As we celebrate Women in Construction Week, we are proud to share the stories of our Milestone women who do more than building – they inspire. Here women are not only part of the essential workforce, they are leaders, thinkers and role models helping us in our mission to Make Lives Better One Road and Bridge at a Time.
Michelle started her journey in the construction industry in 2010 when a friend reached out and told her of a payroll job available. As she worked in her position, her curiosity for building a lifelong career in the industry began to blossom. In 2012, she joined the union and started her first position at Milestone. That is when she headed into the field to start flagging. She took her job flagging very seriously as she knew she had the safety of her crew in her hands.
“Flagging can be one of the most important jobs,” says Michelle. “The traveling public is always in a rush to get to and from place to place, but it was my job to remind them to slow down and protect my co-workers.”
Michelle’s supervisors and crew members saw her passion for her work and eagerness to always continue learning. During her time in our field operations, she worked on many different crews and jobs as a laborer and eventually started shadowing our density testing. That is where she became interested in our asphalt mixtures and their performance.
Because of her dedication and hard work, today Michelle is a Quality Control Lab Technician at our Plant 12 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She tests our asphalt mixtures for their compaction, amount of oil and number of aggregates to determine a quality product. She then will learn from our crews on site how it performs in the field. From then assessments and adjustments are made with her supervisors to make sure we provide a top-quality asphalt mixture. Although she does miss days in the field at times, Michelle is grateful for a stable schedule and to be so close to her kid's school.
In the future, Michelle hopes to be mentor for those looking to understand asphalt mixtures and hold field visits. Her knowledge of field experience combined with her lab experience helps her explain why certain mixtures perform the way they do.
Michelle wants to encourage any woman looking to take the leap into the construction field to do so. “Have patience, be eager to learn and network whenever you get the chance, and you will be rewarded in this industry,” Michelle said.
Thank you, Michelle, for being an inspiration to us all. Let us continue to celebrate the contributions women make to our industry not just this week, but every day as we continue to foster a culture of diversity and empowerment at Milestone and HC+M.