Renee Loesch: Mentally Tough
Renee Loesch is good at her job. Like really good. She is a senior project manager at Kitchell Capital Expenditure Managers in Sacramento, CA and is currently working on a pedestrian walkway project for Sacramento International Airport. She is a key part of the central management team and is overseeing the construction of nearly a quarter mile of walkway.
When Renee looks back to the start of her career she recalls starting on a different path. "I originally thought I would be a structural engineer," she says. "Then I realized it wasn't for me. So, I pivoted to construction management. I got a degree at Cal Poly SLO. When I graduated in 2012 there weren't a lot of job opportunities. Luckily, I found an internship with my current company, Kitchell. That in turn led to a full-time position in San Jose, CA.
For Renee the work is engaging and fulfilling but when she thinks of her biggest career challenges, she feels it's more personal than professional. She explains, "Starting a family and trying to keep up has been the biggest challenge. I now have a 4 and a 6-year-old. I had just been promoted to project manager before I had my first child. I appreciated the gap I took but also feel like I've had to catch up for a long time. But for me, a key part of the challenge was that I especially wanted to set an example for other women."
So how did she find her way to a better work/life balance? Renee explains that she took several steps. "I started reaching out to other women in the company who had done it. I tried to do some of the same things they had. I didn't have the means to get a nanny or anything like that. I joined NAWIC shortly after coming back from leave with my first child and I got some support there. There was a lot of leaning on other women. One woman told me she knew she was working too much when she looked at her phone and saw she had no photos of her son over the last three months. So, I've made more of an effort to be home more and do only one event a week."
Despite the good advice and her resolve to have a family and a career, Renee still faced doubts. "Yes, there was a moment I thought I can't do this," she says. "It was painful. When I was about to go on leave for my second child, I heard that someone in leadership at my company had pegged me as not coming back. I had hoped they would want me back. I felt like if they were so concerned about me not coming back, why didn't you reach out to help me? It took three people to handle my tasks when I was out. Once I came back, we finished out the project and received many awards and recognitions. In some ways you don't think about, you just do it, but it's definitely hard. Still, I like to think I've helped other women navigate it."
She adds that NAWIC and her employer have both helped her grow. "NAWIC does monthly professional development and education seminars. They talk mental strengths. It's not always work focused. Topics can include family or work/life balance. People call in from all over, not just locally. My employer did provide mentorship through a companywide mentor program and I reached out to a few in the company on my own to be my mentor. Most were women but a couple were men who are pro-women in construction."
Renee reflects on what it takes to be tough. "I think it's really just recognizing your worth. It's not being the most flashy and aggressive. It's knowing your worth and have the resilience to walk away if you need to. Just knowing your limits and being gracious with yourself and be able to step away. Some of the best advice I've received is to be the person that you would want to see. When I joined NAWIC I didn't see members doing what I was doing (raising young kids). One of my mentors told me I had to set the example for the next person. She said, 'Be the fearless person to go first. Do it because it you want to but also for the next person.' That meant a lot to me."
Is it harder for women to succeed in construction than it is for men? Renee has an interesting perspective. "Yes," she says, "but with this caveat. I've been really lucky. People say, 'Oh it's so hard.' I've been on multiple teams where it was at least half female. So, I may be slightly biased. My last two projects had senior supers who were women." She laughs as she recalls a specific moment. "One of the supers was in a meeting with a group of us and she asked, 'Do I just need to be meaner?' No one responded. So, she said 'Ok, I'll be meaner.'"
There are several women that Renee feels were especially influential in her career. She notes two in particular. "Martha Estrada has been my mentor since 2015. She has been my career compass, I would say. I bounce everything off her. She was the same age and project role as me when she had her first child. With NAWIC, Donna Huntingdale has been terrific. We've had to deal with a lot of the same things. She is a great support but also will ask my advice, which I take as a compliment. And I should add that my family, especially my mother-in-law and husband, have helped me tremendously and to ultimately succeed."
Renee continues to balance her career with raising her family. But for her, toughness is a state of mind. "I see myself as an adapter. When the going gets tough, you just have to roll with it."
