Her Story
About Charlotte
I transitioned into the electrical trades about a year ago after working as an educator, and it has been probably the best move I have made. I am currently a lead for a prefabrication shop at Enterprise Electrical in San Antonio, where I help facilitate the learning process for new apprentices coming into the field. I show them how to use certain tools, teach them what they need to know before they go out into the field, and help them develop the skills they will need to succeed. My team pre-builds components that support those working out in the field, helping us meet deadlines on projects like the Goodwill building we are currently working on downtown San Antonio. Drawing on my teaching background, I am able to ask the right questions to support each apprentice's learning process, and I can identify when someone is having a bad day or struggling with something, so I can talk to them, figure out what is going on, and determine what we need to do to help them learn better or accommodate their needs. One of the biggest challenges in my field is managing the diverse community of apprentices who all come from different backgrounds and have different personalities, and making sure we all realize we are on the same team with the same goals, while keeping nerves from getting too high and preventing any aggression from coming out.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Charlotte
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think my success comes from my teaching background, which helps me understand how to ask the right questions to support the learning process. If an apprentice is having a bad day or struggling with something, I can talk to them and try to figure out what is going on, and then see what we need to do in order to help them learn much better or what we can do to accommodate them. Being able to connect with people on that level and understand their individual needs has been key to my effectiveness in this role.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I have received is to not give up and to focus on your work ethic. Work ethic, I think, is the most important part, and also to have a good attitude, because not every day is going to be a good day, and not everything is going to go the way that you intend it to go, especially if bad weather happens or if people get sick. It is just always good to have a really great attitude, or come with a great attitude, and then just work as hard as you can. That is what will get you really far, and it just shows your merit. A lot of people do see that, even if you think they don't.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my field is managing the diverse community that we have with all of our apprentices. Everyone comes from a different background and has a different personality, and it is important to make sure that we all realize we are all on the same team and we all have the same goals. We need to try to make sure that nerves don't get too high and that no aggression comes out by any means. As for opportunities, there are so many avenues to go down in the electrical trades. If you don't want to be out in the field or a job site foreman, you can always be a project manager. You can do BIM, which is pretty much creating blueprints and giving them to the project managers who give them to the field foreman. You can also just be a VP, or you can create your own company. There are just so many avenues to go in the trades in itself, especially electrical.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me professionally are integrity, honesty, and just showing up. These principles guide how I approach my work and interactions with my team every day.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.