1. How long have you been an employee of Southern Staircase?

I have been with Southern Staircase for about 7 years. I started my career at Southern Staircase as a Product Development Engineer and Senior Estimator and have since progressed on to become the Engineering and Estimating Manager for Southern Staircase.

2. What is your background and how did you start in this line of work?

My educational background is in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design, but my true passion is in creative thinking, all aspects of building/construction and hands on problem solving. It wasn’t until college that I picked up my first power tool but haven’t looked back since. I quickly learned that I enjoyed turning my childhood hobby of Lego’s into “high stakes Lego’s” via furniture building and woodworking. It was my enjoyment in woodworking and craftsmanship that gravitated my desire to join the Southern Staircase team and continue to grow my knowledge within the building and construction industry.

3. What is your role at Southern Staircase and what do you like about it? What do you get excited about?

As the Engineering and Estimating Manager my role is to foster and cultivate creativity and growth throughout our talented CAD and estimating team. My goal is to stay on the front edge of innovation in the construction industry and to always push the envelope of what we can create as a team. I have the pleasure of working with some of the most driven, knowledgeable, and sincere teams you’ll find, with the collective goal of wanting everyone to be successful.

In addition to managing a great team of coworkers, I enjoy the freedom to continually design and develop new ideas. Going back to my original role as a product development engineer, it continues to be my aspirations to constantly be forward thinking and want to build a work environment and product that everyone is proud to be a part of. Whether that is designing the next game changer in the industry, or developing a building method that increases safety and productivity; all of the undiscovered possibilities keep me excited for the next day.

4. What are your favorite types of jobs or projects and why?

My favorite projects are those that require us to think outside of the box to bring customer dreams into fruition. In the new age of AI pushing the limits between conceptual and reality, it is crucial to use my engineering background to continually question, learn, and utilize new technologies and materials that may not necessarily be common in the building industry.

Additionally, there is something special about seeing your projects and drawings go from a screen to physically built and installed, that truly makes our industry one of the most satisfying fields to work in.