We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Angie Wolfe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Angie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

Kramer North America (Kraemer) is used to getting the job done. Kraemer is a leader in alternative delivery. They’ve established a national reputation for being quality-driven and safety-focused.

But despite the team’s rich history and expertise, they were experiencing higher volumes of output than they could manage internally. Recognizing this need for external help, Kraemer reached out to Ideas at Dawn 6 months before the initial release of the highly targeted CDOT I-70 Floyd Hill CMGC pursuit.

The RFP was delayed almost a year, but our merged teams didn’t waver. Instead, we continued refining our capture and strategy development using our (internally developed) 6 Step proposal framework, which ultimately led to Kraemer being shortlisted for the interview along with two other firms.

After submittal, we continued to work with Kraemer through weekly coaching sessions to develop scripts, slides, 3D graphics and videos to communicate their message. In early January 2022, they were notified that they had been awarded the 5-year, $500 million CMGC project. It was Kramer’s largest win to date and proof that when you take care of your customers first, you’ll always be rewarded with success.

Angie , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

At Ideas at Dawn, our goal is to help you win more work.

We are proposal management experts with 20 years of experience working with large Fortune 500 companies to help them win billions of dollars in new work through proposals. We offer services to help you increase your team’s proficiency and prepare them for the increased demands on their time.

Angie, the founder, and owner, started her career as an intern at Kiewit’s corporate magazine. She became a respected leader managing teams of writers, editors, graphic designers, and photographers responsible for producing multiple billion-dollar pursuits.

She is also an APMP Foundation and Practitioner certified professional. She has worked with several large civil engineering and construction firms as well as several private practice firms and has developed a reputation as someone who can help them win more work without adding more payroll.

Ideas at Dawn’s services include proposal management, writing, editing, graphic design support, and training to meet the increased demands on the proposal staff.

Our firm’s experience allows us to train teams on how to write and edit compelling content that will win new business with their proposals. We are proud to provide a real return on investment with proposal wins and tangible proposal management solutions that allow you to focus on what matters most: winning!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had a great job and a wonderful family. But I wasn’t around to enjoy my family and I was always tired. It was time to make a change, but I didn’t know how to get there. Then I saw an ad for moms who wanted to set up businesses in freelancing. That’s when it all began.

I took the course and learned about different professional paths before deciding that I would stay in the AEC marketing arena, but take on different pieces outside of proposals.

I kept my day job as I started my freelancing business and for 6 months, hustled and networked like crazy!
But then something happened: I realized that if this was going to work for me—and for my family—I needed more than just a part-time gig; I needed something more stable that would allow me to focus on what really mattered: my family. So after some soul searching, I finally committed to quitting my day job in January 2020 and finally left in July 2020.

I built connections and networks for future work (like social media management & industry editorial work) during this time so that when the opportunity came along later on down the line, the relationship was established.
Today I have a full AEC marketing consulting and training firm with a team and realize that even if you work for yourself, you can’t and don’t have to do it all alone.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

When I started my business, I had no idea what to expect.

I didn’t think I would be hiring anybody. But here we are, years later, and I’ve built a team that’s (for the most part) literally been with me since day one. I want to share with you the “secrets” behind my success.

I believe in building trust with my team—and that means getting to know them as people, not just as contractors on a project. And when you treat someone like a person and not just an employee on your payroll, you can build a relationship that goes beyond work talk and lasts long after the project is over.

By communicating with your team regularly (not just about work), you’ll get an inside look at their lives outside of work—and they’ll get an inside look at yours! This is what builds trust and makes people feel like part of something bigger than themselves. It also makes them feel like they’re part of something worth sticking around for!

So if you’re looking for a way to improve your company culture and make sure everyone feels valued and included? Try treating your employees with a humanistic and empathetic touch—and see what happens!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ideasatdawn.com
• Instagram: @ideasatdawn_aec
• Facebook: @ideasatdawn
• Linkedin: @ideas-at-dawn
• Twitter: @ideasatdawn
• Youtube: @ideasatdawnaecmarketingcon9425

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