Let’s start by providing some basic introductions.
Professional: I am a Managing Consultant in Trinity’s Atlanta office. I have been with the company since 1998, starting after I finished my Master’s degree. My Bachelor’s and Master’s are in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). My career progressed rapidly with Trinity and I had significant responsibilities relatively quickly, especially when compared to my peers in other organizations.
As a Managing Consultant, I wear many hats. My number one responsibility is providing unsurpassed customer service and value to our clients. If our client’s are not happy, we wouldn’t be in business – so that has to be the number one focus. Of course, a very close second is ensuring that I am training (or “growing”) my replacements – supervising and mentoring new staff is a critical function of Managing Consultants – for without talented and dedicated staff, how could we continue to provide unsurpassed customer service and value to our clients.
Personal: My husband and I were married in September 2003. We are actively involved in a United Methodist Church, where I presently serve as the Chairperson of the Staff Parish Relations Committee (think of it as the Staff Manager for the Church). We are both alumni of the University of Michigan and love watching the Wolverines play during football season. We recently adopted our baby girl, Erin, in January 2007. If anyone ever wants to talk about the “why” we adopted or know more about our journey to become a family, just let me know.
I am an avid reader and a scrapbooker. Scrapbooking is my creative outlet and is nice change from my engineering focus.
What insights might I offer to new consultants? Many, but I’ll focus on some possibly more unique insights:
- Quality and value always needs to be your focus as a consultant – I am always willing to discuss and reinforce why everything builds on this.
- A female perspective on working in an engineering discipline and the opportunities and challenges that one can encounter as your career progresses.
- How can one balance work and life priorities and maintain some semblance of sanity (okay, some might argue with me about the sanity part….)
- Can you raise a family and have a career? Of course you can – of course, this discussion would tie in nicely with Item 3 as well!!
- Is working part-time an option at some stage in your career (note – since our adoption, I’ve returned at 75% of full-time)?
And, I’m always open to other questions and discussion topics – these were just a few that popped into my mind.