Q&A with TeamPMP Lisa Parrish

For nearly 30 years, Lisa Parrish has managed and produced awards shows and conferences for building industry groups around the country. She and her husband Shane manage more than 40 events every year through their company TeamPMP, he as Director of Shenanigans, and she as Chief Creative Chick. Read on, because she shares the secret to being an awardwinner!

Southern California Builder: Tell us about TeamPMP and what sets it apart.

Lisa Parrish: We are a resource to this industry. We like to be connectors who bring ideas, concepts and solutions to the industry. We do that through our awards programs and conferences, where we shine the light on solutions, ideas and concepts, so that others can learn from them. Awards programs are the megaphones for good ideas. If someone has a great idea about how to do something differently or better, we can showcase it to a larger audience to enliven professionalism and art within our industry. We share knowledge by amplifying the idea and getting it to people faster, in a brilliant, exciting and positive way.

SCB: How did you get into event management for the building industry?

LP: Back more than 50 years ago, my dad, Peter Mayer, was the publisher of Homebuyer’s Guide, and he and many others on the Sales & Marketing Council saw this wonderful creative marketing and design happening in the industry and they created the MAME Awards, “Major Achievement in Marketing Excellence”. We will be celebrating the awards’ 50th anniversary this September, with more than 40 MAME awards across the country. Peter didn’t keep that to himself; he gave it to the industry so it could be something of value, not only to the members of the Association, but also to the Association itself as membership benefit.

MAME became a full-time job, with the name PMP for Peter Mayer Productions, and 30 years ago I began working for him. Thirteen years ago, my husband and I purchased the company from my dad, and now we carry on his legacy as TeamPMP, so there’s a team in our name, with PMP at the heart of it because we have Peter in our hearts. And now our son works for us, so we have our third generation in the industry.

The term you hear today is “nepo-babies,” where people think that you got to where you are because you’re somebody’s kid. But I like to say that I am a child of the industry, that I grew up in the industry. I was immersed in it, and I found that I loved it and didn’t want to do anything else, so it was chosen, not inherited. It’s in the blood, like a positive, wonderful infection!

SCB: Besides MAME, what other TeamPMP events would people in the industry recognize?

LP: We have managed and produce the Gold Nugget Awards for PCBC for the last 30 years, and we also produce The Nationals, NAHB’s national sales and marketing award. Also, I’m one of the three founders of the Women’s Conference in Orange County, along with Joan Marcus Webb and Valerie Hardman. We now also produce the Women’s Conference for Northern California’s association, and I’ve worked on the Leader-to-Leader Conference for PCBC – so we are involved in conference planning in addition to awards banquets.

SCB: You must see some amazing entries. What is that like?

LP: It is pretty incredible. If you can imagine 18 awards programs in a year, with 400 to 1,000 entries that we are exposed to – well, we get to see the greatest new solutions and products, and the greatest people around the country. It is fascinating, and it’s really, really heartwarming to learn about all the incredible people that are in our industry – it reminds you of what an amazing industry we are. In every market, these awards programs prove that our future is very bright.

SCB: Is the industry trend towards greater diversity showing up in the awards programs you manage?

LP: Oh, yes! This is the thing that makes me so happy to see. When I first started working, the “ladies” of the industry were found in the sales office and marketing and a few other very narrow paths. Now you see women leading construction companies, leading architectural firms, and running project management on some of the biggest projects. They’re everywhere, from project managers, to superintendents, to purchasing teams, wherever you look. In some markets I see more women leading teams than there are gentlemen. It’s magnificent, and absolutely, positively this goes beyond women to diversity in every way you look at it. It doesn’t matter who you are; if you are the right person for the job and you have that “get it done” personality, then you have the job.

SCB: Beyond events, how involved have you been in the industry?

LP: Besides working for my dad, I also wanted to immerse myself in the industry and the Association, so I joined the Los Angeles/Ventura Sales & Marketing Council and worked on committees, which is how you work your way up. I was the president of the Council in LA/Ventura, and then in Orange County. I am one of only two women, Joan Webb and myself, who have won both the B.J. Stewart Women’s Achievement Award and the Max Tipton Award. It’s very meaningful to be selected by your peers for that recognition, and I’m very proud of that because those were earned by my own efforts to give back to the industry, to share, and provide knowledge, not because of my family and our business.

SCB: Do you see yourself as an influential person?

LP: If someone asked me what I want to be known for after I’m no longer here, I would like it to be my optimism, my positivity and my attitude of trying to always find a way. That’s served me more than anything else, and it’s helped me to reach people. People want to be around people who make them feel good and feel like they can get something accomplished, and that is my superpower. As for my company, we have been able to be influential by shedding light on interesting concepts and elements within the industry. Also, when we do judgings, we invite other people to collaborate and because of that we have been able to introduce many, many people to each other, so we are industry connectors as well.

SCB: What’s the secret to being an award-winner instead of an award also-ran?

LP: Desire, passion and the ability to tell your story. You have to be able to convey your desire and passion, so you can sell the judge that yours is the best. 