Sharon Macauley

I attribute my success to having a good foundation at home and being open to seeing people in different roles as I was growing up. When I was young, I thought I knew what career I wanted, but as I grew up, I realized that you can fall into another career that you never expected. When I got into the contracting field, I didn't know what all it could involve, and what it has involved in, even after retirement. I've had the opportunity to participate in speaking engagements about my total 34 years in government. I've learned to never limit yourself, because you can start in one direction, but then along the way, you can find there is something else that you may be really, really excited about doing, just as much as you were excited about the first career that you started. For me, my careers have been connectors - one doesn't leave what I was doing, it just has evolved into something else. I never saw what I'm now going into as being an opportunity until it happened. It's my whole foundation, from where I started to where I'm at now, that has been the connector.

The best career advice I ever received was to always do your job with integrity.

I would encourage young women to know that working in this field, particularly in construction contracting, sometimes we're not respected and sometimes we're targeted because there are so few women in this field. When I started out and would show up for site visits and meetings with contractors, people were just not nice. But I always tell the younger generation that it's not about them being nice, it's how you communicate, and how you communicate effectively in such a way that they get the point that we're here for business, we're not here for personal thoughts and what you think outside of the box. The box is being led by you as the person heading the meeting. You have to know your job in such a way that when someone challenges you, you can respond with confidence and professionalism. It's about establishing yourself as the business leader in the room, regardless of whether others initially respect your presence or not.

I don't see many challenges in this field. When COVID happened, everything changed and people stopped going into the office, but I kept up with my responsibilities. This field is always open and needed, no matter what organization you work for, from government to private industry. There's always a need for someone to provide buying services for supplies or whatever is needed. I think it's an open field with great opportunities. The challenge is that it's not explained enough and not talked about enough. When people do hear about it, they sometimes see it as just buying stuff all day long, but my work expanded into something much different, especially overseas. I found that overseas, the acquisition field is more acknowledged and respected in a different kind of way than domestically. When you're overseas, people recognize that the contracting officer is really in charge, though I always see it as a team effort because it can't be just me writing a contract without the other parties involved. It's about the team - the customer, the contractor who's going to do the work - everyone is a member of the team.

The most important value to me is integrity. You can't sell something or do business if you don't understand the whole dynamics of what you're doing. I believe in making sure you have good customer service and that you explain things clearly. Whatever you don't explain, you should allow a person to ask as many questions so that they can understand. Training is crucial because it helps to enhance understanding of how to be able to do business around the world, which has been my responsibility. I value being open to people and giving people a chance, because that's all they can get is a chance. If you don't give them a chance, sometimes their whole role is just blocked because they may never see that entry point. If someone sees me, I want them to know this is something you, too, can do. You just need an opportunity. I see everybody as a member of the team, and I believe in creating opportunities for others to learn and succeed.