From Bureaucracy to Belonging: How Brooke Hudlemeyer Found Her Fit at Garver

After college, with my chemical engineering degree in hand, I started my role at KC Water and was primarily focused on project management. After KC Water, I wanted to dive into the weeds of design as a consultant while continuing to help my community. My new role in the consulting world pushed me into hands-on design work. It was a steep learning curve that sharpened my technical skills and broadened my perspective on project delivery. For a time, it was exactly what I needed.

Eventually, the culture changed, and the once dynamic atmosphere grew increasingly corporate and constrained. It was time for a change, and I knew what I was looking for: a strong team culture, a spirit of autonomy, and a shared mission.

That’s when I found Garver.

I saw what Garver was posting and immediately thought, “This feels different.” Then, when I was able to connect with Garver employees, I realized the project managers had the autonomy to make real-time decisions to serve their clients. And it was clear the company cared just as much about its people as it did about its projects.

That people-first culture was a game-changer. I joined Garver’s Kansas City office to help shape the growth of its Water Team. At Garver, I discovered a firm with national expertise and local roots—ready to take on major infrastructure challenges while prioritizing maintaining personal connections with our clients.

There’s so much momentum right now for the Kansas City Water Team. We’ve won some great projects, and now we’re recruiting the right people to execute them.

But it’s not just about technical qualifications. It’s about finding team members who understand the deeper mission of water infrastructure—people who are driven to bring safe drinking water to Kansas City and improve the systems that remove and treat wastewater. It’s equally important that people fit Garver’s culture. We work hard; we support each other, and we genuinely care about doing what’s right—for our clients and our communities.

Even though Garver has massive resources, it works hard to maintain a boutique firm's level of service. When I need to reach out to a technical expert, they’re never too busy to answer the phone. Everyone is accessible, and everyone is working toward the same goal.

That alignment—between mission and culture, expertise and accessibility—is what makes Garver stand out in a city dominated by engineering heavyweights.

We’re going head-to-head with the big dogs here, and we’re doing it our way. This is my city—I love all the different pockets and personalities it has to offer, and I love what Garver has to offer the city in return.