GeoHeroes - Guy Marcozzi
About This Episode
In this episode Ryan White, PE, GE, F.ASCE, turns the tables in this interview of GeoHeroes host Guy Marcozzi, PE, D.GE, LEED AP BD+C, former GBA president, who shares his journey from suburban Delaware kid to geotechnical engineering CEO. Guy reveals the surprising truth behind most successful careers: there was no grand plan. From collecting payments on his childhood paper route to leading Duffield Associates, Inc. as CEO, Guy's path was shaped by persistence, listening, and seizing opportunities as they arose. He reflects on launching the GeoHeroes podcast, what he's learned from interviewing industry legends, and why not having everything figured out might be the best career advice of all.
About Our Guest
Guy Marcozzi, PE, D.GE, LEED AP BD+C, is a GBA past-president and an experienced CEO, President and Board Member with a demonstrated history of working in the engineering, science and data technology industries and in leadership for various boards of ESOP, non-profit, professional and business organizations.
Our Host
Ryan White, PE, GE, F.ASCE, is a principal geotechnical engineer at Apex in Portland and the geotechnical engineering group manager. Ryan has over 28 years of geotechnical engineering experience leading groups, teams and managing projects. He has managed projects throughout Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida. He has experience with commercial and municipal development, design for low- to mid-rise buildings, bridge foundations, roads, landslide evaluation and stabilization, retaining wall design and construction, solar energy and land development. Ryan is the current chair of GBA's multimedia delivery committee and one of the committee's founding members. Ryan helped develop the GBA Podcast as part of class 4 of the Emerging Leaders.
Show Notes
Introduction
- Special "tables turned" episode with Guy Marcozzi being interviewed by podcast producer Ryan White
- Guy: Retired consulting engineer living in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
- Career spanned structural and geotechnical engineering
- Married to wife Tina for 37 years
- Three children, all engineers but none in geoprofessions
Early Life and Education
- Grew up in post-war suburban Delaware, 10 miles outside Wilmington
- Childhood characterized by unstructured outdoor play with kids of all ages
- One of four children in working-class family
- Father was contractor, mother stay-at-home mom
- Could only participate in organized sports within biking distance
- Paper route at age 12 taught lessons about persistence and collecting payment
- Started working construction with father's crew at age 14
- Good but not great student - performed well in math and science without trying hard
- First-generation college student
- Attended University of Delaware (less than 10 miles from home)
- Never moved far - now lives 82 miles south in Rehoboth Beach
Career Path
- Started career as structural engineer
- Transitioned to geotechnical engineering
- Former CEO of Duffield Associates, Inc.
- Former president of Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA)
- Admits: "I never really had a plan"
- Always focused on whatever opportunity was in front of him
Leadership
- Core trait: Reliability - "I've always been the person that wants to do what I say I'm gonna do"
- Innate driver to complete project assignments and commitments
- Early career: Very task-driven and outcome-focused
- Key transition: Understanding "what got you here won't get you there"
- Realized scaling comes from other people and how you interface with them
- Development of empathy as leadership superpower:
- Looking at situations from other people's perspectives
- Understanding clients have bosses too - they're judged on their hiring decisions
- If you deliver well, they look good; if you're late or over budget, it's a demerit against them
- "It was like a social contract - you've honored me by picking us to do this and now it's my obligation to help you be successful"
- Success formula with clients: No surprises, stay on budget, stay on time
- Leading teams through empathy:
- Recognizing people at different life stages (new parents, getting married, going through divorce, relocating)
- Noticed people getting married were distracted for 6 months leading up - "that was cool, you're getting married, it's a big deal"
- Early mindset: "I don't care if you get married, you have to get this job done" - admits this wasn't the right approach
- Better approach: See who you're interacting with and understand where they're coming from
- Working better as a team leads to scaling and leverage
- Actively developed these capabilities in last half of career
- Philosophy: Make your client look good to their boss, and it bodes well for you
The Geoprofessional Landscape
- Current state: Many fundamentals remain unchanged (still driving SPT samplers despite technology advances)
- Change happens slowly but profession is starting to rapidly change
- Future vision - Two key areas:
- Data as a service
- High-level client consulting:
- Being the "client psychologist" - understanding real deeper needs beyond immediate requests
- Providing higher value consultation at strategic level
- Data sharing challenges
- Why geoprofessionals are well-suited for this evolution
- Skills developed in geoprofession translate well
Life Advice
- "Don't get too upset if you don't have the grand plan"
- Stay focused on what's in front of you
- Do well at what you're doing
- Keep your eyes open for other opportunities
- Take advantage of opportunities as they arise
Speed Round
- Favorite Book: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
- Optimism index: 5 out of 5; GBA helps push necessary changes. Caveat: "We need to recognize that change and make it happen"
- Proudest accomplishments:
- Structures he designed (as structural engineer) that he can still point to today
- Success at Duffield Associates/McKim & Creed and bonds with leadership team
- What he'd change:
- Would have emphasized people/relationships earlier in career
- Less outcome-focused, more people-focused from the start
- Advice for young professionals:
- Get involved in organizations outside your company throughout your career
- Learn leadership in volunteer/non-hierarchical settings
- Build diverse networks for learning (not selling)
- Don't worry about having a grand plan - focus on what's in front of you and stay open to opportunities
Final Thoughts
- Expresses gratitude to all podcast guests for taking the risk
- Appreciates that people shared their stories despite uncertainty about how it would be received
- Selection of season one interviewees "wasn't random" but based on who was available
- Final message to listeners: Thanks core audience for sticking with the podcast
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This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:
