Ann Marie Ciaramitaro

I would definitely attribute my success to my dad. My dad didn't have boys, and I originally got into this industry working for my parents' landscape company in Houston. When my dad got really sick with hepatitis and cirrhosis, and they weren't sure if he was going to live, I moved home from Scottsdale. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and didn't know how to run the company, so I thought if anything were to happen to him, I had to figure it out. Having never been to a job site, I went out there with the guys and learned. My dad threw me into a lot of situations that I was not prepared for, that were very sink or swim. It taught me a lot of things about life and a lot of things about this industry. That's probably the biggest reason of how I am, who I am, and my ability to do my job now. I felt like that meme with the goldfish that has a shark fin strapped to it - I didn't really know what I was doing, but I just acted like I did and figured it out, because I didn't have another choice.

When I first started going out on the job sites, I was a lot younger, and there was always going to be some bias, some criticism, some ridicule from people who thought I didn't belong there just because I was a woman. What I did to overcome that in the beginning was I just worked as hard as the guys and showed them that I was right by their side and willing to do anything that they were doing, and never asked them to do anything that I wouldn't do myself. I made sure they knew we were all on the same team, and they came to respect me as a leader, even though I was a woman. Typically, it was Mexican men, and they're not the most receptive initially to a woman, and then to lead with that kind of bias when I started was really hard. But I just made sure that I outworked the guys. I tried to outwork them and became the hardest working one, so they respected that I worked just as hard as they did. You kind of have to take it with a grain of salt when you get a superintendent or somebody on a job site that doesn't think you should be there. I've had people say things like 'shouldn't you be at home with your hair dryer?' and I've had superintendents sit in their car and just watch me because they didn't like the fact that I'm a woman. But it never really bothered me too much, because by the end of the job, they came to respect me. I was the first one there and I wasn't just sitting there telling everybody what to do - I made them realize that I earned it and I knew what I was doing. It didn't really faze me, it just told me that it made them insecure and threatened them because I knew what I was doing.

I try to keep my emotions out of my decisions and make the best strategic decisions based on the information and facts that I have, as opposed to feelings. I understand that most people's criticism or frustration or outbursts really has nothing to do with me personally. I have to take a step back and realize that those people are probably experiencing the same stress I experienced in the beginning when I didn't know which way was up. Most people just want communication, reassurance, and respect. I'm comfortable in what I know and I'm comfortable in the fact that I know what I'm doing, so I don't take it personally when somebody has an outburst or starts acting hysterical on a job site, because more than likely it's not about me in the first place. If you react to somebody hysterical, reacting hysterically is not going to solve anything but intensify the situation. You have to try to step back and understand where they're coming from and what's causing them to address whatever issue it is they're having irrationally in the moment.