Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / News to Know: She proudly serves as "The Voice of Black Women in Construction."

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News to Know: She proudly serves as "The Voice of Black Women in Construction." · The Steve Harvey Morning Show

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  Speaker 1: Welcome. I am Rashawn McDonald. I host the weekly Money
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  Speaker 1: Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews and information that this
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  Speaker 1: show provides off for everyone. It's time to start reading
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  Speaker 1: other people's success stories and start living your own. If
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  Speaker 1: you want to be a guest on my show, please
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  Speaker 1: visit our website, Moneymaking Conversations dot com and click the
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  Speaker 1: be a Guest button. Now let's start this show. My
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  Speaker 1: guest is the Atlanta Chapter President of the National Association
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  Speaker 1: of Black Women in Construction. She is committed to empowering
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  Speaker 1: and advancing Black women in construction through leadership, advocacy, and
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  Speaker 1: professional development. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Monique Strong.
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  Speaker 1: How are you doing, Monique?
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  Speaker 2: Hi, Rashon, I'm doing. Grading you pretty good, pretty good.
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  Speaker 1: I've tried many times to get you on the show
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  Speaker 1: because I felt what you do is important for people
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  Speaker 1: to understand, because it's a very unique journey. When you
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  Speaker 1: say unique, when I say women in construction, let alone
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  Speaker 1: black women in construction.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely just imagine right, a force of unstoppable leadership innovation
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  Speaker 2: where Black women in construction don't just participate, but we
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  Speaker 2: are the standards. And so this is the essence of
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  Speaker 2: what the National Association of Black Women in Construction is.
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  Speaker 2: We're a powerhouse of trailblazers. We build legacies, breaking barriers
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  Speaker 2: and the driving force in the industry. And so this
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  Speaker 2: is opportunity for women in this industry to gain like
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  Speaker 2: unparalleled opportunities of advancement, high power, networking, and a community
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  Speaker 2: that empowers you to lead.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it's really amazing when I think about it, Monique.
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  Speaker 1: You know, because you're breaking stereotypes. Because everybody go construction.
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  Speaker 1: You all see the you know, life looking women walk
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  Speaker 1: about construction women because workers they flirting in whistling, cat
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  Speaker 1: call and all that. You guys are the individuals. Can
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  Speaker 1: you give us a sense of when I say the
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  Speaker 1: word construction, what does that entail? When I say black
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  Speaker 1: women involved in the model of construction industry that's very
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  Speaker 1: much male dominated and very much white male dominated. What
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  Speaker 1: is construction when I said.
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  Speaker 2: To you, construction to me is women owned businesses where
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  Speaker 2: they are whether they have they're the tradesmen for mechanical
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  Speaker 2: electrical plumbing that are able to have contractual opportunities, that
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  Speaker 2: are building that own projects where they can be probably
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  Speaker 2: like a million dollar projects or let's say they're the GC,
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  Speaker 2: the general contractor that's actually the prime that's handling these contracts.
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  Speaker 2: Is when you look at construction now, it's not just
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  Speaker 2: about the feald, it's also now about the office, the
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  Speaker 2: corporate part. Whether you're a project manager, whether you're an estimator,
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  Speaker 2: or if you decide to even go into the safety aspect.
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  Speaker 2: We're dominated in the safety. There are so many avenues
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  Speaker 2: and construction that it is beyond It blows people's minds
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  Speaker 2: to know how we have infiltrated this system and that
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  Speaker 2: the image of the old has now transformed into what
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  Speaker 2: you see now in the future. Wow, when you look
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  Speaker 2: at us, you won't even you can't even tell but
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  Speaker 2: that we are a woman in construction. It might be
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  Speaker 2: because we weren't a red bottoms, but don't let the
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  Speaker 2: red bottoms for you.
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  Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. I'm talking to Monique Strong.
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  Speaker 1: She is committed to empowering and advancing black women in
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  Speaker 1: construction through leadership, advocacy and professional development. I got to start,
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  Speaker 1: what inspired you to get into construction and what has
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  Speaker 1: your journey been like as a black woman in this industry?
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  Speaker 2: Great question and thank you for asking that. So It
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  Speaker 2: started with my grandfather. Both my grandfather's on my mom's dad,
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  Speaker 2: and also my father's dad were in construction. And so
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  Speaker 2: my grandfather, my mother's dad, built the house I grew
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  Speaker 2: up in, and so he was a carpenter and he
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  Speaker 2: and my grandmother actually did the concrete for the house.
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  Speaker 2: And so that was the house that my yeah, my
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  Speaker 2: and I learned that recently through my grandmother not knowing
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  Speaker 2: all this time, that that was always a part of
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  Speaker 2: my history, a woman in construction. And so the house
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  Speaker 2: that my mother grew up in, I grew up in,
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  Speaker 2: and and then I was around it because my grandfather,
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  Speaker 2: I'm originally from Memphis, Tennessee, and so he actually had
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  Speaker 2: a towel company and so he would get contracts through
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  Speaker 2: the city of Memphis and to do cow whether it's
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  Speaker 2: residential or commercial. And I I remember one time where
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  Speaker 2: my father would take me to. At this time, it
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  Speaker 2: was called the Mall of Memphis. It was like a
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  Speaker 2: really affluent mall, and my father would walk me down
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  Speaker 2: in the mall and he would point out different stores.
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  Speaker 2: I remember him pointing out the gap and he said,
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  Speaker 2: your grandfather did that, just looking at the different towel
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  Speaker 2: on each of the floors, and he says, I want
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  Speaker 2: you to remember that your grandfather did that. And I
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  Speaker 2: would sit sometimes even after school instead of going to
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  Speaker 2: the after school program. My father worked for my grandfather
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  Speaker 2: and would take me and I would sit, you know,
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  Speaker 2: not of course in the near the construction, but I
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  Speaker 2: will watch my grandfather and my father work, and so
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  Speaker 2: I was always around it, not really knowing that that
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  Speaker 2: was something that I was supprised I was gonna do,
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  Speaker 2: because at that time it was meant for the boy
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  Speaker 2: cousins to actually go into that field. But surprisingly the
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  Speaker 2: person that actually went and two construction later on one ended up.
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  Speaker 1: Being me, right right. You know that's the stereotype. You
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  Speaker 1: think that's a male feel. The boys are gonna do it,
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  Speaker 1: and you send you know they are miscuriosity. You taking
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  Speaker 1: in the stories. You're embracing the stories that your father's
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  Speaker 1: telling you about. And now you know it's all about
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  Speaker 1: information because I can remember a lot of things I
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  Speaker 1: was told and now I remember them now at the
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  Speaker 1: old age, I go, wow, I can remember when that
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  Speaker 1: information was given to me, and now how it translates
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  Speaker 1: in my life now. Because I always tell people between
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  Speaker 1: the ages of eighteen and twenty two. That's that period
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  Speaker 1: where you feel you can do anything. And when you
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  Speaker 1: get out of that twenty two then life can kind
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  Speaker 1: of take over. You know, you might go, you might
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  Speaker 1: graduate from college, get a job, get married, may have children,
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  Speaker 1: and then your dreams can get altered. That But if
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  Speaker 1: you really think about it, between the ages of eighteen
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  Speaker 1: twenty two, if that's what you want to do, and
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  Speaker 1: you want to go back and say what I want
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  Speaker 1: to do with you'ut what my life? Go back to
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  Speaker 1: that period because that's what you're going to be doing now.
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  Speaker 1: And that sounds like that's what was happening in your life,
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  Speaker 1: was it, Monique?
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  Speaker 2: It was? I actually did have so originally when I
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  Speaker 2: went to school. When I went to college, I actually
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  Speaker 2: attended the illustrious Clark Atlanta University and I graduated with
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  Speaker 2: a baskets of science and engineering. My concentration was electrical,
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  Speaker 2: so I was on a different path. And it wasn't
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  Speaker 2: until one day I was I had this moment where
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  Speaker 2: I felt like I needed to pisit. I just didn't
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  Speaker 2: figure I was trying to figure out exactly what's the
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  Speaker 2: next step? And you said engineering, right, that is correct?
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  Speaker 1: Now? Is an engineering construction.
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  Speaker 2: You know it's tied.
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  Speaker 1: So is it not? Because my early degree plan was
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  Speaker 1: civil engineering and we all know that's the basis of engineers,
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  Speaker 1: the basis of what you do outside of architect Okay,
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  Speaker 1: that is correct, and so for you just set up
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  Speaker 1: on this interview with me, Monique and go, well, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I got my degree in engineer. That's not really like construction.
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  Speaker 1: You know, that's not really like dealing with building models
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  Speaker 1: and moving things. You need to stop talking to me.
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  Speaker 1: I might end this interview earlier, miss Strong, who you
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  Speaker 1: advocate for. Is it because I'm a man?
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  Speaker 2: No, it is not. Yes, So I would say that
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  Speaker 2: it does help me definitely will reading of drawings and
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  Speaker 2: plans and feel like you I am. I am grateful
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  Speaker 2: for it, absolutely because it gave me the stepping stone
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  Speaker 2: where I didn't have to struggle as much when I
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  Speaker 2: entered this industry. I did. I did end up going
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  Speaker 2: to trade school, and so I actually attended Atlanta Technical
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  Speaker 2: College and went and was a part of the construction
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  Speaker 2: management program. And that's really how I got introduced to
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  Speaker 2: the National Association of Black Woman in Construction because I
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  Speaker 2: actually met a young lady that introduced me to the
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  Speaker 2: Atlanta chapter and and also there was a chair there
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  Speaker 2: named mister Sellers. He introduced me to an internship where
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  Speaker 2: this young lady was and so I served my first
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  Speaker 2: internship as Skyline Engineering, and that's where I.
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  Speaker 1: Engineering popping back up there and that's where I met
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  Speaker 1: my first.
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  Speaker 2: My first mentor, and I did an internship there for
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  Speaker 2: a while, and one of the the ladies of one
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  Speaker 2: of the sisters of the membership of Natwig share with
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  Speaker 2: me on another opportunity for a company called Yujama Construction,
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  Speaker 2: and I interned there and that ended up being where
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  Speaker 2: my career took off.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, when you think about this, okay, socially okay,
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  Speaker 1: just the word construction, it feels dirty. You think of
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  Speaker 1: a hard hat. And where are you with your friends
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  Speaker 1: when you are embarking in this direction, because it feels
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  Speaker 1: like that's just a dirty job. That feels like a
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  Speaker 1: very hard, unattractive job and not a job that every
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  Speaker 1: let alone a woman, but a man may not want
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  Speaker 1: to do. Where are you at when you're starting to
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  Speaker 1: tell people this is your dream, this is the path
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  Speaker 1: you're going to follow.
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  Speaker 2: I must have met my family, thought I had you know,
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  Speaker 2: made a mistake and they were kind of really concerned
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  Speaker 2: at first because they thought, you know, thinking of the
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  Speaker 2: stereop type, you know, it's a hard type of industry,
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  Speaker 2: you know, very dirty. I think it was just more
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  Speaker 2: so where I just had to you have to navigate
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  Speaker 2: right because there's so many lanes in construction and I'm
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  Speaker 2: not And I also I did through the field. I
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  Speaker 2: actually came into my career where I actually spent some
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  Speaker 2: time on my projects in the field because I feel
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  Speaker 2: that's the best place to kind of learn and grow
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  Speaker 2: and develop. But you know, something I must say is
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  Speaker 2: that you you identify in this industry when you come in,
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  Speaker 2: is that you have to identify who you are and
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  Speaker 2: who you're not. And then also as a woman, you
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  Speaker 2: have to acknowledge and embrace that you are a woman
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  Speaker 2: and you are different. And so no, you don't have
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  Speaker 2: to be hard. That's the past stereotype, because when you
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  Speaker 2: look back in the past, it shows the women are
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  Speaker 2: hard and you know, and different things, and so it's
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  Speaker 2: a lot of stereotypes with that. But there is a
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  Speaker 2: new generation that has entered this industry that has shown
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  Speaker 2: that you don't have to be hard, you just have
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  Speaker 2: to be hungry.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think also a relationship player big role in that.
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  Speaker 1: But before we go to break, I just want to
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  Speaker 1: give everybody the definition of engineering since my good friend
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  Speaker 1: Monique Strom said, you know, between the years of eighteen
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  Speaker 1: and twenty two, she got a degree in engineering, but
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  Speaker 1: it had nothing to do with the construction future. The
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  Speaker 1: branch of science and technology concern with the design, building,
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  Speaker 1: and use of engines, machines, and structures. I think construction
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  Speaker 1: falls in line with that terminology what you got your
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  Speaker 1: degree in. Don't you agree that, my friend?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely? Absolutely, I am an agreement of that.
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  Speaker 3: We know.
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  Speaker 2: You know.
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  Speaker 1: The great thing about when I'm talking to I call
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  Speaker 1: you a trail baser, Monique because of the fact that
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  Speaker 1: when everybody wants everybody I always say, people want you
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  Speaker 1: to live the path they think you should live, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and then when you start deviating from that path, people
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  Speaker 1: tend to start questioning your own dreams. Tell me about
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  Speaker 1: that moment.
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  Speaker 2: H Wow, When I first entered into this industry, I
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  Speaker 2: must say, it was a very hard season for me.
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  Speaker 2: It I was young, I'm a young black woman in
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  Speaker 2: the industry surrounded by men. I didn't at that time.
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  Speaker 2: It wasn't I went to I worked in the field
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  Speaker 2: with men. I worked on my projects were men. When
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  Speaker 2: I even went to some of the walkthroughs where we
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  Speaker 2: were competitively bidding, I would be surrounded by nothing but
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  Speaker 2: white men. I remember a time when I went to
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  Speaker 2: did a job and I walked up and it was
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  Speaker 2: these older white men and they were looking around to see,
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  Speaker 2: you know, number one, who am I and why am
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  Speaker 2: I there? And not knowing that I'm there to also
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  Speaker 2: competitively bid for this for this project as well. And
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  Speaker 2: so it was really an eye opening moment for me.
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  Speaker 2: And it was if I even go back to the
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  Speaker 2: struggle it took to to get to where I am now.
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  Speaker 2: It was not easy because you're fighting let's just say, fear, doubt,
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  Speaker 2: and unbelief. Right, you're jumping into something that you don't
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  Speaker 2: know what you don't know. You're also hoping that you're
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  Speaker 2: getting the right advice for those that support you, right,
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  Speaker 2: But then there's those that support you, but they don't
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  Speaker 2: know either, right, they don't know. They just want you
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  Speaker 2: to succeed and and and and want the best for
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  Speaker 2: You're not sure exactly what that looks like. So I
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  Speaker 2: think in that moment, you really have to go within yourself.
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  Speaker 2: And every time I kept telling myself because I kept
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  Speaker 2: I kept feeling, this is what I was supposed to do.
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  Speaker 2: Those those those instances where I was going having visions
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  Speaker 2: back in the past. Was my dad and my granddad,
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  Speaker 2: and you know when I was one of them was
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  Speaker 2: in the house with my grandfather, which was the carpenter
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  Speaker 2: they built the home. It was just reminding me that
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  Speaker 2: this was something you was supposed to do.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
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  Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass, hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
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• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Construction, that's right. Construction. You know hard hats. You drive down,
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  Speaker 1: you look at these big old buildings. You see these cranes.
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  Speaker 1: You see people with these back holes digging in the ground.
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  Speaker 1: You see people going working in the sun. Is hot
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  Speaker 1: out there. You're going, that's a job I don't want
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  Speaker 1: to do. Let alone, see a woman doing it and
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  Speaker 1: she's happy. On the phone. I have the president of
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  Speaker 1: the Atlanta chapter of the National Association of Black Women
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  Speaker 1: in Construction, beating the drum saying, come on down, this
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  Speaker 1: is the place to be. Their opening is their opportunity,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: is that the attitude is that the person I'm talking
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: to more Nick.
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  Speaker 2: Strong, absolutely, absolutely, I believe that we as women do
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  Speaker 2: very well in this industry because we are very detailed.
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  Speaker 2: And that is the number one thing when you're working
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  Speaker 2: with your client that even though you do you've done
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  Speaker 2: all the construction, the thing that your client looks at
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  Speaker 2: when they walk that project, it's not the construction and
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: how it's done, it's the finish. It's the detail in it. Right,
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  Speaker 2: did you bring their vision to life that you manifested
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  Speaker 2: this way that they showed it to you? And we
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  Speaker 2: women were so detailed that we ask questions to make
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  Speaker 2: sure that we actually created the vision.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's really interesting because there are a
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  Speaker 1: lot of opportunities for just black people in general and construction.
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  Speaker 1: There are a lot of jobs to be bid on
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  Speaker 1: because I you know, I'm always being RFPs. You know,
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  Speaker 1: where they you know, they request for a proposal, that's
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  Speaker 1: what RFP means, and you have to compete with a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people. And I'm in that marketing, I'm in
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  Speaker 1: that design studio, graphic design, social media. There's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people to do that. Now, what happens is if
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  Speaker 1: you are a general contractor and you get a government contract,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: then the government will force people to bring on other vendors.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, they just kind of like it really
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: is a diversity, equity inclusion. The government has always been
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  Speaker 1: that when it comes to government contractors, otherwise it will
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: be controlled by just two or three companies because they
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: got the pot. But they've always said, you got to
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  Speaker 1: do business with other people, and it's all and that's
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  Speaker 1: where the opportunities and blacks being able to get into construction.
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  Speaker 1: You just have to have the relationship. And that's what's
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  Speaker 1: why it's important to be with organizations like your organization,
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  Speaker 1: because it's who you know that helps you get to
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: know with the right people.
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  Speaker 2: Correct, Monique, Absolutely, I think this whole industry is really
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  Speaker 2: about relationships and when you can find an organization that
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  Speaker 2: can support you and actually is rooting for you and
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  Speaker 2: wants you to succeed, because when you win, they win, right,
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  Speaker 2: And then not only that, we reach you back and
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  Speaker 2: pull up the next sister.
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  Speaker 1: Now now when we talk about women. Okay, my first job,
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  Speaker 1: I was unloading boxes fifteen years old in the summer
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  Speaker 1: of July. I was driving a forklift and that son
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  Speaker 1: was beaming down on my back on Nick. I said,
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  Speaker 1: I will never ever do this kind of work again.
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  Speaker 1: This wasn't for me, just wasn't for me. That he
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  Speaker 1: was killing me and I have I have never went
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  Speaker 1: back out there unless I was just out there having fun. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: So so it's not a dream job all the time.
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  Speaker 1: But what drives you? What when at that moment when
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  Speaker 1: that heats on you, When when the air condition is
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  Speaker 1: not available, when you're out there and you and you
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  Speaker 1: and the clock is ticket what what is motivating you?
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  Speaker 1: Because I'm trying to find out how you are so
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  Speaker 1: happy working in construction.
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  Speaker 2: I like to build.
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  Speaker 1: I love it. I love it.
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  Speaker 2: I like I like to take something that's nothing to
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  Speaker 2: make it something. You know. I like to build and create.
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  Speaker 2: I love it. I love the satisfaction that I get
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  Speaker 2: is that when I get an opportunity to have a
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  Speaker 2: client and I and with the various different projects I've done.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: I love working with entrepreneurs. I love working with small
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: business owners, whether it's their first coffee house or whether
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: and it's their first gym or uh, you know, retail space.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: They had this vision, this dream. They stepped outside of
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: the norm and decided that they wanted to go into
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: business for themselves, and they were getting ready to uh
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: and they want to create a space where they can
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: be able to showcase that. And they come to us
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: and say, this is my vision, and then being able
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: to manifest that and walk them through the stages of construction.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: And then you stand in the space when you get
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: ready to do the ribbon cutting and you look around
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: and in this the vision that they actually saw in
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: their mind. That's why I do it.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something made me jump in line.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: You go from like that, you know, the little tossing
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: the other dirt with the shovel when you break the ground.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: It's exciting. It's exciting because they get a chance to get,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: you know, share with their family members and they built legacy.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: Right so now they're family members, whether it's they're children
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: or their mother can see the manifestation of that vision.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: And so that's what it is. Shout out to all
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the women that are in the trade that or whether
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: they are you know, poor in concrete or whether they're
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: doing the mechanical, electrical, plumbing or the other part of
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: it is that they might not be so much hands
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: on in the field, but they may be the project
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: manager or the estimator, or the safety coordinator, a director,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: or they're the CEO. Right are they the designer? Because
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: we have women in this construction is so vast, you
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: can be the architect.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Well, you know. The beauty of this is that every
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: last one of the jobs from welder, plumba electrical you know,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: a construction laborer, a well paying jobs that have help
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: benefit's tied to it. These are outstanding jobs that really
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: can give you a lifestyle that can be very very
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: healthy and also can lead you to other opportunities. But
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: it's all about willing to put in the work. As
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: we go near this interviews in I would need you
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: to answer a couple of questions for me. Why do
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: you believe diversity and inclusion and construction leadership are so
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: important and how can the industry do better?
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: I believe it's important because the country is diverse, right.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I believe it's important because one of the things that
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: so that makes us great at who we are is
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: our diversity and being able to be in spaces where
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: you can utilize your skill, especially being in construction to
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: design and build is needed. I believe that women in construction,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: we are the unicorns that people are looking for. You
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: see it well in the federal contracting industry, right they
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: have to have a certain prince percinach because of to
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: to be able to employ diversity and even now. I
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: understand that things are changing based on the administration, but
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: it's so important because it makes us who we are.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: It also inspires us to continue to be leaders of
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: our communities and to be able to build and grow.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: We were being able to increase the unrepresentation, the lack
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: of divisibility. It's important to be able to expand the
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: workplace culture. And then number one, it's important to be
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: able to have mentors and sponsors, right sponsorships. I think
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: the challenges are there, but I believe we can overcome them.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: We overcome the stereotypes because it's already changing. What we
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: look like years ago is different for what we look
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: like now.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: I can attest to that. I remember in high school,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: I'm a good friends who classmates there were the Sloans
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: and they told me they dad run a Cemen truck. Now,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: were you own the Cemen truck? You were making money? Okay,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: and they was living in the same neighborhood. I still
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: don't understand that because we weren't living in a good neighborhood.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: But they would have the Seamen truck. And and you're
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: on the Seamen truck. That's like white gold. That's like
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: that's like almost like printing money. And that was the
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: first time I heard construction and it was tied to
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: black people. And I could never wrap my head around
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: that because it is so unique. And but but that's
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: back then, like you were saying today, it's not unique.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: And as you talk to women doing this interview, what
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: advice and how would you tell me to advance their
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: careers in the construction and what advice would you give them?
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Okay, Well, I still think that it's still unique, right
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: because when we're we are better than we we was
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: years ago. When we still have you know, we still
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: have some ways to go, right, And I think the
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: most important part about it is that what this organization does.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: It advocates for fair contracting opportunities and connecting members to
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: procure and resources and also we educate. If you are
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: a woman in construction or you are a woman that
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: would like to be in construction, the number one thing
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: I would say is get around a community that supports
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: that so that it can be able to create a
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: pathway for leadership and mentorship for you. Because you don't
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: know what you don't know, and there are women that
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: will share their nuggets with you. They'll share there. We
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: would have something every week in the chapter where we
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: would get on the call and talk about roses and thorns,
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: our wins, and even our losses, because your losses can
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: educate someone right, it can help them to be able
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: to steal events. Because if you're saying you've been there,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: there's always people at the beginning, the middle, and the end,
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: and each one of them have nuggets. And so my
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: advice would be is connect yourself with individuals that are
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: in the middle of the beginning of the end of
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: construction that you can grow.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: Wow, I'm talking to she's special Monique Strong. She is
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: the president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: of Black Women in Construction. You heard it first right
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: here on one and making conversations Mastercreli. She's doing it
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: down here black women in Construction, building ground laying the
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: groundwork and building. Like she said, Rashan is when you
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: somebody bring a dream to her and she take that
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: dream and make it happen. That's why she do it.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: She don't care how hot it is outside or how
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: long the days are. Is being able to build somebody's
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: dream and then for them to shake her hand and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: say thank you.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Sound like some engineering to me, Miss Clark, Atlanta University.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming on myself more. Nick Strong, you
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: keep dreaming girl eighteen to twenty two, because you're doing
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: it now.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: We'll talk soon. Our friend Monique Strong, the Atlanta Chapter
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: president of the National Association of Black Women in Construction,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Be Strong anytime you nabe, please call me.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: Okay, all right, thank you.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: hosted by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: on the show today, and thank you o listening to
• 27:23
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• 27:25
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• 27:28
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• 27:32
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