Donna Corlew, CPSM
Since 1993
Active
SMPS Nashville member
AEC marketing professional
Donna leads C*Connect as Chief Whatever It Takes Officer, where she partners with architecture, engineering, and construction firms across the United States to transform marketing and business development capabilities. Her consultancy specializes in strategic vision facilitation, market research, doer-seller coaching, and building meaningful chemistry between firms and their target clients. Through her “whatever it takes” approach, she helps small, medium, and large AEC firms focus their growth strategies and empower marketing and business development teams to thrive.
Her expertise spans comprehensive marketing strategy development, pursuit planning, client relationship management, and seller-doer enablement across all AEC market sectors including infrastructure, healthcare, education, commercial, and institutional facilities. Donna brings specialized knowledge in helping technical professionals transition into effective business development roles, creating sustainable growth frameworks that align with firm culture and market positioning.
With over 37 years of AEC industry experience, she has contributed to marketing excellence at prominent firms including Brown and Caldwell, Gould Turner Group, Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, Smith Seckman Reid, and Gobbell Hays Partners. Her deep understanding of both in-house marketing leadership and consulting enables her to deliver practical, implementable strategies that drive measurable business results for clients across diverse geographic markets and practice areas.
Donna exemplifies exceptional professional leadership through her 2019 Weld Coxe Marketing Achievement Award—the highest honor in professional services marketing—recognizing her extraordinary career achievements, leadership roles, and lasting contributions to the AEC industries. This prestigious recognition places her among an elite group of only 29 recipients in SMPS history who have received the Society’s most distinguished honor.
Her SMPS service spans nearly four decades, beginning in 1987 when she helped launch SMPS Nashville. She served as SMPS Society President (2007-2008), guiding national strategy during a critical period of growth and professional development expansion. As SMPS Foundation President (2020-2022), she led research initiatives advancing the entire AEC marketing profession, including influential studies on doer-seller effectiveness and marketing technology adoption that have shaped industry best practices.
Donna’s thought leadership extends through extensive conference presentations at regional and national SMPS events, where she delivers interactive sessions on strategic coaching, relationship building, and empowering technical professionals to excel in business development roles. Her signature “Marble Jar Friends” keynote with Frank Lippert has inspired hundreds of AEC professionals to build authentic, trust-based relationships that transform business development effectiveness.
Active in professional development and mentoring, Donna contributes to SMPS Marketing Communications Awards juries, Build Business conference planning, and Senior Leaders’ Think-Tank facilitation. She co-hosted discussions on the Professional Services Marketing (PSM) podcast, sharing insights on SMPS membership value and career development strategies with a national audience.
Her published work includes articles on pursuit cost tracking, empowering technical professionals in business development, next-generation leadership development, and social responsibility programs—all featured in industry publications that inform strategic marketing practices across the AEC sector. Donna’s commitment to advancing the profession through research, education, and advocacy has elevated marketing excellence industry-wide.
Achievements:
