Meet Kristin McCants, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin McCants on the occasion of her first LMA Capital Chapter meeting, in January ’09, and her almost three-month anniversary of being a legal marketer. In October, Kristin became the Director of Marketing and Business Development at Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald (WTHF), the nation’s largest construction law boutique, headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
A tall and attractive African-American woman, Kristin exudes confidence and well-being. She talked openly about her history, thoughts and opinions as we settled into a Cup O’ Joe at a nearby Starbucks after the LMA program.
Kristin is new to legal marketing, but she earned her business development stripes at three local construction companies prior to being recruited by a headhunter who was actually calling for someone else (love those wrong numbers). At that time, Kristin had done business development and marketing at Holder Construction in Herndon for two-and-a-half years. Prior to Holder and a stint at HITT Contracting in Fairfax, Kristin worked for Tompkins Builders, where she started as an intern during college. Tompkins hired Kristin after she graduated from Georgetown in 2004.
Of course, I had to ask: What’s the biggest difference between legal and construction marketing? “Well,” Kristin answered, “in my old office I kept a big pair of boots and a personalized hardhat for when I went on site visits. No boots now!” (Don’t ask to see the hard hat – she left it behind.)
“Also, at the construction firm, making our marketing plans was pretty straightforward. Now, I have to make a case for everything,” she added.
Given her direct experience with boots-on-the-ground business development, one of Kristin’s first initiatives at WTHF is to conduct in-house business development training for attorneys. The firm houses 100 construction attorneys in four offices nationwide.
“When I started at WTHF, there were several major marketing initiatives underway like a new Web site and a brochure,” she said. “Basically, all I had to do was carry them across the finish line. Now I’m starting with a clean slate and I am really excited by the by the opportunity to initiate my own ideas.”
Though she is WTHF’s lone marketer today, Kristin is an empire builder and has big plans for her department. “I’ve launched into research, developing a budget and writing a marketing plan. I plan to have at least one more staff member and a full business development program within a year. Thankfully, my attorneys applaud that plan,” she said.
In addition to joining LMA, Kristin will remain active in the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) a professional organization similar to LMA serving professionals in the architecture, engineering and construction (A/E/C) industry.
“I’ve been very involved in the leadership of SMPS and staying involved just makes sense,” she said. “Many of our construction industry clients are represented there, and my participation in a client trade organization is the kind of example I want to set for my attorneys.”
Bravo, Kristin and welcome to legal marketing!
Profile written by Amy Knapp, a legal marketing and business development consultant.