Mackenzie Hart, Self-Perform Senior Project Manager

My name Mackenzie Hart, I’m the Self-Perform Senior Project Manager for the Portland Office. I have been with Swinerton for about seven years.

Roles and Responsibilities

I am the Self-Perform Manager for the Portland office.  Everyday is different.  It might consist of a jobsite visit to meet with the self-perform foreman/PM and walking the project identifying any potential issues with safety, quality and production.  I review the production reports and forecasts with the project teams weekly/monthly and discuss opportunities and obstacles.  I assist during pre construction, helping set the schedule with the GC team.  I set the staff for the projects and support them through the project as needed.  I am trying to scale the business so that we can grow; being efficient enough to continue being excellent.

Pursuing Career in Construction

I have always liked art and math.  In middle school I took an architecture class and loved it.  I ended up halfway through my bachelor’s degree in architecture at the U of O and realized I cared less about the design and more about the buildings getting built.  I thought the construction process was so cool.  I ended up at an internship for a Drywall Subcontractor right out of college.  I really enjoyed working for a subcontractor for 8 years.  At that point, I was ready for more and went to work for Swinerton.

Challenges and Triumphs

The construction industry is full of challenges, but I do not view these challenges as gender specific.  All the challenges I will mention are we all face.  I do believe that being a woman in the construction industry is a secret superpower.  One challenge was a very large project with so many tasks, I was so overwhelmed.  I learned that 95% of my decisions were correct and I needed to make decisions very quickly to keep things moving.  Making a quick decision with a 5% chance of being wrong, was much better than taking a week to make a similar decision.  It built confidence.  Another challenge was dealing with different personalities.  Sometimes I don’t click with a person right away, but I will always try to turn that around.  The best methods I have found are:

1. I help you, you help me help you.
2. Kill them with kindness
3. give people the benefit of the doubt
4. I can control my behavior, I can’t control their reaction.

The Best Part about Construction

Doing what would be impossible alone: building cool buildings together.

Professional Growth

There are several memorable projects; ones I have learned and grown a bunch on, others that were very successful financially, all were VERY cool to be a part of the building process and watch it get built.  I always feel a sense of pride when a coworker tells me I have helped them in some way, or if we have solved something together.

Ryan Wasell, is my mentor.  His advice is gold.  We don’t always agree at first, but we always get to a place where we understand the sides and make the best decision. Jason Chupp would be my inspiration. Jason has grown the Portland office from 4 employees, without his leadership of integrity and his sense of humor, we wouldn’t be where we are today.