Stories

What is your current role? How long have you worked for Loureiro?

I’ve been at Loureiro since January 2009 as a Project Manager and am now Senior Project Manager in the Environmental Assessment division. I work on a range of tasks, including site investigations and remediations for soil and groundwater, as well as planning decommission activities for industrial plant closures.

Ever since my career started in 1989, I’ve been in Environmental Consulting for everything from petroleum release and clean up to the industrial site investigations and clean up that I am primarily focused on now. I took a brief hiatus from the consulting side along the way to work in the banking industry as an environmental risk analyst to get another perspective. With most of our work driven heavily by real estate transaction, this experience gave me the opportunity to understand how to structure deals on contaminated real estate in a way that offers buyers confidence, not hesitation. Without the ability to understand the transactional risk and provide solutions to problems, we’d be missing a core element to the services we can provide.

What is the most interesting / rewarding aspect of your job?

Getting a project to the finish line successfully! Completing a work product isn’t something that happens frequently; it’s typically the culmination of years of work on a single assignment. So for me, seeing the project through to that final documentation piece is a great feeling. It can also be the hardest part! And every journey has its ups and downs, but it’s also extremely motivating working to meet the important goals along the way.

After 34 years of environmental consulting, I have been involved in the management of almost every type of work you can imagine — but I joke that I am a master of none. Consultants aren’t usually the ones in the spotlight, but when there is a reward, it’s never a solo act. Here at Loureiro, I am so lucky to be part of a technically diverse and very skilled team. It’s my job to focus on them and make sure they have everything they need to do their work well — and it’s been the source of a lot of success for us. They truly make the daily grind very enjoyable for me.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I live at the base of a mountain near a large State Park, so I love to grab my backpack, pop in my headphones and hike for a few miles out and back. I also just enjoy being outside, so I like to do yard work and go target shooting. Both are great escapes for me.

I also enjoy some kitchen therapy with my daughter.  We make great chili and a variety of Italian dishes and just do it to enjoy it. I may not know a lot about cooking, but hey, if no one else likes what I make, then there’s more for me!

What inspires you the most - professionally, personally, or both?

While most people hate deadlines, I thrive on having that sense of urgency. I like to have a plan in my head and know all my tasks before I sit down for the day. That plan provides me with direction, but also that feeling of accomplishment when I’m hitting my deliverables and staying focused so I know that everything is done the right way. It all makes the end result of whatever I am doing more successful and rewarding.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Put all your “to- do-items” on one sheet of paper, no matter how congested it gets. I’m not really a fan of electronic gadgets when it comes to staying on top of things, and I follow the simple concept of doing one thing at a time. As a project manager, you always have to be looking five steps ahead, but if you aren’t focused on the task at hand and put a good base in, you can’t move on to the rest.

Who is someone you really admire?

My college Public Speaking and Writing professor. At the time, the course forced me to do things that I absolutely had no confidence or interest in, but I learned invaluable concepts that I use almost every day in my career. Whether it’s writing a report, letter, or work plan or conveying concepts verbally, the process is really the same. And the words “tell me up front; tell me what you’re going to tell me, and then tell me again” still ring in my ears to this day. It never hurts to repeat key aspects of a plan and ensure everyone is 100% clear on the details — because that attention to getting every element right is what truly sets us apart from other teams.