March 4, 2025 • 48 mins
Renée Powers has done it all—from concrete construction to shaping minds as a global facilitator at DPR Construction. She joins Tristen Magallanes to share her journey, the game-changing power of mentorship, and how small acts of advocacy make a big impact. From navigating a male-dominated industry to building a more inclusive future, Renée dives into allyship, leadership, and why lifting others up is the real foundation of success. Tune in for an inspiring, no-nonsense conversation on breaking barriers and making construction better for everyone! #WICWEEK2025
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Episode Transcript
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(00:05):
Welcome to the Construction Cafe, where the buzz of the construction industry meets thewarmth of a friendly conversation.
I'm your host, Tristen Magallanes.
Join me at our virtual cafe as we explore the foundations of construction culture, sip oncutting edge concepts, and amplify the unspoken voices in our industry.
So grab a cup of your favorite beverage, pull up a seat, and let's build more than juststructures, let's build connections.
(00:33):
This is the Construction Cafe.
Hi folks, welcome back to the Construction Cafe.
Super excited to continue our journey for Women in Construction Week.
(00:54):
This is probably, as you're listening, probably in the 12 to 15 range of episodes forWomen in Construction Week, highlighting some of the amazing people we have in this
industry.
And I am blessed to be joined today by a person I met in this industry a couple years ago,Renee Powers.
Renee, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Tristen It's great to be here this morning.
(01:16):
So before Renee introduces herself, I just wanted to say a little bit about how I metRenee.
I don't know that she was expecting this.
So I joined DPR Construction full-time two and a half years ago through a good friend ofours, Henning Roedel And Henning's second week on the job, he's like, you have to come to
(01:38):
this company event.
It was a large meeting.
And he's like, the one person you have to meet is Renee.
And I was, and I said to him, was like, okay, okay.
Like he was very insistent about it.
And he's like, no, you don't understand.
You have to meet her because you guys have so much in common and it's so incredible.
And, and you have, I was like, okay, let's go for it.
(02:02):
And I met Renee and it was just as instantaneous, like I knew you.
So I have to just, for context, when folks listen to this,
Renee and I do know each other, I would say decently well and have shared a lot with eachother.
you are one of the first people I connected with at my full-time role at DPR Constructionand one of the lights of that company.
(02:28):
And I just love knowing you.
So I appreciate that about you.
Thank you.
So Renee, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are and how you existin this.
industry of construction.
Thank you, Tristen.
First and foremost, thank you for reminding me about our amazing mutual admiration andthat first meeting though.
(02:50):
Henning is such a deep respect and haven't had the chance to work much with him and wishhim all the best in all of his adventures right now.
I had no idea that he told you that.
I knew that he wanted us to meet, but...
That day was a highlight for me in the opportunity that we had to connect.
And it was, like you said, was instantaneous.
(03:10):
So right back at you.
And I'm deeply touched by your words.
thank you for honoring me in this way.
For the details, again, I'm Renee Powers.
I live in the San Francisco Bay area.
I am delighted to be
employee of DPR Construction and my role at DPR at this point in time, I've worn manyhats, but my role at this time is global facilitator and we can talk more about that.
(03:41):
I have been in the construction industry for coming up on 48 years and so thank you.
And I am passionate about
supporting others to have the same types of experiences and opportunities and maybe eventhe opportunity to help folks to overcome some obstacles or not have to even consider
(04:06):
obstacles that some of us have had in the last 45 years in the industry.
So things have changed a lot and yet there's still more to be done.
Absolutely.
you've had Global Facilitator as your current role, but you've had an interesting journeyto get to that role.
And that was part of how we connected was this history of working in civil constructionand that roundabout way of how we got where we are.
(04:37):
And I love that.
tell us a little bit about a couple of the other roles you've held in this industry.
So I think an important piece of that is to understand how I got here and I originally hadthought I would be pursuing architecture.
The built world has always been fascinating to me from probably about 13, 14 years old.
(05:01):
I didn't have a lot of folks in my family that were in construction, but my father dabbledin architecture and I was hands on in helping to, or,
witnessing the process of building our own family home.
So I had that privilege in my teens and picking up some tools and I was just reallyexcited about that.
It ended up that I was going to attend Cal Poly, partial scholarship for architecture, butsome changes happened in my personal life.
(05:29):
I was probably 15, 16 years old when my father abandoned our family.
Hmm
as such, it made for lot of different or paths that appeared to be clear that now all of asudden became a bit murky and the water became murky, if you will.
And so what ended up happening is I had been asked by friends of the family, to have mybrothers come live with me.
(05:59):
So I was emancipated as a teen, I was 17, graduated from high school early, a little bitearly, and I needed a job.
I needed a job right away and I was putting off college.
And so I had friends that were friends of folks that owned a concrete construction companyin the South Bay, here in the Bay Area.
And so I was offered a job in the industry that had a living wage, a wage that I couldhelp take care of my brothers and myself and look at the immediate needs rather than
(06:31):
long-term needs for a little while.
So I had the joy, the privilege and the pressure of being able to have my brothers live inmy home and to step into the construction industry.
And I think it started out as a receptionist, moved to a couple of other roles, and knew Iwanted to be in operations or in the field as we called it then.
(06:51):
And they gave me the chance.
I started out as a scrapper on projects, for those who don't know what that is.
That's basically the person who picks up the garbage and cleans the tools.
And worked my way into working with some of the equipment and with the concrete finishingteam.
And so I just absolutely loved it.
(07:16):
I was, I was not, I worked for a non-union company at that particular point in time.
That was the job that was available to me.
And I was able to go into the trades without having or with having onsite training ratherthan going through.
But I am an avid supporter of the trades and the industry and have became a unionemployee.
(07:41):
later on and have absolute support for all of my fellow union folks in the industry aswell as outside of our industry.
so working in the trade, was eye-opening.
It was incredibly hard work.
It was incredibly rewarding as well too, the opportunity to work together.
(08:02):
And I referred to the start of my career, if you will, as a concrete ceiling.
We often talk about the glass ceiling before, but this was a concrete ceiling and it was.
I was often told that I did not belong and that I shouldn't be there.
And then I was taken a job away from another able-bodied man that was providing for hisfamily.
And so it was challenging.
(08:23):
It definitely was challenging.
But through that, was able to, moved into dispatch a few years later and...
Did you?
is where these fun, similarities happen.
So yes.
That is always amazing to me that the ways in which our lives have the similarities, ifyou will.
so, realized that I loved the idea of managing projects and what did that mean?
(08:47):
like you said, I've worn Marriott hats.
I've done any job that someone was willing to pay me to do in the industry and that hadthe potential for opening doors.
And so, Dispatcher, like we said, receptionist, job coordinator, usually referred to as atitle nowadays of field office coordinator, if you will.
(09:09):
And supported estimating departments, all kinds of different.
Look at you with a year's difference.
So that idea of being willing to do
what I could in order to learn as much as possible.
And it was mainly because of the sense of having not had the privilege and the expectationthat I had for myself of being able to attend college.
(09:32):
I actually did go through an extension program in the evenings at San Jose StateUniversity in construction management in my mid to late 20s.
took me about two and a half years to do that.
And it was just a huge opportunity
I was one of three women in a class of 105, and those three women tended to support oneanother and stick together, if you will, to the point where the next real incarnation of
(10:05):
my career was a immigrant man that had started a development support company, is how hereferred to it.
He worked with these large insurance companies in providing construction managementservices while they managed these big projects.
(10:27):
And my big break came when he negotiated a project with a large insurance company that wasdoing the development of the Hacienda Business Park in Puzzles in California.
Okay.
I was working in that business park before it was a business park.
He was given the contract of all of the infrastructure work, including those amazingstructures that are there in the business park and all of the construction details of
(10:54):
supporting those are just absolutely amazing.
But it basically was a swamp and there was a lot of work that went into before thebuildings could be built in this infrastructure.
he hired two women from that program at San Jose State to be his two project managers.
there in the East Bay.
And it was just an amazing experience.
(11:15):
I also had, there's a funny story.
He was just one of those folks that had worked so hard to be where he was in his role andcould just clearly without any sense of I'm doing you a favor or acknowledging any
entitlement at all, just hired the best people for the roles.
And so there was a woman, there was five women in the office in him and we just, we wereable to negotiate with this insurance company to do this huge $60 million project over a
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few years.
And that's where I really got to realize how much I loved what it is that all of thepeople prior to this lived experience had taught me.
So yeah, it was really awesome.
a great ally.
Yeah, definitely.
And I didn't understand allyship then.
It was more of a truly questioning, both of us, my fellow project manager, that we wouldask once in while, why us, right?
(12:16):
And why did he pick us and why did he pick two women?
There were no firms that had only women project managers in them at that point in time.
This is mid 80s.
Yeah, yeah.
And so the idea of there was one experience as well too, where I gave birth to my sonwhile I was working for this company.
And I had the privilege of bringing my son, know, six weeks out in a front carrier out tomy job site.
(12:41):
And I had a bouquet of flowers that were the biggest that were ever, I'd ever seen in mylife that were delivered by my crew to my home that said,
We expected nothing less of you than to deliver on time and on budget.
And it was because my son was delivered on his due date, which I guess isn't there.
A very small percentage of what happens there.
(13:01):
But with this particular person that took the chance on us women in construction as hislead team, he also, there was an experience where I was, may decide not to share this
later.
I was breastfeeding my son and so I needed to pump at work.
And I had him in the daycare center near me.
so I had one of those big chairs, you know, that you could turn away from the door facingoutside.
(13:25):
And I was doing my thing to provide a meal for my son for the following day.
And he knocked on the door, but then immediately opened the door and he couldn't seeanything.
But I said, hey, I'm pumping right now.
And he was just, my gosh, absolutely.
embarrassed and flustered and it's like, my God, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, shut thedoor.
(13:46):
And then one of my office assistants at that point in time drew a sign, this beautifulsign of this cow, a female cow with udders.
And it just said, please do not disturb at this time that I could put up on my door.
But it was.
(14:07):
it's a way to make like have fun, but also convey the message of like
And because we didn't, we hadn't had the conversations for the most part, especially inour industry, about a woman that is a nursing mother at the time.
Yes.
Like those representations hadn't shown up yet for people to have those conversations yet.
(14:31):
And the more that it is showing up, the more we need to have those conversations about howdo we make the space for this to also be present.
And I mean, thank you for being a pioneer, because it's essentially what you and thoseother women were.
I mean, you did the work so that
the future generations don't have to do that same work and they can show up in a differentway.
(14:55):
And that's so amazing to hear.
I love the stories, even the ones that are speaking to challenges and things that mighthave been uncomfortable.
They're helpful to hear because I think a lot of people show up and just take a little bitof it for granted if it's always been this way and it's not true.
There have been a lot of changes, I would say in the last, I mean, I've only been in theindustry
(15:19):
two and a half decades, but there's been a lot of changes in that amount of time that I'vebeen in the industry that I've seen change.
And I think it's incredible to celebrate them.
and celebrate the fact that all of, most of...the work world
includes that respect to have mother's rooms and meditation rooms and prayer rooms, etcetera, in a lot of organizations.
(15:41):
But to have it in the construction industry as well too is just amazing.
And every time I walk by one, it's been so many years.
My son is 30, almost 34 years old now, but I walk by one in any of our offices or anyother offices and it just, warms my heart.
I just think of the ease to be able to have a refrigerator in a private space.
(16:02):
that isn't in a bathroom stall to be able to provide for the guests.
Funny enough is I haven't given birth to a child and have breastfed but I do walk pastthose rooms and I do notice them and I realize it might feel commonplace now but I think
folks don't understand that it's still something that you notice because it's still thatnew.
(16:27):
Yes.
But when I walk past it, I'm like, my goodness, I'm so thankful for this.
And I hope this is everywhere so that every breastfeeding individual has the opportunityto leverage this.
I also appreciate that there are some offices that have spaces for just simply taking aminute and a meditation room to calm yourself or whatever it is you need to do because
(16:49):
there are, I mean, I'm a neuro spicy person.
And it's nice to have a second to have a minute to myself with no noise or no this becausethat can get challenging for different folks.
And I think it's really, really important to offer those spaces and provide opportunitiesfor people to show up as they need to.
(17:09):
I love that you mentioned that piece of it.
I love that description, NeuroSpicy.
But acknowledging the neurodivergence of so many of us in the industry is something thatI'm looking forward to that shift to where it's a common conversation.
And it's becoming more accepted and realizing that all of us have different ways of
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handling the stresses of our industry, which is there's a lot of pressure.
There's a lot of stress and it is a forward thinking organization that is willing toacknowledge that all of us have differences in the ways that we lead, in the ways that we
learn, in the ways that we need to be supported in doing the work that we do to the bestof our abilities.
(17:57):
So yes, when I see whether it's
private space for whatever reason, non-gendered bathrooms, mothers' rooms as it's referredto often, and just that opportunity for us to realize it's not about sitting at our desks
or standing on a job site without ever having the opportunity to pause and take a breathfor continuing to move on in the pressure and the stress that does show up for all of us.
(18:25):
Absolutely.
Speaking of pressure and stress, with all the pressure and stress and complexity thatconstruction is, tell me why.
Tell me more about why you continue this endeavor in this industry despite all of thatbecause it is stressful, it is challenging.
(18:47):
There's challenges that still need to be solved.
Not just for women, I would say for anyone because
When you solve a challenge for a woman, you're actually benefiting everyone in my opinion.
So tell me more about your wife.
there's two things that you've just asked in that sentence.
Thank you.
In those couple of sentences.
(19:08):
The why is...
the absolute joy of being able to be a part of a team or a group of folks and anorganization that builds some amazing, amazing structures.
It's the structure piece of it, but it is also the people and the lived experience.
(19:28):
And this is something that later in my career now, I refer to this as my ninth inning.
This game's probably gonna go a couple of extra innings.
At least I hope it does.
but I'm huge baseball fan and I'm like, I'm in my ninth inning.
These innings have been, starting from the beginning, the first couple of innings weresome of the biggest challenges I have ever had in my lifetime.
And we're all in those first couple of innings.
(19:50):
And now the, or even the lived experience of probably in the fourth, fifth or sixthinnings where I had the distinct privilege of driving around and showing people in my
family
or my son when he was a youngster, the buildings that mom had been a part of.
There's something so amazing with that.
(20:12):
Tell me more.
This is something I think I've mentioned on a couple other episodes.
I'm sorry for folks who've listened to all of them and it gets repetitive.
But the immense joy and pride that folks in this industry have about their work.
And I love that I can drive past buildings in San Francisco and look at bricks and say, mydad put those there.
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I also love
that I have the joy and pride of driving across roads that I get to say I participated inmaking those roads there that you get to drive on.
I also love that now others are going to say my mom put those bricks there.
My mom put that road there.
I love that that is the future story.
(20:55):
And I'm not trying to take away from all the amazing men that have done work in thisindustry.
I also love that it's
both statements are now a part of our vernacular.
Absolutely.
I had the privilege of working for an organization, a civil engineering firm, HeavyHighway, that built the, or installed, not built, but installed the center divide on the
(21:18):
Golden Gate Bridge, and which has saved numerous lives, I'm sure, because of the amazing
engineering that went into designing this particular barrier.
And there is not a day that I drive over and I don't do it as often anymore, but driveover the Golden Gate with immense pride and it wasn't even my project.
(21:40):
So that idea of the impacts on the industry in life saving and quality of life in the waysin which healthcare, for instance, the modern buildings and the ways in which we've built
interiors that allow folks once we step away to do the work that enhances life in oursociety.
(22:02):
It's just it's such a great privilege and I never take it for granted.
And I think when people think about listening to your why and thinking about other peopleshowing up in this industry and people coming to this industry, folks might think, well,
I'm just pushing some papers in an office.
It doesn't really matter that much.
But the real effect of that is all of those roles enable those projects to get built.
(22:25):
All of those roles enable it.
If you took away all the accountants and all the project administrators and all of the
the the rest of the project crews on site couldn't do their jobs.
Conversely, if we didn't have people on site doing their roles, the people in the officeswouldn't have roles to show up to.
So it's a it's a huge partnership.
And I think we don't sometimes think of the what's I butterfly effect isn't the rightword.
(22:52):
There's another concept I'm thinking of, and I'm not remembering it right now.
But the maybe the trickle effect of
this one small thing can have a greater impact as it spreads down the line.
So I've built a hospital that is this great amazing space for doctors to work in andnurses to work in and medical staff to save lives or just help people have a good life.
(23:16):
It does not even save lives, right?
But sometimes just helping us be healthy and happy.
And then those people go on to do their respective things in their world.
And it's so it's...
It's that drop in the pond effect of the ripple that construction actually does have.
Yeah.
It does.
And you spoke about one thing as well too, and that's the deep respect for our craft thatactually do the building through every single person that touched a piece of paper or an
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electronic document to help create a better industry as well as some of the work thatyou're doing.
That innovation for how we change our industry changes the world.
And there's another piece to this too that I think is so important
important to me is some of my best friends my entire life have been the people that I workwith.
(24:10):
And folks say, those aren't true friendships.
It's just people you work with.
You've got, you know, work relationships and such.
But that's in our industry in particular.
That's not true.
I have deep, deep abiding friendships and relationships, just even mutual respect forpeople that I've had the privilege of working with in all those different roles.
(24:30):
from risk and project management and pre-con all the way through any aspect ofpost-construction, right?
And how we take care of our clients.
And so that idea of understanding the relationships and the strength that gets.
actually reinforced, right?
I'm gonna use this, the foundation and the reinforcement and so on, is the aspect of howwell we work together.
(24:57):
And I think that that's one of the ways you talked about the impacts of the changes overthe years, Tristen, and that piece that ties back into the question you asked me about the
relationships and the joy that I have in the industry, the challenges that started out
have been overcome in so many different ways, but it's the people that have paved thepath, if you will, as well as created some obstacles that made me a stronger person to be
(25:30):
able to overcome in order to stay in the industry.
And there's one person that I have the fondest memory of now later in life, but I didn'tremember him for years until I realized the impact of...
what he did for me and our crews.
And that was going back to concrete finishing many, many years ago.
We're talking about the early eighties and we had different pieces of equipment.
(25:53):
The equipment has evolved.
my gosh, that's just one area of it.
The equipment has evolved massively.
There you go.
So what haven't we done together?
At the same time, many years later, but I love that.
but the tools in concrete at that particular point in time and finishing and placing, etcetera.
But there's trowels and groovers, but all the kinds of mechanical equipment as well too,whether it's screeds or grinders, et cetera.
(26:21):
But when I showed up on the job site and was given the chance to use some of thisequipment in order to prove myself and had a few folks that were willing to show me the
way, one in particular was a superintendent on a project.
His name was Jose.
And what he did for me was I didn't realize the impact until years later.
So we're using this equipment and most of it has been well used and handle grips and suchhave worn out and such.
(26:48):
And folks have, because of the vibrations, because of the lack of ergonomics at that pointin time, People have taken different kinds of foam and wrapped it with all kinds of duct
tape in order to make these
grips easier to use, or easier to hold on to the equipment and to...
mitigate for some of the vibration, right?
(27:09):
so, but it's huge.
It's like this big around with all this packed stuff and this tape all around andeverything else.
And I've got smaller hands, right?
I'm five foot four.
And at that point in time was much tinier than I am now.
And that idea of being able to hold onto this equipment with all this wrapped stuff was,or these grips that were wrapped, was incredibly painful.
(27:30):
And after an hour, I literally could not move my hand.
Yeah.
were just that stiff and such.
But I was determined not to quit.
And this man paid attention and ended up like four or five Saturdays in a row taking apiece of equipment home each weekend.
And he'd take this equipment home and cut everything off of it and rewrap these grips withsome new clean material that was just padded enough, was wrapped well enough.
(28:03):
I mean, he put a lot of time.
Hmm.
thought and energy and all of a sudden Monday morning this piece of equipment would beback on the site.
And I'm able to grip it better then and I'm able to do my job better.
And I also heard from folks that, oh, there we go.
We're taking considerations and making it easier for someone that shouldn't be here in thefirst place to do the job.
(28:27):
And it was really, really challenging and I got a lot of grief for it.
until we had one, two, and then three other people that came forward and said, wow, thisis, and male body people that said, this is so amazing that I can use this equipment
better now, that I'm in less pain, that my arms don't hurt, my wrists don't hurt thismuch, that I have a better grip and all of these kinds of things.
(28:56):
It wasn't just for me, it was across the board.
it helped everybody else.
Absolutely, absolutely.
And we didn't have to fight the equipment or show how tough we were in order to do thejob.
So it changed the way that we looked at the industry just on that one site.
And I didn't realize it until years later.
I had the privilege here at DPR for a short amount of time to be a DEI lead in one of ourbusiness units.
(29:23):
And I would tell that story when I was meeting with a group of folks from the field.
that would ask about, how is it, if you can't do the job, why do I have to makeconsiderations for someone that can't do the job in the first place?
And I share that story, and I can't tell you how many times I've met with superintendentsand foremen after a meeting where I've been able to share that story and heard from them
(29:49):
about similar stories.
And they make that connection that equity is about.
having the tools to do our jobs well, having the training, having the tools literally andfiguratively, as well as having the opportunity to do the work itself.
And so...
him and doing what he did, what he did, what that Jose did for you was not hurting anyoneelse, wasn't affecting anyone else, wasn't changing anything really for anybody else.
(30:20):
It was really, it didn't force them to really make that big of a change.
What it did was just simply provide opportunity and space for all bodies to show up andparticipate in that activity.
And that's, think,
Equity isn't equal to fair.
(30:41):
Those two words are conflated.
Equity is about opportunity and access to and creating the tools and ability for allbodies and all people to show up in a space should they want to.
Yeah.
I think that's a great story and a really good way, I think, to just talk through one.
(31:03):
perfect example of allyship.
Like, he quietly just did this.
He saw the need, he fulfilled the need.
And he he didn't make a big deal out of it.
He just did it because it was the right thing to do.
And I love that.
I should probably sit and think some time someday about some of those things that
that they probably did for me on project sites and I just haven't thought through it yet,but it'd probably be a good practice for me to sort of take some time to pause and honor
(31:29):
them because I had some incredible men that I worked with in the field for many, manyyears who just taught me so much.
Taught me so much and I'm super thankful for it.
So that's such a great story.
I love that.
What are some changes you think we still need?
to create more equity in this space?
Are there a couple things that you can point to or overarching thematic ideas?
(31:57):
think that understanding that we don't even have to label this as DE &I, diversity,equity, and inclusion, because of the connotations and the political
around that particular term right now, but shifting our understanding of what it is thatwe're doing when we're creating spaces for all people to join our industry.
(32:26):
And that is, you mentioned allyship, but also looking at it as that building belonging,right?
And that creating the opportunity for folks to ask the questions and join our industry.
in all the different ways.
And you and I talked about this before.
You mentioned it briefly as well too.
All the different roles allow for whatever our particular strengths are or our desire towork in different spaces, whether it's technology, right?
(32:56):
Or it's the actual built environment itself or all of those other aspects we've talkedabout.
Risk, we've talked about accounting and
the ways in which we take care of people, right?
I anybody could come to us and we could find a role in construction that they would fitperfectly.
And I'm an example of that level of privilege in that I've had so many allies that haveallowed for, hmm, let's try that, right?
(33:25):
And the idea of you asked about how many hats, I couldn't even name all of the hats thatI've worn in my brief introduction only because they've been so diverse and so unexpected
in so many different ways, right?
Having come to DPR as a project manager in our special services group division and havingsome challenges there late in my career with the changes in the industry for how many
(33:50):
years I've been away from the built environment, the vertical built environment by doingheavy highway projects that, or heavy highway contractor, but the projects that were
biodiversity and
creating more green building and so on.
And even owning my own construction company for a while, that was one of those privilegesthat you talk about, referring to that allyship and people that have your back.
(34:16):
Working for a company where the owner of the company was deciding that he wanted toretire.
And actually, I rather than close the company, I'm like, hey, what if we were to buy thecompany from you?
says, I've just been waiting for somebody to ask me that.
Yeah.
a long time.
And so one of the partner and I were able to buy his construction firm.
(34:37):
And it was residential, which for those of us in commercial construction say often thatit's residential, how difficult can it be?
Residential has its own challenges too, having the opportunity to run an organization thatspecialized in very small projects, you know, less than 10 million.
(34:59):
much less than $10 million, right?
Million dollar homes or half a billion remodels, et cetera, very different than the 60 to$160 million projects or larger that I've worked on before.
And yet the challenges changed and shifted to working with people.
The owners were now intimately involved with every detail and we were intimately involvedin their lives, right?
(35:26):
So.
understanding that those changes and shifts in all of the different ways in which we showup in construction.
Everyone has, if there's a desire to be here, everyone has a strong suit, right?
One of my former leaders refers to it as our superpowers, right?
And that idea of having folks help you identify what your superpower is and what it is youwant to do with that superpower.
(35:52):
Like you said, there is a place for
all those aspects of who you are and your skill set in the industry.
And that idea of understanding that where we're shifting and where I think we can continueto go back to your question, where we continue to grow is not only supporting one another
(36:13):
in understanding that everyone belongs that wants to be here and has the skill set andwilling to do the hard work, right?
And so,
that building of relationships and friendships, et cetera.
Here late in my career, I've got the opportunity, described at the beginning as a globalfacilitator.
What does that actually mean?
(36:34):
And what it means is that I have the privilege and the task, if you will, of being able tosupport folks that are doing many of those roles that I did and many that I never had the
skillset to do.
But to help them do their jobs better,
but have a higher quality of life while they're doing it as well too.
So bringing them those often referred to as soft skills, I like to call them power skills,not just because it's my last name, but more a play on my last name, but that idea of they
(37:06):
truly are the power that we bring to be able to do our jobs well and take care ofourselves both at work and outside of work.
And so there's the passion that continues.
to evolve because I had no idea that I was, that this is where my late career would takeme.
(37:26):
Well, and the great thing I think about the shifts I've seen change, like a positivechange is that, you know, during my mother's generation, it was especially in
construction, I feel like the concept was as you went to work for one company, you stayedat that company your whole career, and you only did that one path.
And that's no longer the story in our society, I feel like, even in construction too.
(37:49):
And if you decide
after five years, you want to pivot to a different role, that there's opportunity forthat, just like there's opportunity for you to pivot into our industry with the skill set
that you do have.
And actually, you might bring some knowledge from whatever industry you're working in orlife experience you've had outside of this industry that might benefit us greatly.
(38:11):
And I love that.
It's challenging to switch industries.
But I also think there's so much opportunity there and we welcome, most of us welcome it.
I'm not gonna say all because there's always resistors in every group to change, which isnatural and human.
But I think it's incredible and beautiful.
(38:32):
So thinking of sort of change and things, are there any specific personal impacts that youfeel you've had on this industry?
Because you've been here.
a And I, I can probably speak to it, but I want you to speak to it first.
When I consider impacts, I often go to personal to start with.
(38:54):
And I think about my own growth as a person.
involved in the industry, so as a part of the industry and a worker, if you will, the waysin which I've changed and the opportunities to get more clarity about who I am in the
(39:15):
world, what I want to do and how I can contribute, think are the...
And those came later.
It was really, it was mainly the hustle for so many years of
trying to prove myself to others that I think was my main focus, if you will.
And now later in life, look at the contributions have been to myself and learning moreabout myself.
(39:39):
It's hard for me to think about my contributions, even though I feel some pride and egowhen I see some of the work that I've had the privilege to be a part of, right?
In its built environment and
and the physical space of seeing the results.
I've had challenges and I've hit walls that have changed the direction of my life and mycareer in very, very impactful ways.
(40:10):
And to have survived is probably one of those things that I love to consider a
or I love to consider when you gave me the task of looking back over my career in theindustry.
But the piece that I think is not really anything that I can take credit for, but is justthe lived experience that I have been here and I'm still here.
(40:36):
And so the contribution of being able to see a woman
that has worn the myriad hats that I've worn in an industry and the great joy that it'sbrought me through the challenges and the hardships, right?
And the perceived failures that have always just been lessons for the next opportunity, Ithink is the only contribution that I can really relate to that would be industry wide.
(41:05):
But my-
Contribution now is to be able to tell the stories about my lived career for other folksto maybe only one or two folks, but being able to have the privilege to share my stories
through the content that I have, the opportunity to share with other individuals in ourindustry, both in and outside of DPR.
(41:26):
Yeah.
And I, I, I think your impact, whether it be one person or 100, your stories that youshare, think are more impactful than maybe you realize sometimes.
So I'm glad you recognize it.
I think it's, I think it's more than you think, though.
So I appreciate you showing up and sharing them and being vulnerable and authentic.
(41:48):
because we need more of that in this industry.
And I think it's valuable for those of us who've had experiences to share them, notnecessarily attaching positive or negative value to them, but just sharing them because
verbalizing experiences to others allows them to be seen and heard and for others to maybetake a nugget away from it, whatever that might be for them.
(42:12):
And
the history that you've built in this industry and others who've been in this industry fora while, you know, we are a sum of all of our parts of our history, and we wouldn't be who
we are in the present without the past.
As difficult as that might be, and we might want to reject some of the things we've beenthrough, it also has created who we are.
And to honor that, be proud of it, and to share it, I think is incredibly important.
(42:34):
And being grateful, even for the challenges, because the challenges are lot of stuff.
So
So, yeah.
to record hours with you.
And I could, but I can't.
Right now I cannot.
The last thing I want to touch on is are there other women or allies to Women inConstruction that you want to give a shout out to or just some badass people who you think
(42:59):
support Women in Construction are helping to move that needle for
Absolutely, and I There's tons more so I'm gonna pick one but before I name that one Iwant to acknowledge that it's the allyship from that very first story of an 18 year old
girl That was trying to use equipment that was inappropriately sized for her To that oneally Jose who
(43:26):
doesn't want me to use his last name.
I followed him through his retirement and such and it's been an amazing experience.
the allyship, and I think that that's the takeaway that I want any of your listeners,whether you're considering coming into our industry or you're already here or you don't
identify as a woman in this industry, is that each and every one of you have theopportunity to make a difference.
(43:56):
for other people and in particular marginalized folks that don't necessarily have aparticular voice and are working incredibly hard to be seen, and valued.
And I've had that privilege, have had folks that have attempted to take away thatprivilege, yes.
(44:16):
We could talk about those stories for a very long time.
But I wanna shine the light on those.
project manager when I was an assistant project manager because women weren't afforded thetitle of project manager.
All the women in a construction company I worked for had assistant in front of our names.
And yet he took the time to, anytime it was a difficult day or such and I had this amazingfast Camaro that I parked way out in the parking lot so that no one could harm it.
(44:43):
And this person,
found the time on every single difficult day that I had, it felt like, to leave a Post-Itnote on my side mirrors on my car.
So I had to get out and pop them off of the other side and so on and so forth.
There were words of encouragement each time that something was challenging.
(45:03):
That show of allyship and support and all of the other folks that have supported me andothers.
to be able to shine and show our absolute abilities and contributions.
Those are the folks that have made the greatest difference in my life.
And I just have such gratitude for them.
(45:25):
But I also want to challenge everyone that has the privilege of being in our industry tofind a way to be an ally to others.
I think that's the greatest opportunity that we have moving forward.
And she would ask that question.
And one in particular here at DPR, especially when I was challenged in my role as aproject manager, there was one person that someone said, very similar to Henny telling
(45:51):
you, you needed to speak with me.
Someone said, you needed to call, I needed to call this one woman and her name is CarrieWilliams.
And I get emotional when I start to tell this story, but.
She made the time for me, even though she was in an entirely different business unit, wasactually coming up to our business unit and scheduled a meeting at 6.30 in the morning so
(46:12):
that we both could get out to our project sites and take care of everything else that weneeded to do, to take the time to listen to what it is that I had to offer and wanted to
do here at DPR.
And it took the time to then reach out to other people on my behalf to advocate for me.
when she knew me for such a short amount of time.
(46:33):
We've become incredibly good friends since then, but made all the difference in the worldfor the trajectory of where my career has gone into my eighth and ninth inning here.
And I am the person I am today and able to share with other people the opportunities forgrowth and expansion in this industry because of Kerry Williams.
(46:55):
And so an incredible leader here at DPR.
such a beautiful connection and story of how we can all be allies for each other.
And not just, this isn't just about women, there's ways to show up for allies for allfolks in different ways and different forms.
it might feel scary sometimes to do that, but there's an opportunity to do it in a waythat's best for everyone, including oneself.
(47:18):
So I would encourage folks to lean into the idea of allyship.
I think it's something.
I love, I enjoy talking about it and it's, I mean, I'm the person who will throw myself infront of a bus for somebody.
So I don't know if that's a healthy idea either, but don't throw yourself in front ofbuses people.
But I think you guys get the sentiment and the intent of what Renee was bringing forwardwith that.
(47:40):
Yes, all the above.
So, well, we do have to wrap up Renee.
This has been such a pleasure having you and.
I think we'll have to have another episode with you to come back to talk about some otherstories because I think they're valuable in the future.
I really appreciate you joining me today.
Thank and it's been my honor and just thank you for what you're doing and above and beyondeverything that you do in your other roles in our industry.
(48:05):
What an incredible service.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of The Construction Cafe.
We hope you found our conversation as inspiring as your next big project.
Remember, you can dive deeper into the resources and topics we discuss by connecting withus on LinkedIn and Instagram.
(48:28):
Just search for The Construction Cafe.
Don't miss out on future episodes.
Be sure to follow us on Spotify, Podbean, and Apple Podcasts to keep the conversationgoing.
If you're passionate about the construction industry and have a story to share, we'd loveto hear from you.
Visit our website at the constructioncafe.com and drop us a note.
Let's keep building better together.
Welcome to the Construction Cafe, where the buzz of the construction industry meets thewarmth of a friendly conversation.
I'm your host, Tristen Magallanes.
Join me at our virtual cafe as we explore the foundations of construction culture, sip oncutting edge concepts, and amplify the unspoken voices in our industry.
So grab a cup of your favorite beverage, pull up a seat, and let's build more than juststructures, let's build connections.
(00:33):
This is the Construction Cafe.
Hi folks, welcome back to the Construction Cafe.
Super excited to continue our journey for Women in Construction Week.
(00:54):
This is probably, as you're listening, probably in the 12 to 15 range of episodes forWomen in Construction Week, highlighting some of the amazing people we have in this
industry.
And I am blessed to be joined today by a person I met in this industry a couple years ago,Renee Powers.
Renee, welcome to the show.
Thank you, Tristen It's great to be here this morning.
(01:16):
So before Renee introduces herself, I just wanted to say a little bit about how I metRenee.
I don't know that she was expecting this.
So I joined DPR Construction full-time two and a half years ago through a good friend ofours, Henning Roedel And Henning's second week on the job, he's like, you have to come to
(01:38):
this company event.
It was a large meeting.
And he's like, the one person you have to meet is Renee.
And I was, and I said to him, was like, okay, okay.
Like he was very insistent about it.
And he's like, no, you don't understand.
You have to meet her because you guys have so much in common and it's so incredible.
And, and you have, I was like, okay, let's go for it.
(02:02):
And I met Renee and it was just as instantaneous, like I knew you.
So I have to just, for context, when folks listen to this,
Renee and I do know each other, I would say decently well and have shared a lot with eachother.
you are one of the first people I connected with at my full-time role at DPR Constructionand one of the lights of that company.
(02:28):
And I just love knowing you.
So I appreciate that about you.
Thank you.
So Renee, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are and how you existin this.
industry of construction.
Thank you, Tristen.
First and foremost, thank you for reminding me about our amazing mutual admiration andthat first meeting though.
(02:50):
Henning is such a deep respect and haven't had the chance to work much with him and wishhim all the best in all of his adventures right now.
I had no idea that he told you that.
I knew that he wanted us to meet, but...
That day was a highlight for me in the opportunity that we had to connect.
And it was, like you said, was instantaneous.
(03:10):
So right back at you.
And I'm deeply touched by your words.
thank you for honoring me in this way.
For the details, again, I'm Renee Powers.
I live in the San Francisco Bay area.
I am delighted to be
employee of DPR Construction and my role at DPR at this point in time, I've worn manyhats, but my role at this time is global facilitator and we can talk more about that.
(03:41):
I have been in the construction industry for coming up on 48 years and so thank you.
And I am passionate about
supporting others to have the same types of experiences and opportunities and maybe eventhe opportunity to help folks to overcome some obstacles or not have to even consider
(04:06):
obstacles that some of us have had in the last 45 years in the industry.
So things have changed a lot and yet there's still more to be done.
Absolutely.
you've had Global Facilitator as your current role, but you've had an interesting journeyto get to that role.
And that was part of how we connected was this history of working in civil constructionand that roundabout way of how we got where we are.
(04:37):
And I love that.
tell us a little bit about a couple of the other roles you've held in this industry.
So I think an important piece of that is to understand how I got here and I originally hadthought I would be pursuing architecture.
The built world has always been fascinating to me from probably about 13, 14 years old.
(05:01):
I didn't have a lot of folks in my family that were in construction, but my father dabbledin architecture and I was hands on in helping to, or,
witnessing the process of building our own family home.
So I had that privilege in my teens and picking up some tools and I was just reallyexcited about that.
It ended up that I was going to attend Cal Poly, partial scholarship for architecture, butsome changes happened in my personal life.
(05:29):
I was probably 15, 16 years old when my father abandoned our family.
Hmm
as such, it made for lot of different or paths that appeared to be clear that now all of asudden became a bit murky and the water became murky, if you will.
And so what ended up happening is I had been asked by friends of the family, to have mybrothers come live with me.
(05:59):
So I was emancipated as a teen, I was 17, graduated from high school early, a little bitearly, and I needed a job.
I needed a job right away and I was putting off college.
And so I had friends that were friends of folks that owned a concrete construction companyin the South Bay, here in the Bay Area.
And so I was offered a job in the industry that had a living wage, a wage that I couldhelp take care of my brothers and myself and look at the immediate needs rather than
(06:31):
long-term needs for a little while.
So I had the joy, the privilege and the pressure of being able to have my brothers live inmy home and to step into the construction industry.
And I think it started out as a receptionist, moved to a couple of other roles, and knew Iwanted to be in operations or in the field as we called it then.
(06:51):
And they gave me the chance.
I started out as a scrapper on projects, for those who don't know what that is.
That's basically the person who picks up the garbage and cleans the tools.
And worked my way into working with some of the equipment and with the concrete finishingteam.
And so I just absolutely loved it.
(07:16):
I was, I was not, I worked for a non-union company at that particular point in time.
That was the job that was available to me.
And I was able to go into the trades without having or with having onsite training ratherthan going through.
But I am an avid supporter of the trades and the industry and have became a unionemployee.
(07:41):
later on and have absolute support for all of my fellow union folks in the industry aswell as outside of our industry.
so working in the trade, was eye-opening.
It was incredibly hard work.
It was incredibly rewarding as well too, the opportunity to work together.
(08:02):
And I referred to the start of my career, if you will, as a concrete ceiling.
We often talk about the glass ceiling before, but this was a concrete ceiling and it was.
I was often told that I did not belong and that I shouldn't be there.
And then I was taken a job away from another able-bodied man that was providing for hisfamily.
And so it was challenging.
(08:23):
It definitely was challenging.
But through that, was able to, moved into dispatch a few years later and...
Did you?
is where these fun, similarities happen.
So yes.
That is always amazing to me that the ways in which our lives have the similarities, ifyou will.
so, realized that I loved the idea of managing projects and what did that mean?
(08:47):
like you said, I've worn Marriott hats.
I've done any job that someone was willing to pay me to do in the industry and that hadthe potential for opening doors.
And so, Dispatcher, like we said, receptionist, job coordinator, usually referred to as atitle nowadays of field office coordinator, if you will.
(09:09):
And supported estimating departments, all kinds of different.
Look at you with a year's difference.
So that idea of being willing to do
what I could in order to learn as much as possible.
And it was mainly because of the sense of having not had the privilege and the expectationthat I had for myself of being able to attend college.
(09:32):
I actually did go through an extension program in the evenings at San Jose StateUniversity in construction management in my mid to late 20s.
took me about two and a half years to do that.
And it was just a huge opportunity
I was one of three women in a class of 105, and those three women tended to support oneanother and stick together, if you will, to the point where the next real incarnation of
(10:05):
my career was a immigrant man that had started a development support company, is how hereferred to it.
He worked with these large insurance companies in providing construction managementservices while they managed these big projects.
(10:27):
And my big break came when he negotiated a project with a large insurance company that wasdoing the development of the Hacienda Business Park in Puzzles in California.
Okay.
I was working in that business park before it was a business park.
He was given the contract of all of the infrastructure work, including those amazingstructures that are there in the business park and all of the construction details of
(10:54):
supporting those are just absolutely amazing.
But it basically was a swamp and there was a lot of work that went into before thebuildings could be built in this infrastructure.
he hired two women from that program at San Jose State to be his two project managers.
there in the East Bay.
And it was just an amazing experience.
(11:15):
I also had, there's a funny story.
He was just one of those folks that had worked so hard to be where he was in his role andcould just clearly without any sense of I'm doing you a favor or acknowledging any
entitlement at all, just hired the best people for the roles.
And so there was a woman, there was five women in the office in him and we just, we wereable to negotiate with this insurance company to do this huge $60 million project over a
(11:45):
few years.
And that's where I really got to realize how much I loved what it is that all of thepeople prior to this lived experience had taught me.
So yeah, it was really awesome.
a great ally.
Yeah, definitely.
And I didn't understand allyship then.
It was more of a truly questioning, both of us, my fellow project manager, that we wouldask once in while, why us, right?
(12:16):
And why did he pick us and why did he pick two women?
There were no firms that had only women project managers in them at that point in time.
This is mid 80s.
Yeah, yeah.
And so the idea of there was one experience as well too, where I gave birth to my sonwhile I was working for this company.
And I had the privilege of bringing my son, know, six weeks out in a front carrier out tomy job site.
(12:41):
And I had a bouquet of flowers that were the biggest that were ever, I'd ever seen in mylife that were delivered by my crew to my home that said,
We expected nothing less of you than to deliver on time and on budget.
And it was because my son was delivered on his due date, which I guess isn't there.
A very small percentage of what happens there.
(13:01):
But with this particular person that took the chance on us women in construction as hislead team, he also, there was an experience where I was, may decide not to share this
later.
I was breastfeeding my son and so I needed to pump at work.
And I had him in the daycare center near me.
so I had one of those big chairs, you know, that you could turn away from the door facingoutside.
(13:25):
And I was doing my thing to provide a meal for my son for the following day.
And he knocked on the door, but then immediately opened the door and he couldn't seeanything.
But I said, hey, I'm pumping right now.
And he was just, my gosh, absolutely.
embarrassed and flustered and it's like, my God, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, shut thedoor.
(13:46):
And then one of my office assistants at that point in time drew a sign, this beautifulsign of this cow, a female cow with udders.
And it just said, please do not disturb at this time that I could put up on my door.
But it was.
(14:07):
it's a way to make like have fun, but also convey the message of like
And because we didn't, we hadn't had the conversations for the most part, especially inour industry, about a woman that is a nursing mother at the time.
Yes.
Like those representations hadn't shown up yet for people to have those conversations yet.
(14:31):
And the more that it is showing up, the more we need to have those conversations about howdo we make the space for this to also be present.
And I mean, thank you for being a pioneer, because it's essentially what you and thoseother women were.
I mean, you did the work so that
the future generations don't have to do that same work and they can show up in a differentway.
(14:55):
And that's so amazing to hear.
I love the stories, even the ones that are speaking to challenges and things that mighthave been uncomfortable.
They're helpful to hear because I think a lot of people show up and just take a little bitof it for granted if it's always been this way and it's not true.
There have been a lot of changes, I would say in the last, I mean, I've only been in theindustry
(15:19):
two and a half decades, but there's been a lot of changes in that amount of time that I'vebeen in the industry that I've seen change.
And I think it's incredible to celebrate them.
and celebrate the fact that all of, most of...the work world
includes that respect to have mother's rooms and meditation rooms and prayer rooms, etcetera, in a lot of organizations.
(15:41):
But to have it in the construction industry as well too is just amazing.
And every time I walk by one, it's been so many years.
My son is 30, almost 34 years old now, but I walk by one in any of our offices or anyother offices and it just, warms my heart.
I just think of the ease to be able to have a refrigerator in a private space.
(16:02):
that isn't in a bathroom stall to be able to provide for the guests.
Funny enough is I haven't given birth to a child and have breastfed but I do walk pastthose rooms and I do notice them and I realize it might feel commonplace now but I think
folks don't understand that it's still something that you notice because it's still thatnew.
(16:27):
Yes.
But when I walk past it, I'm like, my goodness, I'm so thankful for this.
And I hope this is everywhere so that every breastfeeding individual has the opportunityto leverage this.
I also appreciate that there are some offices that have spaces for just simply taking aminute and a meditation room to calm yourself or whatever it is you need to do because
(16:49):
there are, I mean, I'm a neuro spicy person.
And it's nice to have a second to have a minute to myself with no noise or no this becausethat can get challenging for different folks.
And I think it's really, really important to offer those spaces and provide opportunitiesfor people to show up as they need to.
(17:09):
I love that you mentioned that piece of it.
I love that description, NeuroSpicy.
But acknowledging the neurodivergence of so many of us in the industry is something thatI'm looking forward to that shift to where it's a common conversation.
And it's becoming more accepted and realizing that all of us have different ways of
(17:33):
handling the stresses of our industry, which is there's a lot of pressure.
There's a lot of stress and it is a forward thinking organization that is willing toacknowledge that all of us have differences in the ways that we lead, in the ways that we
learn, in the ways that we need to be supported in doing the work that we do to the bestof our abilities.
(17:57):
So yes, when I see whether it's
private space for whatever reason, non-gendered bathrooms, mothers' rooms as it's referredto often, and just that opportunity for us to realize it's not about sitting at our desks
or standing on a job site without ever having the opportunity to pause and take a breathfor continuing to move on in the pressure and the stress that does show up for all of us.
(18:25):
Absolutely.
Speaking of pressure and stress, with all the pressure and stress and complexity thatconstruction is, tell me why.
Tell me more about why you continue this endeavor in this industry despite all of thatbecause it is stressful, it is challenging.
(18:47):
There's challenges that still need to be solved.
Not just for women, I would say for anyone because
When you solve a challenge for a woman, you're actually benefiting everyone in my opinion.
So tell me more about your wife.
there's two things that you've just asked in that sentence.
Thank you.
In those couple of sentences.
(19:08):
The why is...
the absolute joy of being able to be a part of a team or a group of folks and anorganization that builds some amazing, amazing structures.
It's the structure piece of it, but it is also the people and the lived experience.
(19:28):
And this is something that later in my career now, I refer to this as my ninth inning.
This game's probably gonna go a couple of extra innings.
At least I hope it does.
but I'm huge baseball fan and I'm like, I'm in my ninth inning.
These innings have been, starting from the beginning, the first couple of innings weresome of the biggest challenges I have ever had in my lifetime.
And we're all in those first couple of innings.
(19:50):
And now the, or even the lived experience of probably in the fourth, fifth or sixthinnings where I had the distinct privilege of driving around and showing people in my
family
or my son when he was a youngster, the buildings that mom had been a part of.
There's something so amazing with that.
(20:12):
Tell me more.
This is something I think I've mentioned on a couple other episodes.
I'm sorry for folks who've listened to all of them and it gets repetitive.
But the immense joy and pride that folks in this industry have about their work.
And I love that I can drive past buildings in San Francisco and look at bricks and say, mydad put those there.
(20:33):
I also love
that I have the joy and pride of driving across roads that I get to say I participated inmaking those roads there that you get to drive on.
I also love that now others are going to say my mom put those bricks there.
My mom put that road there.
I love that that is the future story.
(20:55):
And I'm not trying to take away from all the amazing men that have done work in thisindustry.
I also love that it's
both statements are now a part of our vernacular.
Absolutely.
I had the privilege of working for an organization, a civil engineering firm, HeavyHighway, that built the, or installed, not built, but installed the center divide on the
(21:18):
Golden Gate Bridge, and which has saved numerous lives, I'm sure, because of the amazing
engineering that went into designing this particular barrier.
And there is not a day that I drive over and I don't do it as often anymore, but driveover the Golden Gate with immense pride and it wasn't even my project.
(21:40):
So that idea of the impacts on the industry in life saving and quality of life in the waysin which healthcare, for instance, the modern buildings and the ways in which we've built
interiors that allow folks once we step away to do the work that enhances life in oursociety.
(22:02):
It's just it's such a great privilege and I never take it for granted.
And I think when people think about listening to your why and thinking about other peopleshowing up in this industry and people coming to this industry, folks might think, well,
I'm just pushing some papers in an office.
It doesn't really matter that much.
But the real effect of that is all of those roles enable those projects to get built.
(22:25):
All of those roles enable it.
If you took away all the accountants and all the project administrators and all of the
the the rest of the project crews on site couldn't do their jobs.
Conversely, if we didn't have people on site doing their roles, the people in the officeswouldn't have roles to show up to.
So it's a it's a huge partnership.
And I think we don't sometimes think of the what's I butterfly effect isn't the rightword.
(22:52):
There's another concept I'm thinking of, and I'm not remembering it right now.
But the maybe the trickle effect of
this one small thing can have a greater impact as it spreads down the line.
So I've built a hospital that is this great amazing space for doctors to work in andnurses to work in and medical staff to save lives or just help people have a good life.
(23:16):
It does not even save lives, right?
But sometimes just helping us be healthy and happy.
And then those people go on to do their respective things in their world.
And it's so it's...
It's that drop in the pond effect of the ripple that construction actually does have.
Yeah.
It does.
And you spoke about one thing as well too, and that's the deep respect for our craft thatactually do the building through every single person that touched a piece of paper or an
(23:46):
electronic document to help create a better industry as well as some of the work thatyou're doing.
That innovation for how we change our industry changes the world.
And there's another piece to this too that I think is so important
important to me is some of my best friends my entire life have been the people that I workwith.
(24:10):
And folks say, those aren't true friendships.
It's just people you work with.
You've got, you know, work relationships and such.
But that's in our industry in particular.
That's not true.
I have deep, deep abiding friendships and relationships, just even mutual respect forpeople that I've had the privilege of working with in all those different roles.
(24:30):
from risk and project management and pre-con all the way through any aspect ofpost-construction, right?
And how we take care of our clients.
And so that idea of understanding the relationships and the strength that gets.
actually reinforced, right?
I'm gonna use this, the foundation and the reinforcement and so on, is the aspect of howwell we work together.
(24:57):
And I think that that's one of the ways you talked about the impacts of the changes overthe years, Tristen, and that piece that ties back into the question you asked me about the
relationships and the joy that I have in the industry, the challenges that started out
have been overcome in so many different ways, but it's the people that have paved thepath, if you will, as well as created some obstacles that made me a stronger person to be
(25:30):
able to overcome in order to stay in the industry.
And there's one person that I have the fondest memory of now later in life, but I didn'tremember him for years until I realized the impact of...
what he did for me and our crews.
And that was going back to concrete finishing many, many years ago.
We're talking about the early eighties and we had different pieces of equipment.
(25:53):
The equipment has evolved.
my gosh, that's just one area of it.
The equipment has evolved massively.
There you go.
So what haven't we done together?
At the same time, many years later, but I love that.
but the tools in concrete at that particular point in time and finishing and placing, etcetera.
But there's trowels and groovers, but all the kinds of mechanical equipment as well too,whether it's screeds or grinders, et cetera.
(26:21):
But when I showed up on the job site and was given the chance to use some of thisequipment in order to prove myself and had a few folks that were willing to show me the
way, one in particular was a superintendent on a project.
His name was Jose.
And what he did for me was I didn't realize the impact until years later.
So we're using this equipment and most of it has been well used and handle grips and suchhave worn out and such.
(26:48):
And folks have, because of the vibrations, because of the lack of ergonomics at that pointin time, People have taken different kinds of foam and wrapped it with all kinds of duct
tape in order to make these
grips easier to use, or easier to hold on to the equipment and to...
mitigate for some of the vibration, right?
(27:09):
so, but it's huge.
It's like this big around with all this packed stuff and this tape all around andeverything else.
And I've got smaller hands, right?
I'm five foot four.
And at that point in time was much tinier than I am now.
And that idea of being able to hold onto this equipment with all this wrapped stuff was,or these grips that were wrapped, was incredibly painful.
(27:30):
And after an hour, I literally could not move my hand.
Yeah.
were just that stiff and such.
But I was determined not to quit.
And this man paid attention and ended up like four or five Saturdays in a row taking apiece of equipment home each weekend.
And he'd take this equipment home and cut everything off of it and rewrap these grips withsome new clean material that was just padded enough, was wrapped well enough.
(28:03):
I mean, he put a lot of time.
Hmm.
thought and energy and all of a sudden Monday morning this piece of equipment would beback on the site.
And I'm able to grip it better then and I'm able to do my job better.
And I also heard from folks that, oh, there we go.
We're taking considerations and making it easier for someone that shouldn't be here in thefirst place to do the job.
(28:27):
And it was really, really challenging and I got a lot of grief for it.
until we had one, two, and then three other people that came forward and said, wow, thisis, and male body people that said, this is so amazing that I can use this equipment
better now, that I'm in less pain, that my arms don't hurt, my wrists don't hurt thismuch, that I have a better grip and all of these kinds of things.
(28:56):
It wasn't just for me, it was across the board.
it helped everybody else.
Absolutely, absolutely.
And we didn't have to fight the equipment or show how tough we were in order to do thejob.
So it changed the way that we looked at the industry just on that one site.
And I didn't realize it until years later.
I had the privilege here at DPR for a short amount of time to be a DEI lead in one of ourbusiness units.
(29:23):
And I would tell that story when I was meeting with a group of folks from the field.
that would ask about, how is it, if you can't do the job, why do I have to makeconsiderations for someone that can't do the job in the first place?
And I share that story, and I can't tell you how many times I've met with superintendentsand foremen after a meeting where I've been able to share that story and heard from them
(29:49):
about similar stories.
And they make that connection that equity is about.
having the tools to do our jobs well, having the training, having the tools literally andfiguratively, as well as having the opportunity to do the work itself.
And so...
him and doing what he did, what he did, what that Jose did for you was not hurting anyoneelse, wasn't affecting anyone else, wasn't changing anything really for anybody else.
(30:20):
It was really, it didn't force them to really make that big of a change.
What it did was just simply provide opportunity and space for all bodies to show up andparticipate in that activity.
And that's, think,
Equity isn't equal to fair.
(30:41):
Those two words are conflated.
Equity is about opportunity and access to and creating the tools and ability for allbodies and all people to show up in a space should they want to.
Yeah.
I think that's a great story and a really good way, I think, to just talk through one.
(31:03):
perfect example of allyship.
Like, he quietly just did this.
He saw the need, he fulfilled the need.
And he he didn't make a big deal out of it.
He just did it because it was the right thing to do.
And I love that.
I should probably sit and think some time someday about some of those things that
that they probably did for me on project sites and I just haven't thought through it yet,but it'd probably be a good practice for me to sort of take some time to pause and honor
(31:29):
them because I had some incredible men that I worked with in the field for many, manyyears who just taught me so much.
Taught me so much and I'm super thankful for it.
So that's such a great story.
I love that.
What are some changes you think we still need?
to create more equity in this space?
Are there a couple things that you can point to or overarching thematic ideas?
(31:57):
think that understanding that we don't even have to label this as DE &I, diversity,equity, and inclusion, because of the connotations and the political
around that particular term right now, but shifting our understanding of what it is thatwe're doing when we're creating spaces for all people to join our industry.
(32:26):
And that is, you mentioned allyship, but also looking at it as that building belonging,right?
And that creating the opportunity for folks to ask the questions and join our industry.
in all the different ways.
And you and I talked about this before.
You mentioned it briefly as well too.
All the different roles allow for whatever our particular strengths are or our desire towork in different spaces, whether it's technology, right?
(32:56):
Or it's the actual built environment itself or all of those other aspects we've talkedabout.
Risk, we've talked about accounting and
the ways in which we take care of people, right?
I anybody could come to us and we could find a role in construction that they would fitperfectly.
And I'm an example of that level of privilege in that I've had so many allies that haveallowed for, hmm, let's try that, right?
(33:25):
And the idea of you asked about how many hats, I couldn't even name all of the hats thatI've worn in my brief introduction only because they've been so diverse and so unexpected
in so many different ways, right?
Having come to DPR as a project manager in our special services group division and havingsome challenges there late in my career with the changes in the industry for how many
(33:50):
years I've been away from the built environment, the vertical built environment by doingheavy highway projects that, or heavy highway contractor, but the projects that were
biodiversity and
creating more green building and so on.
And even owning my own construction company for a while, that was one of those privilegesthat you talk about, referring to that allyship and people that have your back.
(34:16):
Working for a company where the owner of the company was deciding that he wanted toretire.
And actually, I rather than close the company, I'm like, hey, what if we were to buy thecompany from you?
says, I've just been waiting for somebody to ask me that.
Yeah.
a long time.
And so one of the partner and I were able to buy his construction firm.
(34:37):
And it was residential, which for those of us in commercial construction say often thatit's residential, how difficult can it be?
Residential has its own challenges too, having the opportunity to run an organization thatspecialized in very small projects, you know, less than 10 million.
(34:59):
much less than $10 million, right?
Million dollar homes or half a billion remodels, et cetera, very different than the 60 to$160 million projects or larger that I've worked on before.
And yet the challenges changed and shifted to working with people.
The owners were now intimately involved with every detail and we were intimately involvedin their lives, right?
(35:26):
So.
understanding that those changes and shifts in all of the different ways in which we showup in construction.
Everyone has, if there's a desire to be here, everyone has a strong suit, right?
One of my former leaders refers to it as our superpowers, right?
And that idea of having folks help you identify what your superpower is and what it is youwant to do with that superpower.
(35:52):
Like you said, there is a place for
all those aspects of who you are and your skill set in the industry.
And that idea of understanding that where we're shifting and where I think we can continueto go back to your question, where we continue to grow is not only supporting one another
(36:13):
in understanding that everyone belongs that wants to be here and has the skill set andwilling to do the hard work, right?
And so,
that building of relationships and friendships, et cetera.
Here late in my career, I've got the opportunity, described at the beginning as a globalfacilitator.
What does that actually mean?
(36:34):
And what it means is that I have the privilege and the task, if you will, of being able tosupport folks that are doing many of those roles that I did and many that I never had the
skillset to do.
But to help them do their jobs better,
but have a higher quality of life while they're doing it as well too.
So bringing them those often referred to as soft skills, I like to call them power skills,not just because it's my last name, but more a play on my last name, but that idea of they
(37:06):
truly are the power that we bring to be able to do our jobs well and take care ofourselves both at work and outside of work.
And so there's the passion that continues.
to evolve because I had no idea that I was, that this is where my late career would takeme.
(37:26):
Well, and the great thing I think about the shifts I've seen change, like a positivechange is that, you know, during my mother's generation, it was especially in
construction, I feel like the concept was as you went to work for one company, you stayedat that company your whole career, and you only did that one path.
And that's no longer the story in our society, I feel like, even in construction too.
(37:49):
And if you decide
after five years, you want to pivot to a different role, that there's opportunity forthat, just like there's opportunity for you to pivot into our industry with the skill set
that you do have.
And actually, you might bring some knowledge from whatever industry you're working in orlife experience you've had outside of this industry that might benefit us greatly.
(38:11):
And I love that.
It's challenging to switch industries.
But I also think there's so much opportunity there and we welcome, most of us welcome it.
I'm not gonna say all because there's always resistors in every group to change, which isnatural and human.
But I think it's incredible and beautiful.
(38:32):
So thinking of sort of change and things, are there any specific personal impacts that youfeel you've had on this industry?
Because you've been here.
a And I, I can probably speak to it, but I want you to speak to it first.
When I consider impacts, I often go to personal to start with.
(38:54):
And I think about my own growth as a person.
involved in the industry, so as a part of the industry and a worker, if you will, the waysin which I've changed and the opportunities to get more clarity about who I am in the
(39:15):
world, what I want to do and how I can contribute, think are the...
And those came later.
It was really, it was mainly the hustle for so many years of
trying to prove myself to others that I think was my main focus, if you will.
And now later in life, look at the contributions have been to myself and learning moreabout myself.
(39:39):
It's hard for me to think about my contributions, even though I feel some pride and egowhen I see some of the work that I've had the privilege to be a part of, right?
In its built environment and
and the physical space of seeing the results.
I've had challenges and I've hit walls that have changed the direction of my life and mycareer in very, very impactful ways.
(40:10):
And to have survived is probably one of those things that I love to consider a
or I love to consider when you gave me the task of looking back over my career in theindustry.
But the piece that I think is not really anything that I can take credit for, but is justthe lived experience that I have been here and I'm still here.
(40:36):
And so the contribution of being able to see a woman
that has worn the myriad hats that I've worn in an industry and the great joy that it'sbrought me through the challenges and the hardships, right?
And the perceived failures that have always just been lessons for the next opportunity, Ithink is the only contribution that I can really relate to that would be industry wide.
(41:05):
But my-
Contribution now is to be able to tell the stories about my lived career for other folksto maybe only one or two folks, but being able to have the privilege to share my stories
through the content that I have, the opportunity to share with other individuals in ourindustry, both in and outside of DPR.
(41:26):
Yeah.
And I, I, I think your impact, whether it be one person or 100, your stories that youshare, think are more impactful than maybe you realize sometimes.
So I'm glad you recognize it.
I think it's, I think it's more than you think, though.
So I appreciate you showing up and sharing them and being vulnerable and authentic.
(41:48):
because we need more of that in this industry.
And I think it's valuable for those of us who've had experiences to share them, notnecessarily attaching positive or negative value to them, but just sharing them because
verbalizing experiences to others allows them to be seen and heard and for others to maybetake a nugget away from it, whatever that might be for them.
(42:12):
And
the history that you've built in this industry and others who've been in this industry fora while, you know, we are a sum of all of our parts of our history, and we wouldn't be who
we are in the present without the past.
As difficult as that might be, and we might want to reject some of the things we've beenthrough, it also has created who we are.
And to honor that, be proud of it, and to share it, I think is incredibly important.
(42:34):
And being grateful, even for the challenges, because the challenges are lot of stuff.
So
So, yeah.
to record hours with you.
And I could, but I can't.
Right now I cannot.
The last thing I want to touch on is are there other women or allies to Women inConstruction that you want to give a shout out to or just some badass people who you think
(42:59):
support Women in Construction are helping to move that needle for
Absolutely, and I There's tons more so I'm gonna pick one but before I name that one Iwant to acknowledge that it's the allyship from that very first story of an 18 year old
girl That was trying to use equipment that was inappropriately sized for her To that oneally Jose who
(43:26):
doesn't want me to use his last name.
I followed him through his retirement and such and it's been an amazing experience.
the allyship, and I think that that's the takeaway that I want any of your listeners,whether you're considering coming into our industry or you're already here or you don't
identify as a woman in this industry, is that each and every one of you have theopportunity to make a difference.
(43:56):
for other people and in particular marginalized folks that don't necessarily have aparticular voice and are working incredibly hard to be seen, and valued.
And I've had that privilege, have had folks that have attempted to take away thatprivilege, yes.
(44:16):
We could talk about those stories for a very long time.
But I wanna shine the light on those.
project manager when I was an assistant project manager because women weren't afforded thetitle of project manager.
All the women in a construction company I worked for had assistant in front of our names.
And yet he took the time to, anytime it was a difficult day or such and I had this amazingfast Camaro that I parked way out in the parking lot so that no one could harm it.
(44:43):
And this person,
found the time on every single difficult day that I had, it felt like, to leave a Post-Itnote on my side mirrors on my car.
So I had to get out and pop them off of the other side and so on and so forth.
There were words of encouragement each time that something was challenging.
(45:03):
That show of allyship and support and all of the other folks that have supported me andothers.
to be able to shine and show our absolute abilities and contributions.
Those are the folks that have made the greatest difference in my life.
And I just have such gratitude for them.
(45:25):
But I also want to challenge everyone that has the privilege of being in our industry tofind a way to be an ally to others.
I think that's the greatest opportunity that we have moving forward.
And she would ask that question.
And one in particular here at DPR, especially when I was challenged in my role as aproject manager, there was one person that someone said, very similar to Henny telling
(45:51):
you, you needed to speak with me.
Someone said, you needed to call, I needed to call this one woman and her name is CarrieWilliams.
And I get emotional when I start to tell this story, but.
She made the time for me, even though she was in an entirely different business unit, wasactually coming up to our business unit and scheduled a meeting at 6.30 in the morning so
(46:12):
that we both could get out to our project sites and take care of everything else that weneeded to do, to take the time to listen to what it is that I had to offer and wanted to
do here at DPR.
And it took the time to then reach out to other people on my behalf to advocate for me.
when she knew me for such a short amount of time.
(46:33):
We've become incredibly good friends since then, but made all the difference in the worldfor the trajectory of where my career has gone into my eighth and ninth inning here.
And I am the person I am today and able to share with other people the opportunities forgrowth and expansion in this industry because of Kerry Williams.
(46:55):
And so an incredible leader here at DPR.
such a beautiful connection and story of how we can all be allies for each other.
And not just, this isn't just about women, there's ways to show up for allies for allfolks in different ways and different forms.
it might feel scary sometimes to do that, but there's an opportunity to do it in a waythat's best for everyone, including oneself.
(47:18):
So I would encourage folks to lean into the idea of allyship.
I think it's something.
I love, I enjoy talking about it and it's, I mean, I'm the person who will throw myself infront of a bus for somebody.
So I don't know if that's a healthy idea either, but don't throw yourself in front ofbuses people.
But I think you guys get the sentiment and the intent of what Renee was bringing forwardwith that.
(47:40):
Yes, all the above.
So, well, we do have to wrap up Renee.
This has been such a pleasure having you and.
I think we'll have to have another episode with you to come back to talk about some otherstories because I think they're valuable in the future.
I really appreciate you joining me today.
Thank and it's been my honor and just thank you for what you're doing and above and beyondeverything that you do in your other roles in our industry.
(48:05):
What an incredible service.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of The Construction Cafe.
We hope you found our conversation as inspiring as your next big project.
Remember, you can dive deeper into the resources and topics we discuss by connecting withus on LinkedIn and Instagram.
(48:28):
Just search for The Construction Cafe.
Don't miss out on future episodes.
Be sure to follow us on Spotify, Podbean, and Apple Podcasts to keep the conversationgoing.
If you're passionate about the construction industry and have a story to share, we'd loveto hear from you.
Visit our website at the constructioncafe.com and drop us a note.
Let's keep building better together.
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