It’s a busy time for the renowned firm, which is overseeing the design process for renovations to St. Louis Lambert International Airport. With more than three decades in the design industry, Hoisington shares this advice: “Stay humble, and learn to accept criticism with grace. Innovating, creating, and building is a cycle that feeds off the willingness to accept that you might not be right all the time. Understand that success is a series of wins and losses. Learn from loss, but don’t let it define you. And effort matters. The most rewarding moments often happen well into the problem-solving process, not at its outset.”
2026 QUESTIONNAIRE
What advice would you give to the next generation of St. Louis entrepreneurs or leaders? I have three lessons I’d share from my nearly 30-year career:
- 1. Stay humble, and learn to accept criticism with grace. Innovating, creating, and building—whether it’s a product, concept, or business—is a cycle that feeds off the willingness to accept that you may be right all the time.
- 2. Understand that success is a series of wins and losses. In our business of design and construction, even if you’re at the top of your game, you will likely lose twice as many project proposals as you win. Learn from loss, but don’t let it define you.
- 3. Effort matters. The most rewarding moments often happen well into the problem-solving process, not at its outset. Research, hustle and hard work plant the seeds for future success. I advise people in our firm to always draw the bad idea. Let it teach you to narrow your focus.
What’s a risk you took in business that didn’t pan out—but taught you something valuable? Attempting to jump into a new market without doing enough research or critical assessment of our ability to secure work in that vertical. In other words, trying to fish in a big pond with little bait. My approach to new business lines and verticals is now much more measured and less ‘jump in and figure it out.’
What do you do when you’re feeling stuck or uninspired? Long bicycle rides are my meditation. There’s something about the rhythm of 20 or 30 miles of riding and being outdoors that unlocks whatever I’m stuck on.
Who in your company (or industry) deserves more recognition for their impact? In our industry, the contribution of skilled tradespeople should be highlighted more. They are rarely on the podium for the ribbon-cutting or quoted in the press release, but their impact on project delivery is invaluable. My first experience in the building industry was working construction jobs during my college summers. My early mentors were the bricklayers, ironworkers and carpenters I met then. These craftspeople could take an idea and turn it into something enduring and beautiful. They also helped me understand the importance of good design, and why something that looks good on paper might not work in the real world. I still think of them today whenever I design a new building or space.
What’s a local organization, nonprofit, or initiative that more people should know about—and why? The nonprofit Home Sweet Home is doing important work. They take lightly used furniture and household item donations and use them to furnish homes for people transitioning from a challenging time. Their work is particularly relevant this year as our community continues to recover from the devastating tornado.
2025 QUESTIONNAIRE
PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
What has you most excited about the future of your company or industry? I am most excited about what we don’t know. That may sound odd, but in a creative industry, the process of discovery is what is most fulfilling. There are so many questions to explore. What does ‘work’ look like in 10 years? How will changing business needs, technology and mobility impact travel? As medicine becomes more personalized, will going to the doctor remain the same? Solving new challenges is what most excites me about the future of design.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why? I would change our licensure requirements to include a requirement to not just engage in construction from an administrative perspective, but to actually build something. The challenges that would come with this idea would probably preclude it from ever happening. However, there are few things as impactful as the time I’ve spent working in the trades, learning in a truly hands-on fashion what it means to build, not just design.
What’s the toughest business challenge you’ve had to overcome (excluding the pandemic) and why? For a global firm like HOK, navigating rapidly changing markets and geo-political shifts is always a challenge. An easy solution would be to just focus on the places and building types that have been the most successful. The harder route is one of patience, temperance and a long game, knowing challenges come and go. How to thread that needle while maintaining a successful company is a real challenge and an important one to take on.
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MENTORS & PEERS
To whom or where do you go for sound business advice? I am surrounded by incredible talent in my co-CEO Susan Klumpp Williams (based in Washington, D.C.) and my many partners on HOK’s Executive Committee. As a leader, I acknowledge that A) I don’t know everything, but B) I also know that within my leadership team there is someone who has the experience to give sound advice for nearly any question.
Do you have a business mentor? If so, who and why? Tom Robson, our COO, has sat a few steps away from my office for the last 10 years. Stopping by his office to chat about architecture and the business of running a large firm has taught me more than anything else. Tom has seen and done pretty much everything you could imagine in a career and has the willingness to share his knowledge and experiences, if you take the time to listen.
What piece of advice has had the most significant impact on your career? Two stories come to mind. First, a good friend once heard me run through a presentation with a script and a second time without one. He told me that even though I missed a point or two, I was more my true self and delivered a stronger message the second time around. His words of wisdom stuck with me: “I won’t remember what you said in detail tomorrow morning, but I will remember how you made me feel.” A second story is from the first CEO I worked with early in my career. He told me, “Remember every time you head into a board or a committee that sometimes the votes will be 10-1, and the 1s will carry the day. In this profession, you have to be OK with knowing that you did everything right and still lose.”
If you could have dinner with any two area business leaders, who would you choose and why? I’d love to sit down and talk about the ability for arts and music to impact our communities and ways we can further help that happen. A dinner with Vanessa Cooksey from the Regional Arts Commission and Andrew Jorgensen from OTSL would be a pretty amazing conversation for me and my wife, as we have always supported and believed in the power of art and music.
What is one thing you would change about the St. Louis metro area business environment and why? I would love to instill more optimism into our community and then focus on building up a stronger outward PR narrative about our city and region. I have lived here for a decade, and I still find myself discovering new, amazing things about St. Louis. It’s important to have the hard yet constructive discussions that must occur to improve our region, then bring solutions to the table. Let’s show people the hundreds of reasons to say yes to building a home and business here.
BACKGROUND
Where were you born? Hanover, New Hampshire. I grew up in a quintessential Northeastern small town just north of that in Meredith, NH.
What was your childhood aspiration? I dreamed of being an astronaut, going to space camp, and learning to fly. It didn’t quite work out that way!
What was your first job, and what did you learn from it? My first real job was working on a farm. I learned two things: 1) the value and pride that comes from a hard day’s work, and 2 the importance of marketing as I was given a chance to get into the front-of-house side of the farm and work with customers.
What educational degrees do you hold, and where were they earned? I hold a five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree from Syracuse University.
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
If you were not in your current profession, what would you be doing and why? Medicine, and ideally orthopedics. In college I was pursuing the early credits needed for pre-medicine. Later I had to choose between that and finishing architecture. If not in my current role, I would have absolutely pursued that other passion.
What is your favorite St. Louis-area restaurant, and what do you typically order there? Sidney Street Café. I have yet to try anything on their menu I haven’t enjoyed.
What is one item you recently crossed off your bucket list? A trip to Scotland to explore family roots and history tied back to local clans and their tartans. It was something I have always wanted to do, and I was blessed to be able to have my family there with me.
What is one book you think everyone should read (or podcast everyone should listen to) and why? Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s a quick and engaging read that dives into the biological reasons behind why the instinctual aspects of leadership happen and have merit.
What’s your hobby/passion? Cycling. It’s an activity that gives precious time to think, almost meditative, and keeps me healthy.
What is your most prized possession? My time. The most precious thing I have right now is small windows of time here and there that aren’t scheduled or planned out.
What would people be surprised to learn about you—a fun fact? I was a three-sport varsity athlete in high school and played at the national level for AAU basketball in the U-13s age group.
What is your go-to karaoke song? “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi. But it’s got to be pretty late in the evening for that to happen.
