Her Story
About Maria
I have been working in construction for about 12 years now. After getting my MBA, a construction company gave me my first opportunity, and from there I realized how much I loved and enjoyed taking care of projects. This work brought all my experience together - from the legal background I had prior, to all the organization and management skills. I have a degree in law and society from UCSB, which gives me the ability to work with building and safety codes that are dealt specifically for construction. Having worked in law firms for very many years before this, it made it a little bit easier for me to read and understand codes and be able to represent clients in a way that they got what they wanted to do. In construction, I try to go above and beyond to learn and educate myself in certain things, so that when I am talking about it or I am on the field, I can have a good conversation with my team who's working and actually doing the work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Maria
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of my instructors, Pamela Claibaum, an older lady, really helped me with communication. She was one of the first ladies who actually helped me realize that no matter where you see things, there's always different perspectives, so confirming and identifying - did you hear me? Is this okay? What did you hear me say? - makes a huge difference in pretty much anything you do.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just don't limit yourself. I think that as individuals, we say no to ourselves before anybody else does. So just go out there and try and do everything. The imposter syndrome really gets to people, and it does affect women unfortunately. What I do is try to channel that by finding things that help me feel better. For me, for example, I usually will go above and beyond trying to learn or educate myself in certain things, so that when I am talking about it, or I am on the field, I can have a good conversation with my team who's working and actually doing the work. It helps me feel less of an imposter, but that feeling is definitely there for females, especially in a field like myself, where it's so male-dominated.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Definitely honesty, and being proud of what you do. It's often sometimes hard to do certain things, and just working to be proud of what you can or are part of, is a big one for me.
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