Introduction
Adam Hawthorne, who works in business development at Choate Construction Company, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast. Both grew up building careers on relationships in Charlotte, and the conversation follows that thread from Adam's early jobs and a construction engineering degree at NC State to ten years on job sites and a move into business development.
It is a practical discussion about how a general contractor earns trust, how to build a pipeline without selling, and why Adam believes that all we have in this world is relationships.
About the Episode
Adam grew up in Charlotte and spent summers renovating apartments for a friend's father and watching his own father in the ready-mix concrete business. At NC State he studied construction engineering and began an internship with Choate that turned into a career. He says his degree proved he could be taught, but real learning came from working with excellent superintendents. He recalls a first project in Winston-Salem, then ten years as an assistant superintendent and superintendent, and later travel across the country as an assistant project manager, where different soils meant different ways of building.
Jack compares his experience as an immigrant who rebuilt his network through work. The two exchange views on business development, for example the idea of buying money in the marketplace: choosing clients whose relationship is worth the cost. Adam describes Choate, now 100 percent employee owned, with seven offices, strong repeat business and a safety program called One Life that asks people to look beyond schedules and remember why they work.
They close with advice for young professionals, a recommendation for The Go-Giver, and Jack's favorite podcast.
Key Takeaways
- Learn in the field: time on a job site teaches the language of construction and problem solving that no class covers.
- Business development is long problem solving: the problems are the same as a superintendent's, but the cycle can last years.
- Give first: time and information are the main currencies, and value shared without expectation tends to come back.
- Choose relationships, not project size: a small project can be worth it if the client relationship is worth investing in.
- Repeat work is the proof: about 85 percent of Choate's business comes from repeat relationships.
- Ownership shapes culture: becoming employee owned kept the company's family-minded, people-first approach intact.
- Safety is about people: no schedule or building is worth a worker's finger, hand, eye or life.
Highlights from the Conversation
Spend time in the field and give of yourself as much as you can while still getting your job done.
Adam Hawthorne
Don't discount the importance of hard work because there is no shortcut.
Adam Hawthorne
My strategy is I always say life gives to the giver and takes from the taker.
Jack Ossa
Topics Discussed
- Growing up in Charlotte and the value of long relationships
- Construction engineering and learning from superintendents
- Building across different regions and soil types
- Business development without a hard sell
- Choate's employee ownership and culture
- Dealerships, motorsports, industrial, healthcare and mixed-use projects
- The One Life safety program
- Advice for young professionals in construction
Why This Conversation Matters
Design teams and builders succeed together when they trust each other, and this episode shows how a general contractor thinks about long relationships, safety and repeat work. That trust is part of how we deliver architecture projects, from industrial buildings such as eFactor 3 to office and industrial work such as First in Flight. For owners, it is a reminder that the right builder and designer should be chosen for the relationship as well as the price.
About the Guest
Adam Hawthorne is on the business development team at Choate Construction Company, a general contractor that is 100 percent employee owned and works mainly in the southeastern United States. Born and raised in Charlotte, he studied construction engineering at NC State, started at Choate as an intern, and spent about ten years as a superintendent and assistant superintendent before moving into project management and business development.
Connect with Adam Hawthorne on LinkedIn | Visit Choate Construction Company
