Dominique Papa

Honestly, my work ethic, my energy, my confidence, and my ability to talk to pretty much anyone.

Someone at a conference recently told me I was probably one of the hardest working women he had ever met, and that I was a little intimidating. He said that for three days straight, every time he saw me I was at my booth or somewhere talking to someone different. I was there early every morning and usually the last person to leave. That really describes me. I don't wait for someone to come up and start a conversation with me. I walk up, introduce myself, and start it myself. I'm extremely extroverted, I'm bubbly, and I genuinely love talking to people. But I've also learned how to understand my audience. I know who my client is, what matters to them, how to direct the conversation, and when it's time to stop talking and listen. I think a lot of my success comes from that combination. I work really hard, I know what I bring to the table, and I'm not afraid to walk into a room and introduce myself.

I actually didn't have a mentor or someone giving me career advice. A lot of what I've learned has come from experience and watching what other businesses did right and, probably even more importantly, what they did wrong. Before starting my own company, I worked as a subcontractor and got to see firsthand how much the way you treat people affects your business. I learned very quickly what kind of boss I didn't want to be. The people working for you are helping build your company too. I want the people who work with me to be excited about their job, feel appreciated, get paid fairly, and actually want to work with me again. So I guess the best career advice I ever received wasn't really advice. It was paying attention. You can learn a lot by watching other people, taking what works, leaving what doesn't, and deciding what kind of leader you want to be.

Confidence. Seriously.

Walk into the room like you belong there because you do. Know your industry, know your business, know what you're talking about, and don't be afraid to speak up. I work in drones, construction, engineering, inspections, and amusement rides. There aren't always a lot of women in the rooms I'm walking into, and I've learned that confidence makes such a difference. You can't walk in questioning whether you deserve a seat at the table and expect everyone else to believe that you do. You don't have to act like everyone else in the industry either. I think being myself has actually been one of my biggest advantages. I'm bubbly, I'm outgoing, I'm feminine, I'm confident, and I know my stuff. None of those things have to cancel each other out. Be yourself, know your value, and don't be afraid to be the woman everyone remembers when you leave the room.

I think one of the biggest opportunities right now is that technology is changing inspections so quickly, and we're only at the beginning of what drones and new inspection technology can do. A huge part of what I do is walking into industries that have done something the same way for decades and showing them that there's another option. We can use drones to reach places that are difficult or dangerous for people to access, collect incredibly detailed data, build 3D models, document changes over time, and give inspectors and maintenance teams another tool to do their jobs more safely and efficiently. The challenge is getting people comfortable with something new. That's where confidence comes in again. When you're introducing technology people haven't used before, you have to understand it well enough to explain it simply and believe in it enough to stand behind it. For me, that's also the exciting part. I get to be part of changing how these industries think about inspections.

Respect, loyalty, good morals, and remembering the people who believed in you before you had anything to show for it. When you first start a business, there are people who help you simply because they believe in you. They make an introduction, give you advice, take a chance on you, help you figure something out, or support an idea that hasn't made any money yet. I actually keep a list of those people. I want to get to a point where I can go back to every one of them and say, "You believed in me four years ago when I was trying to build this thing, and I didn't forget about you." I never want success to make me forget the people who helped me get there. I think how you treat people when you don't need anything from them says a lot about who you are.