Leap of Faith with Angeles Garcia

Design Voice Podcast

Angeles Garcia is a Project Executive at McCarthy Building Companies. Originally from Ensenada, Mexico, Angeles has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Tijuana Institute of Technology.

Angeles started out at McCarthy over 20 years ago by answering a newspaper ad for a Project Admin position. Since then she has slowly worked her way up to an executive role, breaking down barriers all along the way. In this episode, Angeles shares some great advice on how to inspire teams to do great work, how organizations can address unconscious bias, and how we should all stop second guessing ourselves and just go for it.

Show Recap:

• How Angeles's family's home remodel when she was in high school inspired her to study architecture
• Transitioning from being an architect in Mexico to practicing in the US - and then realizing she wanted to do something else
• Getting her foot in the door at McCarthy
• It wasn't always Angeles's goal to be a Project Executive at one of the largest construction firms, and at one point she thought it was unachievable
• On telling your supervisors what your end goals are so they can support you
• What Angeles does in her role as a Project Executive
• Why Angeles feels like she has a voice and an opportunity to influence where the construction industry is going
• The biggest barriers facing women in construction
• On unconscious bias, and what organizations can do to address it
• "You'll find that most often than not, you're ready. And if you're not, you have the support to succeed. But you need to be able to really speak up and ask for support as well."
• What the best way is to inspire teams to do great work
• What Angeles loves most about the construction industry - "We start with just an idea on a piece of paper and turn that into reality...into a building that will serve the community."
• The low point of her career, and what inspired her to keep going
• McCarthy's diversity initiatives, and why diversity makes business sense