Anything you can do…

Back when I started in this business, I had very few women counterparts or females in the construction business world to look up to and aspire to be like because of the sheer lack of numbers.  It felt very lonely and very much like I was on an island, population one. There were plenty of great men around who were successful and ran amazing construction businesses, however, none of which I could lean on for advice seeing as though I was not one of them.

The issues I had evaded them completely and they never crossed their minds. How do you walk onto a job site and command respect as a woman? How do you do the same back at your shop with your crew? Can I be tough enough out there and yet soft enough at home to nurture my friends and family? It’s a tough dichotomy to navigate. One that men conveniently do not have to struggle with as often as women do in this industry.

Now I look around and am surrounded by tons of successful women! Owners, designers, engineers, laborers, superintendents. It’s amazing! All walking around thinking and feeling the same things I have thought and felt throughout my career. Yet here we are, overcoming them and the insecurities that accompany them. That is strength and progress all in one!

Currently our city’s mayoral election will come down to a runoff between two black women. If the island was ever abandoned for a progressive village, the time is definitely now!