התמלול המלא של EP.33 - Built on Solid Ground: Rachel André on the Quiet Work That Holds Everything Together

00:04:11.439 Next time you're ready to go, you tell me, and I'll make sure that you see it from the local perspective. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:12.000 I will. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:12.800 Oh, awesome. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.399 Well, Rachel, welcome again. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:24.079 People are gonna hear this story, they're gonna realize that the roads they drive every day did not just happen. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:24.560 Yeah. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:29.600 I know I I used to go over to Jones High School and teach financial literacy. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:38.800 And I used to tell the kids, I'm like, in this room, there's probably 700 companies that's created something in here, and you just don't know, right? 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:45.839 So let's start somewhere a little less about your resume and more about you as a person. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:50.720 So piano at the age of five, all the way to 16. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:51.040 Yes. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:55.120 You know, 11 years of that's 11 years of some serious commitment, right? 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:55.439 Yes. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:57.040 Do you do you miss it? 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:04.480 And what did those years at the keys give you that no engineering class could ever do? 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.920 Well, it's it's gonna be a funny answer. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.120 My mom always was always adamant, I'm the oldest of three. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:22.160 My mom is always adamant about career, you know, academics and all of that, but she's also big about you have to play a sport and you have to do some sort of artistic thing. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:23.040 Very cool. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:29.759 So I was never into sports, but I did ballet also, by the way, for eight years while I was doing piano. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.959 Of course, the academics, huge, huge, huge. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:37.439 So I had to pick an instrument when I was five, and I said the piano, because I've always loved the piano. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:45.519 My mom is big on the art, so she would take us to play, she would take us to you know, concerts, all kinds of things, classical music, live, all kinds, everything. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.199 The all kinds of um art. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.279 Like my house is filled with art, paintings, uh, sculptures, all kinds of things. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:52.560 So anyway, I had to pick an instrument. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:58.319 I picked the piano, and I just I love the piano, still my favorite, favorite instrument. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.560 Yes, I miss it, but there's just no time. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:08.480 I still have my piano back home in Haiti, and my mom still reminds me, yeah, you left your piano there, you know, just gathering stuff. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.920 So it's still there, because I'm the only one who played. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:13.279 I'm the only one who played. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:21.199 Now, now was there

was there something in those years that you learned that engineering and that your classes couldn't teach you? 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:22.879 Well, yes, yes. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:25.040 And it's kind of a sad thing. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.560 I've you know, I've I've done recitals and all those things, and I was okay. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:30.160 I was never a great player. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.879 So that's what I was like, yeah, I've always liked math. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.160 You know, you if you're a smart kid, you do well back home. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.639 You gotta be an engineer or a doctor or an attorney, or one of those. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.600 My dad was an engineer, and I've always loved math and all of that. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.439 So I was like, well, I guess engineering because I knew piano wasn't gonna be a career for me. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:54.879 As much as I love it, I wasn't good enough because some other kids, I mean, some of my friends were fantastic. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.120 So that's why they taught me. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:06:59.120 Very, very cool. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:00.560 Nice, nice. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.519 And you know, let's then talk about your travel. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:08.399 At least two or three international trips per year, eight countries in the last 12 months alone. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:09.360 Last year, yeah. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:11.839 That's not a vacation habit. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:13.920 I would say it's more of a worldview. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:14.240 Yes. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:18.000 Where does that come from and which destination surprised you the most? 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:19.519 Again, my mom. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:22.240 My mom is big on cultures and all that. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.319 So she taught us a lot when we were younger. 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.160 She traveled with us, she she made sure, you know, the language thing. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:30.319 Of course, in Haiti, if you're from Haiti, you're gonna speak Creole. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.120 And if you go to a decent school, you will learn French. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:35.360 The school I went to, they taught us Spanish. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:42.879 We I learned I learned Latin, I did Greek, I did etymology, and of course, Spanish, you know, all these. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:52.000 So I've always been into cultures and different foods, different environments, different countries, you know, world, geography, all of that. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:53.360 I've always been interested in that. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:58.639 And moving to the US has been was a fantastic, fantastic opportunity because you get to see everybody. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:01.120 In Haiti, you know, you're kind of limited. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.360 But here, that was like, whoa, you know? 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:08.959 So when she we would travel here for vacation in the summer, she would, you

know, she would take us with her and all of that. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:11.439 So my dad didn't like to travel, so he stayed home. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.360 But my mom, you know, she would travel with us, and that's why it came from, I think. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:17.199 So your dad was an engineer. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.959 Was your mom a professional as well? 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.120 My mom is a pharmacist, but she's retired now. 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:22.079 She's a pharmacist, yes. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:22.720 Oh, very cool. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:23.120 Oh, wow. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.879 So she did, she she had her own drugstore, which she didn't manage. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.160 My grandmother did. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:31.199 And my and my mom also, she was a pharmaceutical rep. 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:32.639 That's what she did full-time. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:33.679 Were they U.S. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:34.960 educated or were they? 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:36.320 Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:36.799 Okay. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:37.360 Oh, yeah. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:38.320 Oh, very cool. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:39.600 Yep, very, very cool. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.039 Yeah, that's one of the reasons my my my father never wanted to be here. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:44.159 He never wanted to leave Haiti. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:46.320 He's mother, he's siblings, they all moved to the U.S. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:47.360 He's like, I'm not going anywhere. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:48.559 I'm not going anywhere. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:49.840 Because we have it all right here. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:51.039 That's right, that's right. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:51.360 Yeah. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.360 I don't, I, I can't listen. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:57.039 I I have a I have a good friend, she's Jamaican, and she's like a big sister. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:59.039 She's, you know, 70 something years old. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.159 And and so, you know, she's a big curator of art. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:07.200 She has a gallery in College Park, and I love collecting art myself. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.840 Years ago, she would tell me, Oh, Sean, you need to travel. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:10.639 And I'm like, why? 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.320 I'm like, America has it all right here. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:13.039 You know what I mean? 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.320 So I get it. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.840 So you mentioned the four languages that you speak. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:21.519 And, you know, I I guess Latin is like your emergency language, maybe. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:30.159 No, no, I don't even, I mean, I I think I lost, I lost a lot of the Latin, but the the etymology, the knowing the roots of words, that's how I retain it. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:30.879 That's what you got. 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:32.080 That's not one of the four. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:33.919 That's not one of Latin is not one of the four. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:35.279 Oh, okay, got it. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:35.679 All right. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:41.759 So listen, when it truly matters, which one of the languages you think in. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:45.519 I think for when it comes to work professional, it's English. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.960 Because you know, I left Haiti when I was 19, came to college here. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:50.879 So my whole college education has been in English. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:51.679 English, yeah. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.080 Got it. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.639 But if I'm if I'm if I'm at home talking to family, it's probably French or Creole. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.240 It's mostly Creole, probably. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:09:58.879 Okay. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:09:59.279 Yeah. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:02.480 I thought maybe there's like you might not be one to give up the secret sauce. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:03.519 Maybe that's what it is. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:05.440 No, no, no, that's no secret sauce. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:11.440 So my kids, my kids, I had them in the foreign language academy downtown, right? 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:11.759 Oh, yeah. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:19.039 And I'm like, y'all, I'm gonna I'm gonna have y'all's brain wired to be able to pick up languages so that you can have a cheat code. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.840 You know, the the thing to is to start them early. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:28.000 My daughter is is fluent in French, she's fluent in Spanish, and of course, she speaks English, and she speaks Creole too. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:33.120 She's better at Spanish than I am, because I'm I pushed her from the time she was very young. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.600 She was she went to a multilingual school on purpose. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:37.120 That's that's the key. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:37.840 Start early. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:38.720 Early, yes. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:44.799 No, my they they started at elementary, and I'm I'm uh they they don't they don't that you know they're jocks, right? 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:45.840 So they don't really use it. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.919 But I'm like, okay, when you get to college, you're gonna understand it's gonna pay off. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:51.200 Yeah, it's gonna pay off. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:57.759 You know, it's amazing how many, you know, we are from different areas of the Caribbean, how much similarities there are, right? 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.120 I mean, my wife and I speak five languages, right? 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:06.320 So so Dutch, French, uh, Spanish, Popimento, and English, right? 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.919 And and we've we've actually when we kid about this all the time. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:15.279 We my my wife grew up in in the Netherlands, so she thinks from a very European perspective. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.600 You know, it's it's black or white, there's no gray. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.960 I grew up here

in the US, so there's that gray in between black and white. 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:28.159 But when we are speaking with each other, it's not uncommon for us to start in one language and weave in and out of languages. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:36.960 And as a cyber as a cybersecurity professional, I often make the joke that we have our own encryption system because nobody's exactly what I was gonna say. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:38.720 People, um I'm at work, right? 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:44.720 If my mom or my daughter somebody calls me my brother and I switch, and they're like, What, what, what, what are you doing? 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:46.639 And I'm like, I have no idea. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.840 I switch to no, no, I I couldn't tell you. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:53.120 Sometimes they say, You were just speaking something that I'm like, I have no idea. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:53.600 I don't know. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:55.919 Yeah, it just it just comes natural. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:56.720 Yeah, exactly. 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:57.759 Yeah, yeah. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:06.240 You know, Rachel here, what strikes me is is, and I say this as someone who also packed a bag from the Caribbean island border plane, trusting that it was going to work out. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:06.879 I left St. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.639 Martin at a very young age for a school and career in the U.S. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:15.039 And I know that that mix of determination and shared nerve, what it means. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:17.679 So I want to understand your version of that moment. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:24.320 You know, Haiti to Orlando for engineering school, that's not a small leap. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.799 What was what was life back in in in Haiti or Haiti, right? 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.720 And and what did you see in yourself that made you believe that this was possible? 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.519 This is another one that's probably gonna surprise you. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.200 I never wanted to come here. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:40.960 Well, you're you're you're your you're your daddy's daughter, right? 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:42.639 Exactly. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.279 And I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you the full story. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:52.480 I was 18, I was 19, just finished my whole you know, school in Haiti, and I wanted to go to engineering school. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:58.320 So I went to I they 3,000 kids took the exam. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:03.200 They only picked 150 at the best engineering school, the public school engineering school in Haiti. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.759 That's where my dad went, and I was one of the 150. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.039 I was one of the top. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:09.440 And I was lucky, so I'm like, oh yeah. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:17.360 At the same time, I started dating my first boyfriend, and I was in love, and he was in love, and and my mom was like, it's funny how those things happen, eh? 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:22.799 I was in '92, '93 in Haiti, and that's where really the unrest really started. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:24.320 And my mom was like, You gotta go. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:25.360 I'm like, I'm not going anywhere. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:26.000 Are you kidding? 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:26.480 I'm in love. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:28.000 You getting married, da-da-da-da. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.360 So, but my mom, oh my, she was like, Nope, you're going, you're going. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.879 But I was like, So your mom is like, No, we got a plan. 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:36.080 You're gonna stick to the plan. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:39.759 You're the oldest, you're going, and the other ones are gonna follow. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:40.799 So that's what happened. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:43.360 I did not want to leave, but I'm glad I did. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:44.720 I already spoke English. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.879 I had been to the US for vacation and things. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:54.480 So I was I honestly, I think about it now, thinking, looking back, I'm like, I was very naive because I wasn't worried about anything. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:14:05.519 I had the I had a green card already because my grandmother, like I said, had moved to the US when she was younger, and she had brought her kids, the old, she had three kids. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:11.120 My dad was the youngest, so the older two with their families decided to come to the US. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.440 My daddy's the one who never wanted to come. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:18.399 And so every time my grandmother would try to force my dad to do it, he would say no. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:26.559 So my mom and my grandmother, her her daughter, her mother-in-law, had to do this without my hand, without my dad. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:30.320 So they said the two of those ladies had to be like, okay, forget him. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.840 Let's just take care of it because they had to make sure the kids had the opportunity. 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:35.440 He doesn't want it, that's fine. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:40.639 So my mom and my grandmother made it work, got us the interview and everything. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:42.399 So we got the green card. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:50.399 Fun story I don't know, five, six years later, after we got the green card, my dad sent his green card back to the US government. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:51.519 He said, no, thank you. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:55.759 That was funny. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:58.159 He's not interested. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.000 But anyway, so yes, that's how it happened. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.000 I I didn't want to do it, but I'm glad I did. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.279 And when I came here again, I was not worried about anything. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:09.919 I she was she sent me to New York, but I like New York, but it was too cold for me. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:11.039 That was in

February. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:18.399 And I'm like, I'm okay, so so I shipped myself back to Florida and I had the cousin here in Fort Lauderdale. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:19.919 She said, Why don't you come and stay with me? 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:21.600 So that's what I did. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.799 I moved into her house and I was there for two years. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.120 I applied for the community college there. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.759 I was there for two years, graduated, and then I said, Okay, I want to go into civil engineering. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:36.720 FIU at the time in Fort Lauderdale didn't have civil, so that's why I said, okay, Orlando. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:44.159 And I picked Orlando because a few years before that, I think when we when I was 12, my mom took us to Orlando and we did a bunch of the parks. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:44.799 Oh, God. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:46.720 So I loved Orlando. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:47.279 Right. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:47.919 Yeah, yeah. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:49.840 So I decided, okay, Orlando it is. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.519 There's a good UCF is there, so that's why I decided on Orlando. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:54.879 Amazing. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.639 You know the crazy thing, Roy. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:00.559 Y'all talk about coming to America for an a better opportunity, right? 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:01.679 Well, my mama did that. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:03.600 We were Eddie Murphy. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.440 Right, but but no, you were Eddie Murphy. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:06.399 I was Eddie Murphy too. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.039 My mom put me on a Greyhound bus in '84 from New Orleans for a better life in Florida, right? 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:14.240 And uh I'm I'm like you, Rachel. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:17.519 I came here, I was excited about the opportunity. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.440 And it's just looking back, the last 42 years have just been. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:26.799 I was on the phone with someone earlier saying, man, I'm pinching myself how crazy life has become. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:29.600 But anyway, Roy, you had anything else or should I move on? 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.039 No, I I you know it's it's it's amazing when you think of it. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:43.919 And you just mentioned thinking back 42 years, and and I think back of my journey, and I'm sure Rachel thinks back of hers, but we also, you know, look at that one degree, right, where that may not have happened, right? 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.679 And what that could have looked like, right? 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.639 And and and how that is for for so many out there. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:49.840 Take it away, Sean. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:54.000 Something had to be instilled in you back in Haiti, right? 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.840 A standard, a work ethic. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:58.559 I know your dad was an engineer, your mom was a professional. 00:16:58.559 -->

00:16:59.840 Sounds like your grandmother. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.480 Sounds like your grandparents were professionals as well. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:03.519 They were, yes. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.400 You know, a way to carry yourself. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.160 That followed you here and never left. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:18.000 Well, like you said, it's it's the one thing from being from the islands, you have you see how you have the abundance here, you have everything here. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.160 You throw things away, you just buy more. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:21.680 Back home, we're not like that. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.720 You know, whatever you have, you preserve it, you conserve it. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.839 And whatever opportunity you have, you run with it. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.759 And and that's what it was, you know. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:37.599 And you always I I went to a we went to a parochial school, you know, very, I mean, really, I mean, fantastic, incredible. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:39.680 The education I got there was just incredible. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:44.640 And and that's that's the same thing, the way, you know, the academics, they really, really push the academics. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.680 I see what kids are doing here compared to back home. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.920 It's it's a totally different thing. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:58.480 Um yeah, and it's not just the academics, they taught us so many other things, and and you know, being driven and and and doing the best with what you got. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:17:59.440 That's what it is. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.640 And I had the I was lucky. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.000 I was I'm one of the lucky ones. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.240 I came here, I already spoke English. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.160 I I had a green card. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:08.559 And I was and I did well in school. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:14.240 So when I came here with my transcripts and everything, I was able to, I did what they called CLEP. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:22.559 I was able to just because the cloud, there are a lot of classes that I took at at my high school in Haiti, which was what you guys consider a STEM school here. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.279 I went that's what I went to, the school I went to in Haiti. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:31.039 Classes that I took in at that school that I never took here in engineering school. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.880 Super like advanced science courses, like optics, advanced physics. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:35.839 We did all that. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:37.920 So I went to Haiti, but not here. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.119 In Haiti, exactly. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.559 Give me my engineering, and I have a master's degree in engineering. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.799 I started a PhD in engineering, I didn't finish. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:45.839 So that's another tidbit. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:47.519 I'm a drop, I'm a dropout. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.160 Um I'm gonna forgive you for that. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:51.279 There's nothing wrong with that. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:58.480 So yeah, so they they you know, reading, learning, continuing to learn, learn, learn, do the best you can. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.480 That's that's where it came from, I think. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:08.240 Yeah, and I can I can relate to that in the sense that, you know, so I I did my my elementary school up to in in in St. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.640 Martin, and then and then I moved over here to the U.S. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:17.119 But even in the fifth grade, Sean, we had to know every country that it was out there. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:26.640 We had to be able to identify the country in the map, identify the head, the capital of the country, the languages, the rivers, the mountain ranges, the whole nine yards. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:32.559 So, you know, here you are at at a very young age, and you have an entire atlas that's laid out for you. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:33.200 Right. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:46.400 And and you know, and yeah, that was I was surprised when I came to school here that you know that was actually an elective, whereas back home, that was at a very young age a mandatory requirement. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:47.359 Yes, you know. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:51.200 I had to learn the whole period I I knew the periodic table. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.200 First to last, everything. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:53.599 Yes. 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.000 I'm not I lost a lot of it now, but I oh yeah, I'm not sure. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:03.839 Yeah, but back then, well, I I would submit to you, I would submit to you all the America that I grew up in was what you're talking about. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:10.559 And I think that's a new because I remember my so I got a degree in economics from the University of Miami. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:22.079 It was in the School of Arts and Sciences, but I minored in business administration and I did it in the School of Arts and Sciences so that I can learn the cultural things of life so that I can know about art. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.000 Because I grew up in the projects of New Orleans. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:25.359 We didn't know any of that stuff. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:35.279 And so my mom used to send me to the library in the summer, and I got this huge fascination for different cultures around the world. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:40.799 So when I meet you, and you might remember this when I first met you, I'm always asking questions about, hey, where are you from? 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:41.839 Tell me your story. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:43.839 And so I love that kind of stuff. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:52.400 But my favorite professor in all of college was an English professor from Ghana, and we used to call her Nana from Ghana. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:55.119 And she, matter of fact, you remind me of her. 00:20:55.119 -->

00:20:59.440 And she was a bulldog about just keeping the standard up. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:00.960 And she used to challenge the students. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:08.720 She's like, Y'all come from all of these wealthy, y'all, y'all, y'all come here dressed like you're poor and acting like you're poor instead of, you know, and poor people want to be like you. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:16.559 So anyway, I really appreciate what y'all are saying there, but I I yearn for a day when our country goes back to that. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.920 But let me ask you this was there one person? 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.519 I know you've talked about your mom, your dad, your grandmother. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:30.640 Was there one person that their voice you still hear when you're making hard calls today? 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:35.680 Well, if you're talking about work, I think it's still Gary. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:41.759 I told you guys about Gary, the the gentleman who mentored me, and who hired me at GEC as a as an intern. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:43.119 I still call him, you know. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:44.160 I mean, we talk all the time. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:45.519 If I need something, you know. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:48.559 Yeah, when it comes to work, that's what it is. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.559 When it comes to management and things like that, yes. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:51.200 Very cool. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.359 If it's if it's about my personal life, I probably think a lot about my mom and my grandmother. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.759 Yeah, and I can tell you the the moms and the grandmothers and and and I'm sure. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:03.119 you know, it it's how do you say very similar. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:04.640 Uh they carry a lot of weight. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:05.759 And a lot of weight. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:09.839 And they have a lot of final say with regards to how things are. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:23.039 And much like like you said, uh Rachel, it was, you know, being become an engineer, become a doctor, become a lawyer, one of those professions, and and you know that that was where the uh the lines went. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:29.359 But you came here, you went to engineering school, you you got two degrees, so you figured it out. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:39.039 And what you built since then and and what you've helped built underneath this region, I mean that deserves its own conversation, right? 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:49.200 You know, Sunrail, I-4 Ultimate, the Wakaiva Parkway, Orlando International Airport, South Terminal, these are the arteries of Central Florida. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:55.599 And underneath all of it, literally, is geotechnical work that most people never think about. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:02.960 So when most people hear about geotechnical engineering, I'm sure you know their eyes may glaze over. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:03.359 Yes. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.200 But give us the real version. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:06.480 You know, what is it? 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:07.839 Why does it matter? 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:10.319 And what happens when it goes wrong? 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:15.359 Oh well most people have no idea what you're saying when you say geotechnical engineering. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:21.440 The people who have an idea they think sinkholes which you know in central Florida. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.559 And that's really part of it. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.440 But I'm gonna be honest I've never worked on a sinkhole in my life. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.200 We have engineers here who have done it. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:30.640 That's not that's not what I have specialized in personally. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:37.039 But geotechnical engineering geo geo, soils, dirt that's really what we do. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.279 It's all about infrastructure. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:58.319 If you're building a bridge, if you're building a road if you're building a a structure you know the building we are in right now we we all you know all the different buildings anything that has to interact with soils any and any structure anything you're building or even ponds walls that you want to have a geotechnical engineering study. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:10.640 Meaning you go in with some equipment you kind of test the soils you can retrieve samples and you test the soils to see okay can the soil withstand whatever I'm trying to build that's really the gist of it. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:17.039 Nice so on a project like I4 Ultimate or Sunrail what is GEC's actual role? 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:39.279 Okay so we come on we come in early well the the first part is they come up with a concept like a in the planning phases you come up with the concept okay we want to build this road so you look at what's out there the geology out there okay if you're gonna build a road here you have a river here you have you have another road here do you want an interchange with this thing? 00:24:39.279 --> 00:25:27.759 There's a a slough here so you're gonna have to have a bridge or a culvert those all those kinds of things and of course the kind of things we look at are the types of soils things like that to see okay if is it feasible and if it is feasible what are the recommendations that we're gonna we're gonna have to give to the engineers to build this to design it and to build it so we would come in you you give us the layout what you want to build and then depending on what's gonna be in this location that location this location that location we would do different types of studies so if it's a bridge we have a certain type of boring like a like a you drill through certain depth to see okay can I build a bridge here and so what kind of foundation if it's gonna be a pond you do a different type of boring and a different kind of study. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:38.799 So that's that's our role we can we give the recommendation so we work with all the

engineers the structural the roadway engineers the water engineers all of them the architects to put all this together. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:26:12.079 As you were describing that there I I was I was you know playing back the Wokaiva Parkway in my head having known what it was before to what it is today and the vast majority of it is elevated particularly for the wildlife because it's in the it's in the Wokaiva Park but going through even you know thinking on that from Mopopka going all the way back over to to Lake Mary Sanford area I mean yeah you're you're traversing all sorts of different challenges there sensitive areas water bodies and uh different soil types and different things like that. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.759 Pretty amazing so so what what does your team do? 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:17.039 What does GEC do? 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:22.240 What makes you different compared to what everybody else is doing out there. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:30.799 Well as geotechnical engineers so we have our own lab where we test the soils that we collect we also have our own drill rigs. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:40.000 We have like nine of them right now for different types of terrain some of them are you know that's the rig that you use to kind of go deep into the soil to collect right the you know the information that you need. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:28:14.640 So we have all those in-house and and of course as the engineer you you give us the layout where you're gonna have bridge you're gonna have wall you're gonna have a pond you're gonna have a road it's gonna be embankment whatever it is then we decide what kind of what kind of uh boring are we gonna take over there how deep is it gonna go sometimes it may go deeper or shallower depending on what we find you know in the moment and then when you collect all that information it comes back to us we look at it we look at the the the soils that we've collected we collect the water samples too you know and all of that and we do different types of tests depending on what you're looking for depending on the structure the improvement that you're trying to to to make we would do the testing and then we come up with recommendations for the structural engineer to build the foundation of the bridge for the drainage engineer to decide okay how big is the pond going to be how deep does the pond have to be all that stuff so we're really working with everybody else we're supporting no pun intended everybody else and they're no seriously I mean that's what it is that's what it is yeah absolutely hey hey so 25 years of continuous operation right and a client list that 35 not yes I'm sorry 35 not 25 but but but but a client list of Florida Department of Transportation Central Florida Expressway Orlando International Airport um those are not transactional relationships and so you earn trust like that over decades and you keep it even when you know climates shift how do you build it and how do you protect it? 00:28:14.960 --> 00:30:58.319 Yeah well I'm gonna be honest I I didn't build it I came on board when the company was about 11 12 years old when Gary hired me and of course I learned under him and all of that and by the time I became when I became president of the company the company was already around 29 ish years so I was president uh when we celebrated our 30th which we couldn't have do anything because it was COVID I caught COVID two weeks before we announced that I was taking over oh my God I'm not kidding I'm not kidding so I caught COVID and I called Gary I'm saying okay guess what he's like oh okay well just after we close come and get your computer because you know I had to quarantine got my computer worked from home for the week then I came back on one Monday and then that Friday is when we announced so yeah so anyway Gary built it Gary built it and the thing is about he hired the right people and then I'm building on that I'm growing the on top of that so he put the foundation in place so so was it F dot or the expressway that did Sunrail or was that a city sunrail was a it was a conglomerate I mean sunrail was a dot had a part in it the city had a part in everybody I mean it was a a partnership really now now you had to build some kind of partnership was it was any of that new that you this is this is how it works for us because we we are very niche part of engineering of civil engineering so we do have some contracts where we we we work directly under the client the cities the counties you know those kinds of things but most of the time we are part of a team so there are a lot of very big civil engineering firms here in Central Florida that do infrastructure those are the prime civil the the ones on the big um the big umbrella and then under them you have structural you have geotechnical engineers you have drainage engineers you have hydrologists you know all those other disciplines we're one of those disciplines so we the big thing for us is to develop relationships with those primes and through that we get to work with the big agencies CFX Turnpike Expressway airport those guys so they get to know us they get to know our work so that even if we work with somebody under somebody else they're familiar with our work and our work ethic and all of that listen I know you don't want to give the secret sauce away about how you build your relationships you can say it in French or Creole if you want to I can tell you I will tell I I'm not hiding anything the way the way to build it is I I hear people you know talk about business you can tell the motivation we were talking about this it's I'm not motivated I mean it's a business yes you have 57 people you have to feed in their families but I'm not motivated by money I'm motivated by doing good work. 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:11.359 Work yeah and that's really it yes you anticipate what your client needs you know how the process works we we we as you can imagine we come in early we have to do our part so we can

give everybody else what they need to do their part. 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:14.319 So you have to come in early and give them what they need. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:19.200 So it's very deadline driven you cannot make them late you cannot be the one to make them late. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:24.799 So it's about okay you anticipate what your client needs you know the process and you do what you got to do. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:30.880 There's been times it's it's about being of value and it's not just about the technical the engineering part. 00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:34.400 The big thing for me you can help them outside of that. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:44.000 For example through my relationship with the DOT I've helped a lot of my clients either because I I knew something or I knew somebody that I could talk to about a problem that they had. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:48.640 So you bring value to the team that's how you build those relationships. 00:31:48.880 --> 00:32:06.799 And you know I would I would say this I would say this Sean that's a very very island way Caribbean you know and and and I say this not to to put anywhere else down but it's uh and the islands is is who you know and the relationships that you build is what gets you and moves you forward. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:27.119 That's it and and and to the point where you know in French there's a saying you know contract to confidence meaning that you know you know for sure that if you enter into that relationship with Rachel and her company you can you can bet your confidence and rest assured that it's going to be executed to to to the to the fullest that's exactly what it that's it that's a secret sauce. 00:32:27.279 --> 00:33:00.000 Yeah reliable reliable I think that that's a skill that was resonate around the world when we were because we're all about the same age right and it was hey your word is your bond it's don't make it about money and and and we some kind of way have lost that right we've we've we gotta we gotta hit the quick home run and Rachel when I read your background I was like very excited I'm like yeah this is someone who is not about money but about purpose and the money will come. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:54.559 The money follows that's right that's right that's right that's right yeah and and Sean let me say this you know and uh you you're uh on on behalf of Rachel and I here we we consider you uh an honorary honorary so you know don't worry about that man you we got you brother we got you wanna so so Rachel let me go off a little bit here on what Sean said just now Gary built a company you you've been with a company for 20 something years he entrusted you with it but here's the hardest part that people don't really see I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit for which is how do you continue the success of that company under a new leader maintain and build a culture maintain and build new relationships to drive the organization forward which you have been able to

do so I don't think my dairy you're giving yourself enough credit. 00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:02.799 Thank you thank you well I think well remember I was with the company for eight years and then I left for 12. 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:10.239 I was still in Central Florida and here's the kicker it was an agonizing decision for me because I love the company I love what they stand for. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:16.079 I love I love Gary and I see eye to eye so our vision is the same about you know service and all of that. 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:24.079 So it was a hard decision but I eventually decided to leave because I wanted to do more I wanted to spread my wings and do more things I wanted to do marketing and all of that. 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:32.960 So I was gone for 12 years and what that allowed me to do is develop relationships outside of the ones that I already had here. 00:34:32.960 --> 00:35:39.519 So and by the way if you guys remember one of the last things I did before I came back to GEC is after my second battle of unemployment I I only had well I had two job offers but the one that really made sense was the one where where I had to open an office here for a company out of Pittsburgh and so I had to build a whole office on my own buy the rigs build a lab something I had never done before I had no secretary I had nothing it was me I had to do all that and I did it and that really developed made me develop a set of skills on my own and of course what that also did is I had to do the marketing I did the I I managed all the projects I did everything myself yes I had to hire the technicians train them everything so one thing I didn't have to worry about is getting paid because remember I was working under an established company out of Pittsburgh but I still had to build Florida right so what that did for me is that not only did I develop skills nobody else had on my own but I also had to continue developing that network. 00:35:39.519 --> 00:36:15.360 So I made new relationships developed new relationships new clients so when I came back to GEC I brought all that with me with you yeah absolutely practical skills so I was able to you know spread it you know develop relationships and there were some clients GEC had lost along the way for you know whatever reason they came back with me yeah yes so and I and I continue to do a lot of the marketing and developing and that's the thing I I tell you know our staff here all the time doesn't matter how good a marketing a job I do of marketing if you don't give the client good service they're not coming back that's yeah that is true that's that's your priority. 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:26.000 And you said something before you know that you you decided to give up your PhD but I would venture to say that you probably walk back in the door with a PhD under your arm. 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:26.480 Right? 00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:43.280 Given the real world experience you gained from putting that company together and everything else which was a much broader field than just engineering because you had to touch on every area of an operation so it helped prepare you for where you are today. 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:57.760 Absolutely absolutely you are correct and that this seems to be the theme of my life people ask me oh how did you plan this did you visit I never planned to build to open a business I never plan to have a business people along the way always told me hey you should start something for yourself. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:36:58.719 We will support you. 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:14.880 Gary told me this his old partners told me this but I I was a young mom I was not interested in doing all this heavy lifting but what I found is once I left GEC every step after that even the unemployment that played a role in me getting to where I am today. 00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:29.039 And again I never planned it I wasn't following money and even when I was worried about money what I what I found out is every opportunity that came came with more money more opportunities and it really what was happening is everybody was watching. 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:38.000 Yeah I didn't know that I'm just doing my job right but people were watching and that's what happened for me because they saw wait a minute she was able to do this on her own. 00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:57.519 So yeah building credibility building trust and and no there's the network also as well right the network and and I was just going to say there's there's no better testimonial I would say than the credibility of others who look at what you've done and be able to to give you a thumbs up on that right and and and and stare you onto others. 00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:24.880 So as we you know and and thank you for first of all congrats amazing amazing be able to put that all together as we turn more towards today you know one thing that is reshaping conversations inside every technical field right now and I hear it constantly in our work at Aurora InfoTech is is artificial intelligence right and given what you told us during our prep, you know, you're watching in your industry, Rachel, I want to spend a few minutes here. 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:30.480 You said something in your prep that I want to quote back to you because it was specific and honest. 00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:47.760 You said you're not worried that AI replaces the geotechnical engineers you're worried that people in your industry will be too quick to rely on it and get careless and that the engineer shortage that you're already dealing with is going to make that temptation even harder to resist. 00:38:47.920 --> 00:39:15.360 Yeah that is a very precise concern walk us through that well what so we're looking at dirt right people are looking at dirt okay it's dirt it's always dirt but that's not true you have in especially in Florida with the geology the way it is you have sand you have clay there are places where you have you have limestone there's a lot of

limestone in deep sometimes it's shallow which leads to the formation of sinkholes and things like that. 00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:20.000 So another thing that we worry about as geotechnical engineers is water tables. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:21.519 Where's the water level? 00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:36.400 Usually here it's pretty shallow but different regions different areas have different water level elevations which informs the recommendations that we give the civil engineers when they're building or you know designing whatever it is. 00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:36.880 Right. 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:50.079 What I find is it it there it's very tempting to take an old report because by the way for you you you guys know engineers usually produce plans right a set of plans. 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:55.679 In our case as we we're the only group of engineers that don't really produce plans. 00:39:55.679 --> 00:40:40.960 We do produce certain sheets big plan sheets that go in the plans but we also write a report the reports are probably more actual you got it got it but very often they very often people don't really look at the report oh and so yeah yeah don't we need to know if the ground's gonna move if we call that's the thing we there's a lot more details that we go into with the report what I find is some people get very complacent oh dirty's dirt this is sand whatever everything but it's not it's it's it's really not that simple very often it's a simple project no problem but some people might miss the one little thing that could change the whole situation certain recommendations and things like that. 00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:44.800 So I I'm worried that AI makes things too easy. 00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:57.760 You find something that's already canned you go through it haphazardly you're busy and you don't really take the time to look at this project on its own at its own project to see what the conditions are so you can tailor it to it. 00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:09.519 So that's why I'm saying I don't I'm not worried about because if you if you want good work good geotechnical work you're not I'm not I'm not using this I'm using I want an engineer with experience to look at this for me. 00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:15.199 Got it amazing yeah that's that's what I'm that's what I mean by AI cannot cannot do this. 00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:28.400 It's it's kind of an art especially I mean think about it we can't drill every two feet every three feet so we have to decide okay this is what I'm looking at I can I can drill maybe four borings or five depending on what you're looking at. 00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:39.119 So you have to look at the thing as a whole and make recommendations and of course you have to look at your soils map and so all those things you put you piece together to come up with recommendations. 00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:40.800 I don't see AI doing that. 00:41:41.039 --> 00:41:49.679 No and you're you're absolutely right on that and and I I will add something here before I transition to to Sean I saw something today that that actually speaks to that. 00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:56.480 In the recent World Cup if you looked at it almost every team that was out there had these neon pink shoes. 00:41:56.480 --> 00:42:01.119 Yes right and they were all from they were all from different manufacturers. 00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:42.559 And so what what ended up happening and I saw a case study on this today the all these manufacturers wanted to come out with the next big thing and they were doing some studies in terms of what would be the the colors and blah blah blah for the next you know couple years etc but apparently they all use the same company for their research and the company which is right now may actually may actually have been using AI right and and they were keeping this like clandestine from each other right and and all of a sudden the teams come out on on oh yeah oops everybody and so you could not really tell the different brands because they're all pink and they're all the same color so yeah got it and and that and and that's what I'm worried about. 00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:44.239 That's that's what I'm I'm I'm talking about. 00:42:44.559 --> 00:43:00.320 Let's stay on that dig deeper into the version of AI that you engineers would actually want to see the one that makes the work better faster or safer in a way that serves the people for your projects I think there are things we can do. 00:43:00.480 --> 00:43:08.320 For example for us we produce a report but we also have to produce sheets that have a summary of the boring data that we collect. 00:43:08.320 --> 00:43:14.320 Okay I think maybe AI has a play a a part to play on this but you can't just rely on it. 00:43:14.320 --> 00:43:15.679 You really have to go through it. 00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:21.440 It saves you time on one end but you still have to verify your work because your CL is going on this thing. 00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:28.559 I'm just happy to know that I wasn't the only one that thought that the engineering reports were boring. 00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:54.719 I'm hearing it from an engineer herself that it was boring you know I was a little I was feeling a little self-conscious sometimes when I because I have a buddy that's an engineer and I'm like hey man let me read that let me look at those reports you know and I'm like boy this is some boring stuff man it can be very dry I I will tell you that it can be very dry but trust me you need those guys you need us yeah and I guess my my my personality is a little bit different. 00:43:54.800 --> 00:43:57.760 I hear that all the time I'm very gregarious are you sure you're an engineer? 00:43:57.760 --> 00:44:01.280 Yeah Flavor, right? 00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:10.079 Yeah, but yeah, we we tend to be boring, but that's because we're methodical and you know we focus on what we're doing and we we focus on what's important. 00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:17.920 Yeah, so that kind of clarity, what the work is for and

who it serves shows up in everything that you lead and do today. 00:44:17.920 --> 00:44:19.840 And and I want to speak a little bit about that. 00:44:19.840 --> 00:44:27.760 GEC today, 57 employees, 17 licensed professionals, 30 field trucks, and nine drill rigs. 00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:35.039 What you've built, inherited, and earned, and continue to build is something most leaders never get close to. 00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:35.679 Yeah. 00:44:35.679 --> 00:44:42.000 So you did an internship in grad school, eight years at the company, made that hard decision to leave. 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:46.079 Then Gary calls and says, Come back, like, welcome home. 00:44:46.079 --> 00:44:48.639 Walk us through that arc. 00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:55.519 What was it like to walk back and knowing it more, having seen more? 00:44:55.519 --> 00:45:00.960 And uh, when did it truly sink in that this company would be yours one day? 00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:04.400 Well, to be honest, like I said, I stayed in touch with Gary. 00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:06.960 And apparently Gary was watching and paying attention. 00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:08.639 So, I mean, again, I was still in Orlando. 00:45:08.639 --> 00:45:11.039 I never left Orlando, so I was here. 00:45:11.039 --> 00:45:13.039 So they saw, they they saw my progression. 00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:16.159 I went to this company and then got lost the job with the recession. 00:45:16.159 --> 00:45:17.039 I went to that company. 00:45:17.039 --> 00:45:19.440 So we stayed in touch, so he knew what I was doing. 00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:28.400 And when I accepted that position to open the office for the Pittsburgh company here in Orlando, that's really when things started to make sense. 00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:43.440 When I built the office, because let me tell you, throughout my I've been here throughout my career, so 27 some years here in Central Florida, I've seen a lot of geotechnical companies from out of state come to Orlando and then close their doors within a year or two. 00:45:43.679 --> 00:45:44.639 Oh, yeah. 00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:52.320 That company that I opened the office for, they only they read that that was 12 some years ago. 00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:54.000 No, 15 some years ago. 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:56.159 They, I mean, I was there for six years. 00:45:56.159 --> 00:46:01.039 And then when I left, the company was still around, still functioning, still again. 00:46:01.039 --> 00:46:05.199 This is not something that's easy to build something like this in Central Florida. 00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:05.679 Right. 00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:07.679 Because of all the competition and everything. 00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:10.480 What those guys understood was that what we do is local. 00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:17.199 All these other companies, they would hire us, they would have somebody who's already at their office in Pittsburgh, for example, and then send this guy here. 00:46:17.199 --> 00:46:18.159 It's not gonna work. 00:46:18.159 --> 00:46:20.960 They don't know you, they don't know your work ethic, they don't know your experience. 00:46:20.960 --> 00:46:24.400 Things are very different, especially and they don't have the relationships. 00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:26.079 They don't have the relationship, exactly. 00:46:26.079 --> 00:46:27.280 So that's what those guys did. 00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:28.320 That's the difference. 00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:41.360 So when when Gary called, again, I stayed in touch with him, but when he called me, it's interesting when we first started talking about that, there was another company very well known here that has since sold. 00:46:41.360 --> 00:46:47.199 They wanted me to buy them out so that I could go go work there and buy the lady out because she wanted to retire. 00:46:47.199 --> 00:46:55.280 But I wasn't the company looked on the surface very successful, but I had concerns about what things look like in the background. 00:46:55.280 --> 00:46:58.320 So I know Gary, I called Gary, I said, Hey, this is what's happening. 00:46:58.320 --> 00:46:59.920 And he said, Are you sure you want to do this? 00:46:59.920 --> 00:47:00.719 How about you come back? 00:47:00.719 --> 00:47:05.519 Because I was thinking about I'm retiring, and I you're the one that wanted to, you know, buy me out. 00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:07.840 And I'm like, Well, I've already been talking to her. 00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:09.440 Let's let's see if we can work this out. 00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:11.760 So what nobody knows, I guess they're gonna find out now. 00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:21.840 But when I was when I was negotiating with that other lady, Gary was in the background looking at the report at the contracts with me and that kind of thing. 00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:24.239 And he said, Rachel, this is not good, this isn't good. 00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:25.280 And you know, I trust him. 00:47:25.280 --> 00:47:26.880 So I said, you know what I'm gonna do? 00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:32.320 I'm not gonna buy you out, I'm gonna come in, work in the company, and that was before Gary, right? 00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:33.119 The other company. 00:47:33.119 --> 00:47:38.079 Yeah, I worked with them for about a year just to see how the operations were. 00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:40.239 And I was right, my instincts were right. 00:47:40.239 --> 00:47:45.519 They there was a lot of, they were not functioning in an optimal way over there. 00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:52.800 And I tried to fix things before making the decision to buy them out, but the then owner would not really support me in that decision. 00:47:52.800 --> 00:47:54.400 So that's why I said, okay, I'm leaving. 00:47:54.400 --> 00:47:58.159 So I left a week shy of a year at that company. 00:47:58.480 --> 00:47:58.960 Got it. 00:47:59.119 --> 00:48:03.519 And that's when Gary, so so then when I was talking to Gary, he said, okay, that's the plan. 00:48:03.519 --> 00:48:05.119 So if you're not going there, great. 00:48:05.119 --> 00:48:08.480 Just come

to GEC, you're gonna work directly under me for a year and a half. 00:48:08.480 --> 00:48:11.679 The only people who knew about this were his partners at the time. 00:48:11.679 --> 00:48:17.039 So I worked under him to kind of train as the president for a year and a half, and then I took over. 00:48:17.039 --> 00:48:19.679 So I already knew that was the plan. 00:48:19.679 --> 00:48:28.159 Yeah, I just had to come in, you know, train a little bit because there's a lot more to ownership than just the engineering and the stuff I had learned before. 00:48:28.400 --> 00:48:34.079 I I love the fact that you leaned into a relationship like that. 00:48:34.079 --> 00:48:39.679 And I'm using the analogy of a bird throwing out the baby to teach them how to fly, right? 00:48:39.679 --> 00:48:47.519 And you've come back to the home and and look, yeah, that that I I studied back when I was a stockbroker for 10 years. 00:48:47.519 --> 00:48:53.599 You know, we heard about these second generation companies falling apart, or the the owners sell to the next generation. 00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:55.440 Again, they're blowing them up left and right. 00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:58.480 So again, kudos to you on what you've done so far. 00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:00.480 And I can't wait to see what the future has. 00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:04.880 Yeah, you know, and you know what's remarkable about all of this? 00:49:04.880 --> 00:49:08.559 I mean, Rachel has stepped in, she took over what Gary builds. 00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:13.119 He uh, like you said, you know, set her free and she came back to the nest. 00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:21.199 But Gary's still there, and and and he's still there as GEC's chief engineer, still, you know, a sounding board for for you, Rachel. 00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:21.679 Absolutely. 00:49:21.679 --> 00:49:33.519 And so what did you watch Gary do the way he stayed calm when you brought him something that felt like the end of the world that you now find yourself doing for your own personality? 00:49:33.519 --> 00:49:34.320 Same thing, yeah. 00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:35.920 And that I I tell him that all the time. 00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:37.280 He's not even aware of it. 00:49:37.280 --> 00:49:40.880 He he doesn't call himself a mentor, but when I think about a mentor, that's what he is. 00:49:40.880 --> 00:49:42.960 He doesn't call he said, I'm just your friend. 00:49:42.960 --> 00:49:44.480 I'm just your friend. 00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:50.320 You know, and well, one thing I remember I was a young engineer, I wasn't even a licensed engineer yet. 00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:57.920 And there was another engineer, he was a friend of mine, he's since died, but he was an engineer here at the company, senior to me. 00:49:57.920 --> 00:50:03.519 And I guess as engineers do, you know, we struggle with social interaction sometimes. 00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:12.320 So I went out, Gary walked into my office one day, and I he was red and I saw fumes coming out of his ears. 00:50:12.320

--> 00:50:13.440 Right, right. 00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:14.960 You know, I'm kidding, of course. 00:50:14.960 --> 00:50:17.280 But he was Gary, he was not happy. 00:50:17.280 --> 00:50:19.039 I'm like, okay, what's what's going on? 00:50:19.039 --> 00:50:28.800 He said, Well, so and so, that engineer I was telling you about, the senior engineer, said something to a client that really, really angered him, angered the client. 00:50:28.800 --> 00:50:33.280 He said, The client called me irate, and I told him, Let me call you back. 00:50:33.280 --> 00:50:37.440 So he came to my office, he said, It's your problem now, you fix it. 00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:39.519 That was it. 00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:52.639 So I said, Okay, and I knew the client, so I I called the client, I said, Okay, so this engineer is no longer working on the project, and he was screaming on the phone, and I listened and I said, Let me, I'm trying to hear you, you gotta tell me what's going on. 00:50:52.639 --> 00:50:57.039 I know you're unhappy, but don't scream, just tell me what happened so I can fix it. 00:50:57.039 --> 00:51:03.440 To this day, when when this guy puts us on teams, he doesn't want to work with anybody else. 00:51:03.440 --> 00:51:05.039 That's what it is. 00:51:05.039 --> 00:51:06.079 Fix their problem. 00:51:06.079 --> 00:51:08.880 They don't care about anything else, fix the problem. 00:51:08.880 --> 00:51:14.000 And I think that that's that's that's one of the things you know he taught me. 00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:15.920 Focus on what's what's the goal. 00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:20.559 The person is unhappy, hear them out, let them talk, and then fix the problem. 00:51:20.559 --> 00:51:25.599 And I would I would go to him with with situations, and I'm like, oh my god, he's gonna be so mad at me. 00:51:25.599 --> 00:51:28.480 He's like, no, okay, this is what you can do, you know, that kind of thing. 00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:43.119 So that's one of the things that's helping me to stay calm, even though in my head I'm like, okay, no, but he's always I've always seen him calm, even though he's mad, he's unhappy, you know, again, smoke's coming out of his ears, it doesn't matter. 00:51:43.119 --> 00:51:44.559 Stay calm, fix it. 00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:45.840 That's what I do. 00:51:46.800 --> 00:51:54.880 You're you're leading a woman-owned, minority-owned, SBE in a field where both are like crazy rare, right? 00:51:54.880 --> 00:51:59.440 That visibility carries weight, whether you sought it or not. 00:51:59.440 --> 00:52:04.159 How do you hold that responsibility without letting it become a burden? 00:52:04.159 --> 00:52:06.559 Because that's a huge responsibility. 00:52:06.880 --> 00:52:09.360 Well, I try not to look at all that stuff. 00:52:09.360 --> 00:52:10.559 This is what people say. 00:52:10.559 --> 00:52:11.679 Well, women, minority. 00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:14.000 Hey, I'm just I'm building something. 00:52:14.320 --> 00:52:21.599 I'm I'm I'm I'm just I'm I'm just as

smart, if not smarter, than a lot of those people who now who are not women or not minorities. 00:52:21.840 --> 00:52:22.239 What's the problem? 00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:23.760 What's the problem? 00:52:23.760 --> 00:52:27.280 So I don't really, I don't really I don't care. 00:52:27.280 --> 00:52:30.960 It's it's it's uh it's about focusing on the goal, focusing on the work. 00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:34.000 And I don't think people hire me because I'm I'm a small business. 00:52:34.000 --> 00:52:37.360 Uh they don't hire me because I'm minority, because I'm a woman, because I'm back. 00:52:37.360 --> 00:52:40.079 They hire me because I know what I'm doing and I'm gonna do a good job. 00:52:40.079 --> 00:52:41.440 So that's what I focus on. 00:52:41.760 --> 00:52:48.800 Yeah, it ain't about it ain't about the the the race or the the the it's about getting the job done. 00:52:48.800 --> 00:52:50.159 Simple as that. 00:52:50.159 --> 00:52:50.719 That's right. 00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:52.239 Do you know what you're doing? 00:52:52.639 --> 00:52:53.119 That's right. 00:52:53.440 --> 00:52:54.159 Can you get it done? 00:52:54.159 --> 00:52:55.599 That's all it is. 00:52:55.599 --> 00:52:57.119 That's all it is. 00:52:57.679 --> 00:53:02.639 Yeah, so uh let's uh let's pick up the pace a little bit and and go to your uh your rapid fire. 00:53:04.159 --> 00:53:06.559 One of my favorite sessions. 00:53:06.559 --> 00:53:11.840 So I want to ask the few things, just one word that that comes to mind. 00:53:11.840 --> 00:53:20.079 There's a book for the unemployed stretch, heavily marked, highlighted, dog eared. 00:53:20.079 --> 00:53:20.639 Yes. 00:53:20.639 --> 00:53:24.239 What is it and where did it I brought it? 00:53:24.239 --> 00:53:25.599 Okay, what's it called? 00:53:27.199 --> 00:53:29.280 It's called Simple Abundance. 00:53:29.280 --> 00:53:34.320 A day book of comfort and joy. 00:53:34.320 --> 00:53:39.760 So there's a little there's 366 passages, a page, a page and a half. 00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:41.280 They're not long, they're not very long. 00:53:41.280 --> 00:53:44.880 So it's very short passages, one one per day. 00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:47.280 So that's why it's called a day book of comfort and joy. 00:53:47.280 --> 00:53:51.519 You know, when you're down in the dump, say, you know, something to pick you up. 00:53:51.519 --> 00:53:53.679 And I I relied on that book for years. 00:53:53.679 --> 00:53:58.159 I haven't cracked it open in a while because I've been so so busy, but it's it's in my library. 00:53:58.159 --> 00:54:01.199 I picked it up, I picked it up the other day because I'm like, oh shit. 00:54:03.519 --> 00:54:04.800 It's probably embedded. 00:54:04.800 --> 00:54:05.280 Yeah, yeah. 00:54:05.280 --> 00:54:05.920 Yes, it is. 00:54:05.920 --> 00:54:06.480 Very cool. 00:54:06.480 --> 00:54:07.039 Absolutely. 00:54:07.039 --> 00:54:07.840 There you go. 00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:14.719 Most overrated word or buzzword in the engineering infrastructure industry right now. 00:54:14.960 --> 00:54:15.920 Sustainability. 00:54:16.159 --> 00:54:21.679 What one habit that keeps things steady, the thing that makes tomorrow more manageable for you? 00:54:21.920 --> 00:54:24.400 Delegate, delegate if you can. 00:54:24.400 --> 00:54:29.039 I've I've I've I this is something I've always struggled with, but I'm a lot better with it now. 00:54:29.039 --> 00:54:34.639 Uh, we're kind of short staff, so I'm we're looking for somebody in the to help us on the account in the accounting department. 00:54:34.639 --> 00:54:40.800 So I've had to take on a lot more of that, which of course that means I'm buried, but when you can, delegate. 00:54:41.840 --> 00:54:42.480 Amen to that. 00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:43.280 Amen to that. 00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:45.519 So bragging rights round here, Rachel. 00:54:45.519 --> 00:54:51.599 And I'm just gonna name these off and and then you know, tell me which one gets the bigger reaction at the dinner table, right? 00:54:51.599 --> 00:54:54.480 So three languages or four, right? 00:54:54.480 --> 00:54:55.199 Four. 00:54:55.199 --> 00:55:04.320 Eight countries in a single year, yeah, or president of a 35-year firm behind Sunrail I-4, Ultimate, and OIA. 00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:07.760 Which which one gets the biggest reaction at a dinner table? 00:55:08.719 --> 00:55:14.639 Probably the languages, and then I say second would be the eight countries in a year. 00:55:15.039 --> 00:55:16.239 Eight countries in a year, yeah. 00:55:16.400 --> 00:55:21.440 Yeah, the languages is a big thing because, as you know, people here typically they try to stay within the English. 00:55:21.440 --> 00:55:26.400 So the fact that you're fluent in other languages, it's kind of they think it's impressive, but let me tell you, it's not. 00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:28.079 If you start early, it's not. 00:55:29.840 --> 00:55:32.400 It is very impressive to speak multiple. 00:55:32.400 --> 00:55:35.199 That's why my kids, I'm like, look, y'all are gonna learn a language. 00:55:35.199 --> 00:55:41.199 You're gonna your brain is your brains are gonna be wired early so that you'll be able to pick up a yes. 00:55:41.199 --> 00:55:44.320 I have a number of your kids for a 17-year-old. 00:55:44.320 --> 00:55:50.159 But they started no, no, no, but they started in the kindergarten. 00:55:50.159 --> 00:55:56.000 So I had them in a foreign language academy at down at Hillcrest down in in downtown Orlando. 00:55:56.000 --> 00:55:57.199 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:55:57.280 --> 00:55:58.800 So Chris, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:55:58.800 --> 00:56:04.960 Sybil, my yeah, my my daughter Sybil went to a multilinguage emergency in uh Aceola County. 00:56:04.960 --> 00:56:06.719 So that's when she really yeah. 00:56:06.719 --> 00:56:11.599 I'm gonna give you a little bit of you know, a little tip, something I use when my daughter was growing up. 00:56:11.599 --> 00:56:19.360 In the morning, when they're getting ready, I

would turn on live French or live Spanish radio. 00:56:19.599 --> 00:56:21.039 Yes, yes, I have them. 00:56:21.039 --> 00:56:21.599 I have them. 00:56:21.599 --> 00:56:25.679 I'm like, hey, when you're playing your video games, put it in Spanish. 00:56:25.679 --> 00:56:27.519 Yes, you know what they're doing. 00:56:27.519 --> 00:56:30.480 So now you're getting the language behind it. 00:56:30.480 --> 00:56:33.360 Because you're dad, because your mom and dad can't teach you the language. 00:56:33.360 --> 00:56:36.000 Ain't nobody in this we're not speaking it. 00:56:36.320 --> 00:56:44.880 And and and and you know, before we had to, you know, really spend years and years immersing ourselves in a language, and now there are all these apps that can really do that. 00:56:45.119 --> 00:56:46.159 My car is set up in French. 00:56:46.159 --> 00:56:46.719 Oh, very cool. 00:56:46.719 --> 00:56:48.159 My car is set up in French. 00:56:48.480 --> 00:56:48.800 French. 00:56:48.800 --> 00:56:49.039 Yeah. 00:56:49.519 --> 00:56:54.079 Yes, and I I'm thinking about switching it to Spanish, you know, just to shake things up a bit. 00:56:54.400 --> 00:56:58.000 But my my my my wife has uh has her GPS in Dutch. 00:56:58.000 --> 00:56:59.199 Oh, there you go. 00:56:59.599 --> 00:57:00.960 Yeah, so you stay practicing. 00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:05.679 Before we get philosophical, let's get practical. 00:57:05.679 --> 00:57:10.639 You have 27 years in the field and three pieces of advice you'd pass forward. 00:57:10.639 --> 00:57:11.679 Walk us through them. 00:57:11.679 --> 00:57:13.679 And Sean, I'm gonna kick this off to you. 00:57:14.239 --> 00:57:22.079 Go into a field you love, because that is what carries you when things get hard. 00:57:22.079 --> 00:57:30.719 Give us a specific moment, one where loving what you do was genuinely the only thing that got you through it. 00:57:31.039 --> 00:57:31.360 Okay. 00:57:31.360 --> 00:57:39.840 My second bout, my second bout of unemployment for 10 months, like I told you. 00:57:39.840 --> 00:57:43.519 So, you know, sending resumes, nothing's happening. 00:57:43.519 --> 00:57:51.679 And then at some point, a friend of mine said, you know, I she's a she's a planner and an architect, and she said, you know, I recently got a mediator's license. 00:57:51.760 --> 00:57:53.119 And I said, Oh, okay. 00:57:53.360 --> 00:58:01.840 So I went, took a course, a mediator's course, and I got, and I became, I had my mediator's license in a few months. 00:58:01.840 --> 00:58:04.960 And then of course, I I I always wanted to go back to engineering. 00:58:04.960 --> 00:58:13.199 But in the meantime, while I was after I got the mediator's license, you have to have a certain number of hours training under a licensed, experienced mediator. 00:58:13.199 --> 00:58:22.800 While I was in the course, the people I was I was uh working with, they were always talking about this that super the super mediator in Orlando. 00:58:22.800 --> 00:58:24.480 I can't remember his name now. 00:58:24.480 --> 00:58:26.880 Everybody's talking about the guy like he's a legend or something. 00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:27.599 I said okay. 00:58:27.599 --> 00:58:31.519 So then I was like, I have to get some hours so I can get my license. 00:58:31.519 --> 00:58:36.719 I looked up the guy, picked up the phone, called him, he said, Oh, okay, why don't you come and work with me? 00:58:36.960 --> 00:58:38.960 He put his pants on just like that, too. 00:58:39.440 --> 00:58:40.480 I trained under him. 00:58:40.480 --> 00:58:44.559 He because I I I sent him, he wanted to see my resume to see whether I was legit. 00:58:44.559 --> 00:58:46.719 He saw it, he said, Oh, okay, so you're just not working. 00:58:46.719 --> 00:58:50.639 I said, I'm not working, still looking for engineering work, but you know, let me do this. 00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:53.760 And I I really enjoyed it, I worked with him for several months. 00:58:53.760 --> 00:58:57.360 I trained under him like three, four, five, six months, and I I loved it. 00:58:57.360 --> 00:59:05.519 And I loved it, and I even got job offers and everything, but I was like, no, I'm going back to engineering because you know it was the recession and I knew things were gonna pick up again. 00:59:05.519 --> 00:59:15.440 Okay, so that's one of the, I mean, because I could have gone into mediation, but I I I stuck to it, and then that's when I got the job with the company from Pittsburgh. 00:59:15.840 --> 00:59:16.239 Nice. 00:59:16.239 --> 00:59:24.000 And and in your second piece of advice here, and and I love this mindset, you know, service over profit. 00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:32.320 And and you said it yourself, you're not primarily motivated by money, but by how good a job you can do and how well you can serve. 00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:35.119 That is a posture, not a strategy. 00:59:35.119 --> 00:59:43.119 How do you sustain it when the business still needs and you know has bills to pay and 57 people depending on you? 00:59:43.679 --> 00:59:53.679 Well, I've I will say I have I have declined opportunities because they didn't align with my vision or my ethics or you know, all that. 00:59:53.679 --> 00:59:54.480 Psychology. 00:59:54.480 --> 00:59:56.719 Yeah, that that doesn't that doesn't scare me. 00:59:56.719 --> 01:00:03.199 It's uh it you know, I'm lucky I haven't been in a situation where it was so monumental that I had to make a hard decision. 01:00:03.199 --> 01:00:05.039 It it it's that a hard decision. 01:00:05.039 --> 01:00:08.079 If you, you know, you can you do it? 01:00:08.079 --> 01:00:08.800 Can you do it? 01:00:08.800 --> 01:00:10.719 Can you do a great job at it? 01:00:10.719 --> 01:00:12.000 Yeah. 01:00:13.280 --> 01:00:31.679 You know, the the the third one, I can't wait to hear you answer this because last weekend I made a post on Facebook about how I allowed myself not to protect my vacation time. 01:00:31.679 --> 01:00:39.039 And it caused me to have a situation

with a 40-year relationship of mine. 01:00:39.039 --> 01:00:49.039 And it was a family member that is like a little brother, and we're, you know, we got at odds because I didn't protect my time. 01:00:49.039 --> 01:00:56.400 So protecting your time outside of work, why is that a non-negotiable for you? 01:00:56.400 --> 01:01:05.440 I I I'm going through it now and I'm like, it will be a non-negotiable for me, not as career advice, but at the level of your values. 01:01:05.440 --> 01:01:06.800 Tell me about that. 01:01:07.280 --> 01:01:12.559 Well, the way I see it, you that you can't compartmentalize your life. 01:01:12.559 --> 01:01:13.440 I I can't. 01:01:13.440 --> 01:01:24.880 You know, I understand, you know, I'm a professional, I'm the president of a company, I have a daughter, I have family, I have, you know, all those things, but you can't really completely separate those things. 01:01:24.880 --> 01:01:32.960 So at the core, if I'm gonna do a good job professionally, right, I need to be good with myself. 01:01:32.960 --> 01:01:46.320 And in order to be good with myself, I have to protect my time, my my mental health, and all of that, which means the time because this is very stressful, it's very taxing, as much as I love it. 01:01:46.320 --> 01:01:48.320 It's stressful, it's taxing. 01:01:48.320 --> 01:01:51.199 You need the time, you need the recul, how do you say that? 01:01:51.199 --> 01:02:06.400 The step back, you need the the the step back, you need that time to decompress, and and and and so so you can be full, so you can be, so you can have energy to do this day in and day out. 01:02:06.400 --> 01:02:08.480 So you have to protect yourself, absolutely. 01:02:08.719 --> 01:02:12.880 And and and a lot of the stuff that we do is mental, right? 01:02:12.880 --> 01:02:20.880 And so there's this notion that you're not doing anything, but your brain is like a computer modem. 01:02:20.880 --> 01:02:27.039 It's going, it's going to it's it can get overworked and overattached, and that's what happened to me. 01:02:27.039 --> 01:02:32.639 Which I typically in the past I've normally protected myself, but somehow I got killed. 01:02:32.639 --> 01:02:32.880 Yeah. 01:02:32.960 --> 01:02:34.239 So anyway, I yeah, I know. 01:02:34.239 --> 01:02:40.480 I mean, uh, I I saw I saw the post that you put out there, and so right on uh on what you said there as well, Rachel. 01:02:40.480 --> 01:03:00.639 You know, I I would one one thing I wanted to ask, and I'm gonna throw one in here because I I told you three, but but I want to add a fort one, is you know, if you were talking to a young engineer just starting out today, maybe someone from Haiti or from Saint Matin or from, you know, Okeechobee, or even here in Orlando, right? 01:03:00.639 --> 01:03:12.800 That feels like a long way from where they want to be, you know, looking at this country the way you once did, what was the one thing you would tell them to develop before anything else? 01:03:13.199 --> 01:03:16.559 Well, the first thing is you have to develop your skills. 01:03:16.559 --> 01:03:19.199 If, okay, you you decide where you want to go. 01:03:19.199 --> 01:03:22.000 The first thing to do is develop the skills. 01:03:22.000 --> 01:03:23.599 Learn the job. 01:03:23.599 --> 01:03:29.599 Learn if and and you cannot allow yourself to get distracted because there's a lot of distraction out there. 01:03:29.599 --> 01:03:32.000 Decide, go for it. 01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:39.039 And then the next big thing as you're building is to develop the network, develop the relationships. 01:03:39.039 --> 01:03:46.880 Because I can tell you, every single time, either you know, I I lost my job or I wanted something else, it's the relationships that got me there. 01:03:46.880 --> 01:03:51.840 The last time I really interviewed, interviewed for a job was this one. 01:03:51.840 --> 01:03:55.119 Was that not this one, my very first interview with GitHub? 01:03:55.360 --> 01:03:56.000 Yeah, when you get here. 01:03:56.000 --> 01:03:56.800 Yeah, got it. 01:03:56.880 --> 01:04:00.159 Yeah, because after that, it was always opportunities. 01:04:00.159 --> 01:04:04.960 People are calling me in, you know, even after you know, when I got my opportunity with Aceola County. 01:04:04.960 --> 01:04:06.800 Hey, Rachel, is this you? 01:04:06.800 --> 01:04:07.519 Yeah, it's me. 01:04:07.519 --> 01:04:10.000 So that was the public works director at Aceola County. 01:04:10.000 --> 01:04:10.880 This is so and so. 01:04:10.880 --> 01:04:12.000 I'm like, oh, how are you doing? 01:04:12.000 --> 01:04:14.480 He's like, hey, I saw your resume floating out there. 01:04:14.480 --> 01:04:17.519 You have to come in because it's formality, but it's your job. 01:04:17.840 --> 01:04:18.480 Right, right. 01:04:18.480 --> 01:04:19.039 Yes. 01:04:19.280 --> 01:04:27.840 Then the next one, the next one where I got the opportunity from the firm in um in Pittsburgh, I was driving from an interview at the DOT in the panhandle. 01:04:27.840 --> 01:04:33.039 While I was driving back from the interview, I got a call from them and they said, Hey, the job is yours if you want it. 01:04:33.039 --> 01:04:36.559 I'm like, sorry, I can't take the job because my daughter is here in Orlando. 01:04:36.559 --> 01:04:39.039 I went on the interview because I'm like, okay, I'm looking for a job. 01:04:39.039 --> 01:04:41.599 This was the first interview I had after eight, nine months. 01:04:41.599 --> 01:04:43.199 So I said, I can't take the job. 01:04:43.199 --> 01:04:45.679 So I'm driving and then my phone rings. 01:04:45.679 --> 01:04:48.320 It's a friend, he's a structural engineer. 01:04:48.320 --> 01:04:49.039 I went to school with. 01:04:49.039 --> 01:04:50.480 He's like, Hey, Rachel, what are you up to? 01:04:50.480 --> 01:04:51.440 I haven't seen you in a while. 01:04:51.440 --> 01:04:52.559 Oh, you know, I'm looking for a job. 01:04:52.559 --> 01:04:53.599 He said, Are you serious? 01:04:53.599

--> 01:04:54.639 Let me call you back. 01:04:54.639 --> 01:04:56.159 He called me back. 01:04:56.159 --> 01:05:01.039 This the company he was working for, he had opened an office in Orlando for them. 01:05:01.039 --> 01:05:02.559 They're out of Pittsburgh. 01:05:02.559 --> 01:05:05.360 And he said, they were, but they were a structural company. 01:05:05.360 --> 01:05:10.559 That company, structural company in Pittsburgh, had a sister company that does geotechnical engineering. 01:05:10.559 --> 01:05:14.159 And the owner of that company wanted to open an Orlando office. 01:05:14.159 --> 01:05:16.800 He connected me to this guy, and that was it. 01:05:16.800 --> 01:05:18.480 How I got the job. 01:05:18.719 --> 01:05:19.039 Wow. 01:05:19.280 --> 01:05:22.800 So everything else, it's network, it's who you know. 01:05:22.800 --> 01:05:24.000 It's who you know. 01:05:24.000 --> 01:05:26.800 So hone your skills, build your network. 01:05:27.039 --> 01:05:27.599 Yep, yep. 01:05:27.599 --> 01:05:28.480 Great advice. 01:05:28.480 --> 01:05:34.480 And and and and you are uh a living testament of of how that has worked out, right? 01:05:34.480 --> 01:05:35.039 Right. 01:05:35.039 --> 01:05:38.320 So let's slow things down a bit and look at the big picture. 01:05:38.320 --> 01:05:41.360 We're rounding up on the top of uh of the segment here. 01:05:41.360 --> 01:05:44.559 So we've got a couple more to go and then we'll have uh Sean take us home. 01:05:44.559 --> 01:05:48.000 So, you know, Sean, take us take us away on this one. 01:05:48.400 --> 01:05:51.519 The laptop always come on vacation, right? 01:05:51.519 --> 01:05:57.920 Eight countries, one hour emails a day, short breaks scattered throughout the year. 01:05:57.920 --> 01:05:59.599 What does real balance? 01:05:59.599 --> 01:06:08.960 Look like for you, not the vision the version people post about the actual one you've made work for you. 01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:12.880 Well, like I said, you can't, I can't compartmentalize, I can't break myself up. 01:06:12.880 --> 01:06:14.000 It's it's my life. 01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:14.559 I love it. 01:06:14.559 --> 01:06:15.519 That's the way it is. 01:06:15.519 --> 01:06:18.159 But when you when you need a break, you gotta take it. 01:06:18.159 --> 01:06:24.400 And you have to be able to say, okay, like I said, even the one-hour email a day, that doesn't bother me because I have the rest of the day. 01:06:24.400 --> 01:06:26.079 That's that's good enough for me. 01:06:26.079 --> 01:06:30.400 And to be honest, I don't want to be fully, I hear people talking about fully unplugging. 01:06:30.400 --> 01:06:32.639 I would have anxiety if I didn't plug it out. 01:06:32.960 --> 01:06:34.000 I don't want that. 01:06:35.599 --> 01:06:36.960 I I don't want that. 01:06:36.960 --> 01:06:39.199 I I want to know what's going on at all times. 01:06:39.199 --> 01:06:44.320 I just need to be able to maybe not be in the office or not have to be at my computer if I don't have to. 01:06:44.320 --> 01:06:48.719 So one one one hour of email a day while I'm on vacation, that's nothing. 01:06:49.039 --> 01:06:51.599 Yeah, you know, I can I can relate to that as well. 01:06:51.599 --> 01:07:00.880 And and you know, before moving back here and owning a telecom, a company in the islands, I would come on vacation here with my family. 01:07:00.880 --> 01:07:04.800 But back in the day, we had this thing called the BlackBerry that was always on our hip. 01:07:04.800 --> 01:07:10.719 You remember you would you would take it off you would take it off your your hip and you would still feel your hip move vibrating, right? 01:07:10.719 --> 01:07:12.880 Right? 01:07:12.880 --> 01:07:25.599 And and and I realized after a couple trips that what was supposed to be downtime and vacation, that when I got back to the islands, I was more tired than when I left because we're constantly keeping track of things. 01:07:25.599 --> 01:07:29.519 And then so one time I said, you know, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. 01:07:29.519 --> 01:07:30.960 I'm I made a pact with my wife. 01:07:30.960 --> 01:07:33.199 I'm gonna spend one hour on emails. 01:07:33.199 --> 01:07:36.559 It'll be 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the evening. 01:07:36.559 --> 01:07:40.880 And I took that blackberry and I put it in a drawer for the rest of the day. 01:07:40.880 --> 01:07:46.719 Best decision I ever made, you know, from a mental state from everything else, you know. 01:07:47.119 --> 01:07:48.159 Yes, same year. 01:07:49.840 --> 01:07:51.360 Your grandmother, right? 01:07:51.360 --> 01:07:52.800 Dulka, right? 01:07:52.800 --> 01:07:53.679 Right. 01:07:53.679 --> 01:08:00.800 Yes, someone you described as having compassion for the whole world, that is a remarkable thing to say about a person. 01:08:00.800 --> 01:08:05.840 What did she actually give you and how do you see her in a way that you lead today? 01:08:06.559 --> 01:08:08.639 I I love people. 01:08:08.639 --> 01:08:10.079 I hope that transpires. 01:08:10.079 --> 01:08:11.119 I hope it shows. 01:08:11.119 --> 01:08:13.760 And I I I care for my staff deeply. 01:08:13.760 --> 01:08:17.279 And and one of the things is I make it a point to stay in touch with them. 01:08:17.279 --> 01:08:18.399 How's your wife? 01:08:18.399 --> 01:08:22.720 You know, if I remember somebody was having an operation, somebody had an accident, whatever. 01:08:22.720 --> 01:08:25.199 Those you stay in touch with your people. 01:08:25.199 --> 01:08:26.960 I remember today, this happened today. 01:08:26.960 --> 01:08:32.560 One of my engineers had to put together a big proposal for one of the expressway projects. 01:08:32.560 --> 01:08:39.680 And um, I told him, okay, put it together, I will help you Friday afternoon to kind of I'll go through it with you so we can clean it up and finalize it and all that. 01:08:39.680 --> 01:08:42.960 And while we're talking, I can't remember at the beginning how you doing, how are the kids? 01:08:42.960

--> 01:08:45.279 Because I know he's in there, they're empty nesters. 01:08:45.279 --> 01:08:48.880 And I remember one of his boys is in the is in the service. 01:08:48.880 --> 01:08:51.600 I can't remember, army, navy, whatever, one of them. 01:08:51.600 --> 01:08:53.279 And I said, Hey, how are the guys doing? 01:08:53.279 --> 01:08:54.079 The boys doing. 01:08:54.079 --> 01:08:57.119 He said, Oh, so and so is being deployed again. 01:08:57.119 --> 01:09:00.640 He's going in the Middle East, and you could tell. 01:09:00.640 --> 01:09:03.760 And I'm like, okay, we're not talking about work anymore. 01:09:03.760 --> 01:09:06.960 We started talking about, you know, okay, how are you feeling? 01:09:06.960 --> 01:09:09.760 How you know, and of course, I'm listening to him, letting him talk. 01:09:09.760 --> 01:09:10.720 How's your wife taking it? 01:09:10.720 --> 01:09:11.279 How are you doing? 01:09:11.279 --> 01:09:12.159 How is he doing? 01:09:12.159 --> 01:09:15.680 You know, so for 10-15 minutes, that's how we talked about it. 01:09:15.680 --> 01:09:19.039 And he kept like, well, Rachel, we gotta talk about no let's talk about you. 01:09:19.039 --> 01:09:19.760 How are you doing? 01:09:19.760 --> 01:09:27.439 How's your you know inside of things because I you you can't you can't focus on the work when you're so worried about your your child. 01:09:27.439 --> 01:09:33.600 So, you know, we talked about it and everything, and then I I gave him a little time and I said, Hey, by the way, if you want to talk some more, you know, you can call me. 01:09:33.600 --> 01:09:34.960 I know we have to get this done. 01:09:34.960 --> 01:09:37.039 If you want to talk more, you can always call me. 01:09:37.039 --> 01:09:44.000 So we we we we left that topic, got into the engineering, we got the thing done, and he was very grateful for that. 01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:47.600 And I invited him, hey, if you want to talk this weekend, you call me. 01:09:47.600 --> 01:09:49.279 I think that's what it's about. 01:09:49.279 --> 01:09:54.319 Do you have to recognize your your people are not robots, they're not just professionals, they have lives. 01:09:54.319 --> 01:09:56.079 You know, you support them. 01:09:56.399 --> 01:10:04.960 I I I love what you just said, and so I want, you know, typically we ask these questions, hey, what does 10 years look like for your company, right? 01:10:04.960 --> 01:10:12.079 And and a lot of times when people ask those questions, you're talking about revenue-wise, you know, how many clients you have and stuff like that. 01:10:12.079 --> 01:10:17.840 What does thriving mean in your version of the company? 01:10:18.399 --> 01:10:22.399 Well, I think, I think for me, I'm doing everything I want to do. 01:10:22.399 --> 01:10:26.399 I'm doing, I think I'm managing the company the way I want it managed. 01:10:26.399 --> 01:10:34.560 We're very relaxed here, you know, because of especially with the change in in how everything works, we don't really physically go to meetings anymore. 01:10:34.560 --> 01:10:35.680 People don't really come here. 01:10:35.680 --> 01:10:36.800 So it's very relaxed. 01:10:36.800 --> 01:10:38.159 I want to maintain it that way. 01:10:38.159 --> 01:10:40.239 I want to keep the company growing. 01:10:40.239 --> 01:10:43.199 You know, with I I would like to maintain the culture. 01:10:43.199 --> 01:10:44.239 That's really what I would like. 01:10:44.239 --> 01:10:47.680 Even when we get bigger, I'd like to be able to maintain the culture. 01:10:47.680 --> 01:10:50.479 And we just went through a pretty major growth spurts. 01:10:50.479 --> 01:10:50.880 Okay. 01:10:50.880 --> 01:10:58.640 Um, we when I when I when I took over, we were at 35, 36 employees, two years, and then now, no, no, yeah, 35, 36. 01:10:58.640 --> 01:11:03.199 And then we steadily increased, and then over the last two years we hired 20 people. 01:11:03.199 --> 01:11:06.399 So it's it's you know, yeah, yeah. 01:11:06.399 --> 01:11:09.760 So it's been kind of steady, you know. 01:11:09.760 --> 01:11:14.720 So for me, it's about the culture, and I think there's something little known about a GEC. 01:11:14.720 --> 01:11:16.800 A lot of people, they'll stay here forever. 01:11:16.800 --> 01:11:18.800 We have people who have been here for 30 plus years. 01:11:18.800 --> 01:11:19.520 That is amazing. 01:11:19.520 --> 01:11:26.079 Some of our technicians have been with us for 35 years in an industry that's that is notorious for turnovers. 01:11:26.079 --> 01:11:30.720 So a lot of people leave, they come back because of the culture, because of how we manage it. 01:11:30.720 --> 01:11:38.159 And I'm hoping to keep that going, even if if you know, if we grow to a certain size, of course, you know, dynamics change, things change a little bit. 01:11:38.159 --> 01:11:43.439 You have to streamline some things, but at the same time, I'm trying to maintain that culture as as much as I can. 01:11:43.680 --> 01:11:44.159 Excellent. 01:11:44.159 --> 01:11:51.039 And if the story teaches one lesson long after you're done telling, what do you hope that lesson is? 01:11:51.840 --> 01:11:53.680 Oh, that's a that's a tough one. 01:11:53.680 --> 01:11:57.359 You know, okay, I I think this is the lesson. 01:11:57.359 --> 01:11:59.920 This is the lesson, this is the lesson for me. 01:11:59.920 --> 01:12:02.479 If I don't love this anymore, I'm out of here. 01:12:02.640 --> 01:12:03.119 I'm out of here. 01:12:03.119 --> 01:12:04.399 Yes, yes. 01:12:04.640 --> 01:12:04.880 Yes. 01:12:05.119 --> 01:12:08.399 If I don't like what I'm doing, I don't like the people I'm working with, what's the point? 01:12:08.640 --> 01:12:08.800 Right. 01:12:08.800 --> 01:12:09.520 That is true. 01:12:09.760 --> 01:12:12.960 Yeah, you you you you love what you do, you see the point of what you do. 01:12:12.960 --> 01:12:14.800 Central Florida's growing, growing, growing. 01:12:14.800 --> 01:12:15.920 Construction, construction.

01:12:15.920 --> 01:12:19.359 We have a role to play, and I can do it supporting it. 01:12:19.359 --> 01:12:22.079 So I'm supporting the community. 01:12:22.079 --> 01:12:24.880 We're earning a decent living for everybody here. 01:12:24.880 --> 01:12:26.479 We're helping the community grow. 01:12:26.479 --> 01:12:27.199 I think that's it. 01:12:27.199 --> 01:12:28.960 And if I love it, great. 01:12:28.960 --> 01:12:33.760 Once I'm tired of it, I don't know when that's gonna be, then I'm gonna have to move on to something else that I like. 01:12:33.760 --> 01:12:34.319 Got it. 01:12:34.560 --> 01:12:42.079 And and I'm I'm I've always said, you know, if you're if you can get up in the morning, you're passionate about what you do and and you know, go for it. 01:12:42.079 --> 01:12:43.199 But the minute that passion is. 01:12:43.199 --> 01:12:43.920 It's not a job. 01:12:43.920 --> 01:12:44.159 Exactly. 01:12:44.159 --> 01:12:44.880 It's not a job. 01:12:44.880 --> 01:12:45.920 Exactly, right? 01:12:45.920 --> 01:12:52.720 So, Rachel, I gotta ask you my trademark question here that I tend to throw out to every one of our guests. 01:12:52.720 --> 01:12:59.760 And and and we we we have varying results on this, and and Sean and I have seen a culmination of boards here, right? 01:12:59.760 --> 01:13:01.920 You know, that that are amazing. 01:13:01.920 --> 01:13:14.159 But if you had the opportunity to put together a dream board of advisors, anyone from any point in time, past or present, who would be on your board and why? 01:13:15.279 --> 01:13:16.720 Ooh, different people. 01:13:16.720 --> 01:13:19.359 Gary, of course, I always want to have him. 01:13:19.359 --> 01:13:22.000 My advisor at UCF, who's still there. 01:13:22.000 --> 01:13:24.880 We talked to each other, we've been on panels together, Dr. 01:13:24.880 --> 01:13:25.600 Shobra. 01:13:25.600 --> 01:13:34.479 He was he actually he was instrumental in everything because he's the one we hire from UCF, we hire interns from UCF, and that's how I started here. 01:13:34.479 --> 01:13:39.119 He's the one who set up because Gary was looking for an intern who recommended me that job. 01:13:39.119 --> 01:13:40.560 So he's another one, yeah. 01:13:40.560 --> 01:13:40.880 Of course. 01:13:40.880 --> 01:13:45.359 And then Toussaint Louverture, who's one of the heroes of independence. 01:13:45.359 --> 01:13:46.720 Yeah, Toussaint L'Avature. 01:13:46.960 --> 01:13:48.000 Yes, yes, yes, yes. 01:13:48.000 --> 01:13:48.720 Yes. 01:13:48.960 --> 01:13:52.319 Yeah, I've always been impressed, you know, Desaline, Petro, all these guys. 01:13:52.319 --> 01:13:54.399 Toussaint Louvertu, he's always very cool. 01:13:54.399 --> 01:13:57.760 Yeah, I mean, you know, fear fierce, fierce, fearlessness. 01:13:57.760 --> 01:13:59.039 Yes, just just go. 01:13:59.199 --> 01:13:59.920 Yes, do it. 01:13:59.920 --> 01:14:01.039 I I I read a piece. 01:14:01.039 --> 01:14:03.680 Uh you're you're you're speaking about Toussaint L'Avature. 01:14:03.680 --> 01:14:17.520 I read a piece where the Le Grenadiers, the the the soccer team, wanted to actually have it, have it, have his his symbol, or they had uh a kit, the jerseys, with with with his you know, um um portrait on it. 01:14:17.520 --> 01:14:20.239 That's but unfortunately give it on the horse. 01:14:20.239 --> 01:14:21.199 On the horse, right? 01:14:21.199 --> 01:14:21.760 I remember that. 01:14:21.760 --> 01:14:26.800 Unfortunately, FIFA would not allow it because of the the political statements, etc. 01:14:26.800 --> 01:14:28.000 So yeah. 01:14:28.239 --> 01:14:28.479 Yes. 01:14:28.640 --> 01:14:29.680 And I was mad about that. 01:14:30.399 --> 01:14:30.800 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 01:14:30.800 --> 01:14:31.199 I hear you. 01:14:31.199 --> 01:14:31.760 I hear you. 01:14:31.760 --> 01:14:32.399 I hear you. 01:14:32.399 --> 01:14:33.039 I hear you. 01:14:33.039 --> 01:14:33.520 Got it. 01:14:33.520 --> 01:14:35.439 Sean, take us home. 01:14:35.760 --> 01:14:38.880 Yeah, Rachel, man, what an incredible time. 01:14:38.880 --> 01:14:40.960 Enjoy, enjoyed, enjoyed it. 01:14:40.960 --> 01:14:41.760 Thank you for your time. 01:14:41.760 --> 01:14:51.760 But what stands out about this story, the thing that will stay with me is the consistency of the theme that you have here. 01:14:51.760 --> 01:14:57.520 No chasing titles, no engineering, a path to the top of the org chart. 01:14:57.520 --> 01:14:59.600 Just excellent work, just excellent work. 01:14:59.600 --> 01:15:08.880 A genuine love for what you do and showing up fully in a field work for clients for and for the team. 01:15:08.880 --> 01:15:12.000 And now, you know, the right doors kept opening up. 01:15:12.000 --> 01:15:17.039 And and I I I know that, and a lot of people listening today needed to hear that, I believe. 01:15:17.039 --> 01:15:20.079 Um, and that's one of the reasons why we've done this podcast. 01:15:20.079 --> 01:15:25.680 Thank you for being so open and so genuine with your time and on your story. 01:15:25.680 --> 01:15:26.159 Yeah. 01:15:26.479 --> 01:15:27.439 Thank you for having me. 01:15:27.439 --> 01:15:28.720 It's it's it's been a pleasure. 01:15:29.119 --> 01:15:36.560 And and you know, Rachel, like I said, when we started this, amazing when I when I read your story and that could relate to so many things. 01:15:36.560 --> 01:15:52.319 But to have a fellow Caribbean Islander on here and to see what you have been able to do, and more so not only going into an organization, working there, but deciding to leave, spreading your wings, picking up all that knowledge, coming back in with that PhD of life, so to say, and and business. 01:15:52.319 --> 01:15:57.119 And and you said something just now or earlier, you know, you want to protect your culture. 01:15:57.119 --> 01:16:00.399 And that's usually the biggest challenge, right? 01:16:00.399 --> 01:16:10.319 Whenever you either take over a company or you expand a company too quickly, is how do we not

dilute grandma's recipe, right, for for chicken soup, right? 01:16:10.319 --> 01:16:14.479 How do we how do we ensure that it keeps tasting the same and that the company keeps moving forward? 01:16:14.479 --> 01:16:21.760 And so what comes through in everything that you share today is a kind of leadership that is grounded in craft, not ego. 01:16:21.760 --> 01:16:30.239 A career built on principle that if the work is done exceptionally well and the people around you are truly served, everything else follows. 01:16:30.239 --> 01:16:31.680 That is rare. 01:16:31.680 --> 01:16:36.159 It is also exactly what the infrastructure holding this region together deserves. 01:16:36.159 --> 01:16:40.720 People who feel the full weight of getting it right every single time. 01:16:40.720 --> 01:16:49.920 And personally, as I said, from one Caribbean kid who bet on themselves in this country to another, you know, this conversation meant a great deal. 01:16:49.920 --> 01:16:53.520 And we are genuinely grateful you came and shared your story with us. 01:16:53.520 --> 01:16:55.119 Keep plugging away. 01:16:55.119 --> 01:17:01.119 And and I look forward to us getting together all soon in person and sharing more with each other. 01:17:01.119 --> 01:17:03.279 So mercy beaucoup. 01:17:03.279 --> 01:17:06.000 Well, thank you so much for having me. 01:17:06.159 --> 01:17:07.760 It's been it's been such a pleasure. 01:17:07.760 --> 01:17:08.880 I I I love it. 01:17:08.880 --> 01:17:10.079 That was a fun conversation. 01:17:10.319 --> 01:17:10.720 Very good. 01:17:10.720 --> 01:17:11.359 Thank you. 01:17:11.359 --> 01:17:18.319 And finally, as we wrap up this episode, I want to invite you to our CEO Leadership Forums event. 01:17:18.319 --> 01:17:27.039 It's a purpose-driven community of CEOs, founders, and business leaders committed to growth, impact, and legacy. 01:17:27.039 --> 01:17:35.439 Our goal at CEO Leadership Forums is to inspire and equip 1,500 CEOs and leaders by 2028. 01:17:35.439 --> 01:17:40.800 And that's in partnership with Valencia and strategic partners like CEO Nexus. 01:17:40.800 --> 01:17:54.159 So join us on August 25th, where we will discuss leading beyond the algorithm, what great leaders look like or great leadership looks like in an AI drip world. 01:17:54.159 --> 01:18:00.560 And you can find details at www.ceoleadershipforms.com. 01:18:00.560 --> 01:18:07.199 And until next time, stay curious, stay driven, and keep leading with purpose. 01:18:08.159 --> 01:18:12.159 Hi, I'm Roy Richardson, host of the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. 01:18:12.159 --> 01:18:15.119 Are you a business owner or leader of a successful business? 01:18:15.119 --> 01:18:18.079 If yes, we'd love to have you as a guest on our program. 01:18:18.079 --> 01:18:19.359 Our goal is simple. 01:18:19.359 --> 01:18:23.279 We provide a platform for leaders to share their experiences to benefit others. 01:18:23.279 --> 01:18:29.359 We want to hear your story, how you got started, the challenges you faced along the way, and your passion today. 01:18:29.359 --> 01:18:37.279 If this sounds like you or you know someone who fits these criteria, then be sure to get in touch with us by visiting our website linked in the episode description below. 01:18:37.279 --> 01:18:44.479 Also, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notification bell to be notified when our next episode goes live. 01:18:44.479 --> 01:18:51.840 Or if you'd rather listen to us during your car rides, you can also follow us on your favorite audio channel using your podcatcher. 01:18:51.840 --> 01:18:55.439 Thanks again, and remember, keep crushing it.