Patricia Fuentes, M.S.

I attribute my success to being confident and decisive in my decisions while staying true to myself. My journey started unexpectedly when I was trying to help my father find work in construction, and someone encouraged me to explore the industry for myself. Even though I began my career in social work as a family service worker, that background gave me incredibly valuable communication and interpersonal skills that have been essential in construction. This industry is very much about relationships, and everything is built on those connections. The soft skills I developed early on in social work helped me navigate this male-dominated field and build strong professional partnerships. I've learned to say yes to opportunities, but also to say no when needed and not overextend myself. Being open about what I need to help others while keeping myself in a position where I can still be effective has been key. I also make sure to review everything I submit because I have to remember everything has my name on it. It took a village to get me where I am today. Everyone has helped me every step of the way. I didn't do everything by myself. Ultimately, I had to put in the work, but I had mentors who guided me every step of the way, and I'm deeply grateful for that support.

The best career advice I ever received was to make a decision and be decisive. I also learned to always be myself and not try to be someone else. Authenticity is really important. Another piece of advice that has stuck with me is to try not to overextend myself. Learning to manage my commitments and give myself grace has been essential to maintaining balance and showing up as my best self throughout my career.

I would say keep mentors close and maintain those relationships with your allies. Even when you leave a job, keep those networks going. Construction is very small, even though it's a big industry. I'm working with people now that I worked with on the East Coast and the West Coast. The big companies are always connected, so just keep your networking always going and try to keep good relationships with everyone. Just yesterday, I was having lunch with a boss I had like 10 years ago, and she was able to help my niece get a job in construction. Take up space and sit at the table. Don't feel like you're an imposter. Put that imposter syndrome in the back of your head and just be there. Some questions you may ask might feel like they're not the best questions, but someone else at the table probably had the same question and they were afraid to ask. Maybe you were the only one who didn't know, but at least now you know and you won't make that mistake again. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

One of the biggest challenges in construction right now is that the industry is really behind in IT integration. A lot of IT programs are trying to figure out how we do things, and it's nice that they're finally trying to cut into our industry, but everyone's doing it differently. Companies switch programs like every other year, and then all the projects have to migrate, which creates a lot of disruption. There are so many different companies out there trying to break into the best cost controls for construction, the best scheduling software, and all these different tools. I'm sure they'll figure it out at some point, but right now there's always something wrong with the process. It's a learning curve every time they switch systems. But I think just being open to learning all of that is always good. There's definitely opportunity in this challenge as the industry works to modernize and improve.

Honesty, integrity, accountability, and transparency are the values most important to me in both my work and personal life. As a first-generation college graduate, education is especially important to me, and I believe in strong work ethic and perseverance. Gratitude is deeply important because I recognize that it took a village to get me where I am today. Everyone helped me every step of the way, and I didn't do everything by myself. Family has become an even greater priority now that I'm a new mother, and I cherish creating meaningful memories with my loved ones. I also value travel and experiences that allow me to grow personally and gain perspective. Before having my baby, I would save my two weeks a year and get out of the country at least once, going to places like China and Italy, exploring the food, the people, and the culture. I'm passionate about giving back to my community, especially helping kids from poor neighborhoods like the projects in San Francisco where I grew up in Potrero Hill. I try to help at least one person a year get scholarships for higher education. One person I helped got $85,000 in scholarships, and getting those thank yous at the end is really meaningful to me.