This month, we’re celebrating Women in Construction Week (March 6-12) with a blog series highlighting the value and ingenuity women bring to our member businesses. We’ll also feature careers and opportunities available to women interested in a rewarding, full-time job and being a part of the precast, prestressed concrete industry’s bright future.
My name is Natalie Martin, and I’m a mother to three sons whom I love very much. I live my life to make myself happy and my boys proud. I was born in California and raised in Tennessee, so I have that southern charm with a little street gangster. I’m a leader, a helper, and I thrive on saving someone’s day. I’ve been a salesperson my whole life, and I have a lot of fun in my job. This industry has accepted me, my big crazy hair, my corny jokes, and my loudness. It feels good that I’ve found an industry and company where I fit in. I don’t think I could have gotten to where I am today without this industry or the people like Dennis Fink, President of Northeast Prestressed Products, who took the time to get to know me and value what I do and what I have to say. You know you’ve made it when an opportunity comes your way through others who believe in you.
PCI-MA: How do you describe your job to people?
Martin: My job is wonderfully different week to week. One week I’m working form home, the next I’m out at a plant doing product demonstrations or helping to solve concrete surface issues. I could be working our booth or tabletop at a convention or reginal event in a very cool city or sitting in a meeting voting and discussing with fellow PCI members who have the same passion for the precast/prestressed concrete industry on how to educate architects, owners, and engineers about precast/prestressed products and systems. By day, I’m working with producers to get that perfect concrete finish, and by night, I’m entertaining producers and their families at social functions and dinners. It sounds like a lot, but I’m lucky to have a good life-work balance.
PCI-MA: How did your career journey lead you to your company?
Martin: I was a nontraditional student going back to school in my mid-thirties after being a stay-at-home mom for many years. I started out at my local community college, Columbia State, where I received an associate degree in science. While in school at Columbia State, a professor from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) came to speak about a degree in concrete. This was a no-brainer for me. I grew up in concrete; I used to spend Saturdays with my uncles who were working on projects at Disneyland in California. I can still hear the gravel crunch under the tires as we arrived at a job site, the stinky smell of concrete, and I still crack up remembering them arguing about how much color to put in the mix (arguments are a lot funnier in Spanish). So I went off to MTSU with plenty of grants and scholarships to cover tuition. While working on my concrete industry management (CIM) bachelor’s in science degree, I interned with three different companies. This enhanced my resume quite nicely, and at graduation I had seven job offers. I moved to Florida to work as a territory manager for Stalite Lightweight Aggregates.
This was a great job that allowed me to work on fun projects, such as an FBI building in Puerto Rico and the new Seminole Hard Rock Guitar Hotel in Miami. During this time, I became familiar with PCI and the precast/prestressed industry and fell in LOVE with it when I was offered a position at Cresset Chemical Company, where I was given the opportunity to work and specialize in the precast/prestressed concrete industry. Since then, I have worked hard and made a name for myself at Cresset and many PCI regional boards and committees. The strength, support, and confidence I have gained from working in this industry have led to motivational speaking opportunities, and I have been a commencement speaker for some college graduations.
PCI-MA: What is one of the greatest challenges you’ve faced in our industry and how have you overcome it?
Martin: This is a man’s world, and I choose to be in it—not to prove a point, but because I truly love and respect concrete. I had to learn patience and I had to let my dedication prove that I was here to stay. I had to learn how to listen and patiently wait for opportunities. I had to learn how to relax and not speak over people at a table trying to prove that I was knowledgeable. This took lots of practice, and I had great friends that I asked to pinch me if I started to become too aggressive with getting my point across. Then out of nowhere, my patience paid off and my answers, opinions, and ideas are now listened to, followed by, and suggested by others.
PCI-MA: What do you enjoy most about your job?
Martin: I enjoy the part of my job that allows me to travel the country, meeting and working with people from all different backgrounds and experiences. I love hearing their stories and what brought them to our industry. It has really taught me to be respectful of people’s trains of thought, beliefs, and how they live. And guess what—all these differences are the reason we can build. Together, we build bridges that we drive over, office buildings that our families and friends may work in, and our schools where we send our children to learn. Having this understanding has brought me so much peace and the power to not be so offended or fearful of our society. The favorite part of my job is that my children get to travel with me, where they get to see mommy in action. It’s so awesome how connected we all become over time. It’s not just structures we build, it’s lifelong friendships.
PCI-MA: Do you have a mentor or role model? If so, how does this person support you in your personal and professional growth?
Martin: I have three:
- Heather Brown. She was the Director of the CIM program while I was in school. She is now the VP of Materials for Irving Materials, Inc. She taught me that it is okay to be tough in our industry, we don’t have to always let the boys win, safety comes first, have confidence, trust in yourself, and there is not a need to argue but to just lead people to the right decision.
- Ray Clark. He was a fellow associate and is now the Executive Director of Georgia/Carolinas PCI. He taught me thankfulness—to be thankful for the smallest of opportunities and they will lead you to much larger ones. He was so right, since I’ve lived this life of thankfulness and my career and personal life have really taken a turn for the better.
- Paul Ramsburg, District Manager at Sika USA. Paul is a concrete nerd to the extreme and proudly flies that flag. He is the person in concrete I want to be when I grow up. He is so different and stands out in a crowd, especially ours. He is proud to be who he is, willing to help anyone no matter the position they hold in our industry, and his way of educating people is unique and unforgettable. I look up to Paul so much, I almost fainted when he asked me to be a part of one of his presentations
PCI-MA: What are your career and life aspirations and goals?
Martin: The future of my career is to continue being a go-to person for perfecting a concrete finish. My network of friends and colleagues will allow me to help anyone find the answer to whatever concrete question they may have. I would hope to have global opportunities, chair a technical committee, and continue speaking at industry events. Life aspirations are simpler. I will have a ten-acre mini farm where I can raise a small amount of organic, cage-free, happy, and too-fat-to-fit-in-your-oven Thanksgiving turkeys. I don’t see myself retiring, but I do know with age my travel will slow down one day and my turkeys will help me to stay moving. If not turkeys, I guess I will take a few grandchildren, but I just cannot imagine someone calling me grandma. I’m forty but look twenty, so when I’m sixty I’ll look twenty-two and you just can’t call someone who looks twenty-two Grandma.
PCI-MA: What advice would you give a young woman entering the construction industry?
Martin: Don’t take rejection personally and don’t kill yourself trying to prove yourself. You never have to take being uncomfortable; just get up and walk away. Take your safety seriously. Be confident, know you belong, and be kind to new women in our industry. Take them under your wing and show them the ropes.
About Cresset Chemical Company
Cresset Chemical Company is a privately held manufacturing company producing and selling chemical products for the construction industry. Since 1946, Cresset has led the industry in the development of eco-responsible, innovative products and services. Our reputation is built on using quality, virgin materials and strict quality controls that produce attractive concrete surfaces and consistent products batch after batch, year after year. In addition to our eco-responsible products, we also offer USDA-registered, bio-based, and bio-preferred products made from domestic sources that help reduce crude oil imports.
Our architectural products are widely preferred because they enhance the appearance of high-profile projects. Some examples include the award-winning Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge, the new One World Trade Center (renamed Freedom Tower) in New York City, and numerous sports arenas, such as Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco and First Energy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
Want to learn more about a career in precast? Check out our workforce Career Center for job descriptions, career paths, job listings, and other helpful resources.
