Influential Woman · Commercial Construction

Noeleen Traut

VP of Internal Operations, Concept Commercial Construction

Mesa, AZ

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Member RG Network Member International Society of Female Professionals

Her Story

About Noeleen

My career journey has taken me from South Africa to the United States, where I've built a fulfilling role in commercial construction. I spent 12 years working for an engineering company in South Africa before my family and I moved abroad 10 years ago, first to Seattle and then to Arizona 5 years ago. When we first arrived in Seattle, I stayed home with my small kids for a while and then worked part-time at a doctor's office. After moving to Arizona, I had planned to start my own South African business, but as a people person, I knew I couldn't sit at home without knowing anyone. I put my resume out there and got a call from Chris, my current boss at Concept. He needed someone in estimating to help with admin-type work, so I started in October. By January, he recognized I needed to do something more and promoted me to office manager. Now, as VP of Internal Operations since January 2026, I handle a wide range of responsibilities including HR, insurance, marketing, our Procool project management system, sales support, and estimating. I step in wherever we have shortcomings and help run processes across the company. I recently ran our entire company expo and am actively involved in team-building initiatives. My boss also got me into the RG network, where I meet weekly with a business group across America and monthly with another group. I'm the only woman among 5 guys in my weekly group, and the network has been instrumental in helping me grow in business, especially through the connections I've made at the annual Phoenix conference. What I love most about my work is building relationships with clients and being trustworthy so they can get everything they need out of their projects. We have a lot of repeat customers, which shows the value of the relationships we build.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Noeleen

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say to get as far ahead in your career as you would like to get before you have children, if you one day want to have them. As a very hands-on, involved mom, I've learned that when you have children, each woman gets a setback regardless of whether you go back to work after 2 months or whatever. There's still that part of you that is drawn to home, you know? It doesn't matter what career path you're in. If there's somebody that needs to go to the doctor or take off, 90% of the time it's the woman that's doing that. So if you have these ambitions as a young girl, try and reach them as far as possible before you start out with the family.

02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I would say finding new clients is our biggest challenge. Let's face it, everybody wants to go with the cheapest type of offer they get to be able to build or change something, whether it's in any construction or housing. Construction is a difficult thing because when you say you're in construction, people are just not always honest and trustworthy. One of our main things is building relationships and being trustworthy so the client can trust us and get everything that he needs out of the project that he wants. Our biggest challenge is finding the new client, but we've got a lot of repeat customers, so when we do get involved with clients, they always come back, which is really nice for us. I would just like to contribute by getting a lot of new business.

03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Happiness is an important factor for me, because a lot of people aren't happy in what they do, and I'm happy where I am. In my personal life, my kids are my priority. I put my career goals aside when I left South Africa because they needed me the most. Right now, my main ambition is to get my kids set up with life, getting my eldest into college and supporting my youngest who wants to go work for Caterpillar and do internships. I'm a very hands-on, involved mom, and most of my time and energy is spent with them. The people that I do have here in Arizona are really my support system, and I like to spend time with them when I have the time. At work, building relationships and being trustworthy are core values. We want the client to be able to trust us and get everything they need out of their projects.

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