Her Story
About whitney
Whitney Locklear serves as a Project Manager 3 in the construction industry from her office in Lumberton, North Carolina. She started her career as a Project Engineer 1 before advancing to Project Engineer 2, Project Manager 1, Project Manager 2, and her present role, with additional steps remaining for further growth. Locklear earned recognition for the best project under $30 million in the infrastructure division in 2025. She credits her success to her family's legacy in building, noting her father's creativity and her mother's aptitude for math. In her leadership approach, Locklear prioritizes building trust with her team, remaining upfront and accessible while offering support to those who need it. She identifies the main challenge in her field as holding team members accountable, particularly as one of the younger project managers overseeing more experienced staff, and sees significant opportunity in the ongoing potential for professional development and daily learning.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with whitney
01What do you attribute your success to?
I really just followed in the footsteps of my family. My dad's family, they were builders, and so, I think it was my daddy, he's creative, and my mama, she's good at math, so I just followed in their footsteps.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
It was one of those days at work, I just felt like I wasn't doing enough. And that just swayed heavy on me. I'd always say, I don't think I'm doing enough, I don't think I'm doing enough. And then somebody told me, as long as you're trying your hardest, you're doing enough. So now, I just try my hardest every day, and I just feel like if I'm trying my hardest every day, then I'm doing enough.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it in the end, and just not to stop when it gets stressful, just keep on going, and then it'll be worth it in the end.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge right now is keeping our school guys in line and making sure everybody is doing what they're supposed to be doing every day. You know, and just holding everybody accountable. Like, for instance, I think that I'm one of the youngest project managers here, and a lot of people that work under me is much older than me, so it's just really holding them accountable and not letting them run over you. The biggest opportunity is having room to grow, so from here, I'm a... I started off as a project engineer one. So then I moved up to a Project Engineer 2, Project Manager 1, 2, and now I'm a 3. So I just think that there is room to grow in this field. Yeah, so I think there's, like, 3 more steps ahead of me. to the top, so I just think there's a lot of room to grow in this field. And a lot of room to learn. Something's different every single day, so you never stop learning.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say you just have to build trust between your employees and yourself. I think as long as you have that trust and they can come to you and talk to you about anything, then you will have a good work life. So, just building trust with your employees. My leadership style is very trustworthy. I try to be very upfront with everybody. One-on-one... I try to give everybody the time and the space, and I really just... Help people. Advocate for DM. And just listen to those who really need it. If they're struggling, I try to help them as best as I can.
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