Get Them to Give a Fck
Doesn't it feel like no one gives a fck anymore? Well, good thing I have enough passion and lots of fcks to give.
Hear from Julie Wanzer, LEED AP, author of Get Them to Care, in her podcast series talking about business-to-business (B2B) corporate training topics such as: business development, marketing, personal branding, company branding, email newsletters and women's etiquette in business.
Hear from a range of guests including Julie's colleagues, peers, mentors, influencers and other people who give a fck.
Get Them to Give a Fck
Episode 102: "Just Ask For It" - Lindsay Young, Women in Construction
About the Episode
Julie Wanzer, LEED AP, hosts the "Get Them to Give a F*ck" podcast, featuring industry experts like Lindsay Young, Chief Difference Maker at nu marketing.
These two discuss the challenges and opportunities for women in the construction industry. They highlight the importance of mentorship, advocacy, and professional development.
Lindsay shares her journey from marketing for construction firms to founding her own company, nu marketing, emphasizing the need for women to ask for opportunities and invest in their careers.
They stress the significance of collaboration, networking, and overcoming stereotypes. Both advocate for young women to explore the industry through job shadowing and educational programs, and to seek out mentors and advocates.
About "Get Them to Give a Fck" Podcast
Doesn't it feel like no one gives a fck anymore? Well, good thing I have enough passion and lots of fcks to give.
Hear from Julie Wanzer, LEED AP, author of Get Them to Care, in her podcast series talking about business-to-business (B2B) corporate training topics such as: business development, marketing, personal branding, company branding, email newsletters and women's etiquette in business.
Hear from a range of guests including Julie's colleagues, peers, mentors, influencers and other people who give a fck.
About Julie Wanzer, LEED AP, Podcast Host
Julie Wanzer, LEED AP, is the author of Get Them to Care: How to Leverage LinkedIn to Build Your Online Presence and Become a Trusted Brand, and Owner of Business Rewritten, a marketing consultancy, with 22 years of experience. She also owns Get Them to Care, a training-based consulting firm.
Ms. Wanzer is a marketing strategist and trainer of various communication topics, including online personal and company branding, seller-doer business development best practices, and email newsletter workshops.
About nu marketing
nu marketing provides tailored marketing and business development strategies for architecture, engineering, and construction firms. We handle it all, from strategy to execution, so you can focus on what you do best.
Whether you need a comprehensive marketing plan or support on a specific project, we’ve got you covered.
Our AEC marketing services include:
⚡ Strategic Marketing Plans & Budgets
⚡️ Brand Perception Surveys
⚡ Marketing Coaching
⚡ Presentation Training
⚡ Trade Shows & Conferences
⚡ Client & Employee Events
⚡ Internal Marketing
⚡ Website & Content Creation
⚡ PR & Media Outreach
⚡ Social Media Management
Ready to reduce your marketing stress and see real results? Let’s build something great together.
Contact Lindsay Young today at lindsay@numarketingllc.com
numarketingllc.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaylyoung/
https://www.facebook.com/numarketingllc
https://www.instagram.com/numarketingllc
LinkedIn Connections
Host: Julie Wanzer, LEED AP
Guest: Lindsay Young, MBA, FSMPS
Company Links
Okay, perfect. Okay, so we are good, alrighty, okay. Well, welcome to the give a fuck podcast. Yes, I already cursed on my own podcast, where we cut through the noise talk about real issues and learn more about what it takes to get people to care in the business world, I'm your host, Julie Wanzer, owner of get them to care consulting and author of get them to care. Same name. Did that on purpose, the LinkedIn, personal and company branding guidebook. And I'd be joined each week by industry experts, thought leaders, people with things to say to give you the audience, actual insights and a fresh perspective on issues affecting the business to business industry. Now, let's get into it. Obviously, today I have this beautiful Lindsay Young from new marketing here with me. And gosh, I first met Lindsay, I was trying to think back. Was it either 2019 or 2020? Some for the pandemic, wasn't it? I'm talking with AGC, we were on the development council. Yes,
Lindsay Young:that's correct, yep. So I think it was 2000 time Yes, exactly yes. And
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:we hadn't met in person yet. We were still doing these zoom squares. And I think that we officially, officially met in person fall of 2021 correct me if I'm wrong. SMPS, Southwest Regional Conference, right in Arizona, that's correct, yes. And we were both speakers, by the way, at the conference, and I remember reaching out, and I was like, I need to meet this one. Like, right? Just had so much good energy, so I'm gonna shut up for a little bit. Let Miss Lindsay here introduce herself, and then we'll kind of get into the theme of this podcast, which is women in construction week. So take it away. Miss Lindsay.
Lindsay Young:Well, thank you, Julie. Yeah, this is an honor to be on the podcast. I'm excited about having our conversation today. So again, Lindsay Young, I am the chief difference maker at new marketing. We have been doing marketing consulting for our kind of design and developers as well for 11 years now. So we're excited to be celebrating our 11th year in business this month. So I've worked for myself longer than I've worked for anybody else. So here
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:we exactly. We're never going back, are we Lindsay? No,
Lindsay Young:no, we sure aren't. So we do work all over the United States for those industries, and really that's our niche. That's where we focus. 99% of our time is in that design and development space. So excited to be here to have this conversation with you today,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:and I was going to say what I love about Lindsay, obviously, she's a colleague, and we are both in the exact same industry, right, knee deep in it, design, construction, real estate, commercial real estate, all the things. And what I love about Lindsay is that, from the moment that I met her, I didn't never felt like your competitor Lindsay, right? We were always like, Hey, here's the ideas. This is how we can collaborate, whatever. And that's rare, you know that Miss ma'am, especially our
Lindsay Young:own little niche, even within the industry, I made a referral yesterday. Somebody was like, I need somebody to do a presentation on storytelling. I'm like, well, I could do it, but there's this other person that would be way better than me to do it. So it's it's even a niche within a niche, if that even makes sense, but there's enough work for all of us to go around. And that's also the blessing that we have in this industry, is that our clients are really good at designing and building buildings and roads and but they are not real good at marketing. So I think we all have enough work that we can, we can make exactly,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:it's called job security, Lindsay, right? Exactly, all the family, but no, and I think too, just in kind of reference to that, is that it's really nice, like you were saying you made a referral, or just now, I love being able to make referrals too, right? It makes you look good, makes the client feel better, right? Saying, Oh, guess what? Really not my speciality, or there's definitely something to that. And to be able to have that network to say, hey, you know, like, why don't you call this person? Right? It's just spread the love. And
Lindsay Young:that's right, that's right. So the more resources, you know, the more brains, the better that the client's going to get the product that they're wanting in the end, or, yeah, deliverable that you're doing. So,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:no, sorry, like, win, win, win, all around. Alright, well, now we're just going to get into it, because it's wick week. Women and construction week, right? March 2025, and honestly, too, I think this has always been something that's been near and dear to my I'm really excited to be able to actually talk with other women who work in the industry to celebrate this week, Lindsay, but I'd love to kind of hear more first about your story, like, you know, tell me a little bit about how you even got into construction. What was that journey like for you?
Lindsay Young:Yeah, well, when you go to college, learn about, you know, how to sell widgets and products and those types of things. So when you graduate college, you think, Okay, I'm going to go work. Uh, the business is a lot bigger than that, than the product based business. Not that the product based business isn't as as big too. So, you know, was looking for a position in marketing and business development, and there was a contractor that was hiring who, just coincidentally, my husband, was working for love it, and they didn't have any any stipulations that, you know, spouses couldn't work, work there together. So I applied, and I say, I landed in it. And I think that's a lot of people's stories, is that they don't ever go to college saying, I'm going to be a marketing person for a construction company. But started there, yeah, started there. Loved it. Worked for then an HVAC company, and then a building controls company, and just it was, it was something I loved. And there's never a day that's the same, because it is fun and interesting. And I got a lot of experience at all those places, which gave me and led me to the opportunity to start new marketing. So granted, I never, you know, when I was a girl, I wasn't, you know, construction, you know, in the construction industry, doing marketing, I don't think it happens that way. No, no, I don't think it does either. So no, and
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:that's funny that you say that too, because again, I was thinking just a little bit of about my journey as well. And like you mentioned, was in college marketing degree, all the things, and I actually got brought into the industry via the downturn, right? So I hear I'm dating myself. It's 2008 right? I There weren't a lot of jobs. I was living in the DC area at the time, and landed like, just like you at McGraw Hill construction, right? And for the listeners that don't know, that's McGraw Hill construction was a big publisher in the industry, right? They did architecture, digest, green, build a lot of their magazines, stuff like that. So I entered, actually, from the editorial side, which was interesting, because I got to interview owners, contractors, architects, right? And as I'm sure you know, Lindsay, they love to talk about themselves, right? Especially if you're going to be publishing a story about their product. I i A have a job, right? But B really learned, got to kind of dig deep into the industry and loved it, right? I could consider myself now a building nerd. I don't know if that's the same for you, but I'm like, I love it, right? Like, how do not? So it's just it's fun to again be a part of that industry of something like you mentioned. It's always changing. Never the same,
Lindsay Young:never the same, right? Again. Opportunity, opportunity, yes,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:definitely, no. Well, then let's now then talk about being the opportunity of being a woman in the in this industry, right? Like, we can't hide it. We're clearly women. You're You're literally your whole thing is, like the pink, and I love it. I wore a pink just for you today. I hope it's the right shade. But no, I'd love to kind of hear more about, you know, what you feel like your perspective as a woman brings to the construction industry overall, what is your perspective as a woman kind of bring to the industry? Well, there was a
Lindsay Young:business, this has been probably eight or 10 a long time ago. Yes, one of the things that they were talking about was that there was very few women that ran, you know, big fortune, 500 companies, very few women CEOs. And then those businesses were more profitable because they were ran by women CEOs. So that has been something that I that has stuck with me for as you know, since I heard that statistic that, you know, we can bring a lot to the construction industry, and I've seen more and more women come into the construction industry in the last 20 years. The school that I went to, Pitt State gorillas and Kansas, when, when I went to school there, granted, I was in the marketing and management department. But was, you know, involved in the construction department too. There was maybe two or three women students, female students. I go back now today, and there's, you know, 20. Again, that's 20 years. But that's also showing the progression that our, you know, our industry is targeting and focusing on women and seeing what they can bring to the industry, we have a little more empathy than most men, yeah. So that is a huge piece of it, communication. We're typically a little bit better communicators than men, and so I think those combinations and the problem solving as well. You know, if you're a mom, you're a working mom, you're running a household, you're running a project, you're, you know, running your kids, you're, you know, doing a lot of different things. Construction's the same way. You're dealing with subs, you're dealing with suppliers, you're dealing with the owner, you're dealing with the architect. So you've got a lot of balls to juggle. And as women, we're really, really good at that. And the men that have seen that, and many of them do embrace that, and say, Yeah, we need more talent.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:And so
Lindsay Young:uh, kind of the change, or the shift I've seen in the 20 years in the industry, and I see it growing even more where, you know, it may, may eventually be 5050, I mean, architecture is, is about 5050 engineering is getting, you know, is closer to the construction, yes, in terms of the percentage of women versus men, but we're seeing that shift in that industry as well.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:No, for sure. And I love that you mentioned statistics, because, of course, you know I have some according to just in this week's the January 2025 numbers, US Census Bureau reports that actually women are only about 11.5% of the entire construction industry nationwide. We got a long way to get that 5050, but I know we could do it right, especially with women like us, but I love to I know that you are based in Arkansas, but you do work nationwide. What I found interesting in those statistics too is that Colorado actually ranks number seven as the as the most having the most women in construction. I'm like, oh, go Colorado, right? So whenever you come on down, we can celebrate that again here in this state. Sadly, I did not see Arkansas on the list. But hey, always room for improvement,
Lindsay Young:right? Oh, yeah, yeah. And I, you know, we're a pretty conservative state, if you've ever Yes, ma'am, yeah. Amount of time in Arkansas, we're pretty conservative in that regard, but we're, we're getting there. I mean, we're also, no, just part of, part of what we have to do. So very
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:true. And I listen, I'm not picking on Arkansas in the least. I just didn't see it on there, so I didn't want didn't want to be like, Oh, because not Colorado. Shout out. But caveat to that. But I guess too, what I was going with that is that, I think, to having the women's perspective of realizing, right, that view roads, bridges, houses, schools, hotels, everything, guess what? Women use those too, right? Like, I mean, so thinking you are step stool in the tower to shave my legs. Okay, alright, and builders that don't do that little extra touch or spec for it within the units or whatever, I'm like, disappointed, right? So even bringing, I mean, I know obviously that happens more on the design side, but even being able to be on a job site and say, Hey, did you think about this? Or we are very similar, but we also experience things differently, right? Like we enter a room and I guarantee you, you and your husband will not notice the same things when you walk into a room, right?
Lindsay Young:Well, you're looking you have, you have a different world view is, is kind of the what, what we like to say. So those different experiences. So you're looking or having, having a different experience when you enter a space,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:and again, having that perspective. Or accommodate or to and I'm not saying that there's exceptions for everything, but hey, you know women, we got this right. We could have our little stamp on the project too. Now, I do want to kind of get into a little, kind of shift a little bit. It's talking about this year's theme. Because each year, obviously, women in construction, the national and it's a nonprofit. Yes, it is okay, you're correct. Uh, they set the theme each year, and this year's theme is together, we rise. I just love it. Very simple, short point. So I'd love to hear from you. Miss Lindsay, what does together we rise? What does that phrase mean to you personally? Together we rise? Well,
Lindsay Young:it's like anything when you've got everybody that's rowing in the same direction and doing the same things, you're going to get a lot farther. So you know, the National Association of Women in construction has gathered
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:1000s of women across station and we celebrate that week.
Lindsay Young:Three, be, I know, AGC and ABC and other associations that are, you know, close to the construction industry also celebrate in conjunction with that. But really it's, you know, everybody can, and it was kind of how we kicked off. The the beginning of the podcast was we, we all can work together, and we can all collaborate. And the more we can help one another, the faster we can rise. I know we we challenge. We're challenging ourselves in terms of, hey, we want to be 5050, well, the more that we can promote and engage and mentor and mentee women in the industry, the more we're going to have them in the industry. Just recently, I had a young lady, and she does marketing for a construction company, and she's going to move and I'm like, Are you staying in the industry? Because we need right good women, talent in marketing and construction? Well, I will do everything I can to keep you in this industry. So again, it's keeping those people, and I think together we want rises just summarizes that whole story of what I just said. So the more that we can help one another in our careers and our positions, the better off our industry as a whole is going to
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:no for sure, Lindsay, and I love how you said, again, that working together, mentors, mentees, all of those things, because I think historically, again, men are actually a lot better about doing that than women, right? At least from my experience, I know that I didn't have I was even trying to think back who my mentor could have been, and was actually a man, Doug Miller, who was at Alliance construction at the time, back in, gosh, 2014 2015 and I remember he was the first person I told when I said I wanted to start my own company. And he was like, Oh, congratulations. Let's do this. And he was my biggest cheerleader, but also my biggest critic, too, right? Let me go. Negotiate a contract properly so you don't get screwed. And I'm like, oh, okay, right. Like things that maybe I didn't even think about starting a business. But anyways, I say all this because I think women can do a better job, right, of reaching back behind them or not even entering, like, formal mentorship programs, but come on, gotta help each other out, right? Like there's no need to be that gatekeeper. I mean, I don't again. Who is who would you say was your one of your early mentors? Lindsay. I'm curious now, oh my
Lindsay Young:gosh. Her name is Melissa dick. She was my boss at one of my companies. She was the COO and her her and her husband actually job, shared the CEO position. It was a mechanical contracting company, and she her and I are still now dear friends, and I consider her, you know, kind of like a second mother to me, but also a mentor and just dear friends. So she guided me a lot. She was one of the reasons that I started my business as well. Finding people and asking true that's how I think that you know, if you don't ask, the answer is no, so you have to ask. And as women, we are bad about asking for help or promotions, for a raise, for fill in the blanks. So just ask, because a lot of the times the answer will be yes. There will be some nos. I you know, you get no sometimes, but I think as women, we need, we need to ask more of ourselves and more of what we want, and you can communicate that in a very professional, politically correct way. It's just knowing how to do that. And I think from a mentorship mentee standpoint, it is. It's just asking,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:yeah, no, for sure. And I think you bring up a great point too, of okay, be being willing to ask to advocate for yourself, like you said. And I totally agree with you that women, we as as a whole, right stereotypes exist for a reason. We don't do a great job of that right of advocating for ourselves and so each of us, for our own selves, but obviously for others. And one the reason why I mentioned the mentor story about Doug right like because I didn't have that kind of woman in business or woman in construction, mentee, a mentor. I feel like it's incumbent upon me to reach back behind me and make sure that I'm bringing up the next generation, right, so that together, we all rise, right? So it's just, I think I probably do a lot of the well, I assume that they're gonna ask, right? So I'm like, Hey, you're new to the industry. Like, what are your thoughts? Like, do you need some help, whatever? So I think it's kind of, it's a little bit of both, right? The women like yourself, who've been in business 11 years myself now 10 years in business, we need to recognize, right, that there's gonna be new people coming up, right, and helping them bring along, regardless if they ask or not, right? Like, maybe we can meet them in the middle a little bit to kind of get the love on both sides right.
Lindsay Young:Several friends in the industry, and their mentors are men, and they have, you know, they have had great experiences with that. And so with that also comes those men and and women too. Yes, can be advocates for you when you're not in the room, and can use your your use their voice to voice what you want or need as well. So having those advocates in the room when you're not in the room is also extremely important. And I think again, that goes back to, you know, together we rise, whether you're a man or a woman. We're all in it together. We're all trying to, you know, our end goal is to be successful and happy. And, you know, have happy clients and happy coworkers and so. So again, together we rise is in collaboration with what we can do together. No,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:definitely, I totally, totally agree on on that. Now, getting back to I know you said like you've been in the industry over 20 years. Congratulations on that. By the way, you don't look good. No, I'm experiencing a self saying seasoned. I don't know if that's either
Lindsay Young:one, either one, yeah, seasoned and experienced, yes,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:but just kind of thinking back on the past 11 years, now that you've had your company and focusing on the construction industry, how have you seen women's roles kind of evolve in those past 10 years? I know you mentioned there's now more you're seeing more women like at your alumni events and things of that nature in the construction program, but just thinking about your business and how you deal with your clients, how has that role evolved for women? Over the past 11 years,
Lindsay Young:there's been a lot more women in, I'm going to say middle or upper management roles within and I'm going to say the technical piece. I mean, we've historically seen women in like an HR role or marketing role that's in the C suite, but you're seeing more women in that operational capacity, in terms of what they're doing, and they're the technical expert, yeah, they may go into business development, a lot of the times, that's that's a trait with that that position, but I'm seeing more women in insert themselves or being promoted in that middle, or, you know, C suite level within our industry. So I would say that's a big, big piece, because they're whether they're asking for it, which probably some of it is they're asking for it, but just again, that, yeah, again, that talent is being recognized and where they can get plugged in, into the industry. And you know which companies, I mean, if you're in the industry, you know which companies embrace women in leadership positions and which ones don't you just you know that in your marketplace, good or bad, it is what it is. But you know, but you know those companies that embrace that and engage, you know, engage women, empower them to be able to do that. So there is more of that, even from the marketing and recruiting and retention standpoint too that you're seeing then,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:okay, you just talked about the last past 11 years, kind of evolution. Now, where do you kind of see women's role in construction headed into the future. Let's talk maybe the next 1015, years. How do you kind of see it evolving into the future? Lindsay,
Lindsay Young:I think we'll see more women owned businesses in the construction industry. We're starting to see a little bit of that. And then again, just more elevation in terms of, there's not just one woman in the C suite. There's two or three in the C suite. So just the progression and the promotion of where they're at, and again, on the technical side, I mean, we've seen it, I'm going to say, on the more administrative, HR marketing, it type roles, but you're going to see it more in on the technical and operation side of the businesses.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:No, definitely. I was going to say, I know for a time, I was involved in several construction career training programs, right? And obviously we had a big focus to get into the high schools and get more women involved in the trades, right? Like we know how we are multi talented, all right, like, we can do it all, whether we have to or not, but really getting into of, okay, giving them, I think, some confidence, right, of being like, yeah, you could. You can build this shed, or whatever, right, whatever they're doing in that construction class. Or maybe it's even we were trying to do night classes, even right, to hit those working moms who, gosh, maybe we're working at Wendy's right, making minimum wage. But we were, they were, we were getting them into our training programs and showing them, hey, you can make 20, 3040, sometimes $50 an hour, right? Working in construction, right? And, you know, hopefully giving you more benefits, a an actual retirement plan, all of those things. So I think it's a lot about education as well. I think you mentioned this is letting other women know that, hey, this is a viable industry for you, right? Like, yes, you're gonna hit a milestone. Or, sorry, not my back, right? And any job I think that you go to that's just a fact reality of life. But I think there's a lot of money to be made in construction. And guess what? We need you. We need you women. So don't shy away. Well, you
Lindsay Young:know, one of the things when you're talking about the trades, that's probably another thing that I see more of, that women are in the trades. You know, with all the Tiktok welding has become, become a big both were men and women, because they're some of the welding schools have been doing a ton of stuff on Tiktok, and so that has been a draw for kids, because they see these Tiktok videos on welding. And, you know, as a welder, you make pretty good money. You can, you know, get your certification in six to nine months, and you can be making really good money. So that's another perspective, too. And you also mentioned, you know, getting into, you know, the young, I say the younger years. So you know, across across the nation, not every one of them, okay, yeah, the Wichita chapter does it. The Northwest Arkansas chapter does not. There's a lot of the chapters do. It's called Block kids. It's grades first through sixth grade. Wow. It's open to boys and girls, nice. And they get 100 pieces of Legos, a foot of string, a one foot by one foot piece of foil and a rock, right? They get to build something. And then industry judges. So people from the industry volunteer, and then they judge, and then the winner, the top three winners of each grade, then progress, uh, progress to the national contest. So that's a great way to introduce kids. Yeah, a lot of the states are also doing different, like Kansas has, it's called build up Kansas. ABC has a program as well, pride. I'm gonna, I'm gonna probably screw up the name of it, pro pride, proud, or something
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:like, but, okay, sure.
Lindsay Young:About what construction opportunities there are through hands on experiences. There's also what's the other there's another program that's for high school kids, and it's a, it's a nationwide, and there's, we've got one in talk about build
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:America, or it's similar to that. Okay, there's actually a couple out now, which is good, right? But continue, yeah,
Lindsay Young:there, which is great. And I think that's, that's a big piece of construction is realized that we can market ourselves and do some public relations to get infiltrated into, you know, the high schools and the middle schools, because kids are are making those decisions, at least you're planting the seed that there are opportunities there. So again, from a women or men, boys or girls, getting the younger, we can get in and educate them like you said, the better, because then they see the opportunities that they have, no
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:for sure, well, and I don't know, but I was there in the 90s. Ooh, long time ago, they had literally just taken shop class out, right? It was no longer even offered in high school, right? So being able to, like, you were mentioning before do any welding, or picking up a hammer even, right? Or learning how to measure things, or, you know, I don't even remember, I guess again, some of my older kids in the neighborhood talking about how they, like, were able to, like, rewire a lamp or something in shop class. And I'm like, I would have loved to know how to do that, right? But for whatever reason, there was a big push. We those. A lot of those classes were taken out and they were replaced with, quote, career readiness, like, basically, to get you ready to go to college, which, as we all know, Lindsay, uh, debt crisis. Um, everybody went to college got loans out, and we are all you know, well, not myself, but the majority of people know, struggling with money, as they thought in corporate America, and having to deal with all of that, right, and taking all on all that debt when they could have gone, not gone to college, right? But have gotten into the trades, and, like you said, start making that really good money. Welders make a lot pay. There's everybody think of
Lindsay Young:they're going to be trip or six figures. Some of them already are
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:right? Yeah, right. And it's incredible just how, and in the short amount of time, right, that you see those kind of rages going up right? Like, yes, you're gonna start at the bottom, like everybody, but I feel like construction really offers that pathway, right, that we're if you're willing to learn, and you are quick on your feet, and you're asking for more responsibility. Oh, yeah, they will too, right? There's no like gatekeeping. I mean, we've got projects, as I'm sure you know, with your clients that are each of people. Okay? I mean, that's just, it's an, again, a nationwide fact. So that, I mean getting more people like you said, men and women into construction, I think, is super important, but it starts with the education piece, right? And communicating all of those things. So in that same vein, Miss Lindsay, what advice would you give to young women looking to enter construction? Right? Let's say you visited a middle school, high school. What would you say to a group of young women?
Lindsay Young:I would say, Go job shadow somebody for a day or a week, and let them show you. You know what they do, because every day is going to be different. So you're going to get a different experience, right, both in the office and in the field. And I would, I would also say that as well, is that, you know, whether it be a general contractor or an electrical contractor, you know, somebody that's, I'm going to say, is a, you know, journeyman out in the field. I and it could be a man, wouldn't necessarily have to be a woman, right? No, but it could. It could be a woman, but follow and ask questions. I think that's the biggest thing. Find something that you're passionate and you're interested about and interested about, and, you know, run with it, because those people will embrace that, those those firms and those companies will embrace No, for sure.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:And I would to add to that, Lindsay, I would say too, that, you know, kind of seek out and ask, like you're saying, Ask the weird questions. But oh my gosh, where was I going with that? I had a thought, and it's gone Anyways, moving on, right? We'll come back. Said I was trying to think of what my advice would be to those young women. Oh, I know getting over stereotypes, right? I mean, at least again, when I was when shop class was removed from from high schools, and we were kind of thinking about, I remember Industry Day, right? And yes, I and I clearly do remember, actually, some construction workers coming in, and I remember thinking, oh, you know what? I'm not strong enough to be in construction, right? Like I can't wield a hammer or a jackhammer or whatever I'm like. So again, wasn't obviously thinking about it, but I think too. Again, getting back to that education piece of that's not a typical day in construction. You don't have to do that every day, nor do you even have to at all. Right? Depending upon the role, I feel like there's a wide range of avenues and pathways that you can take within construction, right, but still being in the industry, in an industry, to me, Lindsay, that is, it's not going anywhere, right? Like we, we still,
Lindsay Young:yeah, nope, excuse me. Can outsource construction. You can prefab some stuff, which, that's another podcast, another day, but that, you know, yeah, exactly. But even even the technology piece, I mean, you still have, you know, in order to use Ben, you still have to know how to build something. So again, you might not be, you know, swinging the hammer or carrying the, you know, piece of plywood, but you need to know how to build a
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:piece of land. Right? Is the land have environmental Is it safe, you know, to build on, and then do you have a good structure all the things? I mean, we could literally put them, go from the ground up, right, and describe the whole process. Again, being a building nerd, I think you and I could probably share more about construction than anybody would want to know, right? But But again, it's what we do day in, day out, and I find it fascinating. But again, I think there's the point that there's a lot of different ways that you could enter the industry, and you don't have to stay in whatever you know first job that you have, right, right? Like I was saying, lots of pathways to get to the top. So I love that. Okay, so talking about, obviously, the future, right? Hopefully we are going to be seeing more women in construction, like you were mentioning before, not just one woman in the C suite, maybe, right, women owning their own construction businesses. How can we then as as more women enter the industry, how do you feel like that? We can develop a sense of collaboration and foster community within the industry. How do you feel we can do that? Well,
Lindsay Young:I think they wake is a great system. Uh, in different parts of the country, because I've spoken at several different NAWIC chapters across the country, that that's a big piece of why they joined NAWIC is that collaboration, they they may be the only, I'm going to say, technical construction person in their firm, or, you know, there may be three out of 50 in the whole firm, and two of them are in the office, and they're in the field, or maybe it is all office people, but you're, you're typically the minority, and so I think that's the first place that I would suggest, you know, getting plugged in. I also think AGC and ABC are really good places to do that too, because, again, you're going to have advocates, both male and female in those industries as well. And so with those three associations, I mean, I know there's a ton of other ones, but those are the three that I'm I'm familiar with and have have had good experiences with, and have have good insights and good pro training programs and professional development, personal development, technical training, all you know the things that are going to make you be a better professional, and I think that's the other thing too. Is that investing in yourself, and sometimes that means you have to pay for it yourself. If your firm won't pay for it, but most firms will pay for that kind of stuff. But occasionally they may not. It's like, well, is this going to help me down the road? It might cost me $2,000 today, but I'm going to make that up, because it's going to make me a better, you know, project manager, Superintendent, whatever, whatever your role or what, whatever your future role that you may want would be. So one thing my mother told me at a very early age, dress the part that you want, not for the part that you have. So, you know, I would show Now, granted, we're in 2025 so there's not really suits, unless you're a girl, but I still wear a suit. Lindsay, yeah. No, I do too, and, and I'm the same way. And most of the time when I go to networking things, I am one of the more dressed up. One, Yes, yep. And it's not, not, not to, you know, think that I'm better than anybody else, but it's also when you do, it's that confidence piece as well. So you know, again, think about where you want to be in three, 510, 20 years, and what, what's that? What? What do you look like in that? And maybe you don't know, and you're still discovering that that's, that's okay too, but yeah, think about that and where you want to be in a certain amount of time.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:No, for sure. Well, like you said, I mean that to me, what I'm hearing is, have some goals, okay, right? Like, have some aspirations to, you know, to strive for. And I love that piece of advice. I've heard it, you know, quite a few times. But when your mother says it, it definitely sticks. But I feel the same way Lindsay, it's that air of confidence when you're in, you know, a more professional setting or dress more professionally. And I think that goes again for men and women, okay? Like, I mean, I've seen superintendents who literally just walked off the job site come into a networking thing, and I'm like, okay, I get it. We get it. You're in construction, but come on, just throw in a jacket or something, or a collared shirt something, right? We're getting some nitty gritty of personal preferences, I guess. But no, it's, it's just a like, it's an to me, what I see it as is an outward reflection of how you feel about yourself, right? Just as you were saying, dress for the part you want, not the one that that you currently have. Well, and no, and I think to Lindsay, just getting back to your answer a few minutes ago, is that associations are the best way to invest in yourself and to meet other people. I mean, that's how we met, right? Like, I that would have never carried power on
Lindsay Young:something that you don't ever get taught.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:Parent that did. I mean, God bless you. Like, there exactly, seriously, yeah, no, I know it was one of those things where, again, you don't learn it until I feel like you just got to jump, jump in the deep end, right? I mean, you can learn to swim, jump on in, right? But I feel like once, what does that other thing, once you jump in, you find the water is pretty warm, right? I mean, it's not as bad as you think it's going to be. And I think too. I think for me, when we met Lindsay, it was really gratifying to honestly meet another young woman in the industry who not only owned their own business, but knew as about construction as much as I did, and I didn't feel as alone. Seriously, right? Right again, right? We, I think we were the more often we were meeting. It was right before the pandemic, but then we were in a lot of zoom squares for a while, and I just remember thinking, you know, if Lindsay's going to join, I should too, right? Like, come on. Like, I want to see you have that energy, because we get to at least anyways, kind of share this, right? I love coming to an advice girl, listen, always important, but being able to too to kind of share our successes, right? And have that proverbial like cheerleader in your corner, right? I mean, I want to see you win Lindsay, like, 11 years. I love it. I'm catching up to you, like, barely, but no, it gives me kind of that sense of purpose, like, Okay. Lindsay,
Lindsay Young:well, I'm in the in the process of listening to, uh, Mel Robbins, let them theory, which, if you have not listened to that, you need to listen to that. And that's, you know, one thing she said, if you look around for comparison, somebody has done something very similar to what you want to do, that's just your pathway, that's them leading the way, and you can follow. Because, again, there's enough work, there's enough places, there's you know, you bring a different perspective than I do, again, because we both have different world views, different experiences, that you like to do, even within the marketing realm that I don't like to do, exactly vice versa. So opportunities for partnering. I mean, even within the industry, you see a lot more of that, both on the design and construction side, whether it be, you know, JV projects together and collaboration. About 15 years ago, there were two architecture firms in Wichita, and they worked on the big arena in downtown Wichita, and they ended up merging into one firm after that project. So, you know, I mean, they don't think they went in, like making that decision, but after they had done that project, and I think there was some senior leadership that was ready to retire too, so the transition made sense. So there was a couple good things that aligned in that relationship. But again, like, we're seeing more of that in the industry. And again, you know, we're, we're all in here to help clients make some money, you know, have some fun. Yes? So
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:No, for sure, and I love that too. If I done that project, but I think people don't realize too, that, guess what? Rome was not built overnight. Okay, these design and construction projects can be years, years of your life, right? Working with the same people? Yes, every day is different, and you're, you know, hopefully progressing with the job, but you can really get to know those people, right, and develop those relationships. Guess what? Construction is a risky business. Let's just be honest, right? And when you are in the thick of it, and you are able to build trust like that, right, with those like those two architecture firms, oh, I can't say architecture. Say it sounds fast. I can't even spell it. But when those kind of merged, and the relationships, like you said, it was just the stars kind of aligned with those other people retiring. But I guarantee you, those people spent a lot of time together, right? And so how could you not want to again, collaborate, rise together, right? All come back around life, right? It's just, it's kind of reinforces that notion, right, that there's definitely a point to there. Well, okay, now I know we're coming to the end, and I don't want to hold up too much of your time. Ms, Lindsay, because I could probably talk to you forever. You know us, we could, which is awesome. But again, trying to think more. You know, if you could leave our listeners, you know, with kind of one message about the importance of women in construction, what would that be? Lasting message? Final thoughts, miss. Lindsay, yes, I
Lindsay Young:think ask for it. Whatever it is, just ask for it. And if it's your boss, if it's a co worker, if it's, you know, the promotion, if it's the raise, if it's the investing in your professional development, ask for it. If it's trying to find a mentor, ask for it. So that would be my advice to women in construction, is we just need to ask for it.
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:No, you're right and having the confidence to do so, and I think also too, again, doing some homework, right? Like I feel like, I feel like, at least from my perspective, that everything's just handed to you, right? Like you, you have to advocate for yourself and do the research, right? Maybe, if you keep getting nos, right, you're saying, okay, ask for it. Ask for it. And maybe a young person is hearing no a lot. Well, like you said, you're gonna hear no, but you need to have to have the grit right, to stay in it, right? But also to do the research and ask someone else, yeah, right. There's tons of people out there that want to help you, but you got to get through the nose first, right, and have that confidence right to do so, right? And especially when you're making a commitment as such as construction. Okay, now I'm going to give my last thoughts and see if this resonates with you. For women in construction, it's just to be open, right? I think women tend to be closed off sometimes, right? It kind of is similar to what you were saying, to be able to ask for it. But I think just be open to ideas, open to sharing ideas. Don't gatekeep, right, get everybody together, and also don't be afraid to just speak up, right? Not even just even asking for help. I've sat in too many meetings in boardrooms, whether when we're trying to go after a project or, you know, do an interview prep or trying to do a debrief, right of maybe why we didn't get a project. Too many women don't speak up. And I'm like, This is your opportunity, right to give some feedback and to make an impact. But if you stay silent and you don't say anything, what are you doing? Right? Exactly, right. We can't help you. We can't, you know, point you in the right direction. Nothing. So yeah, I think just having courage and confidence ask for it, like Lindsay said, but also speak up. So yeah, I like that. Good is great. Great way to kind of wrap it up. But no. So thank you so much for your time. Miss Lindsay. I'm going to read my my little outro here, my closing statement for the podcast, because we're going to be wrapping it up. So thank you guys again. So much for listening, investing your time. You know, honestly, business, business world, you really have to care, and you have to show people that you care, and that's what really makes a difference. So feel free to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, share it with someone else who could use a little insights to get other people to care about what they do. You can connect with me on LinkedIn. You can connect with Miss Lindsay too on LinkedIn. I know we're always trying to network and increase our resources. Or you can check out my training sessions and other resources on get them to care.com. And until next time, stay passionate, stay strategic, and most importantly, stay unapologetically committed to giving a goodbye, ladies, take care.
Lindsay Young:Oh, that was good. I liked it. Oh, yeah, right. Very good. Love it. Oh, you're very cute. No,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:I think we had a good back and forth. It was very, super excited. Okay, so tell me again. What am I doing for? I have your logo. I have your head
Lindsay Young:pulled. Different pictures earlier. Okay,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:all right, let me just so you should have all that stuff. Oh, yep, got it. Got it. Sorry. I just have not been checking emails, all the things. Okay, yep, yep, oh, you're the best. You're the best. Lindsay.
Lindsay Young:I mean all my links to my LinkedIn and all that kind of stuff are in my signature, so you have all that stuff,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:exactly no and for sure. And we're do, we're doing links to your company, all the things. Because, hello, this is a class girl. You know that?
Lindsay Young:I know I was thinking. I was like, I've been on a handful of podcasts. I probably need to put those on my website somewhere. I'm like, okay, yeah, right. I need to figure out, though that's the problem. I say the problem, but,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:well, it's a good problem to have. It is usually figured out resources, right? Like, I've been using that tab as, kind of like a, well, not a dump, but, you know, to kind of catch up a lot of things. Catch all, there you go. But no, I have no problem. Once I've edited and everything and uploaded, I have no problem sending it to you so you can promote the heck out of it, too. I to see you. Yep, I know.
Lindsay Young:Thank you for all the info for the LinkedIn stuff I sent. I put my whole presentation together for the client because he wanted just my slides, course, yeah, and so I sent him to him yesterday. He's like, this is just what I wanted. I'm like, sweet. So thank you for the little pieces so that, of course, what I had and it was good, just what I needed. So thank you that make you,
Julie Wanzer | Business Rewritten:of course, well, girl, you know that makes my heart sing. And thank you for thinking of me all the good things. So I'll be in touch once this is ready to go. Okay,
Lindsay Young:okay, sounds great. I have a good week. So yeah okay bye bye.
