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O P I N I O N
To succeed in building a new business line, you need to set your ego aside, believe in yourself, and trust your team with your vision. Building an AEC business line
I t was the fall of 2014 when one of the founders of Patel, Greene, and Associates, LLC called me out of the blue and offered me a simple proposition: Start a new structures group for PGA. Sounds simple, but it meant leaving one of the oldest and most stable AEC firms in the country that was providing me a career path with future growth, albeit at a slow and steady pace.
Joseph Losaria
After discussions with my wife, family, and friends, I decided to take the risk and try the challenge. Why? I wanted to build something that I ultimately believed in and loved, a structures group with a future and vision that I had direct influence on. Looking back seven years later, I think the simple fact that I believed and loved the business line I was tasked with building countered all the risks and challenges that came with it. To succeed in building an AEC business line, ignore the ego that can come with the challenge and ask yourself, is this something I believe in and love? Believing is two-fold, it means believing in yourself and believing in what you are about to do. Believing in what you are about to do means defining your mission right up front. My mission
early on was understanding that good engineering doesn’t come from one person alone. I knew intuitively for our group to be successful, I needed to bring colleagues who shared the same culture and vision. Recruiting talent is not enough; you have to bring people who believe and share your vision. We also made sure we didn’t grow nor hire too fast. We actually recruited some younger staff from other existing business lines within the company rather than hiring external staff initially. A cohesive group is really important in starting any AEC business line. Remember, sharing the same vision is the key for successful teamwork. Also, the initial core of our structures group were past colleagues from previous companies I had worked at. Eventually you do have to go outside
See JOSEPH LOSARIA, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 6, 2021, ISSUE 1419
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