4). Infrastructure and parking are historically male-led sectors and industries. How have you overcome this status quo and addressed the challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, I believe I was born confident. I was brought up in a loving household where I always felt safe. My parents told me I could do anything and everything, and I believed them. But, it is a little bit emotional, especially in the media, seeing the female Vice President. She’s going to inspire thousands of young women to think bigger and broader about what they might do.
Ultimately, I think confidence is key. It’s what has allowed me to work in an industry where I never had female mentors. Historically, I haven’t been that interested in talking about inequality. I preferred, in the past, to sit at the table, do the work, be a strong leader, and just inch myself in there. In the future, I do hope that I can inspire women, and especially younger women, to think more broadly about what they might do.
5). What advice would you give to aspiring female leaders to help them reach leadership roles?
Number one, embrace confidence. Don’t let yourself get stuck in moments of fear or scrutiny. I have had plenty of moments where I’ve felt that I wasn’t being listened to or taken seriously. It’s not constructive to get stuck on those moments. At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge fear and translate it to excitement and energy. And the goal is to compartmentalize the fear in a way that doesn’t allow it to consume in any negative way.
Because when you boil it down, that’s what we’re talking about: fear. Can I work in this field? Can I do a big project? Yeah, I think we all can, and we just have to overcome this obstacle in our minds.
6). What do you think companies should be doing to help to challenge the status quo and encourage workplace diversity for the next generation of leadership?
Of course, it’s important to have women in key roles. But also important, in this cultural moment, I don’t know that we are embracing our working folks as much as we could be. Often in my projects, I’ve seen a company create a mission, or create what they think will be their culture, and then that doesn’t connect very well with those who actually perform the work. So, what I’ve enjoyed about many of my projects is that I’ve been able to bridge that idea of what a company wants to be versus what actually is happening with the worker.
I feel strongly that middle management is so important because we need to embrace those who are working for us. We should help them feel safe and help them want to be the best that they possibly can in the work environment. In doing so, we’ll see more women rise up by embracing our folks better. It’s a real gap in my experience, so I hope we can do better in the future.
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