Hi Construction Nation,
Imagine being the President of a billion-dollar construction and materials business started by your great-great grandfather, Adolph Teichert, 135 years ago. That is exactly what Mary Teichert has taken on. Working to continue such a powerful legacy of professionalism and success is her goal.
I really wanted to talk with Mary Teichert for our Bringing Women into Construction series because she has some great insights and lessons learned.
While she is President today, she didn’t start out at the top. For almost 20 years Mary worked in the field and climbed her way up the ranks. She sold rock, asphalt, and concrete and built roads and streets, subdivisions, levees, airports, gas distribution, and various other elements of infrastructure. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard College.
Listen to our conversation to learn some great lessons you can use.
Mary highlights Teichert’s ‘Take Your Daughter to Work’ initiative, offering opportunities for employees to bring their daughters to the office and the work site and offering much-needed exposure to the industry and the opportunities it presents. She also has a speaker’s bureau, does job fairs, and is trying to make it much easier for women to see construction as an opportunity.
She offered some very specific lessons learned, such as anyone, including women, must embrace the nature of construction: Getting up Early, Working Outside, and Not Minding Getting Dirty! She finds that women who have family members in construction or farming tend to really like construction.
Mary is working to get more field experience for women so they can really be mainstream in construction and enjoy the feeling of being part of a team.
This was a great first interview for our Bringing Women into Construction series. Stay tuned for next month’s interview. Remember 500,000 construction jobs are sitting unfilled. Women seem to be a great option for all of us.
What can you take from Mary’s insight that can help you increase the number of women on your teams? Let us know!!
Take care Construction Nation,
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