Meet Roberta (Robbie) Oldenburg:

With over 20 years of experience in the design and construction industry to her role as director of business development at Findorf. As a leader in the male-dominated construction industry, Roberta has served in multiple roles throughout her career, from onsite engineer to virtual modeler to business developer. Regardless of her title, she has a special focus on helping women succeed through mentorship, unique learning opportunities, and encouragement.

Lori: Why did you see the need to get involved or create these women-focused organizations?

Robbie: Well, I grew up in a small town with my mom. We had an untraditional relationship where my mother wore the pants of the family and stuff. And so I always had this female support person who told me I could do whatever I wanted to do. And there was no male work or women's work and stuff. And I was so fortunate. But then when I came into the industry, I noticed not every woman has that. And they don't have the support from other individuals and they don't know their value. So it was really important for me to get involved in some of these organizations and really to help bring up our other women peers in the AEC industry.

Kris: Can you tell us some of the names of the organizations that you've been a part of just so that we in the audience get a good feel for that?

Robbie: Oh, absolutely. W. Crew is one of the first organizations I joined, which was Women in Racial Real Estate Wisconsin. And then we have Women in Design, MKE, which is based on a bunch of my design partners and friends as I went to school for architecture. And that was to help us women to promote each other and promote ourselves and share all the great things we're doing. Empower Her is a newer organization that I'm helping with and assisting with. And that is focused on the craft ladies in the field. And then one other one that I'm working with is Women Developing Wisconsin in partnership with MSOE, which is again connecting the bridge between students, and professionals, and really empowering and helping women network so that they can grow.

Kris: As you've been a part of some of these organizations, how have you seen them change or evolve over time?

Robbie: Yeah, no, that's a great question. I feel like when I first started and when I was younger, it was more about professional development. And equity is a big word these days, right? We're trying to get equity for everyone. And so we're focused more on professional women rising up to the glass ceiling, breaking the glass ceiling. And now we're focused more, me being in construction, is looking at the craft or the women that are in the trades and how can we bring equity to those women, anywhere from childcare or just having the support or mentorship to support them. And again, we think about all of us being, I would say, office individuals, but we're not boots on the ground in the field, putting concrete in place. And so as these organizations, as we're growing and stuff, we're really diving in deeper to really help other individuals that may not have the same resources that we have.

And so much more… 

Connect with Robbie!

Linkedin

mortenson.com/ 

mccwi.org/ 

Connect with the broads!

Connect with Erin on LinkedIn and visit http://www.earthlinginteractive.com for web-based solutions to your complex business problems!

Connect with Lori on LinkedIn and visit www.keystoneclick.com for your strategic digital marketing needs!  

Connect with Kris on LinkedIn and visit www.genalpha.com for OEM and aftermarket digital solutions!

This meeting will be recorded.

Lori Highby, Kris Harrington, and Erin Courtenay, three Broads, bringing you

stories and strategies, exploring manufacturing topics that challenge the

status quo while laying the foundations for future success.

Together with special guests, they'll celebrate what's working and unpack what

is not so you can learn, grow, and succeed.

You want to learn more about your hosts?

Make sure to listen to Episode 1.

All right. I'm not a fan, typically, of bringing time

sensitive stuff to the topic of the conversation here.

However, today was a pretty exciting day.

Did you guys watch the rocket this morning?

Spacex?

I did not.

You knew where I was going there, right, Erin?

I totally did.

I was like, It's going to be that damn rocket.

She's going to want to talk about the rocket. got a rocket.

And I got nothing. I saw the picture.

I was like, Oh, that one doesn't look like a penis, like the last one.

That was the full extent of my thoughts on that matter.

But I'd like to hear what. You think.

I have a very personal invested interest

in just this because I think I've shared with you.

My husband and I bought a condo in South Padre Island and SpaceX is right there.

So we were down there and I actually

drove and I had my picture in front of the rocket.

So I was like, I need to watch this thing.

That's cool.

It was cool.

And I was just like, I got emotional

watching it this morning, which is weird, but it's exciting.

It's like this is major history being made.

I mean, the primary goal with all this

testing that they're doing is they get people to Mars.

Yeah. Wow.

I mean. It's awesome.

You are such a future optimist. I love it.

I know you are.

You're a dork.

And it's so good because

inevitably I arrive about the state of the world and you're like, Oh, my God.

The rocket, the AI, the robot. Everything's cool.

I'm like, Okay, maybe it is. All right.

Hey, we love nerds. Come on.

That's awesome. Okay.

Sorry. Sorry to.

Talk about the rocket. I love it.

No, I love it. I mean it.

I wasn't even aware.

I didn't know that it was successful.

I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't catch anything today.

I'm part of all these Facebook groups about rocket launches and nerdy stuff.

That's. Awesome.

Anywho, we have an amazing guest with us today.

Roberta Oldenburg brings over 20 years of experience in the design and construction

industry to her role as director of business development at Findorf.

As a leader in the male dominated

construction industry, Roberta has served in multiple roles throughout her career,

from onsite engineer to virtual modeler to business developer.

Regardless of her title, she has a special focus on helping women succeed through

mentorship, unique learning opportunities and encouragement.

Robbi, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me, L orry.

Well, it was so great to meet you and to learn.

Only that you're in an industrial space, but you have an amazing story to share and

you are a huge advocate for women in male dominant industries.

So about that a little bit, why did you

see the need to get involved or create these women focused organizations?

Well, I grew up in a small town in my mom.

We had like an untraditional relationship

where my mother wore the pants of the family and stuff.

And so I always had this female support

person who told me I could do whatever I wanted to do.

And there was no male work or women's work and stuff.

And I was so fortunate.

But then when I came into the industry, I noticed not every woman has that.

And they don't have the support from other

individuals and they don't know their value.

So it was really important for me to get involved in some of these organizations

and really to help bring up our other women peers in the AEC industry.

Nice.

Can you tell us some of the names of the organizations that you've been a part of

just so that we in the audience get a good feel for that?

Oh, absolutely. W.

Crew is one of the first organizations I

joined, which was Women in Racial Real Estate Wisconsin.

And then we have Women in Design, MKE, which is based with a bunch of my design

partners and friends as I went to school for architecture.

And that was to help us women to promote

each other and promote ourselves and share all the great things we're doing.

Empower Her is a newer organization that I'm helping with and assisting with.

And that is focused on the craft ladies in the field.

And then one other one that I'm working

with is Women Developing Wisconsin in partnership with MSOE, which is again

connecting the bridge between students, professionals, and really empowering and

helping women network so that they can grow.

How do you have time to do all those things?

I just can't help myself.

As you know, I haven't been working for

two weeks right now as I'm beginning my new role.

And everyone's like, Are you still working, Robbie?

I'm like, Yes, I am.

I have an event tonight, which I'm going

to have not topic of what's next in a

rapid speed type style presentation.

And then in two weeks, we have the Women Developing Wisconsin.

You are. I know I saw your name on the list.

I was so excited.

I'm like, Laurie is going to be there. That was so fun.

I'm excited for that.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

And it's so amazing.

It's such a safe space for women.

And we get a variety of women that will come and present and share their stories.

Yeah, that's great.

Well, and I'm so glad that you're here telling us about these different

organizations because a lot of them I've never heard of before.

So they're things that we can look into after this.

But I'm curious, as you've been a part of some of these

organizations, how have you seen them change or evolve over time?

Yeah, no, that's a great question.

I feel like when I first started and when

I was younger, it was more about professional development.

And equity is a big word these days, right?

We're trying to get equity for everyone.

And so we're focused more on professional

women rising up to the glass ceiling, breaking the glass ceiling.

And now we're focused more, me being in construction, is looking at the craft or

the women that are in the trades and how can we bring equity to those women,

anywhere from childcare or just having the support or mentorship to support them.

And again, we think about all of us are, I would say, office individuals, but we're

not boots on the ground in the field, putting concrete in place.

And so as these organizations, as we're

growing and stuff, we're really diving in deeper to really

help other individuals that may not have the same resources that we have.

That's so good. That's awesome.

That's really cool.

I think that the time has definitely come because

the focus has been on the professional class and equity for so long.

And you can't help but just think about what a different and actually amazing

experience the women, like you said, that are on the floor in the field are having

and the advocacy that we need to have for them as well.

That's awesome.

Yeah, it takes a team.

I mean, really, truly, there are so many

women that are involved and that are helping out and really identifying people

with different capabilities and stuff to make the best opportunities available.

Talking about this just remind me that

this morning I was watching Spectrum News to catch the weather.

And they had run, since we're all women in Wisconsin right now, they were

interviewing women fire fighters in the local area.

I don't know if any of you saw that, but Madison has quite a few women

fighters, and they were talking about Madison.

And then Milwaukee has a smaller number of

women, but they are growing and they're trying to bring people in.

And I always thought that would be a fun career.

I do sometimes think about, maybe later

when I retire, I'll go do something with the fire department.

But I'm curious, too, how do you see these women organizations as still relevant?

I belong to women in manufacturing, and I think 20 years ago when I was

making my way in a career path in manufacturing, I certainly didn't have a

lot of mentors at that time because it was such a male dominated industry.

Today, when we look out, I do see more women in the workplace.

Do you think we should be calling out these specific organizations for women?

How is that changing and how is it still relevant in your mind?

Yeah.

About a year ago, I'll be quite honest, I asked that question to myself.

I'm like, have we made it? Are we there?

Are we equal?

Do we have everything that any man has?

Can we have a seat at the table?

And I questioned all my involvement in all of these organizations?

And then I was out golfing one day, and I

was with a senior woman who was still struggling with some of the things that

we would have experienced when we were younger, whether it's masking or are

knocking the seat at the table, not being heard.

And it really resonated.

It is 2023.

And if we still have senior women that are still struggling, that's not a good sign.

There's no way we should still be at that point.

So it's really important to build that network and with each other and have those

voices just to share your stories because that makes a huge difference.

If you hear it and you know what that's going on, you can help to prevent it.

And again, it's one of those things that

was eye opening because for a minute there I was like, oh, we made it.

We're good, right?

Yeah.

I like that answer because I do think.

The.

Coming together and

having a network and empowering each other is really, really critical.

And I do think these organizations still

have a place, and I think they're going to have a place for a long time to come.

Yeah. I think that there's the advocacy

portion we're working on equity as we've been talking about.

But there's something about camaraderie

within your sex that's just a powerful feeling.

There's controversy around that, but it

does provide you with a forum where you can be vulnerable in a different way.

You can ask questions in a certain way, and that probably won't change.

And all of us have folks like you, Robbie,

to thank for that because most of us would rather just stay in our bubble.

And it's wonderful to have leadership that's keeping

those opportunities available for the rest of us to learn and grow.

So thank you.

I do have a question.

So why did you get into this industry?

Again, we've been talking about it was

unusual, it's getting more women are getting into it.

But why did you personally...

Let's say you're 16, you're like, Hey, I know exactly what I'm going to do.

What brought you here?

It's a little bit of an interesting story.

So when I was 16, I wanted to be an artist because I wanted to create great things.

And I also wanted to help people.

But I figured there was no way I could make money at being an artist.

And so I figured I could be an architect.

I can create things and I can help people.

I can do great buildings.

And after I got out of school, I was like, I'm not sure if I want to do details.

And how can I still help the community?

And was able to get a construction manager

position for a nonprofit organization building.

And after that job, I fell in love with building.

It is the most fun career ever.

And again, it's something that's constantly changing.

There's new problems you're solving every day, no matter what role you're in.

And when you drive past it, you can look

at the building and just be like, yeah, I had a hand in that.

That's awesome.

That's great.

I think that's something that all young people need exposure to hearing

from professionals, especially women that are doing something that maybe took them

by surprise, especially if it's in a male dominated field.

And it turns out they love it.

So that's a great story.

Thank you.

And it's interesting because so many of my

peers, ones that are maybe 10 years younger than me,

they're like, I always knew that I wanted to do this,

but they weren't coming into the classrooms and saying that you can be

construction was an option or construction management.

They're like, Nope, go to the design side or go into interior design.

And so we've really tried to shift that mindset by going into the schools and

talking more, showing them that women can be construction.

They can be an architect.

They can be engineers.

And then also it's just as important to

show those little boys that, yeah, women can do that.

For sure.

Absolutely. I love that.

I love your story. I love everything that you're working on

and the advocacy that you have for women is amazing.

So I'm going to switch the topic a little bit.

Robbie, why don't you share something with

our listeners that maybe most people don't know about you?

Yeah.

So this is a hard one because I feel like I'm an open book.

Everyone knows everything about me because I'm out there.

But one of the most memorable things that you might not have guessed is when I was

in college, my junior year, I traveled abroad and I went abroad for school.

And then my best friend came over and then we traveled.

We visited 13 different countries.

And in our adventures...

That's. Fun.

Wow. That's awesome.

As part of our adventures, we hitchhiked

up to the Arctic Circle to see Santa Claus in Finland.

What? Yes.

He is real. It is.

He is real. We went up there.

My kids will be so relieved.

We bungee jumped off a gondola in the Swiss Alps, which was fun.

No, that's. A tickle.

It was so much fun. And it was so beautiful.

You had the mountains, you had a little river below.

You're very brave.

And then we had this bright idea because

when you're in school, you have no money, right?

That we can just spend everyone stays up late and it's warm.

So we slept on the beach in Barcelona one night.

I do not advise that, but it was an adventure.

This is an amazing story.

That is a great story.

That's awesome. How fun.

How fun. Very cool.

All right, we're going to switch this segment, which I personally love.

What did we just learn?

So Chris, finish this sentence.

I just learned that.

I just learned that Marcus Sheridan has a book called They Ask You Answer.

So are you ladies familiar with that book?

I've heard good things.

I'm familiar with him.

He's got great stuff to say. Yeah.

So I was thinking about this question

because I knew it would be coming for the podcast.

I'm like, Well, I've been just...

So I picked up the book and I'm an early riser.

I have my coffee in the morning and I had read a little bit of something that

I'm like, I'm just going to read the introduction.

And I swear, if I would have had more time

that day, I would have finished the book in one setting.

It was like that.

I think I just needed it and I was ready for it.

So the premise of the book is that, and of course, we all know this.

It's something I know.

It's something we share with our customers.

But 70 %...

Let me back up.

70 % of the purchase process happens online before ever talking to you

or to your company or to any company before you make a purchase today.

So that's the big premise behind it.

So you need to have good content that answers the

questions for 70 % of those needs that somebody would have before

they would ever take a next step with any product.

So the whole concept then is that you need

to have a clear understanding of what your customer's questions are.

You need to articulate the answers to those questions

in the form of content, and then you need to publish that everywhere.

I think it was just a really good...

You know that I've been working on content for Gen Alpha for a long time, but

sometimes we go this way and we go that way.

And we try to address customer questions, but this was so very specific.

And the rewards of it and the examples and

the stories that he gave that I was just like, okay, we have to put this to work.

This is the way that we can be incrementally better.

So that's what I've been learning and actually working on with the team.

And we're trying to put some of this stuff into action.

So it's just that little incremental stuff

that sometimes we need a spark to point us in a direction.

And that's what I've been working on.

So I'm pretty passionate about it right now because I'm like...

That's it. That's right.

You're speaking my language there.

Hey, Marcus Sheridan, if you're listening,

we would love to have you on our podcast. we would.

Yes, we would.

So, Erin, what have you learned recently?

Well, thanks for asking.

Total departure, very different topic.

So recently I learned there's a term called

transition for families when they have a child that has a disability.

And what happens if your family, you have your child and there's a range of

disabilities, but they qualify for certain programs.

You work within that whole system.

And then when that child turns 18, you're off that.

You have to completely...

You have to find all new doctors.

You have to find all new supports.

It's a major shift for that family that there's no soft landing.

And it's just been so interesting to me to

think about how running a family is hard for everyone.

But then when bureaucracy becomes part of your family, that takes a major shift.

What a change that is.

So it's very interesting.

And just a shout out to everybody that's

dealing with that situation because you have my heart, you have my compassion.

Yeah.

What about you, Laurie? Tell us.

I can't wait.

Well, you got all this emotional stuff and I'm going to go geeky and nerdy again.

I know I've talked about GA for a little

bit, but I think I've shared this with you.

I do a once a month mentor chat with every member on my team, but I end the

conversation with them where they have to teach me something.

What a great move.

You're such a leader.

I love it.

So it's related to GA forward.

It's something I didn't know.

It's little, but it's like, oh, that's interesting.

And this is Google Analytics, that's what I'm talking about.

Basically, universal analytics is end of life very, very soon here.

And Google rewrote the whole way they're collecting data and displaying it.

First, it's no longer to be focused on the

user, but it's going to be focused on the event that is taking place.

And one of my favorite data points is no

longer going to be available, and that would be bounce rate.

And it is now engagement rate is actually

what's going to be replacing it because it's all about the event and

the type of engagement that is happening within that event.

So a short little nugget, but I found it fascinating.

Will the engagement rate be on each event or is it still for the overall website?

The page, yeah, it'll be overall site and you can drill it down by page.

But the bounce rate, because that would

just say someone was on the page and they left, the engagement rate is going to take

into consideration how long they stayed on the page, did they scroll down?

Was there rollover activity?

Was there a video that was watched on the page or something?

So it's catching up to how

people are using the web today is what's happening with the new GA 4.

Wow. Helpful tip.

Thank you. Yeah.

I thought I was like, Good job teaching me that.

I need to share that. Yeah.

Thank you.

All right, Robbi, what did you just learn?

Oh, my good.

I learned a lot about the three of you, and clearly you guys are amazing.

I have nothing to compare to what you three have learned.

I feel like I've been in a little bubble.

No, there's no comparison.

Oh, my goodness. No.

But seriously, I've been honestly, no.

The newest thing I learned yesterday was when I was negotiating to get my car fixed

that my car has two catalytic converters that I had to pay for and not just one.

And how to negotiate all the auto repairs on a 14 year old car

because it made more sense to fix it versus going buy a new car.

Wait a minute.

What's the thing.

They're stealing out of the cars nowadays?

Is that it?

Catalytic converters, they're really expensive.

You have two?

I have two.

Is that a concern in terms of being a target?

I mean, you get a twofer if you...

Yeah, I have no clue. I was surprised.

I actually looked online.

I'm like, Is this a real thing?

Because I thought there was only one.

That sounds like a job for clicking clack.

Did you guys ever listen to clicking clack?

No.

There's these two goofy car mechanics from Boston.

And so when they said car, they really said car.

And they would tell me all about their oddball things with their cars.

And I think this double catalytic

converter could have really given them some grace.

So I'm not going to pretend to be click or clack.

That is interesting. Thank you.

Yeah. Wow.

We all learned something new today.

Always something. All right.

Robbie, if anyone was interested in

getting in touch with you, what's the best way they can reach you?

They can reach me on LinkedIn with my profile, which I hosted as Roberta

Oldenburg, or you can reach me at email, which is roberta.

Oldenburg@gmail. Com.

Right, great.

We will include all that information in our show notes.

All right, this wraps up our show.

Three Broads wrapping it up.

We want to hear from you, so please reach out.

Thank you so much.

It was great having you, Robbie, and we'll see you next time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This wraps up today's broadcast.

If you're looking to shake up the status quo at your organization or just want to

connect with these Broads, visit mfgbroadcast.

Com.

Contact Laurie Hibey for your strategic digital marketing initiatives.

Contact Chris Harrington for OEM and aftermarket digital solutions.

And contact Aaron Courtney for web based

solutions for your complex business problems.

We've got a great offer specifically for our listeners.

You can find more information about the offers and your hosts at MFG broadcasts.