Heidi Gerke

I attribute my success to people believing in me and giving me the chance. Having people who trusted in my abilities and were willing to give me opportunities has been absolutely key to where I am today. That support and belief from others has allowed me to grow and develop in this field, even though my background wasn't traditional for construction and safety work.

The best career advice I've ever received is to make yourself invaluable by learning as much as you can. This advice has really guided my approach to my career. I've taken it to heart by continuously expanding my knowledge and skills, whether it's through developing new training programs, learning about different aspects of construction safety, or drawing on my diverse background in education and the military. By constantly learning and growing, I've been able to build real value and make myself an essential resource for the people I work with.

My advice to young women entering this industry is to find what you love and go for it, no matter what anybody says. Keep trying things until you find that one thing that just makes you inquisitive and makes you want to show up every day early and makes you want to ask questions. Don't let anybody hold you back or discourage you from doing anything. Just do it. If you want to do it, just do it. And remember, you're not stuck just swinging a hammer or taking measurements or cutting boards or gluing something down. You can be the foreman, you can be the superintendent, you can be the project manager, the estimator, the owner. Once women know that they can do anything that they actually want to do, I don't think anything's gonna hold them back.

I would say the biggest challenges facing young women entering this space are honestly a lot in their own minds. It's about how they're stepping into it, thinking 'oh, the guys are gonna be rough on me, or they're gonna expect X, Y, and Z,' instead of going into it as a clean slate and taking the guys for who they are and how they present. It's kind of what the females are putting on the guys - they're projecting and prejudging. So they've got to kind of get out of their own way and just do the job. Everybody's there to do a job. Learn where you can, and realize that you're not limited. Their own preconceptions are pretty much the main obstacle. The contractors I talk with and work with, if you want to do it, just do it.

The values that are most important to me, both professionally and personally, are family and trust. These two values really guide everything I do. Family keeps me grounded and reminds me what I'm working for, and trust is absolutely essential in my work - whether it's the trust that people have placed in me by believing in me and giving me chances, or the trust I need to build with the contractors and workers I train and work with on job sites. Without trust, none of the safety work I do would be effective.