Every road you drive, every bridge you cross, every runway you land on in Central Florida — there's a foundation beneath it that most people never think about. In this episode of the Dynamic Leaders Podcast, hosts Roy Richardson and Sean Murphy sit down with Rachel Frederick André, President and Principal in Charge of GEC, one of Central Florida's most established geotechnical engineering firms with over 35 years of continuous operation.
Rachel's story begins in Haiti, where she passed a highly competitive national engineering entrance exam before being pushed to leave by her mother amid the country's political unrest in the early 1990s. She arrived in the U.S. at 19, earned two engineering degrees from UCF, and built a 27-year career working on some of Florida's most consequential infrastructure projects — including SunRail, the I-4 Ultimate, the Wekiva Parkway, and the Orlando International Airport South Terminal.
In this conversation, Rachel pulls back the curtain on what geotechnical engineering actually is and why it is the silent backbone of every structure built. She shares the arc of her career: eight years at GEC, a gutsy decision to leave and spread her wings, 12 years building her skills and network across Central Florida, and eventually returning as President when founder Gary was ready to retire — a transition she spent a year and a half training for, in private.
This episode goes deep on the leadership lessons that don't make it into textbooks: staying calm when it feels like the world is ending, building a culture where people stay for 30-plus years in an industry notorious for turnover, why service must always come before profit, and what it means to lead as a woman-owned and minority-owned business in a field where both are still rare.
Rachel also opens up about the personal side of her journey — 11 years of piano, a multilingual upbringing, a mother who refused to let fear win, and a worldview shaped by visiting eight countries in a single year. Roy and Sean connect her story to their own Caribbean roots, making this one of the most personal and candid conversations in the show's history.
Whether you are an aspiring engineer, a business owner navigating a leadership transition, or simply someone who wants to understand the quiet, precision-driven work that holds civilization together, this episode delivers.
Topics covered:
- What geotechnical engineering is and why it matters
- Building a career and network in a niche technical field
- Leading a successful ownership transition
- Running a woman-owned, minority-owned business in engineering
- Immigrant resilience, multilingualism, and cultural identity
- Sustaining company culture through rapid growth
Learn more about Rachel André:
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