Profile

When I first joined Deloitte FAS in May 2008, I was excited about the opportunity to use different skill sets that I acquired during my professional tenure.  

Deloitte FAS is one of four subsidiaries of Deloitte LLP.  Deloitte LLP coordinates the activities of the subsidiaries but each subsidiary is a separate and distinct legal entity. Deloitte is primarily known in the general public for our tax and audit capabilities. In addition to providing tax and audit services, we also have a thriving consulting practice and a financial advisory practice that services both the commercial and public sectors.

As a Manager in the Capital Projects Consulting practice, I am a member of a dynamic team where we focus on supporting our clients to improve the delivery, monitoring, and control of their capital construction projects. We have several service offerings that focus on cost savings before, during, and at the conclusion of the construction process that generates a significant ROI of our fee. Our services are embraced by CFO's, Internal Audit Directors, Controllers, Audit Committees, etc. - those stakeholders who have a financial interest as well as an oversight role of the Facilities, Engineering, or Construction Departments.  For example, a typical project engagement would include advising large owners and public entities with managing the logistics of construction of complex infrastructure such as power plants and steel mills. If the project doesn’t go well, we may be asked to assist  in the client’s dispute resolution preparation and litigation.

I enjoy helping my clients negotiate and strategize about problems they might have during the project so they can save time and expense at the end of the project.  I assist with articulate their goals and how they are going to achieve them.

Presently, I am staffed on a federal engagement where we are supporting a federal agency and their reporting mandate to Congress.  I am one of 10 Deloitte professionals that works directly on-site with the client.

Sometimes I work from home. Deloitte encourages mobility. Most of our offices have a non-traditional floor plan where the prime space is reserved for support and administrative staff. Our professionals can reserve a workspace for the day or the week. The concept is referred to as “hoteling.” Essentially, your laptop is your office.  Having worked at private law firm for the past six and one-half years where I had a private office and designated assistant, it was definitely unfamiliar and disconcerting.

All kinds. Internally, I work with accountants or individuals with financial backgrounds. We have a great mix of professionals with various levels of experience in a multitude of industries.

Analytical skills. Problem solving and teaming with others is critical to being successful at Deloitte. Clients retain us to help identify and solve problems.

Most of our projects are team orientated. Part of being successful is having dynamic personality and the ability to communicate with others in a stressful environment.

Over the past two weeks, I worked about 70 hours each week but my normal work schedule is about 40-50 client service hours a week. 

In addition to my client engagements, I was elected as the President of the Black Employee Network for the Greater Washington Area (which includes a geographic region that includes Maryland, D.C., and Virginia from Baltimore to Richmond), which requires an additional 10-15 hour time commitment per week.

Not now. When I first started, I traveled significantly because I was staffed on commercial engagements. My first engagement was approximately 100% travel to and from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Now, that I have transferred to the federal practice, I do not have the same travel requirements as most engagements are here in the Washington, DC metro area.

I love the ability to work on different engagements in different industries. One of the things that I missed when I was practicing law was that by the time we got involved it was after the dispute couldn’t be resolved. I didn’t feel like I was adding value. At Deloitte, I am able to do more strategy development rather than just being focused on mitigation techniques to resolve on-going conflicts. 

I find the construction industry fascinating. There is the design process where we assist our clients with understanding the architectural drawings. Moving into the construction phrase, we outline for the client the basic timeline and order of activities. For example, when the client should expect the concrete truck on site or how many workers should be on site. The next thing you know you have this great building that everyone has participated in making.

I love when I pass a completed project and know that I contributed to something that has helped the community. For example, when we were in Brazil, we were supporting an international company in the erection of a steel steel plant and additional facilities. It was great to feel like I added value to the client and the community.  The construction project introduced much-needed jobs to the region. A project like that can shape the whole landscape. 

I don’t like doing time entry.  But it’s not as bad as the six-minute increments that lawyers do.

In the morning when I wake up I really want to feel that I’ve made a difference. I’m a very results-oriented person. I’m a big picture person and have a great understanding of how to get from Point A to Point B. I’ve never been a weeds person. It has probably taken me my whole career to see that I’m not a weeds person as much as I’d like to be. I like that Deloitte provides opportunities to showcase your strengths as well as resources to improve your weaknesses. A successful team needs both types of people. It is a balance.

My grandmother. She is very feisty. She always had a “can do” attitude. She taught me early to never say can’t. She’s been my biggest cheerleader throughout  my life regardless of what activity I was involved or what profession I was pursuing. I enrolled in law school because she said that I should go to law school while I was young. I didn’t have a plan. I did things because Granny said to do it. When I look back on my life and some of the choices that I’ve made, a lot of it was because she thought I could do it.

My family and I laugh about how similar I am to my grandmother.  I see more of her in me as I get older. My approach and my outlook of my life are a direct reflection of my grandmother’s teachings. She is very upbeat. She is fearless. She came to the United States in the 1966 from Trinidad & Tobago. She was trained as a nurse in Trinidad but came to the U.S. because at the time there was  a nurse shortage. She came alone and left my grandfather to look after my mom, uncle, and aunt. She came here to make a better life for her family. And we have all benefited from her tenacity and vision for us.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.  This is difficult for me because I’m a “Type A” planner. Sometimes, I  get extremely focused on a goal—something you want to do--but for some reason I am unable to bring it to fruition. I learned that most times your life just unfolds without any consideration to what you had anticipated or contemplated. If you are open to surprises, you may end up going places you never imagined going.  If you are open to trying new things, you will be less stressed, and will ultimately become a much happier person.

Don’t let people define who you are going to be. At the end of the day, you know what you like and what you are interested in. If you let people pigeon-hole you and decide what you can’t do without experiencing it for yourself, you are going to short-change yourself on some experiences you otherwise wouldn’t have had.

I think teenagers should find the things that they are good at--whatever it is should bring them confidence and joy.  Whether that is in sports, academia, or the arts. Find something that you can claim for your own. Stay true to what your dreams are and what you want to do. Be fluid and don’t be afraid.

Align yourself with good people who are trying to do things with their lives.

Embrace being a female and all of the good things that come with it. Empower yourself to be able to make your own choices and don’t let other people define you just because you are a girl.

I might have attended college a little closer to home or majored in engineering as an undergraduate student.  But then I wouldn’t have had the understanding of architecture or acquired the experiences I did or the friends I met in college. I might not have run track in college and instead decided to be a cheerleader. Cheerleaders were on the sidelines of all of the football games and I am an avid football fan.

I probably might have gone to law school straight if I’d majored in engineering as an undergraduate.

I think there are things I could have done differently but I don’t have any regrets. But sometimes your path is your path and it can be convoluted.

I would have taken more effort to look for graduate funding and taken out fewer loans.

I think I would have planned better from high school. It is such a critical time in your life. I might have taken more chances and instead of studying abroad for the summer, I would have gone abroad for an entire academic year .  A lot of the decisions that you make in high school really impact the rest of your life.  You make changes in your personal path but your decisions in high school really do make a significant impact. 

It’s better to get on the right road early on in life but life is really about the journey and all of the experiences that you will encounter.

When I was young, I had a strong interest for constructing things. I was fascinated by how you could take something that was two dimensional or a simple tract of land and somebody had a vision to make a three dimensional improvement.  Day by day and brick by brick the process would unfold.

I graduated from the University of Virginia in 1995 with a BS in architecture. I planned on becoming an architect but took a construction management course in my third year of college.  After graduating from the School of Architecture in 1995, I stayed at UVA to get a masters degree in civil engineering with a concentration in environmental engineering.

My first job was with an international construction company as a project engineer. Our client was constructing a new $36 million dollar correctional facility in New Jersey. It was a great experience. I spent 100% of my time on the construction site. I worked with the contractors.  As a junior person on the site, especially if you are a woman, you end up being assigned the tasks that nobody else wants to do.  But these tasks are very critical for keeping the project on schedule such as ensuring safety and reporting, which is particularly important if there is a dispute.

As the junior person, I dealt with our compliance department that managed and summarized the project contracts.  The New Jersey county that retained us asked to to create a synthesis of the contract responsibilities.

During that tenure, I decided to go to law school at night so I could understand the nuances of the contract negotiations.  I didn’t think I would practice law. I enrolled at Rutgers University in 1998. I attended part-time for two years and full-time for another year and a half.  At Rutgers, because I was an engineer and it was at the end of the dot com boom, I focused on becoming an intellectual property attorney and received a fellowship to study intellectual property law at Franklin Pierce Law Center for the 2000-01 academic year.

After law school, I began my legal career with a regional firm in Atlanta, Georgia as a litigator. After a year and one-half, I joined  the intellectual property firm of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione in Chicago, Illinois. I practiced intellectual property law for about two years and moved to Washington, DC to join a national firm focusing on construction litigation.

Now, I am working in my chosen industry for a great company. My path was curvy but all of my experiences helped launch me to where I am now. I am now in a position to help add value on the front end instead of litigating disputes at the back end. I am happy that I went to law school even though I am not practicing. I may decide to return to practicing law. It is great to have options.

I’ve had different challenges at different times in my life.  Going from high school to college was challenging.  I wanted to run track and major in architecture.  Trying to find a school that had both was difficult.

UVA’s architecture program had approximately 100 people per class. In my class, out of 100 people, there were only four African Americans. Being one of a handful of minorities was sometimes challenging.  When I was in graduate school, I had a similar experience except there were only two African Americas, and I was one of the only African American women in graduate school program. 

In any professional setting that I’ve been in, I’m usually only one of a few African Americans or sometimes just the only one.  It’s not a challenge that can’t be overcome but what ends up happening is that sometimes I feel that I have to work a little harder.  People have preconceived stereotypes about your capabilities. 

Sometimes you have to go out of your way to figure out what the opportunities are because people are having conversations in another room.  It’s not that people are intentionally leaving you out but you have to be aware and be really outgoing.  You have to express to people what you are interested in doing and how you can help so that you are not forgotten or marginalized.