About

Marketing operations runs in my blood — literally

I'm a third-generation AEC industry worker. My dad and grandfather both built careers in construction, and I still have cousins in the industry today. I didn't choose AEC so much as grow up inside it — so when I eventually found my way into marketing, it made sense that I'd end up back in this world, just approaching it from a different angle.

I'm Julie Huval, FSMPS, CPSM — owner of Marketing Operations Advisor, and for over 20 years, an AEC marketing and business development leader.

How I found marketing operations

My career didn't start in marketing operations — it started in the trenches of AEC business development. I've worked as an HR representative at an engineering research organization, a business development assistant at a civil engineering firm, a marketing coordinator managing RFQ and RFP responses at an engineering firm, and a marketing director running concurrent BD programs across an architecture firm and a joint venture.

Somewhere along the way, I noticed a pattern: I wasn't just good at doing marketing — I loved building the systems, processes, and people infrastructure that made marketing actually work. When I asked myself what I genuinely enjoyed doing every single day, the honest answer wasn't campaigns or creative. It was operations — the structure underneath the strategy.

Owning a revenue number

(which almost never happens in AEC)

That realization crystallized during my 12 years leading marketing at a construction technology company, where I served as Head of Marketing and a member of the leadership team.

I owned a revenue number. In AEC, that's still rare for a marketing leader — most marketing functions are measured on activity, not outcomes. But when you're accountable for revenue, you approach the entire function differently: what you invest in, what you cut, what you report on, how you talk to leadership.

Over my tenure, our marketing efforts sourced 46% of the company's annual revenue and contributed to 26% year-over-year growth. I built and led a fully remote team of seven across content, communications, events, and digital strategy — and I learned firsthand what it actually takes to connect marketing activity to business results, not just claim the connection exists.

That experience is the foundation of everything I do now as a consultant.

Why I went independent

In 2024, I launched Marketing Operations Advisor to bring that same discipline — systems, process, accountability, revenue-connected thinking — to more AEC firms than I could ever reach from inside a single company. Most AEC firms don't have a dedicated marketing operations function at all; marketing and BD often run on instinct, spreadsheets, and whoever's been there longest. I help firms build the infrastructure that turns that into something measurable, repeatable, and tied to actual growth.

Credentials and industry involvement

FSMPS (Fellow) and CPSM (Certified Professional Services Marketer), Society for Marketing Professional Services
Past Chapter President, SMPS Dallas (now SMPS North Texas)
MBA, The University of Texas at Arlington
Certificate in Professional Services Leadership, University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
BA in Journalism & Environmental Studies, Baylor University
Recognized with SMPS Dallas's Marketing Hall of Fame, Presenter of the Year, and Pacesetter awards

I speak regularly at industry conferences — including the ACEC Annual Convention, Amplify AEC, DBIA, and TEXO — on marketing operations, business growth strategy, and technology in the built environment.