Meet the Team: Erin Murphy, AIA
Erin Murphy is an architect by training, a project manager by nature, and someone who has always been more interested in making the work work than agonizing over the last design detail.
As AVEC’s Senior Management Consultant and Director of Operational Strategy, Erin helps firms untangle the operational questions that can make growth complicated: how teams are structured, how work flows, where processes break down, and what needs to change as a firm evolves. And because she works with multiple firms at once, she has a particularly interesting vantage point on the AEC industry—often spotting patterns before they feel like patterns to anyone else.
We caught up with Erin to talk about why she doesn’t miss architectural design, what she’s learned from working across architecture, landscape architecture, and planning firms, and how someone with a healthy competitive streak is coping with a son who can hold a five-minute plank.
As an architect, do you miss design?
Short answer - no. The long answer is that I haven’t designed an architectural project since the Great Recession, so I am incredibly rusty at this point. If I look back at my career, and even my thesis project, I am a project manager by nature. I have always strived to meet deadlines with complete work and more hours of sleep than most of my colleagues. Today, most of my design work happens in Miro through organizational designs or operational flowcharts, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What do you find most unique about your firm and services?
As an architect, I have enjoyed learning about landscape architecture and planning firms and seeing how they are similar and different from architecture firms. My favorite part of my role is working with multiple firms at the same time, and a good day involves helping 4-5 firms work through a pressing issue. It still surprises me when I see trends with my clients. I just need one firm to say they need to hire, and it is very likely that one or two more firms will also tell me that week that they need an updated job ad.
Share a moment of pride or accomplishment from your professional journey.
Fun fact - I was the first in my Syracuse University undergraduate class to earn my architectural license (did I mention I’m competitive?) but yet have never stamped a set of drawings. I still maintain my New York state license because I will always be an architect at heart, but sometimes I need the license to prove it.
Can you share a hobby or talent that people might be surprised to learn about you?
I’m no athlete (minus the one marathon that I ran) but I’m learning how to be a sports mom. I spend my evenings and weekends at hockey, baseball, basketball, flag football, and cross country events. Luckily, my son inherited my competitive nature rather than my coordination. I can still beat him at Top Golf, but am on a mission to beat him at planks. My respectable 90-second plank was nothing compared to his 5 minutes.
What’s the most adventurous thing you've ever done, and would you do it again?
I went to Trapeze School for an afternoon and attempted to swing through the air and catch the hands of the instructor. I put on a brave face for the class, but climbing the very tall ladder and closing my eyes to jump off the platform definitely confirmed that I have a fear of heights. I also think that construction elevators are the scariest part of a construction site, and have been known to walk down as many flights as necessary to get back to ground level while working in Manhattan.
If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
I would happily travel anywhere without an ice arena or 6am game time.
The People Behind the Work
Erin may spend her days helping AEC firms solve complex operational challenges, but off the clock, juggling logistics doesn't exactly stop. With a son involved in hockey, baseball, basketball, flag football, and cross country, she’s become a self-described sports mom—though the competitive streak is entirely her own. (She can still beat him at Top Golf. The five-minute plank remains a work in progress…)
