I’ve been a member of the industry for 14 years and have never looked back. Prior to my current role, I worked for The Environmental Planning Group (now Terracon) and Hunt Electric as well.
How would you describe your role/job?
My main role is proposal management for the three Parametrix offices in our Southwest Region (Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas). I am now also getting more involved in Business Development in the Salt Lake City region, helping corral a lot of great engineering and planning leaders to collaborate more on client strategy and relationship development.
What are the rewards of your job?
I really enjoy getting to know my coworkers and what their unique passions and skillsets are. We have such a wide variety of personalities and skills, that I love when I discover more about them and can better position them for the projects they will love working on the most.
What are your challenges?
Managing all those different personalities can be a real struggle when you’re putting proposals together. You also might have one project manager that is very hands on, and then another who won’t be involved in the proposal process at all. Between navigating these personalities and juggling the colliding deadlines, it can really all make for a confusing matrix in the mind some weeks.
What has been your most meaningful project?
We’ve been really focused on growing our transit group in Salt Lake City, so it has been fun to be a part of some successes in this strategic focus area. We secured a project to help the Utah Transit Authority evaluate transit service options from Draper to Lehi (officially called the Point of the Mountain Transit Study.) Our team won that project as the lead planner, and I like to think it was because of our positioning efforts - we listened to the clients’ needs, held regular strategy meetings, and worked together to deliver a strong (and winning!) proposal!
How long have you been an SMPS member?
On and off for my whole career, really! When I was first working with Environmental Planning Group, I started out doing public outreach and community engagement, and then transitioned into marketing role. When I made that transition, I was introduced to SMPS to help me learn more about marketing. It really helped me build my confidence in this aspect of the industry
What is your role in SMPS?
Director of Sponsorship.
What led you to serve on the Board?
I wanted to expand my network and build relationships in this industry, and I realized this was where I could really see myself building my career. I admired a lot of the people in the organization (and still do!), so for me it was about getting connected with many like-minded, bright people as I continuously grow as a marketing professional.
How has SMPS membership helped you?
I have built some wonderful professional relationships and friendships. I really also make a point to attend a lot of the education events, as I think they are really helpful for new ideas and continuous improvement for myself and my team.
What’s the best career advice you’ve received?
Your time is valuable, and don’t let people take advantage of that!
Protecting the priorities on your plate and how they are important to the company, can be really hard. I have actually just recently gotten better at this, and I am seeing benefits for both myself and for Parametrix when I do well with this.
What’s on your bucket list?
Traveling! Now more than ever. I have always wanted to see the Northern Lights, so that one is high on my mind.
I would also love to have a home on the ocean someday or learn to ride a motorcycle.
What was your childhood dream?
I’ve always loved animals and wanted to have an animal sanctuary when I was a kid. I suppose my two adopted pets now do the trick, though!
Guilty pleasure: what can you not live without?
Listening to music! It’s a part of my everyday life. I don’t know how many people know this, but I actually love heavy metal music. Not being able to go to concerts has been hard for me. I also am a sucker for Italian food (recommendations always welcome!).
Any other tidbits about your life you might be willing to share?
I’m a Utah native and only learned how to ski four years ago! It’s never too late to learn new hobbies, right? Also, I currently live in downtown Salt Lake City with my husband and two pets. With both of us working from our tiny home these days, it won’t be long before we’re looking for a little more square footage.
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