Be Your Authentic Self • Vicky Hollingsworth, P.E.

(Mechanical National Discipline Leader, Brown and Caldwell || WA USA)

“As an immigrant from a developing country, my main goal was to have a stable career to help support my family. For me, that meant getting an education in STEM. Growing up in Nicaragua, I did not have many opportunities to learn about STEM careers or see women practicing engineering. That prevented me from envisioning what my career would look like beyond stability. I came to find out that engineering is so much cooler than just a stable job!

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As a process-mechanical engineer, I combine knowledge of wastewater process treatment with mechanical engineering. I take designs from the theoretical world — from “this should work to treat wastewater” — to design plans that are constructible and operable. I need to take into consideration not only the theory, local regulations, codes, and cost, but also the client’s needs.

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I grew up in a culture that values experience — it’s everything. In our culture, experience only comes with age. As a young leader, I struggle with the feeling that everyone else in the room knows more. I spent the first six years of my career emulating those I saw in leadership — typically older males. I assimilated so much that I started to lose part of my identity.

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While on a construction project, I had a chance to work under another female engineer. She was very much herself and was not concerned whether everyone liked her. She was effective as a construction manager, and by being good at her job and genuine, she won all of us over. That was when I started to reflect on how I was not being myself. I still fight against the voice in my head that tells me my contributions are not valuable and to fly under the radar. But I have realized that skills I possess — like communication and offering my point of view — make my contributions valuable. Eventually, you learn to focus on your strengths and not let that imposter voice trick you; you show up the best you can and stop trying to emulate others. I am focusing on being authentic at work — so other people rising through the ranks who identify with me can picture their career path into leadership.”