Monica Guinn

I attribute my success to dedication. There's no other way around it. There's just that extra effort that us as women have to put into everything we do, especially in an industry like this, because I'm a woman, I'm young, I am Mexican, so I come from all of these different minority groups. When you get to a place where it's people that have been working in the industry or in construction in general for years and years, you deal with people that have been in this world for 30 years, and they've been doing the same thing in the same way for a long time, and you come with new ideas. I guess the dedication and showing that you are providing a new perspective, and that it can be helpful, and trying to get not to fight it in a confrontational way, but working as a team that can, you know, at the end of the day, get us all together to the same goal. That's probably what I would attribute all the everything that I've achieved so far, just working as a team and being prepared.

The best career advice I ever received was to speak up. At first, when I moved to the U.S., I knew I know how to do things, but the point was to prove everybody that I could do it, so I would be taking meetings and just staying quiet the whole time, and at the end of the meeting, sending out an email with my feedback or my comments instead of actively participating in the meeting. I started to hear this advice from my supervisor at the time, who is the one that gave me that first job, the first opportunity here in the U.S., which I'm very grateful for. He told me, Monica, I know you know, and you can participate in the meeting, these points that you have are very good, you just have to speak up during the meeting so that other people can see that you can do it, that you're ready to take on more responsibilities. I feel like that was a big one for me, because I was intimidated because of my accent, and because I didn't know if I was providing a good point of view of the meeting. But when he told me, even if it's bad, I mean, it's very good what you're showing, but even if it's bad, the point is to put yourself out there, and participate, and make yourself more comfortable within the team, and that way people will start asking for your opinions as well.

I would say first, be prepared, yes, but don't be afraid and intimidated, because I was at the very beginning of my career. Trust that you know, and put yourself out there as well. Especially in a world that's male-dominated, they're always going to try to speak over you. If you have to interrupt, you have to do it, and I don't do it to be rude or anything, but we can't just stay in the corner, quiet the whole meeting, or make yourself known and participate. It is intimidating when you're the only woman in a meeting with 30, 40 guys, and you're the only one there as a lady. You have to speak up.

I would say that it's a mostly male-dominated industry. Right now, I'm a subcontract manager, but it's taking me a lot of work, and actually being here on site and proving myself every day, going into meetings prepared, and making sure that I know my topics and I have my data accurate, because I need to prove to everybody there that I deserve a place on the table, and that I have something to say, and that my opinions are valued. I've gotten to that point, so I'm very proud of that. After just, what, a year that I've been there on-site, I've earned my spot, and I feel like right now, I'm working directly with the project director, which makes me very happy that he trusts in my capabilities, and that I will provide a hand on whatever he needs, and that he can trust the data I provide.

I would say dedication is most important to me. Organization is one of the major ones, and people know that I can keep everything in line, because it's very easy to get messy, even in my professional career, but even in my house. I try to keep everything in line where I can just grab and go. Everything has a place. My motto is no mess, no stress. Teamwork is another big value for me. I don't think that we, as an individual, can make anything work. I guess you might bring the ideas, but without the team working with you, then we cannot accomplish anything. Getting to a place and first making the connections and creating your team or your community within work is important. Even if a lot of people see the job as just going to do my thing, in and out, and not creating those relationships, to me, it's the complete opposite. You get somewhere, and you first create the relationships, and then you figure out what everybody's doing. Because you don't know if when you need a relationship to be created, it's already too late. So I think that you first create that introduction, you say hi to everybody, and maybe they see you as I don't know who's this lady that's just crazy and trying to be friendly, but then when they understand what your role is, and that you're trying to work together, then it'll be easier to get their support. Teamwork and creating a family in your job as well is very important to me.