Carla Thompson, CPSM
Since NA
Active
SMPS Seattle member
AEC marketing professional
Carla brings unparalleled strategic marketing leadership to architecture, engineering, and construction firms across North America as a Senior Consultant and CMO-To-Go with Elevate Marketing Advisors. With 35+ years of comprehensive AEC marketing experience, she specializes in helping firms visualize and realize their full potential through marketing audits, strategic planning, rebranding initiatives, and executive-level marketing leadership on a fractional basis.
Her expertise spans the complete spectrum of professional services marketing, with deep specialization in healthcare design, education facilities, mixed-use development, commercial offices, hospitality, senior living, and environmental consulting. Carla has successfully led five firms through major rebrands and marketing transformations, driving revenue growth, elevating employee morale, and positioning firms to compete against and defeat top industry players.
Her career includes executive marketing leadership roles at nationally recognized firms including MulvannyG2 Architecture (now MG2), NAC Architecture, Core States Group, and Hart Crowser. Carla’s comprehensive understanding of the design and construction process, combined with her strategic business development acumen, enables her to deliver marketing solutions that produce measurable results and lasting organizational impact.
Carla Thompson represents the pinnacle of professional services marketing leadership in the AEC industry. As an SMPS Fellow (FSMPS), she holds membership in the most exclusive tier of the Society for Marketing Professional Services—representing the top 2% of SMPS’s 7,500+ members nationwide. This prestigious designation requires a minimum of 10 years of active SMPS participation, 10 years of AEC marketing experience, and five consecutive years of CPSM certification.
In 2018, Carla received SMPS’s highest individual honor: the Weld Coxe Marketing Achievement Award. This preeminent recognition celebrates professionals whose achievements and lasting contributions have transformed the professional services marketing profession. The award is named for Weld Coxe, SMPS founder and author of seminal industry texts including “Marketing Architectural and Engineering Services.”
Carla’s national SMPS leadership includes three consecutive terms on the Society Board of Directors, shaping strategic direction for the organization that created the profession of professional services marketing. She also served as President of SMPS Seattle, one of the nation’s oldest and largest chapters with 300+ members, and was appointed to the special task force commemorating SMPS’s 50th Anniversary in 2023.
Her commitment to advancing the profession extends to education and mentorship. Carla has delivered over 200 seminars, workshops, and training programs to AEC marketing professionals across North America. As one of six SMPS Seattle Fellows, she established the Fellows Scholarship program, investing $3,200+ annually to help emerging professionals attend the Amplify A|E|C national conference. She regularly leads AEC Marketing 101 workshops and Fellows Forum discussions that have shaped hundreds of marketing careers.
Carla has authored numerous articles for national publications and co-contributed to industry knowledge through her publication “Pathway to Principal: What They Don’t Teach You in Architecture School,” addressing career development for design professionals.
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