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Vice President and Principal | Guidon Design
Tim King has helped grow Guidon Design from a six-person firm (he was employee No. 6) into what is now the third-largest architecture firm, ranked by billings, in Indianapolis. As a civil engineer, he has been involved with many transformative projects, including the Julia M. Carson Transit Center, the Michigan Road branch of the Indianapolis Public Library, the DigIndy sewage tunnel, the FedEx expansion at Indianapolis International Airport, the Community Justice Campus, and Indiana University Health’s upcoming downtown hospital campus. He now leads the firm’s sales efforts. “Our reputation for design excellence is created by our ability to solve complex technical challenges with clear solutions while being responsive to how the space will impact people and their communities,” he said.
Getting here: During the Great Recession, the engineering graduate worked in his wife’s photography business and was first exposed to sales. King joined Guidon in 2012 as an engineer and seven years later took over sales and marketing. “During the downturn in 2009, everyone I knew was laid off, and I didn’t know if I would ever have a job in engineering again,” he said. “I feel grateful for the unique path that has resulted in such a fulfilling career.”
First job: His first “internship” was helping his mother, a longtime teacher in Speedway. He helped organize the classroom, put up bulletin boards and rearrange desks.
Influential moment: Watching his children run into the newly opened Michigan Road branch in 2018 and yell, “My dad built this library!” King was the civil engineer of record on the project. “To this day, that moment fills my heart with joy and embodies why I became an engineer and why I work for Guidon,” King said.
Givebacks: He volunteers with the American Heart Association, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Indiana, the faith-based leadership organization Circle City Fellows and the Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Association.
Advice: “People tend to overestimate what can be done in one year and underestimate what can be done in 10 years. Find good work and put your heart into it. You’ll be amazed what you accomplish.”•
Check out more Forty Under 40 honorees.
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