Jobs And Experiences
Here’s a quick summary of my home life before I get into the jobs I’ve held throughout my life:
I grew up in a construction family in a small Wisconsin town. I learned at a very young age the amount of work and dedication it takes to keep a successful business running smoothly. My parents owned and operated a masonry company from our home, and it’s here where I was first introduced to “business talk.” Many nights while sitting at the kitchen counter, my dad would be looking at blueprints, estimating jobs. This would lead to work discussions between him and my mom during dinner. Although my parents did not want me to take over the family company “because there are better options for me,” I was always attracted to construction type jobs because it was just so familiar. This leads to my work experience and interests which you can read about in detail below.
Pieper Electric, Inc. Project Management Trainee (June 2020 - Present)
Pieper offers a rotational Project Management Training program that enables new hires to experience multiple branches of the company and expand our network with coworkers from electricians to VPs. I was lucky enough to be hired into this program and had the opportunity to experience four specialized departments throughout my rotational positions including Electrical Construction, HVAC, Automation, and Design-Build/Service. I have worked with Project Managers in these departments and have learned how to efficiently coordinate material procurement and scheduling with customers, vendors, and coworkers to complete the jobs in a timely manner.
I was also able to work in a panel shop alongside wiremen to manufacture electrical panels for automation purposes all around the world. Here I was able to utilize some of my Industrial Engineering background by implementing 5S strategies to reduce and organize the panel shop’s inventory to make finding material more efficient for the wiremen.
Hooper Corporation Project Management Intern (Summer 2019)
Hooper was my first opportunity to experience jobs from the office point of view. I worked side by side with a project manager in the substation department learning as much as I could and helping him with everyday tasks. These tasks included blueprint takeoffs for job estimates, submitting purchase orders, RFI’s, submittals, invoices, and completing other miscellaneous tasks.
I was lucky enough to travel to multiple states throughout my summer with Hooper and see the jobs in person. That was an excellent learning experience because I got to study and work on the blueprints ahead of time, then see how it translates to the physical job site.
I was able to have lunch with the project manager and job foreman/superintendent on these trips and hear them talk about job challenges, scheduling, and other work-related topics that needed to be addressed. Working with Hooper Corporation allowed me to work alongside industry-related professionals and see what a day is like in an engineering field.
Small Town Signs Entrepreneur (Spring 2013 - Current)
When I was in high school, I took just about every technical education class that was offered. The school bought a CNC router for the shop when I was a sophomore, and no one knew how to use it, including the shop teacher. I thought it was incredibly exciting and spent many days after school teaching myself how to use it. My dad would come to pick me up hours after school ended. Eventually, I was able to learn the software and create some pretty cool projects. I then taught the shop teacher how to use it and was able to help other students with their projects.
I started doing projects for people around town and was able to make some money. My dad and I decided I shouldn’t be running a small company from the school shop, so we sat down and came up with a plan. With a loan from my parents, I was able to purchase the same machine the school had and set it up in our home shop. I started making more and more projects and was able to pay my parents back completely.
It was a great learning experience for me as well as a way to help save money for college. I was challenged personally and became self-reliant, dedicated, and learned to manage projects on my own. I learned a lot about working with customers, time management, and responsibility. o read about some of my favorite projects, head over to my portfolio page.
Faith Technologies Electrician's Assistant (Summer 2016)
Working in the mill showed me the hard work it takes to get a finished product from raw material. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty, and this experience allowed me to see the bigger picture instead of only seeing the process through blueprints and scheduling software.
This job is what steered my college career towards the path I’m on today.
When I started my job with Faith Technologies, I thought I wanted to be an electrical engineer. Working next to the engineers in the field and exploring the entirety of the mill allowed me to realize I was more interested in the process of the mill itself rather than the smaller details like wiring.
I was amazed by the amount of planning and coordination it takes to keep an operation like that running 24/7 and produce a product on a consistent schedule. I knew I wanted to be part of a team responsible for an operation like that. That’s when I switched to industrial engineering so I could focus on the efficiency and productivity of the entire project.
Undergraduate Learning Center PREPS Facilitator / Physics Tutor (Fall 2018 - Current)
My responsibilities as a tutor included keeping up with what the professor covered in their lectures, creating mini-lectures to teach in front of the class, designing worksheets, and running bi-weekly classes. Becoming a tutor was one of the best ideas I had in my college career. It started as a way for me to earn a little extra cash during the school year but became much more than that.
Throughout my tutoring experience, I became much more comfortable speaking in front of groups, planning lectures, creating worksheets, and explaining difficult concepts. Not only did I get to see the direct improvement of the students in my class, but looking at the material from the perspective of a teacher/tutor benefit me in my other courses. This mindset has been powerful in determining which tutoring content was essential and required more focus to set a strong foundation for the success of my students.
Ralph's Hardwood Flooring Crew Member (Summer 17 - Winter 18)
Ralph’s has allowed me to work with many hardworking people that have grown up around my hometown. It truly is an amazing small-town company that produces beautiful products. I was able to work in many homes around the Fox Valley area installing, sanding, and finishing hardwood floors.
Working with your hands on a project from start to finish is an important lesson. You learn to realize if you are not careful from the very first step, a couple of small problems can add up to ruin the final result. Being attentive and efficient right from the start is crucial in keeping a job on schedule. I was taught the small details are important in producing a satisfying result, and I’m glad I got the chance to work with this team and acquire the hands-on work experience and skills they allowed me to learn.
