Her Story
About Kritika
Kritika Patel is an MEP Manager and Coordinator at BNBuilders with over nine years of experience in the construction industry, with a focus on life science projects. She earned her bachelor's degree in civil engineering in India, where she worked for two years, before pursuing a master's degree in civil engineering and construction project management at San Jose State University. Her professional journey began at The CORE Group, where her first project involved building a clean room, and continued at BNBuilders, where she has advanced into MEP coordination and management roles on high-impact projects. She attributes her success in part to her background in team sports like volleyball, which instilled teamwork, leadership, and a 'fail fast' mindset, and she values conscientiousness and dedicating time for creative problem-solving in her work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kritika
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to playing team sports like volleyball since childhood, which built my character, taught me communication, teamwork, leadership, and how to handle high-stress environments and tough opponents. It ingrained in me not to be afraid of failure and to live by the motto 'fail fast' - learning from small failures to implement remediation and achieve success.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
As an Indian woman in a male-dominated construction industry, I advise not being the loudest voice in the room but the most prepared. Preparation is key when walking into a meeting. Being extra prepared than others reflects in your voice and earns respect, shifting from people not considering your voice to them looking forward to your feedback.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Consciousness is one thing I live by - wanting to do right with people. Being conscientious is important. From a career perspective, consciously creating time to be creative, like scheduling blocks on Mondays for thinking and pondering to solve problem statements at work. This has made immense changes in daily tasks and allows more takeaways from projects.
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