We recently connected with Madison Morgan and have shared our conversation below.

Madison, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I tend to jump into new opportunities quickly, which could be both a strength and a weakness. My career in mechanical engineering started easily, with a push from several close family members and friends, since I was “good in math and science”. Staying with the career was more difficult. In college, you really don’t understand the opportunities available to you in engineering. I jumped around internships, even trying to switch majors to become a vet halfway through (I’ve always been passionate about animals).

I finally fell into building systems engineering, which is a practical niche that not many people seem to realize. I found my place, and a mentor who helped me see the opportunities in this industry. All was great on the outside: a stable career, continuous learning, and growing responsibilities. Yet on the inside, I sometimes struggled. I could only count one or two women leaders in my industry, and zero minority leaders. I found myself helping women colleagues navigate societal “norms” that make women perceive they don’t belong in construction and engineering. I moved companies, only to find these experiences continue.

One day, after some supporting words from my first mentor, I realized that if you can’t change where you’re at, sometimes you just need to change where you’re at. Within 6 months, I had started 2BEngineering, an HVAC consulting engineering company. My eagerness to drive industry change allowed me to jump into this life changing decision full force in 2021. During a pandemic no less. I have learned more in the past year than ever before in my life. Business ownership is a mix of finding mentors to share their experiences, changing tactics based on mistakes made, and persisting constantly.

As a woman-owned construction business today, we MUST be better. More flexible, more communicative, more practical, more organized. I run the business to bring practicality to complexity in engineering. And as we grow, I plan to share the opportunities available in this stable career with students and young people. I plan to share my experiences as a business owner, so others become successful with less headache. And I can only hope that other underrepresented people in this industry see a woman-owned firm and know that they too, are enough, and that they too, can do this.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

At 2BEngineering, we create blueprints for commercial building renovations. Specifically for the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) and plumbing systems. I sometimes find our work to be more coordinating than engineering, as we must collaborate with an entire project team to make sure a building is built properly. Those people include Architects, structural, civil, electrical, and other specialty engineers. They also include the contractors that build based on the blueprints that we create. Not to mention the owners of the building who are expecting a brand new or renovated building to function properly when completed.

In this industry, we remain flexible to the needs of all the parties listed above. The blueprints would be our “product”, but you can also see them as the instructions or the recipe for construction. We must be able to collaborate, and we wind up knowing a little bit about a lot of things. We must rely on others who are experts in a certain area to tie the blueprints together. Contrary to what many people think that engineers may be solitary or introverted, in this industry you are constantly talking with others and working in teams. This career is essential to society; it is our duty to keep the public safe and comfortable in the built environment that we live in.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We are still working on building our reputation, and always will be. Word started to get out shortly after I started the business. I learned quickly that simply being known does not build your reputation – nor help you get clients. Nothing is given without being earned. I appreciate the clients who were willing to take a chance on our services in the beginning, and those who have referred us to others. I am constantly networking and trying to meet new people. By researching and cold-calling new clients, or by collecting business cards and following up with people. I find that having one-on-one conversations is helpful, either virtual or in person. I think the biggest thing to help build our reputation, aside from being cost effective and providing competent engineering services, is the continuous follow-up and learning about people personally. We are a service business, and people deserve to be treated professionally and with respect.

Any advice for managing a team?

When I started 2BE, I knew I wanted to change the way colleagues view the leadership. That can only happen with two-way communication and vulnerability. People need to be able to trust that they can say tough things without consequences. Additionally, we need to equally share the positive things in addition to constructive criticism. People will never know that they are doing something right if it is never mentioned!

The best thing for a leader to do is adapt their style to the needs of the individual colleague. There is no “one-size-fits-all” management style. It is the duty of the manager, who is privileged to be in that leadership position, to truly understand the needs of their colleagues. It is their responsibility to make sure their colleagues have a chance to succeed. It is not the duty of the colleague to be receptive of a manager’s one-sided approach.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twobengineering.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2bengineering