Tough Love: “You can be tough and still have a heart.”

On a fateful day in 2001, Tricia Ruby got an unexpected call from her father. "Can you come home for a few weeks and help out until we can figure out what's wrong," he said. Her father's engineering firm had just discovered a massive embezzlement that threatened to bankrupt the company. What unfolded over the next months and years would severely test Tricia's leadership and her toughness. 

Ruby + Associates' superpower was structural steel engineering. They provided very specific services, and its unique skills probably saved the company from bankruptcy after the embezzlement scandal, Tricia says. "We stayed in business because our work was so essential to our clients' success," she relates. Joining the company, she began a painstaking top-to-bottom overhaul, rebuilding it from within and eventually becoming CEO in 2011. 

"My father was an engineer through and through," she explains. "He most wanted to solve client problems but did not focus on the company being an organism that develops people. We had to define who we worked for and make sure we were sustainable moving ahead. We desperately needed to be more forward looking and strategic. 

Tricia's background was as an industrial engineer in manufacturing. "So when I came in, I ran every other part of the business except structural engineering. My goal was to transform the organization because we previously had such a toxic culture." By 2016 she had succeeded, and Ruby + Associates was featured in Fortune magazine as one of the top 50 Great Places to Work for small business. The transformation of the company had been difficult and included the agonizing decision to change key leadership positions. 

In 2023, Ruby + Associates was acquired by Degenkolb Engineers. In September of 2025, Tricia was named CFO of the company. It was a long journey, but she made it. 

Asked what being tough means to her, Tricia says, "I associate tough with being resilient. I have been placed in many circumstances where you must be resilient. You take it and you make something better. This might mean taking on additional hits for the betterment of everybody else. I tell people to throw me under the bus. I love bus fumes. You can use me as shield." 

She recalls one of her HR leadership consultants telling her, 'Tricia, leadership takes courage.' "Those three words had such an impact on me. Courage is not talked enough about as a critical skill. You're always the one that people are looking to. People who don't have the courage to lead are indecisive." 

Perhaps one example of her courage can be found in her experience as a woman in construction. She sees it as an advantage at times. "When I'm one of only two or three women in the room I actually feel empowered. But I also feel it helps me be memorable. I do think women have to jump through more hoops. Growing up I felt like businesses were only going to help a few women at a time. I think that has changed. But women still need advice on how to build their career." 

She suggests that women start by building a network. "That's paramount," she says. "Build it not just for yourself but to serve everyone. Know your stuff. The tolerance for error may be a little bit lower if you're different from everyone in the room but be yourself. Be authentic." 

Asked how NAWIC has helped her, she says, "NAWIC is a great community. With any large space it's important to find your people. For me it's been a sisterhood of like-minded people looking to advance their careers and build a network." 

She says she would like to change the common misconception of women that they're emotional and can't handle pressure. On the contrary she says, "I think we're pretty damn tough. But you can be tough and still have a heart." 

In fact, she believes her success as a leader boils down to how she treats people. "I guess for me I think people are the most important part of my story. I look at the actions I've taken in service of our people. I think people make me look good every day, so my decisions are to benefit them and their future. I love my people. I love them."