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Women in Construction Week takes place from March 3 to 9, 2024. This weeklong event promotes women in the construction industry and honors their accomplishments.
At ATI, we’re proud of the women making a difference for our organization and our clients every day. As part of this year’s celebration, we asked our regional leadership to nominate women who are shaping the future of our industry. We had so many nominees that we had to split our article into two parts!
Here’s the first group of women we are celebrating, along with a short description of some of their accomplishments and advice for other women who want to break into the construction industry.
As a Project Director at ATI, Cassie’s responsibilities include managing projects, working alongside insurance companies, writing estimates, and overseeing mitigation work for residential and commercial restoration projects. Her attention to detail, communication skills, and organizational prowess have been instrumental in restoring homes and multifamily units back to their pre-loss condition.
But Cassie hasn’t always worked in construction. Previously, she worked in restaurants and banks. While she had customer service experience, she didn’t have a background in construction or mitigation. When her sister-in-law encouraged her to apply, she “took a leap of faith and changed direction,” she recalls.
Motivated by a desire for a fulfilling career and the prospect of advancing within a supportive company, Cassie embraced the challenge of learning new skills. She has moved up from working at the front desk to serving as a project coordinator to her current role. Throughout, Cassie has found great satisfaction in “being a hero for homeowners, aiding them during one of the most stressful times of their lives.” Her goal, she said, is to help property owners “turn a bad situation into a better one.” Cassie’s dedication to her work has a profound impact on the lives of those she helps, making her a true asset to the construction industry.
During Cassie’s time in the industry, she has seen more women trying out different roles, from administrators to technicians and managers. Cassie’s advice to women who are interested in a career in the construction industry is to start from the ground up. “Starting in an administrative role helps you gain the knowledge necessary to excel in every position. If I don’t know something, I know who to ask.” She also emphasized the importance of continuous learning. The certifications she has earned while at ATI—including Xactimate Levels 1 and 2, IICRC contents packing, and IICRC water damage—have enabled her personal and professional growth.
Brittany’s journey with ATI began in 2013, when she joined the San Diego office as its office manager. Coming from a background in managing a restaurant group, she was drawn to ATI by the positive experience she had when her insurance company referred her to ATI to handle a flood resulting from a line break. She had a great experience working with the ATI team and remembered that when she was looking for a new opportunity.
Over the years at ATI, Brittany’s dedication and aptitude caught the attention of ATI leadership. With a willingness to embrace challenges and a desire for upward mobility, Brittany moved from the office into a sales role. She progressed to regional sales, followed by roles managing southern California and Nevada, and then the entire West Coast before her promotion to her current role. Today, she oversees a team of national sales reps handling enterprise accounts around the country.
Brittany attributes her success at ATI to her temperament and the valuable lessons she has learned from her peers over the years. Her ability to remain calm in stressful, emotionally charged situations has been a key asset. As a leader, Brittany believes in consistency, honesty, and building trust with clients and her team. Her leadership style is rooted in doing what is right for the organization and ensuring her decisions align with serving clients. She has also discovered a passion for leading teams and helping salespeople find their niche and build their careers.
Brittany suggests that women considering a career in the construction and restoration industry should recognize their value. She cites the family-oriented culture at ATI and supportive mentors as the keys to her success. “Even if I have children in the background, it doesn’t make my voice or opinions any less valuable. I’ve never felt that way at ATI. We’re a family organization, and I’ve never had to fight for my voice to be heard.”
When joining a rapidly growing organization like ATI, Brittany recommends learning as much as you can and finding a way to become an expert. “Finding a gap in technology has served me, my career, and the organization. We’re now scaling and putting some platforms in place that are going to serve us for years to come.” She also recommends learning about the sales cycle that’s unique to the industry.
Summing up her experience, Brittany noted, “It’s fun to be part of changes that are moving the needle for the company. Even though I’ve been with ATI for 11 years, I still feel like I’m learning every day, and that’s awesome.”
With more than 30 years of construction and restoration experience, Lisa has done it all. In July 2020, she joined ATI as the Office Manager in Tampa, a role she held for two years after being recruited by her former manager. She was later brought on as our Assistant Regional Manager. Her first project in Tampa was intimidating: a restoration project for a former baseball manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels.
Lisa’s professional background includes serving as an EMT in her twenties, which she compares to her work at ATI. Back then, she “loved seeing patients out and about after we put them back together, and restoration is the same way. It’s an adrenaline rush when something devastating happens, and you help a homeowner put their home back together. It’s really rewarding.”
Today, Lisa assists with overall branch management, including project and staff operations. She works with her team to ensure third-party administrator metrics are met. The nature of program work requires fast, accurate responses against a ticking clock. Lisa’s managerial approach is rooted in empathy and understanding, as she has personally experienced every aspect of the job. This allows her to relate to her team and provide valuable insights into the challenges they face.
Lisa’s dedication to maintaining high standards has been instrumental in her achievements, which include helping her office earn a Golden Hammer award from Contractor Connection. Lisa attributes this success to working hard, staying on top of industry trends, and maintaining effective communication with all stakeholders involved in a project.
Lisa encourages women aspiring to succeed in the industry to start at the bottom and gradually work their way up. “Even if you take a role beneath your current skill level, once you’re in, the sky’s the limit.” She advises that women looking to start a career in construction focus on three things: active listening, continuous learning, and bravery. “The industry is changing every day, and you have to listen and be brave enough to ask questions. For the first 10 years, I was afraid to talk because I was a woman in a man’s world. But I listened, formed relationships with vendors, and started to realize that I belonged. Be confident.”
Like father, like daughter: Ruby’s 18-year journey with ATI began when her father, already an ATI employee, introduced her to an opportunity at the company. Going from working in an office for an interpreting agency to emergency services for ATI was quite a shift, but she loved it from the start, whether she was helping clients recover from a disaster or performing pack-outs, unloads, or pack-ins. Her ability to connect with people during challenging times became a hallmark of her work.
After spending the first four years in the field, Ruby seized the opportunity to work in the office, taking on her current role. Her responsibilities include managing project paperwork, coordinating work crews, and ensuring smooth workflows from project initiation to completion. In operations, Ruby’s key strength lies in communication. She is the liaison between the restoration department’s 50 supervisors, ensuring everyone is on the same page at all times. She also finds great satisfaction in contributing to the entire project lifecycle.
One of Ruby’s proudest accomplishments is helping her department transform from a paper-based to digital environment, training supervisors and other employees to help them embrace change and ensure her department stays ahead of the curve.
To women aspiring to enter the industry, Ruby’s advice is clear: “Put your mind to it, be open to learning from everyone, and believe that anything is possible.” Learning from mistakes and taking a proactive approach to education has propelled Ruby’s success. Her journey is a true testament to the power of perseverance, continuous learning, and positive thinking in action.
We hope you found these stories as inspiring as we did. A huge thank you to these featured employees and all the women of ATI who are driving our company forward every day.
Stay tuned for part two of this article next month. In the meantime, to learn more about the benefits of working for a family-oriented business that supports and develops women, please visit our Careers page.