Tell us about your career trajectory at K2.
- Seven years ago I took a temp job as a receptionist at K2. Phones were abuzz with new business and I had both the ears and fingers to take charge of such a demanding role. But the golden age of transferring calls to voicemail wouldn’t last. The accounting department asked me to enter the AP. It hadn’t been organized so I set out to create a system. At that point, I decided to organize a way for the departments, supers and subs to share job numbers and set up an accounting work flow. I was then asked to do the AIA contracts. Unfamiliar with the software, I called AIA’s tech line and asked them to walk me through each of the buttons. In time, I inherited Change Orders, Closeout Documents and Insurance. Eventually, I retired from the front desk and was given an office. I still manage those duties and now work with a team of three APMs, nine Project Managers and 22 superintendents. Who knows what new challenges await around the next corner?
What do you love most about working in construction?
- Never a dull moment! Opportunities are endless and I love that we’re making a prettier more modern city, every day. I’m a sucker for a makeover.
Did you have a mentor during your early career? Who was it and what did you learn from them?
- No. But I once ran out of money and my dad said,” Congratulations, you just got your master’s degree in Accounting.”
What do you like to do in your free time?
- I frequent local group Fitness classes in Dallas. I couldn’t get my boss, David Danielson, to do a class, but I got everyone else on his team to go. I guess every department has its weak link.
- I’ve also filled up 2 passports and I’m working on my 3rd.
What’s the favorite place you’ve ever traveled?
- I lived in Japan a few years and I think living somewhere else helps in regard to character development. Learning how to ask for help, how to have fun on your own, how to rely on yourself and live without certain comforts – Japan is a great place to do that. Japan is a beautiful country with loving and welcoming communities; great food, rich history… I could go back every year.
- My grandfather was in the 90th Infantry and landed at Normandy D-Day +1. The T-O insignia meant Texas and Oklahoma but today stands for “Tough ‘Ombres”. I flew to France and met with a woman who was a WWII Battle expert. She researched my grandfather and his division and took me through his experience step by step, explaining each mission and telling me stories. He died when my mother was pregnant with me so we never met. But, I love history and I loved learning about my grandfather and his journey.
What’s something about you not many people know?
- They don’t know I have an undergraduate degree in International Studies and Spanish.
Any irrational fears or quirks?
- I don’t want to end up at the bottom of the ocean after my plane has crashed into it. The annual risk of being in a plane crash is 1 in 11 million. But some people are that 1.
If you could be a superhero, what power would you possess?
- Think about David Attenborough’s: A Life on Our Planet? As a superhero, I can magically restore our planet’s original healthy ecosystem and rich biodiversity. I can whip up Energy efficient buildings, Industries and transportation. I guess I’d be more of a Wizard than a superhero.
How would you spend an ideal Sunday morning?
- I swim laps every Sunday morning. I have a coach who came to Dallas in the 1970’s from South Africa to swim for SMU. He creates often impossibly hard workouts for me that range from 2 – 3000 meters. After I swim, I sit in the Eucalyptus steam room. The rest of the day is a lounge – eating – mimosa scenario.
Do you have a hidden talent?
- I picked up some IKEBANA while living in Japan. Ikebana is a style of Japanese flower arrangements. The style dates back to the Heian Period (794 1185) but is still widely popular.
What’s your biggest office pet-peeve?
- I’d rather not say. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.