Elizabeth Lafontant

I would say my parents had a lot to do with shaping my personality and my work ethic. I had a lot of structure from my parents at home, and that helped me kind of structure all the things that I was learning, all the things that I wanted to do in life. It helps to have a good balance and to find a way to maintain my peace even when things go out of control. My high school also played a big role - I went to an all-girl school and they were always encouraging us to be the best version of ourselves, to be go-getters. They helped me shape a lifestyle where I'm not just an architect focused on my work - I try to make sure I check on my team, I try to do the right thing by people. The way of life they taught me, trying to be nice to everybody, I think it's a lifestyle. They helped me in shaping this. I don't take no for an answer. I will try over and over and over again.

The best career advice I received was when I was working on a project and struggling to get something done. My boss said, 'Elizabeth, you may have all the good intentions in the world, all that matters is that you deliver.' He told me that in life, it doesn't matter - you may mean well, you may have all the good intentions, but you have to act. You have to get things done. And it's true, it pushes you. There will be some cases where there's nothing you can do, but I really don't take no for an answer. I will try over and over and over again.

I would say you have to take a minute to learn about yourself. You have to learn what do you really want in life, because there's so many stereotypes, there's so many ways that they define what women have to do, what women have to be, what women have to look like. You have to choose yourself first. My dad told me one time, 'We don't live for society, but we live in society.' That means that, okay, I will be presentable when I show up, I will look my best, I will perform and do my best at everything that I do. But I will not go to a point where I'm gonna show up with a Louis Vuitton bag because I'm trying to get people's attention to feel like I have more value. I have to make sure I keep track of who I am, I have to keep track of myself. And doing that, you will succeed, and you'll be happy in life.

The biggest challenge I would say is that construction is still dominated by men. I think that sometimes it can become a challenge, although I don't really let it affect me, but it's just about adapting to different environments. Another challenge is that sometimes people forget or underestimate the aspect in construction of workforce management. Knowing the technical aspect is good, but knowing how to work with people is very important. This is how you get the project done. You have to learn how to work with people with different personalities and how to get the best out of them, how to make them perform their best. At the same time, the fact that construction is still dominated by men is also an opportunity, because since there are not that many women, if a woman joins the construction field, there are women that have been there that will help you. There are some projects where you have companies that are minority-owned, women-owned, and there are different programs that are there to support and encourage women to get more in that field. It's an opportunity to learn, it's an opportunity to grow. I think that women are totally capable, and they have a lot to bring into that field.

I would say the most important thing is to not lose track of the values that my parents gave me as a compass. That means always being respectful, do the right thing, just being a decent person. Not cheating to try to get your way to where you want - find a way to work smart and just do the right thing. In the middle of all this, not to lose yourself. Always respect people, respect yourself, all this stuff.