Episode 11: Katie Briggs, PE eSUB Podcast

Power To The Trades 11 Katie Briggs eSUB Podcast

This is a special episode to celebrate Women in Construction Week. 

On this week’s episode of the #PowerToTheTrades Podcast, our host Rob McKinney has a conversation with Katie Briggs, PE of eSUB Construction Software. Our team is are lucky to have a teammate that came from the Construction Industry to speak with about her experiences.  

This conversation with Katie dives into how she entered the Construction with Clark Construction, why she made the jump to the software side of things, and her thoughts about Women in Construction week. 

Katie: “Clark was great because there were women in leadership positions and, you know, all the men and women I worked with there were supporting me on my journey. I never felt like there was any limit to what I could do. I felt like this guy was my, was limit if I stayed in Construction. You know, although I do understand, you know… for women in the industry, you look around, you don’t see a whole lot of other women especially in the field as so I think it’s an intimidating environment to come into at times.” 

eSUB Construction Podcast Episode #11 Recap 

Episode #11 features Katie who is a Product Manager for eSUB. The Katie earned her designation as a Professional Engineer (PE) and started he career with Calrk Constriction. She, like many people, went to college for a different career path.  

 The Meaning of #PowerToTheTrades  

“Katie “What it means to me is how it’s a combination of respect and empowerment for the individuals and companies that are building our structures and our infrastructure.” 

How has technology has powered the operations of Contractors you have worked with?  

Katie: “And even while I was still at Clark, that transformation did happen and we started using digital plan sites who utilize blue beam and it’s the… the inconvenience for the… the lowly project engineer. That’s… that’s just like a small thing. The big benefit is the time saved from everyone having to walk back to the trailer to see the drawings, the time saved from not having to do the rework when you’re using the outdated set or drawings. And so, I think, you know, it’s not rocket science. I mean, it’s… it’s digitizing workflows that.” 

Katie:  I’ve seen a lot of examples for contractors come to us and it’s that they’re living in some more organized chaos where data from the fields coming in through text message paper. And then the… the office has done a boatload of spreadsheets and just trying to keep it all organized together and making sure that you get paid for what you do. E sub then gives them the opportunity to collect that data from the field unstructured way through a simple app and then get that back to the office at… to act on it.” 

How can we empower the Trade Contractors in 2021? 

We discussed how Contractors can better empower the craft worker with technology. At the face of work level, some technology has not made it way all the way down the work line yet. At some companies craft workers use their personal smartphones to take photos of plans for reference or document work in place. 

Let’s continue to bring #PowerToTheTrades!

his was another excellent discussion about the changing workforce in construction and how to keep moving forward this year!  eSUB has a long history of supporting women in construction from our Founder Wendy Rogers to the current women such as Kaite Briggs and others who help develop the code of our product, support our customers, and lead our sales efforts. 

To all the trade contractors out there reading or listening, keep up your incredible work, and thank you for building and servicing the world we live in! 

Let’s continue to bring #PowerToTheTrades!