Katherine Galanos

I don't really consider myself a success. I just kind of consider myself ordinary, I guess. But if I had to say, I would attribute it to the people around me. I gave a speech a couple of years ago where I said that the people that you surround yourself with make you who you are. So it's important to surround yourself with people that you want to be like, that you admire, that you look up to, that you think of as mentors in a way. People that you can go to and ask them anything, and you know that they will lead you in the right direction. So I guess that's what I would attribute my so-called success to.

The best advice I ever received was from one of my contractor members. I was about to give a little speech and I was so nervous. He came up to me and asked if I was ready, and I said no. He told me, 'You don't need to be nervous. All you are, you're just going up there and you're just telling your story. Nobody knows your story but you. Don't be afraid to tell your story.' That made so much sense to me. You talk about what you know about. It's not like I had to memorize a speech. I was just talking from the heart. So I guess that would be it: don't be afraid to tell your story. Nobody knows your story better than you do.

I would say do not be afraid. Don't be afraid, because especially in the construction industry, there are very, very few women. And the women that are involved, they are great successes because they just don't let anything bother them. This is a man's industry that we're in, but they're not intimidated. They just know this is what they want to do, and they do it. So don't be intimidated. Don't be afraid, ask questions along the way, and if you surround yourself with the right people, they want to help you.

The biggest challenges in my field right now are companies that aren't hiring local contractors and local vendors. They'll bring people from out of state when we have plenty of great contractors here. If they would just tap into the local industry, it would be beneficial to everyone. The second challenge is workforce, finding people who actually want to come into this field. A lot of high schools are college-based. They want people to graduate and go to college. They don't want people to graduate and go to a trade school or anything like that. And there are plenty of kids out there who college is not for them. They can find a great job without going to college. There are so many skill sets they can learn how to do that don't pertain to a college education. So the biggest opportunity would be workforce. If people just wanted to come into this industry, it's very rewarding and you can be very successful.

I'm definitely very strong in my faith. Family is really the biggest value. And kindness. I mean, you can get anywhere with kindness. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar, as my grandmother used to always say. If you treat people how you want to be treated, you'll get far in places.