Leadership Transitions and Building Futures: Sondra Rotty’s Journey at Tarlton Corporation
“Say yes as much as you can when you’re young so that you can balance things a little better when you’re older.”
- Sondra Rotty
Episode Summary:
Sondra Rotty is the newly elected president and COO of Tarlton Corporation, one of St. Louis's largest general contracting and construction management firms. Since joining the company in 2005 as a project engineer, she has left her mark on a range of high-profile projects while actively serving the profession through board service and industry leadership — a career that exemplifies both operational excellence and a deep commitment to developing the next generation of AEC talent.
In this episode of The Zweig Letter Podcast, Randy Wilburn and co-host Luke Carothers sit down with Sondra to trace her journey from project engineer to President, unpacking the leadership lessons, recruitment strategies, and mentorship experiences that shaped her path. The conversation gets into succession planning, the ongoing challenge of attracting new talent to the industry, and how values-based cultures drive both business growth and individual fulfillment in design and construction.
Listeners will come away with candid reflections on navigating career transitions, championing diversity in the workplace, and building a resilient organization — all grounded in action-oriented insights for leaders, managers, and emerging professionals across AEC.
Key Takeaways:
- Succession planning is an ongoing, organic process: Effective talent development means turning everyday situations into leadership opportunities, focusing on continuous feedback and recognizing high-potential individuals early 20:20.
- Broadening the talent funnel: Building relationships with middle schools, high schools, and nontraditional university programs exposes more students to AEC career paths and helps strengthen the future workforce 15:00.
- Mentorship and team learning: Immersing oneself in challenging projects—and seeking out mentors organically—accelerates career growth and deepens operational expertise 07:21.
- Culture is foundational: A caring workplace, clear values, and flexibility are the bedrock of loyalty and long employee tenure 26:16.
- Women in AEC: Say yes early in your career, integrate personal and professional priorities strategically, and communicate openly with both work and family for long-term balance and success 29:18.
All this and more on this episode of the Zweig Letter podcast.
Links referenced in this episode:
- Sondra Rotty on LinkedIn
- Tarlton Corporation Website
- Missouri Gateway Green Building Council
- AGC of Missouri
- Zweig Group & ElevateAEC Conference
- Learn about the Zweig Letter and subscribe: https://thezweigletter.com/
- Connect with Randy Wilburn on LinkedIn
- Connect with Luke Carothers on LinkedIn
Get your FREE Subscription to the Zweig Letter Newsletter.
Call-to-Action & Next Steps:
For more candid leadership stories and industry strategies, be sure to subscribe to The Zweig Letter Podcast and download other episodes highlighting AEC firm growth and talent development. Want to connect? Reach out to Sandra Roddy via LinkedIn or the Tarlton Corporation website. Stay tuned for continued insight into how today’s leaders are driving the future of design and construction—one conversation at a time.
Stay tuned for more enlightening content from the Zweig Letter podcast, and make sure to subscribe for regular updates!
Other episodes you'll enjoy:
Architecture with Heart - Carley Chastain
From Specs to Stories with Cherise Lakeside
Bridging Design and Construction with Dan Crist
AI Transforming AEC with KP Reddy
Connect with Zweig Group:
Transcript
Welcome to the Zweig Letter Podcast. Putting
Speaker:architectural engineering, planning and
Speaker:environmental consulting advice and guidance in your
Speaker:ear. Zweig Group's team of experts have spent more than three
Speaker:decades elevating the industry by helping
Speaker:AEP and environmental consulting firms thrive,
Speaker:and these podcasts deliver invaluable management,
Speaker:industry client marketing, and
Speaker:HR advice directly to you free of
Speaker:charge. The zweigletter
Speaker:Podcasts Elevating the design industry one
Speaker:episode at a time
Speaker:80 years. That's how long Tarlton Corporation has been
Speaker:building St. Louis, and in 2026, they're marking
Speaker:that milestone with a leadership transition that's been years in
Speaker:the making. My guest is Sandra Roddy, and she is
Speaker:the newly elected President of Tarlton Corporation,
Speaker:one of St. Louis largest general contracting and
Speaker:construction management firms. Sandra joined Tarlton
Speaker:in 2005 as a project engineer, was named Chief
Speaker:operating officer in 2024, and has now been
Speaker:elected president by the company's Board of Directors while
Speaker:retaining that COO role. Her fingerprints are on some
Speaker:of St. Louis's most iconic projects, the historic
Speaker:renovation of the Old Courthouse at the Gateway Arch, the Olin
Speaker:Business School expansion at Washington University, and the
Speaker:St. Louis Art Museum's East Building Edition, among
Speaker:others. She also serves on multiple boards,
Speaker:including as treasurer for the Missouri Gateway Green Building
Speaker:Council and Chair of the Building Division for the
Speaker:AGC of Missouri. Sandra, we want to welcome you to
Speaker:the zweigletter podcast. So glad we made this happen. How are you doing
Speaker:today? Thank you. I'm doing great and I'm excited to be
Speaker:here and I'm excited to. I'm fangirling
Speaker:because I know You've done over 2,500 podcasts and
Speaker:you're spreading knowledge like crazy. And I'm happy to contribute. I hope I
Speaker:can contribute. I appreciate that. No, everybody that has done a podcast
Speaker:with me has contributed, so it's all good. And. And certainly this will
Speaker:your chance to kind of share your story. And speaking of which,
Speaker:I would love for you to kind of take us back to the beginning. As
Speaker:I mentioned at the opening, you joined Tarlton in 2005 as
Speaker:a project engineer. You are a Missouri S and T
Speaker:architectural engineering degree graduate. What drew you
Speaker:to construction management specifically? And what were those
Speaker:early years at Tarlton like? Yeah, yeah. So I
Speaker:would have to back up a little bit further to my college experience
Speaker:and some internships that I was fortunate to have,
Speaker:the first of which was at the city of St. Louis where I was
Speaker:designing sewers, doing flow calculations by
Speaker:hand with the mechanical pencil and drawing sewer
Speaker:profiles. And my Boss one day came in
Speaker:and said, you look kind of bored. Do you want to take a walk out
Speaker:into the field and check out some of our construction activity?
Speaker:And I guess that was a life changing event for me because I
Speaker:never looked back. I was so lucky to get to go do
Speaker:some bridge inspections across St. Louis and eventually
Speaker:landed on the Eads Bridge project, which
Speaker:was a historic renovation or restoration, I should say, for
Speaker:the city. And it was just a great experience to be able
Speaker:to learn from field personnel, ask questions about
Speaker:construction, really get to understand what a career in construction
Speaker:would look like. And so fast forward to Tarlton. Yeah,
Speaker:I started as a project engineer on a project in Cape Girardeau,
Speaker:Missouri, and moved on from there to build
Speaker:on Washington University's campus for several years.
Speaker:Had the fortunate opportunity to work for the federal
Speaker:government and some of our greatest cultural
Speaker:institutions in town. And looking back, all of
Speaker:those projects, you know, it was all time and place,
Speaker:right. And opportunistic. But some of these buildings
Speaker:were just very complicated schedules and just I got to work
Speaker:with some of the greatest teams, some of the greatest customers who were
Speaker:never afraid to share knowledge. And so moved on from project
Speaker:engineer to senior to manager and eventually
Speaker:had my own book of business as a director. And then from there
Speaker:kind of took on all of operations and kind of brings me to
Speaker:closer to where I am today. And, man, it's been a fun ride. It's
Speaker:still a fun ride. I'm in the middle of a long journey and
Speaker:I'm just loving it. Yeah, well, I mean, I love to hear stories
Speaker:like that. And I think one thing I want to highlight and point out to
Speaker:any of our listeners, especially the younger ones, is not to
Speaker:dismiss those internship experiences, because they do
Speaker:actually. They can be become launching pads
Speaker:for major aspects of or sections of your career. But
Speaker:it's also, you just, you know, as I always like to tell people, don't despise
Speaker:small beginnings. Sometimes you have to start one place, but it will
Speaker:totally take you, like you said, on a trajectory that will move you in
Speaker:directions that you never, you never dreamed possible. Yeah. And
Speaker:what a great opportunity when you are still in school
Speaker:to try different types of internships. And really, you
Speaker:know, you. You may find your passion unexpectedly just
Speaker:because somebody asked a question or just because somebody said, hey, hey, take
Speaker:a walk with me. And life is funny like that. Yeah,
Speaker:it is. Yeah. And Sondra, I love that you mentioned
Speaker:fangirling out. As I was preparing for this episode, I was looking
Speaker:at the list of projects that you've worked on. And it's some of
Speaker:my favorite places, particularly the old courthouse in St.
Speaker:Louis. But I make a point to point out the Eads Bridge to my
Speaker:wife every time we drive through St. Louis. So I am equally
Speaker:fangirling out. And so it feels good. I love
Speaker:that. Thank you for sharing that. That's awesome. Yeah. So
Speaker:are there any projects specifically because again, you've been
Speaker:at Tarlton now 22 years. You've worked on a lot
Speaker:of, as I mentioned, a lot of high profile projects. The Old courthouse
Speaker:renovation, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Olin Business School
Speaker:expansion. How have those pretty big projects
Speaker:helped to shape who you are as
Speaker:not just a leader, but an operator? Yeah, so I
Speaker:would go back to. We built the, as a joint venture,
Speaker:the National Personnel Records Facility in
Speaker:Hazelwood just north of St. Louis. And that was
Speaker:a $90 million design build project.
Speaker:And we were so fortunate to have a team
Speaker:that came together and we shared, as we always
Speaker:do when we're selecting joint venture partners or partnering up with others, just
Speaker:making sure our values align. Our approach is similar.
Speaker:And I got the opportunity to have a director
Speaker:on site with us full time. And I was a senior project engineer at
Speaker:the time. And you know, I veer off into a tangent about
Speaker:mentorship, but I always feel like I never ask for a
Speaker:mentor. I. I just look back and find that, oh my
Speaker:goodness, this person had a profound impact on my career, on my life.
Speaker:And I would say that was a huge turning point for me. It really,
Speaker:this individual really challenged me in a way that
Speaker:no one else ever had in my career to date. And you don't get the
Speaker:opportunity to be sitting in a trailer with this person 12 hours a day. It
Speaker:was a tough project. We were there before the sun came up and after the
Speaker:sun went down and, you know, just really was
Speaker:very intentional about communications. Was very
Speaker:played devil's advocate in any conflict resolution.
Speaker:Just really thought through everything methodically and
Speaker:kind of slowed us down to not be reactionary.
Speaker:And gosh, I would say that was the turning point. I was able,
Speaker:when we finished that project, to move on into that
Speaker:tough art museum project and really
Speaker:utilize some of those skills I had learned from this individual.
Speaker:But then I think the next big lift was the Olin Business
Speaker:School expansion again, another $90 million job
Speaker:in 18 months. Wasn't fully designed when we started the job.
Speaker:And just having to really step up and lead
Speaker:the team on that project, it was a huge challenge for me.
Speaker:And I think just from a construction perspective,
Speaker:the site was incredibly tight. We were
Speaker:Shoring three stories of building on that tight site. We
Speaker:had two tower cranes. And so just the really digging
Speaker:into the technical side of things. I think that's where,
Speaker:you know, in Washington University builds hundred year buildings. They're
Speaker:beautiful buildings with, you know, every detail carefully
Speaker:considered. There's historic buildings we were interfacing with.
Speaker:And so I think the best place to learn for sure is when
Speaker:you're, you're in charge of a large team and you're trying to solve some
Speaker:complex problems. And that would. Those two projects
Speaker:were, I think, pivotal points in my career where I just
Speaker:dug in and learned the most. Yeah, I love hearing that.
Speaker:And that sounds exciting. Right. And I think that, you know,
Speaker:there's just so much going on. I'm curious to know and I
Speaker:do want to back up just a second. When you were growing up, did you
Speaker:ever envision yourself being in this position in
Speaker:construction management and in engineering from this perspective?
Speaker:Was there somebody in your family? Was there some experience
Speaker:that maybe you had, you know, young, at a much younger age
Speaker:that kind of led you on this journey? My father
Speaker:was a carpenter. So he was a builder of. So he was a builder.
Speaker:Yeah. But he then worked for the power plant. So. So
Speaker:maybe there was some subconscious
Speaker:recognition there. But I actually, I can
Speaker:pinpoint. I wanted to be an engineer when I saw the movie
Speaker:Apollo 13 and, and they dumped all the,
Speaker:they dumped all the parts and pieces on the table and they said, you
Speaker:need to make this, fix this using only this.
Speaker:And I would just, I really enjoyed that movie. And I said, okay,
Speaker:I'm going to be an aerospace engineer. And I like that.
Speaker:Yeah. And we have this, we have this great school in the middle of Missouri,
Speaker:right? A Great Engineering School, MO S&T. It was University
Speaker:of Missouri, Rolla, back at the time. And I was fortunate
Speaker:enough to run there on their cross country and track and field team.
Speaker:And it just, it all fit perfectly. And while there
Speaker:you're exposed to all the different disciplines. And so I really
Speaker:honed in on what I was, what I was feeling a little more passionate about
Speaker:in my youth and ended up in the civil architectural department.
Speaker:So. Yeah, I like that. Well, and I know a lot of people aren't.
Speaker:Like I said, I'm. I live out in this area and I, I ride by
Speaker:Missouri S&T whenever I come from St. Louis,
Speaker:headed to Fayetteville, Arkansas where Z group is based. And you know
Speaker:it. It is. That school actually has a pretty sterling
Speaker:reputation in the design industry. Right. I mean, you guys, you're kind of
Speaker:like the Harvard of the architectural engineering. If I could
Speaker:use that way to describe your alma mater. But am
Speaker:I overselling this or. No? I mean, I,
Speaker:hey, I am a huge proponent of the education they
Speaker:provide and I say it's the best bang for your buck. But
Speaker:it is such a, it's roll is a great town. It's a great
Speaker:small town, Midwest town. And the school just, you
Speaker:know, we get some stellar engineers coming out of out of S and T. So
Speaker:thanks for the shout out. Absolutely, absolutely. We love doing it. You
Speaker:know, it's funny because I, I, over the years that I've worked at Zweig in
Speaker:my many iterations at Zweig group dating all the way back to
Speaker:97 and I hate dating myself. But you know, one of the things
Speaker:that I think in the AEC space that it's always been important is
Speaker:education. Even to the point where, you know, I used to
Speaker:recruit for Zweig for different clients and there
Speaker:would be clients that we recruited for, they would only take people from certain
Speaker:schools, you know, and that's a real thing. And you know, when I go and
Speaker:look back at like different specialties like structural engineers with
Speaker:the wood background, when you think of like Clemson University
Speaker:and then when I think of like just pure structural engineering
Speaker:backgrounds, there were certain schools that different clients that we worked
Speaker:with, they were certain pedigrees that they wanted. And I know that
Speaker:Missouri S&T has or offers up that type of pedigree
Speaker:for people that are coming out that are moving into the AEC space.
Speaker:And I've always found that interesting that people tend to
Speaker:gravitate towards those schools that really produce some
Speaker:really top talent and some difference makers when it comes to
Speaker:thinking about how to solve problems that all engineers and
Speaker:architects have to do. Yeah, you're exactly right. I think, you know,
Speaker:we're never using any differential equations in our, in our day to
Speaker:day work. But the ability to think critically and
Speaker:solve problems is the quality that seems to
Speaker:come to the top when I think of graduates from these schools.
Speaker:But you know, I also don't want to hate on any other education
Speaker:because as workforce continues to be
Speaker:a challenge in the industry, you know, we're having to look outside, we're really having
Speaker:to compete for these students out of these schools and, and we're also having to
Speaker:broaden our reach and just start looking at potentially
Speaker:other disciplines and just looking for labor in places
Speaker:we haven't historically recruited from. So. And
Speaker:you know, we've been pretty successful in that. And I think that's an exciting
Speaker:Thing, it's exposing more and more people to the industry
Speaker:and looking at showing them all what the. The impact they can make in the
Speaker:industry. It's fun. It's fun. Yeah. Yeah. Lucas, you have.
Speaker:You have a question? No, I was just going to add in that
Speaker:I love that approach to broadening where
Speaker:you're pulling talent from. I think that's something that as
Speaker:we move forward as an industry, recruitment and retention has been a
Speaker:consistent challenge for at least as long as I've been a part
Speaker:of Zweigroup, which I'll date myself, as well as 2020.
Speaker:Not quite 1997, but it's been a consistent challenge year over
Speaker:year. So I'm kind of wondering about that
Speaker:expanded approach to hiring. Like, you're clearly
Speaker:very passionate about the industry that you serve. So how do we
Speaker:engender that passion? Other people. How do we find other people with that
Speaker:passion? You know, we have been. Well,
Speaker:our first step was to start, you know,
Speaker:networking and coordinating with universities where we hadn't
Speaker:historically recruited from. And we
Speaker:started to realize that's almost too late. And so we.
Speaker:We've been getting into middle schools and high schools
Speaker:now, especially in our. In our locale, to
Speaker:just give presentations just to show students, hey, there
Speaker:are so many opportunities in this industry and so many different paths,
Speaker:and we just want you to know what's out there. We've also partnered with some
Speaker:of our customers to set up career resource trailers
Speaker:in the community and have high school students actually
Speaker:coming out to a job site and not only learning about construction,
Speaker:but also exposing them to whatever. You know, if we're building for a
Speaker:healthcare client, they're also exposed to careers in healthcare. So it was
Speaker:kind of a joint effort to get the word out on different industries
Speaker:and markets. And I like to think that's successful. It's a hard
Speaker:thing to measure, right? Yeah. Yeah, it is. I
Speaker:want to key in on something that you mentioned for any
Speaker:design firm leader, anybody that's listening to this
Speaker:podcast that's wondering, what are we going to do for this next
Speaker:generation? And I've been saying what you just said a second ago, I've been saying
Speaker:for years, is that we have to get into the grade schools and start planting
Speaker:the seeds of the power of working, becoming an
Speaker:engineer, the power of becoming an architect, what that means, right? I mean, I can
Speaker:remember growing up in, you know, when you get to kindergarten, first grade, you know,
Speaker:everybody has either show and tell or they talk about what career they
Speaker:want to be. And people want to be police officers and firemen and
Speaker:fire people, but all noble positions. But, you know, there needs
Speaker:to be intentionality behind how the design industry
Speaker:goes into K through 12 to educate
Speaker:young people about all of the many possibilities that
Speaker:exist within the design industry space for careers,
Speaker:because they are wide and varied.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely. And also our skilled
Speaker:trades, we're a union town and just
Speaker:I don't think people recognize. And maybe it's a narrative that
Speaker:has just shifted over time with, you know, everybody kind of pushing,
Speaker:go to school, go to school, go to school. But you can have a great
Speaker:lifelong career in the skilled trades and bring
Speaker:so much value to the industry, but also
Speaker:really set your family, your future family up for success. And
Speaker:I think that's something that we have really been trying to
Speaker:communicate along with, you know, the other side of the business.
Speaker:And people are always surprised. They're always like, wow,
Speaker:wow, that's. That's what happens. Wow, this is crazy.
Speaker:And so it's a great start. Like I said, it's very difficult to measure.
Speaker:And I. I'm sure there will be some metric data that
Speaker:we can use in the future to see if we've made some progress.
Speaker:Yeah, no, absolutely. I think there is. And, you know,
Speaker:organizations like Zweig Group and so many
Speaker:others in this space that have worked in the design industry
Speaker:for years have constantly talked about that and tried
Speaker:to develop different ways, creative ways to that firms
Speaker:could continue to have that conversation above and beyond. Just,
Speaker:you know, if this is just going to bring me new work, because every conversation
Speaker:you have isn't necessarily going to turn into new work, but some conversations
Speaker:that you have can set your industry up for
Speaker:success for the long term. And I think what you're describing and what we've been
Speaker:talking about here does make a difference. And on that same point,
Speaker:I wanted to ask you just a little bit about the whole
Speaker:succession planning that your firm went through. Everything that
Speaker:you're experiencing has been years in the making. It wasn't like you woke up one
Speaker:day and they were like, hey, do you want to be president of the company?
Speaker:Right. I mean, there were some individuals, I think, Tracy Hart and
Speaker:Dick Ellsperman. And if I mispronounced his name, please,
Speaker:it's Dirk Ellsperman. If I mispronounce Dirk, hopefully I didn't
Speaker:mispronounce it. They obviously had a long Runway in mind when they started
Speaker:developing you specifically for this role. What did that
Speaker:process feel like from the inside? Right. In terms of,
Speaker:like, when did you start to understand where things were heading?
Speaker:You know, I would say it wasn't really a
Speaker:process. I think that there was some,
Speaker:you know, organic movement in the organization. Of course
Speaker:we're really intentional about talent development and
Speaker:succession planning is definitely part of that. And I'm
Speaker:in kind of a unique position to be have the
Speaker:background in operations and still be leading operations
Speaker:and get to roll into this position. And I still have plenty of
Speaker:development to do in my role here. But I think
Speaker:it just started with conversations and started
Speaker:with asking the question, what does this look like?
Speaker:Where are you in your development plan? Where do we need
Speaker:to go? How do we get there? And I think in general,
Speaker:when all of us are looking at future leaders and high potential individuals in
Speaker:the company, we are really thinking about how do we turn these
Speaker:micro situations into leadership opportunities.
Speaker:How are our leaders and managers recognizing that,
Speaker:you know, somebody is showing up as a leader. Maybe
Speaker:it's just a weekly subcontractor meeting and there's a conflict and
Speaker:this project engineer handled the conflict well, or didn't. And
Speaker:how are we using that as a learning opportunity to ask the
Speaker:question, you know, how do we handle that? How could we handle have handled it
Speaker:better? How are we using that to develop people? And I think it's the
Speaker:same situation at every level of the organization. Right?
Speaker:We're just trying to continue to work on development
Speaker:plans and succession. You know, it's not always just a
Speaker:black and white answer and it's fluid and
Speaker:maybe you're not there yet on certain aspects of development, but we know
Speaker:what we need to work on. And so I'm sorry to be answering that in
Speaker:more of a general sense, but that is kind of how, you know,
Speaker:things came about for me. So. And we continue
Speaker:to work on that succession and I work on, you know, in each
Speaker:position, each role, leadership role, what does that look like? What are our options?
Speaker:How are we developing this pool of talent? And it's really
Speaker:the most, it's the fun part of what we do, right? Building
Speaker:a great team. So yeah, well, I mean, you
Speaker:said it. I mean it cut you off. I think that the real question is
Speaker:the real not, it's not even a question, it's just an observation, is
Speaker:that, I mean, first of all, we're all works in progress, right? And
Speaker:the beauty of it, what you're kind of saying to me and what I hear
Speaker:is that, you know, there's actually some things that you're only going to learn
Speaker:once you get into the position. And that is a unique
Speaker:aspect of it. A lot of people think, oh well, we've got to hire the
Speaker:finished product. And I always tell companies, especially from a
Speaker:recruitment and retention perspective, and you know, to Luke's point,
Speaker:it's one of the toughest or I mean, probably the most critical
Speaker:challenge that this industry faces. And a lot of times when people are
Speaker:out recruiting and I'm just throwing on my old recruiter hat, is
Speaker:that we want that perfect person. And especially when
Speaker:we as the hiring manager is, aren't, aren't always perfect in that way.
Speaker:And so I think it's, it's always begs the question, well, what do you want?
Speaker:Is it. Do you want someone that can, is moldable or, or that
Speaker:can grow with a role or with a position? Or do you want the
Speaker:finished product? Because sometimes the two are not the same.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, that's so true. That's so true. And you know, it's
Speaker:funny because we hear the word unicorn a lot
Speaker:around here and we're always looking for a unicorn.
Speaker:And yeah, you're right, it's a huge challenge. And
Speaker:we have had to level set expectations
Speaker:and start to look at what are the top five qualities
Speaker:we need in a candidate. And all this other stuff is
Speaker:noise that we can address ourselves because that's what we do.
Speaker:And so I think we're guilty of doing exactly what you
Speaker:described there. But we've gotten better over time as we've, you
Speaker:know, had experiences in the market. And it just
Speaker:goes back to, you know, continuing to pound on that
Speaker:talent development, programming and progress and investment.
Speaker:And that's a huge focus for us. It has to be like I
Speaker:tell people all the time when, when I talk to design firm leaders, you know,
Speaker:what can they do to either close the back door, if you will.
Speaker:I mean, it's just personal and professional development. If you're not
Speaker:personally and professionally developing your people from a
Speaker:360 degree perspective, then you're missing out on
Speaker:opportunities to build a level of loyalty
Speaker:and a level of insight that only comes when people know that
Speaker:you really care about them as individuals as well as by the body
Speaker:of work that they bring to the table. Yeah, it's so true. And
Speaker:that that loyalty is so critical to the
Speaker:organization. I know that some of the feedback we get
Speaker:from our customers is they're always impressed at the tenure
Speaker:that we're bringing to the table and we're really proud of
Speaker:that. And I think that you're exactly right. It's because
Speaker:we care about the people we're investing in, the people we're checking on the people.
Speaker:We're constantly analyzing our environment and making
Speaker:sure. That we're not, we're trying not to over task people and
Speaker:it's a lot to juggle for sure. For any organization. And
Speaker:we're not always going to be successful, but boy, we work hard at
Speaker:it. Yeah. No, well, like I tell all design
Speaker:professionals, when they hang their head low is that, I mean, you got to lift
Speaker:your head up. Because every design professional in some way, shape or form
Speaker:is they're responsible for the built environment that we see
Speaker:and experience on a daily basis. So whether you are responsible for,
Speaker:for creating the design or, or ideating that design
Speaker:or actually implementing those designs into
Speaker:real life, I mean, everything that we see and do every day is
Speaker:because of, of the hard work and dedication and time that
Speaker:goes into those projects by an engineer or an
Speaker:architect or some type of construction management. And I say
Speaker:that all the time. And I just, I have to remind people that what you
Speaker:do really matters. Like, really matters. So.
Speaker:Yeah, it makes a huge difference. Yes. Every single part
Speaker:of our life is touched by it. Yes. Yeah, and
Speaker:I think that's. Randy's heard me harp on that point many times.
Speaker:Like everything that we see around us is touched in some way by this
Speaker:industry and we interact with it every day. And when I think about
Speaker:St. Louis, it's. You've had a huge hand in
Speaker:developing St. Louis over the last 20 years.
Speaker:So I was kind of wondering your perspective of. So you
Speaker:mentioned developing within developing people within the firm,
Speaker:leading to longer tenure. And you yourself have a two decade
Speaker:tenure. So as you come into the role of president,
Speaker:what's the thing that guides you forward? Right, yeah,
Speaker:just that simply. Yeah. Well, our mission at Tarlton
Speaker:is to build futures for our
Speaker:customers, but also for, for our people. And that
Speaker:is our guiding light. And we do that through
Speaker:by working within our values. And I know I
Speaker:struggle because it sounds trite every time. Right. You hear it all
Speaker:the time. But we actually, you know, we don't just
Speaker:talk about them, we really talk about, you know,
Speaker:how are we applying them to our day to day
Speaker:existence. And every. In those micro situations I was talking
Speaker:about, how do we communicate with one another? How do we support one another?
Speaker:Our first value is build a safe and caring environment. And
Speaker:that's key to making sure people are happy and feel welcome
Speaker:and are motivated to keep moving forward. We
Speaker:cultivate clients for life. 80% of our business is
Speaker:repeat business. So, you know, once we're working with
Speaker:someone, solving problems with them, we make it an enjoyable
Speaker:experience. And so that doesn't just help our clients, it
Speaker:helps Our people. You want to go to work and have fun every day, right?
Speaker:You want to laugh, you want to enjoy your job. So we have a lot
Speaker:of fun. And, you know, of course, we stand behind our word and work.
Speaker:It just, you know, integrity, quality, safety is all,
Speaker:of course, part of our values. And then lastly, and
Speaker:contributing again to having fun at work, we just love what we
Speaker:do. I mean, come on, like you said, it touches
Speaker:everything. And you get to learn about, you get to learn about
Speaker:industries you never thought, you know anything about, how to
Speaker:preserve paper, how water, drinking water gets treated and,
Speaker:and how wastewater gets treated. All of these things sound crazy,
Speaker:but they're fun. Yeah, man. There's so many different
Speaker:directions I want to go, but I do want to, I want to stick to
Speaker:my outline here. I mentioned to you earlier I wanted to talk just
Speaker:a little bit about, you know, women in the AEC industry space. Right.
Speaker:I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the elephant in the room.
Speaker:You personally have built a career that a lot of young women in this industry
Speaker:would look at as a roadmap. Okay. And I mean, what do
Speaker:you wish someone had told you early on about what
Speaker:it actually takes to rise in this space?
Speaker:You know, from your perspective? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Everyone's lived experience is different. And
Speaker:I would say when I started as a project engineer, there
Speaker:is nothing more I wanted than for people
Speaker:to not know that I was a woman. I just.
Speaker:But I never felt like I was treated any differently.
Speaker:I don't feel like in my young career, being a woman
Speaker:affected my experience. I think being a young,
Speaker:inexperienced person is really what
Speaker:affected my experience. And I'll say at that time,
Speaker:I would say in general, say yes to everything
Speaker:when you're young and experience. If a superintendent says, hey,
Speaker:kid, come out, let's go look at this, go look at it with them. Ask
Speaker:questions, be curious, Learn every day when your
Speaker:boss says, hey, go to this networking event with me. Just go.
Speaker:It's uncomfortable. But say yes to everything
Speaker:when you're young in your career so that you can strategically
Speaker:say no when you get into your career a little bit later.
Speaker:You have other commitments and, you know, aging parents of
Speaker:kids at home, perhaps, you know, self care, whatever it is,
Speaker:say yes as much as you can when you're young so that you can
Speaker:balance things a little better when you're older. And you know, I never thought
Speaker:being a woman affected me until I was. Had physically
Speaker:changed because I was having a child and I couldn't climb a ladder
Speaker:anymore. To look and inspect things. So that's when I first
Speaker:noticed it. And then, you know, having small children at home and
Speaker:trying to balance the schedule and
Speaker:work on a little bit less sleep. And that's true for men and women.
Speaker:I had the pumpkin seed in the trailer on some Saturdays, that's for
Speaker:sure. But I don't regret any of it. And I can say
Speaker:to women, when your kids are young and you're feeling
Speaker:torn about, you know, not spending enough time at home or.
Speaker:Or your parents are aging and you're not feeling like you're spending enough time,
Speaker:you have to persevere, and you have to just integrate
Speaker:them into your work life. You know, I. I explain to my kids every
Speaker:time I make a decision, and I have some boundaries or my. My
Speaker:mom, you know, hey, I'm sorry, I can't make it to this because I have
Speaker:a work event. Here's what the work event is, and here's how it
Speaker:affects our lives. It really just provide the why
Speaker:to all of them. And now my kids know, hey, I know you're there,
Speaker:and I know why, and I appreciate you. And thanks for being an example.
Speaker:I think they're not adults yet, but. Well, hopefully they're strong,
Speaker:moral adults who will appreciate this life in the future.
Speaker:I mean, that in and of itself is probably worth the price of admission
Speaker:for this podcast episode, because what you're saying is, basically
Speaker:is you even have to manage the expectations of your
Speaker:children, of your family. And. And it goes without saying, right? We think that
Speaker:we take that for granted so often, and I think in the workplace, a lot
Speaker:of times, we don't manage the expectations of our peers, much less our family
Speaker:members when it comes to work. And, I mean, what you just said speaks
Speaker:volumes to why you've had such success. And while
Speaker:I can't, you know, we don't know. I don't know, your personal life. I'm assuming
Speaker:that a lot of it mirrors the success that you've seen at a
Speaker:professional level. And I think that advice more than anything else
Speaker:is supremely helpful for anybody that's trying to navigate the waters
Speaker:of, you know, a career, career advancement, and
Speaker:wanting to do the things that a lot of people want to do. Be a
Speaker:parent and be a spouse or have a significant
Speaker:other in your life. And, you know, how do you juggle all of that at
Speaker:the same time? And, you know, as I like to say, life is messy. Whether
Speaker:we like it or not, it is messy, but you can come to. You can
Speaker:meet it with a plan, and you can Try to work that plan to
Speaker:the best of your abilities. And I think honestly, that's what, what most of us
Speaker:are trying to do on a regular basis. And it sounds like that's what you've
Speaker:kind of leaned into throughout your career. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:And I think I don't want to discount. Look, everything I've done in
Speaker:my career is because of I've had amazing people around me
Speaker:both in my professional life and my home life. And
Speaker:so just having great people around me, you know, I've gotten
Speaker:to learn from some amazing superintendents, some amazing
Speaker:leaders in the industry, some trade partners who are
Speaker:willing to educate and put up with asking a
Speaker:lot of dumb questions. And so in addition to, you
Speaker:know, finding your balance and persevering, just never stop learning.
Speaker:Because building those reps and getting some tacit knowledge around all of
Speaker:the different things we do in the construction industry I think is a huge contributor
Speaker:to the success as well. Yeah, absolutely. Lucas, you want to add
Speaker:something to that? You look like you were chomping at the bit. No, I was
Speaker:going to say, we know, we've said it a million. Like we've kind of danced
Speaker:around it, that idea of mentorship and having good people around
Speaker:you. And it kind of, it ties into this thing that I've been
Speaker:thinking of is you've worked on so many projects in
Speaker:your career. What does good culture look like on a
Speaker:day to day basis, on a month to month basis on those
Speaker:job sites or for those project teams? Right. And how do we
Speaker:do it the right way? I mean, I think, you know, from
Speaker:an approach perspective, we're super focused on
Speaker:planning, accountability, supporting one
Speaker:another, making sure everyone's rowing in the same direction
Speaker:and making sure that we're all trying to solve the same problem, we're on the
Speaker:same page and, you know, reaching out when you
Speaker:need help. We make it very clear. Raise your hand if
Speaker:you feel uncomfortable with, with a situation
Speaker:or you're not sure how to handle it. There anyone. We don't have doors
Speaker:on our office here for a reason because we're always
Speaker:willing to help one another. And I think we're really flexible
Speaker:when it comes to, you know, this is a family owned company and you
Speaker:can feel just the dedication to
Speaker:family, to all of the extended family, which is,
Speaker:you know, we're accountable for our employees, families as well. Right.
Speaker:We need to make sure we're sending these people home safe, healthy and
Speaker:happy to their families. And you can feel that just in some of the
Speaker:flexibility, whether it's working hours, whether it's
Speaker:you know, events schedules, whether it's, you know,
Speaker:family outings, we bring the families into Tarlton to
Speaker:celebrate together. It's just there's a lot of engagement and
Speaker:extension of the family and, and I think you can feel that the
Speaker:second you walk in the door. Yeah, I love, I love that. And it does
Speaker:make sense. And you know, as one of my good friends says, all the
Speaker:time culture eats strategy for breakfast. So a good
Speaker:culture will go a long way. So. Yeah, yeah, no, I,
Speaker:I love that. Well, listen, I mean, you've been so kind with your time. I
Speaker:did want to end on this one question because there were again, we could
Speaker:have gone down so many rabbit holes in terms of this conversation. So we.
Speaker:What I will say is it will probably put a comma at the end of
Speaker:this podcast, meaning that we will have to pick it up at a later time.
Speaker:But I did want to ask you one specific question and it's around your
Speaker:board experience and leadership. And this is for a lot of design
Speaker:professionals who are still early or in mid career and thinking about
Speaker:board service in general. What would you tell them
Speaker:about how to get started and what to expect when they
Speaker:do? I'd be really interested to know your thought in terms of, as you
Speaker:look at the arc of your career, when it came to board
Speaker:involvement. Yeah, I think it starts for me at
Speaker:least. And this is what I, the advice I provide on at the board
Speaker:level as well. You really have to engage young people in
Speaker:those, you know, young professionals committees
Speaker:and different specialty committees and start to
Speaker:build some emotional attachment to some of these, to the
Speaker:things you're passionate about. Right. And I found, even with the Green
Speaker:Building Council, you know, I served on some committees early
Speaker:in my career and it was all around education. And
Speaker:then there was a gap where, you know, I couldn't serve, I didn't have time
Speaker:to serve. But then when as time became available, I
Speaker:was able to return to that board and have foundational
Speaker:knowledge of the mission of some of the activities that we do.
Speaker:So my advice would be to get involved early on a committee
Speaker:or young professionals club and start to network. It's a great way to
Speaker:network too, and make some friends in the industry. Yeah, it
Speaker:really is. I tell anyone, anyone that asks me, because I've actually been involved in
Speaker:a number of boards and I mean, I know Zweig Group has made
Speaker:it a point in the recent years to really talk about what board
Speaker:involvement means and why it is something that any design
Speaker:professional should try to seek out because it creates a much more
Speaker:well Rounded individual. Right? Yeah. And I would, I would hearken to say
Speaker:that you clearly have leveraged your board
Speaker:experience and that is it has actually informed how you lead
Speaker:both internally as well as externally there at Tarlton. So, I
Speaker:mean, there is something to be said for it. And sometimes you don't get everything
Speaker:that you need for your career just in the 40 hour work
Speaker:week. And so you need to be involved. There are
Speaker:going to be opportunities for you to serve other needs, other people,
Speaker:other missions that will help to inform who you become
Speaker:as an individual and will create the total person that you want to
Speaker:see throughout your career. And I think you're a perfect
Speaker:example of that. And so I appreciate you, you know, kind of sharing
Speaker:your insight from that perspective. Well, thank you. And you stated
Speaker:that so beautifully. I don't even know how to add to
Speaker:it. That's what I do. So. But no, seriously, I thank you for that. I
Speaker:appreciate that. But no. Sandra, is there anything left that you'd like
Speaker:to add before we close out? How can people get in
Speaker:touch with you if they're really moved by this episode or just want to connect
Speaker:with you or, you know, better. Better yet, say, I want to work at Tarlton
Speaker:and I'm willing to relocate to St. Louis if they
Speaker:don't already live in the Gateway City. So I would love for you to kind
Speaker:of share the best way for people to get in touch with you. Yeah, well,
Speaker:I'm on LinkedIn. You can always call the main office at Tarlton
Speaker:and find me here. And I'm happy to, you know,
Speaker:if people have questions about careers in construction, if they have
Speaker:questions about Tarlton, if they just want to talk about the beautiful
Speaker:weather and how they might serve on a board, I'm happy to oblige.
Speaker:So, absolutely. Well, we'll make sure all of that, your,
Speaker:your LinkedIn profile, everything that, any points
Speaker:of connection, social media profiles for Tarlton, all of that will be in
Speaker:the show notes for this Zweigletter podcast episode. So we'll
Speaker:make sure that everybody has access to that. But,
Speaker:Sandra, it's been a real pleasure. And the next time that I'm in St.
Speaker:Louis, because I have friends there, and like I said, it's just five hours from
Speaker:Fayetteville. I will be looking you up and reaching out to say
Speaker:hello for sure. Absolutely, I would love that. And thank you
Speaker:so much for having me today. And if you find that I
Speaker:didn't answer a lot of your questions or I veered off on too many tangents,
Speaker:you know, I'm happy to follow up. So you were just fine. You were
Speaker:just fine. So thank you again. I appreciate that. So listen,
Speaker:I want to thank everybody for listening to this episode of the
Speaker:zweigletter Podcast. If listening to today's episode sparked
Speaker:something for you, whether it's a conversation you need to have at your
Speaker:own firm, a board seat you've been putting off pursuing,
Speaker:or just a reminder that the long game is worth
Speaker:playing, I hope you'll share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.
Speaker:You can find the Zweig Letter and everything related to
Speaker:the aec industry@zweiggroup.com
Speaker:subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We have new
Speaker:episodes coming out quite frequently and we'll see you back here
Speaker:soon with another new episode of the Zweig
Speaker:Letter Podcast. Peace. Thanks
Speaker:for tuning in to the zweigletter Podcast. We
Speaker:hope that you can be part of elevating the industry and that you can
Speaker:apply our advice and information to your daily
Speaker:professional life. For a free digital subscription to the
Speaker:Zweig letter, please visit thezweigletter.com
Speaker:subscribe to gain more wisdom and inspiration in addition
Speaker:to information about leadership, finance, HR
Speaker:and marketing your firm, subscribe today
Speaker:SA.
