Employee Spotlight: Carrie Malatesta, Vice President, Interior Design

“Work hard and play hard!” That is the mantra that Carrie Malatesta lives by day-in and day-out. With more than 20 years at SHP, Carrie has built her career around thoughtful design, strong relationships, and helping the people around her succeed.

Carrie serves as Vice President of Interior Design, frequently taking on the role of Principal-in-Charge, bringing her extensive interior design experience to project leadership and client relationships. She works closely with clients and teams to guide projects toward solutions that are functional, beautiful, and meaningful. Her experience in the field and passion for what she does make her a trusted leader to our team.

“I love working with a collaborative team, including the client, to design functional and beautiful educational facilities that affect communities we all know and love,” said Carrie. “Meeting passionate educators who truly love what they do drives me to continue to improve my craft and be a better designer and manager every day.”

Throughout her career, Carrie has had the opportunity to lead and contribute to several interesting and impactful projects, including Delaware Area Career Center and the Winton Woods campus. But some of her favorite work happens beyond the projects themselves. Carrie takes pride in being a mentor and resource for the designers around her, helping them navigate challenges and grow in their careers.

If Carrie were to give all of her up-and-coming designers one piece of advice, it would be this: “Learn from everyone around you. Don’t ever stop learning! Once you do that, you’ve lost.”

At the end of her career, Carrie hopes to look back on more than just the facilities she helped bring to life. She wants to remember the people she worked alongside, the relationships she built with colleagues and clients, and the opportunities she had to help others grow. But most importantly, she wants to look back and remember all the fun she’s had along the way.

And that leads us to the “play” aspect of her approach to life! In her spare time, Carrie loves to spend time with her friends and family, especially her amazing nieces and nephews. She also enjoys going out on the town with her husband. Basically, if it involves socializing with other people, this social butterfly will be there with bells on.

“I love to go to concerts and on weekend trips with my husband Dan, which also typically involves food! I love food,” said Carrie. “I also love to volunteer in my historic neighborhood and plan fundraising events for the Hamilton Boys and Girls Club. But I am most proud of the fact that I have become quite the crazy cat lady!”