Women in AEC: Wine After Work

Bryce Batts
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Wine After Work is designed for women who are ready to embrace their autonomy and take full ownership of their careers. Join us as we learn from one another and dive into meaningful conversations. In a landscape where women remain underrepresented across various industries! While I focus on the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction sectors, our discussions feature an incredible lineup of women from diverse fields—female founders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, creatives, and inspiring trailblazers. Hosted by Bryce Batts, this podcast inspires and empowers you to attract and retain top talent!

  1. 3d ago

    The Leaky Bucket: Why Women Leave HVACR and What Leadership Can Actually Fix

    Bryce just got back from Women in HVACR in Indianapolis, where she spoke to a room full of owners and managers about a number that should keep them up at night: women are leaving the trades at roughly three times the rate they are getting hired into them. Every job fair booth, every high school program, every recruiting push is water poured into a bucket with a hole in the bottom. This is not a DEI session. There is no slide arguing that diversity is good for business. This is a retention conversation built for the owner who has one woman on a crew of nine and cannot figure out why she is already looking, and for the leader watching a $22,000 replacement cost hit the P&L for the third time this year and calling it a fluke. Bryce walks through the real representation numbers, the four reasons women actually leave, the single factor that moves retention more than everything else combined, four shifts you can start this week, and a 30/60/90 day plan you can run without anyone's permission. There is also a self-audit exercise in the middle, so grab a pen or hit pause when you get there. For HVACR and trade firm owners, field managers, operations leaders, and anyone in AEC who is tired of paying to replace the same role over and over. About Bryce Bryce Batts is the co-CEO of Career Collective, an AEC-focused recruiting and coaching firm, and the founder of Bryce Batts Consulting, where she runs a 16-week engagement helping firms rebuild hiring, retention, and leadership systems. She has spent more than a decade recruiting in the built environment, is a certified career coach, the author of The Career Architect, and the host of Women in AEC: Wine After Work. She speaks regularly on talent systems, leadership, and women in the trades. What we cover Why women leaving HVACR is a leadership problem, not a pipeline problem The real representation numbers, and why the 45% growth stat is misleading What turnover actually costs, and why it never shows up on the P&L as turnover The four explanations leaders give, and what exit research says instead Reason one: harassment, and the 80% number that does more daily damage Reason two: isolation and why being the only one compounds everything Reason three: childcare, accommodations, and PPE that does not fit Reason four: the promotion path nobody ever wrote down The single biggest retention lever, and why most managers have never been told about it Four shifts, each with something you can do this week The stay audit exercise, and the one question to end it with A 30/60/90 day plan Key takeaways Recruiting harder makes a retention problem worse, not better. If the back door is open, more spend at the front door just means you lose more people faster while every metric on your recruiting dashboard says you are winning. The manager is the retention strategy. A positive relationship with a direct manager is consistently the number one retention factor for women in the trades. Not pay, not benefits, not the values page on your website. Turnover is a margin problem that got miscategorized as an HR problem. Replacing a skilled trade employee runs $15,000 to $30,000, and construction turnover can run 50% to 200% of the departing person's salary. It hides in overtime, recruiting spend, and callbacks. Practical barriers are operational fixes, not cultural ones. Properly fitting PPE, scheduling, and parental accommodations require someone to place an order and update a document. That is exactly why it is damning when they do not get done. Fix the system, not the individual. An arrangement you build for one person and never write down leaves when she does, and the next person fights the same fight alone. Do this week Pull your last three complaints and read what happened after they were filed. If the answer is "I talked to them," that is a conversation, not a resolution. Ask every person on your team what their next role is. If they cannot answer, neither can you. Pull your PPE and scheduling policies and ask who each one was designed for. Then go look at what is physically in the supply room. Name one connection point you can create in the next 30 days for anyone who is the only one on their crew. Put a date on it. Sources referenced CSG Talent, IWPR, ACHR News, She Builds the Nation, Construction Owners Association (2025), People Element (2025–26) Resources + links Career Collective: https://www.mycareercollective.com Women in HVACR: https://www.womeninhvacr.org Connect with Bryce LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryce-batts-recruiter Email: bbatts@mycareercollective.com Instagram: @brycebatts Website:  www.brycebatts.co

  2. Sep 23

    The Four Rungs on the Ladder: Why AEC Firms Hire Women and Lose Them Anyway

    Barb Allen spent 20 years on commercial job sites, starting as a carpenter apprentice in 1997 and working her way up to superintendent. She was the first woman her company had ever hired out of college for that track. She left the built environment in 2022 after a meeting where leadership told her she was "difficult to work with," then admitted nobody could say how. That meeting became a book. In OneLadder to Leadership, Barb names four gender specific challenges as rungs on an unsafe ladder: missing, broken, sticky, and slippery. In this conversation she breaks down all four, tells the story of the day she stood up to a guy on her crew and changed how the whole site treated her, and explains why "are you the safety girl?" stopped making her blood boil once she figured out what to do with it. This one is for AEC leaders trying to understand why the women they hire don't stay, and for women in the industry who have been handed feedback that sounded like a suggestion and only later found out it was a requirement. About Barb Allen Barb Allen is a keynote speaker, author, and 20 year construction veteran who climbed from carpenter to project executive and operations director on projects including $100MM+ high rise towers. She holds a bachelor's degree in construction management and spent most of her career as a commercial job site superintendent before leaving the field in 2022 to speak and write full time. She is the author of OneLadder to Leadership and hosts the Constructive Behaviors podcast. She is most active on LinkedIn, and yes, she has opinions about golf. Website: https://constructionbarb.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constructionbarb/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/ONE-LADDER-LEADERSHIP-everyone-ladder/dp/B0GT7MBTGS  What We Cover Introduction and how Barb found construction management two majors and one near dropout into college Day one as a carpenter apprentice in January 1997, and the tool bags nobody told her to buy Why the hazing started three months in, not on day one The G.I. Jane moment with Don, and what changed on that site afterward Backstage support and why an apology after the meeting is not the same as backup during it The missing rung: why women get feedback that sounds like a suggestion Whether women leaders are as direct as men, and Barb admitting she was harder on the women who worked for her The broken rung: golf, hunting trips, and where sponsorship actually gets formed The sticky rung: how the industry misreads confidence, and the case for humility, curiosity, and collaboration The slippery rung: unconscious bias, "are you the safety girl?", and the response that actually lands The conversation that ended Barb's 20 years in the built environment Three types of firms when it comes to women, and what each one is getting wrong What Barb would tell a young woman walking onto her first job site Where to find Barb and closing thoughts Key Takeaways If your feedback to a woman on your team sounds like "maybe you could think about doing this differently," you have not given feedback. Direct and actionable, or it goes to the bottom of her list with everything else that is optional. Stop evaluating confidence by who speaks first and asks the fewest questions. Barb's reframe: humility, curiosity, and collaboration. The person willing to say "I don't understand that acronym" in a room of twenty is demonstrating leadership, not doubt. Backstage support is not support. If you apologize to her in the hallway after the meeting instead of speaking up in the meeting, you were part of it. Look at your leadership page. If you are hiring good women and none of them are on it, the problem is not your pipeline, it is how you are evaluating leadership. When someone assumes you are the safety girl, the win is not the comeback. It is leaving them aware enough to ask the next woman on site what she does instead of guessing. Resources + Links Barb's website: https://constructionbarb.com Barb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constructionbarb/ OneLadder to Leadership on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/ONE-LADDER-LEADERSHIP-everyone-ladder/dp/B0GT7MBTGS Constructive Behaviors podcast (Barb's show): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/constructive-behaviors/id1685754635 Mentioned in the episode: the movie G.I. Jane (1997)

  3. Sep 16

    Architecture as a Society-Making Tool, Told From a War Zone

    Architecture is usually discussed as a service. A client has a need, a firm delivers a building, everyone moves on to the next project. Dr. Marwa Al-Sabouni makes a harder argument. She says the built environment is one of the strongest forces shaping whether people in a place trust each other, and that the consequences of getting it wrong can take generations to show up. She would know. Marwa is an architect based in Homs, Syria, who stayed through the war and wrote about what she was watching in real time. In this episode she and Bryce talk about how decades of zoning and redevelopment separated communities that had lived together, what she believes reconstruction actually requires, why identity and beauty are structural concerns rather than decorative ones, and what it means to keep practicing architecture in a place where the profession's stakes are impossible to ignore. This one is for architects, engineers, and firm leaders who want a bigger frame on what their work does after the ribbon is cut. It's also for anyone in AEC who has started to wonder whether the profession they trained for still means what they thought it meant. About Dr. Marwa Al-Sabouni Dr. Marwa Al-Sabouni is an architect, urban thinker, author, and international speaker based in Syria. She holds a PhD in architectural design and Islamic architecture, and her work brings together sociology, contextual and psychological analysis, and aesthetics to make the case for architecture as a society-making tool. She is the author of The Battle for Home (2016), Building for Hope (2020), and Mosque (2026), published internationally by Thames & Hudson, and a chapter-author in the Getty publication Cultural Heritage and Mass Atrocities (2022). Her writing has appeared in RIBA Journal, Architectural Review, Standpoint Magazine, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the ICRC Journal, Renovatio, Middle East Eye, and others. She received the Prince Claus Award in 2018, was named to the BBC 100 Women list in 2019, and won the World Monuments Fund Watch Award in 2023. The Battle for Home was named one of the Guardian's best architecture books of 2016, Prospect Magazine named her one of the top 50 thinkers in the world, and Architectural Digest listed her among the top contenders for the 2018 Pritzker Prize. Her TED talk has been viewed over a million times. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marwaalsabouni/?hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marwa-al-sabouni-44a07b21/ What We Cover Introduction and Marwa's background as an architect in Homs How the built environment shapes trust between neighbors What happened to Homs before the war, and what the design decisions had to do with it Writing The Battle for Home from inside the conflict Why identity, beauty, and belonging are structural concerns and not decorative ones What real reconstruction requires, and how most rebuilding efforts get it wrong Mosque (2026) and what a single building type reveals about a whole society Practicing architecture when the stakes are impossible to ignore Advice for architects and engineers who want their work to matter more Where to find Marwa and closing thoughts Key Takeaways The built environment is not a neutral backdrop to social life. Zoning, density, and material choices change how likely people are to know and trust the people around them. Beauty and identity are not budget line items to cut first. They are part of what makes people willing to stay somewhere and take care of it. Reconstruction that ignores what a place meant to the people who lived there rebuilds the buildings and loses the community. Architects have more influence over social outcomes than the typical scope of work suggests, and that influence operates whether or not anyone claims it. A career in this industry gets more durable, not less, when you can name what your work is actually for.

  4. Sep 9

    Burned Out and Anxious? What Your Food Has to Do with It and all the Food Recalls

    You've optimized your schedule, pushed through the late nights, and kept delivering — but you still feel like you're running on empty. What if the missing link isn't mindset or time management... it's nutrition? Valerie Hawkins is a nutritionist and self-concept coach who left engineering to help women tackle anxiety, burnout, and brain fog through the power of what they eat. In this episode, she shares the science behind the nutrition-mental health connection and her Self-Concept Method for making lasting, practical changes.   You'll learn: How your diet is directly affecting your anxiety, mood, and energy — especially under pressure The link between nutrition and conditions like ADHD, migraines, and burnout What easy and effective nutrition changes actually look like for busy professional women How addressing root causes leads to sustainable weight loss AND better mental health Connect with Valerie: valerieHawkinsnutrition.com | LinkedIn: Valerie Hawkins

    Burned Out and Anxious? What Your Food Has to Do with It and all the Food Recalls

  5. Sep 2

    Super-Architect: Craft, AI, and the Future of the Profession

    Architects have been losing ground for years, and the industry keeps explaining it away with fee pressure, schedule pressure, and software. Beau [Last Name] has a less comfortable answer. He says the profession's own craft has declined, and that decline is exactly why architects keep getting moved further from the decisions that matter. His case runs like this. When drawings are incomplete and coordination is loose, somebody has to fill that gap, and lately that somebody is the builder. The builder absorbs the risk, then reasonably takes the authority that comes with it. Beau and Bryce get into what caused that slide, why architectural education has to become craft centric to reverse it, how AI either accelerates the decline or becomes the thing that reverses it depending entirely on how firms use it, and what he means by the "Super-Architect" and the three characteristics that define one. They also talk about the fracture inside the profession itself and why a national focus on craft may be the only thing that closes it. This one is for principals and firm leaders watching their scope shrink, for emerging professionals who were never actually taught to draw a building, and for anyone in AEC who wants the architect back at the table where the real decisions get made. About Beau  Beau Dromiack is Principal of [Firm Name], a practice focused on mission critical architecture delivered with quality, efficiency, and craft. He has integrated design expertise across Design-Bid-Build, CMaR, Design-Build, and Integrated Design delivery, and is a member of AIA, DBIA, SCUP, and NCARB. He holds a Master of Architecture from Arizona State University, serves on the ASU faculty teaching graduate architecture, and mentors emerging professionals. He also volunteers teaching design to design-build teams at Northern Arizona University's School of Construction and teaches STEM based architecture and engineering principles to elementary students, including teaching tools he developed himself. He is the author of The Craft Advantage: Reviving Craft in Architecture to Build a Better Environment and Improve Influence and Super-Architect: The Future of Architecture, which is also available as an audiobook on Audible, Apple, and Amazon in five countries. Beau has been married 34 years, has four adult kids, and spends his free time backpacking, raising chickens in pursuit of the perfect egg, and baking in pursuit of the perfect cookie. What We Cover Introduction and Beau's background as a principal, professor, and author What craft actually means in architecture, and what it does not mean How the decline in craft eroded professional respect The craft gap, and why builders are filling it How poor documentation shifts risk to the contractor and authority away from the architect Why architectural education needs to be craft centric The three characteristics of the "Super-Architect" Using AI proactively to build AI optimized practices and new business models Why a fractured profession is a fragile one What a national focus on craft could actually reunify Where to find Beau and his books, plus closing thoughts Key Takeaways Influence follows responsibility. Every gap in a drawing set that a builder has to close is a piece of authority the architect gave away, whether or not anyone named it that way. Craft is not perfectionism and it is not slowness. Beau's case is that higher craft is what makes speed and integration possible instead of dangerous. Craft cannot be recruited. It gets built through mentorship, documentation standards, and leaders who actually teach, which makes it a firm systems problem rather than a hiring problem. AI will either widen the craft gap or close it, and the deciding factor is whether a firm defines its use proactively or lets AI define the firm. A profession that can't agree on what it is worth is easy to move off the table. Shared standards are a growth strategy, not nostalgia. Resources + Links Beau's website: https://dromiackinvention.com/about Beau Dromiack on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beau-dromiack-aia-dbia-ncarb-scup-310747124/ The Craft Advantage: Reviving Craft in Architecture to Build a Better Environment and Improve Influence Super-Architect: The Future of Architecture (also on Audible, Apple, and Amazon as an audiobook) Career Collective: https://www.mycareercollective.com Bryce Batts Consulting: www.brycebatts.co If this one landed, rate and review Wine After Work wherever you listen. It's the fastest way to get these conversations in front of more people in the industry.

  6. Aug 26

    Stop Playing Small: How a Clear Vision Unlocks Your Career and Life

    If you've ever felt stuck, scared to take the next step, or unsure of where you're headed — this episode is for you. Career and vision coach Carey Conley has spent 21+ years helping entrepreneurs and AEC professionals ditch fear-driven thinking and build a life with intention and purpose.   In this conversation, Carey breaks down why so many high-achieving women in technical fields stay trapped in survival mode — and exactly how a bold, defined vision becomes the catalyst for everything else.   In this episode: Why high achievers are often the most vision-deficient (and what to do about it) How to write a vision that actually changes your behavior and decisions The fear of success vs. fear of failure — and how to stop letting either one run your life  Practical steps to align your goals with a purpose-driven vision Connect with Carey at careyconley.com | Instagram & Facebook: @Carey.Conley3 | LinkedIn: CareyConleyINC

    Stop Playing Small: How a Clear Vision Unlocks Your Career and Life

  7. Aug 19

    Designing Care, Not Just Buildings: Healthcare Design and AI

    Great healthcare design is invisible. You feel calmer, you find your way, your family has a place to rest, and you never notice the hundred decisions that made it happen. Kristin Green, a healthcare architect at Earl Swensson Associates (ESa) in Nashville, builds her whole practice around that idea. In this episode, she walks through what it actually takes to design hospitals that balance operational efficiency with genuine, patient-centered care. We get into the human details and the hard tradeoffs. Why she starts every project by leaving her ego at the door. How ESa levels the room so the nurse's voice carries as much weight as the CEO's. What she'd change about sterile, all-white healthcare spaces. And how AI has earned a real place in her workflow, from generating exterior concepts to building a data-backed space program in hours instead of weeks. This one is for architects, healthcare and AEC leaders, and anyone curious about where design and technology are heading. It's a thoughtful look at building spaces that serve people first and still hold up for the next 30 years. About Kristin Green Kristin Green is a healthcare architect at Earl Swensson Associates (ESa) in Nashville. Known for her collaborative approach, she works closely with design teams, clients, end users, and consultants to guide projects from concept to completion while preserving the integrity of the design vision. A University of Cincinnati graduate, she is skilled in 3D software and driven by the belief that great design should be functional yet beautiful, inspiring, and timeless. Her process starts with intentional listening, so that the spaces she creates reflect the people and stories behind them.   What We Cover Introduction and Kristin's path from Cincinnati's co-op program to healthcare design Why ESa's single-office culture in Nashville shapes how the work gets done Intentional listening and the visioning session that starts every project Leveling the room so end users, not just leadership, shape the design Balancing emotional patient experience with operational efficiency The small details that change everything, from daylight to washers and dryers on the floor Emerging trends: hospital robots, pneumatic systems, and AI-enabled patient monitoring How ESa thoughtfully integrates AI, from concept generation to data-backed programming Preserving design vision across years, consultants, and team turnover The Arthur M. Blank Hospital and designing for timelessness over trends Where to find Kristin and closing thoughts   Key Takeaways Listening beats telling. The best healthcare projects start with a visioning session where the design team leaves its ego at the door and hears what actually matters to the people who will use the space. Warmth is a design decision. A facility can be cutting edge and still feel human, through daylight, color, and details that fight the sterile, institutional default. AI is a curator's tool, not a replacement. Kristin uses it to generate thousands of concepts and to build data-backed space programs, then applies human judgment to what's real, buildable, and right for the client. The first design is rarely the final one. Collaboration and early contractor pricing often produce a better, more cost-effective result without losing the intended look. Design for decades. Timeless choices matter most in buildings that may not change for 20 or 30 years.   Resources + Links ESa website: https://esarch.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-plummer/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/earl-swensson-associates/ Career Collective: https://www.mycareercollective.com

  8. Aug 12

    Systems Are Freedom: Fixing the Overworked Contractor

    Growth is supposed to feel like winning. For a lot of contractors, it feels like drowning. Derek Isaac, founder of Rapid Result Creators, spent more than 20 years in construction and real estate before turning that experience into a systems coaching practice for general contractors and home builders. In this episode, he breaks down why a growing business quietly becomes harder to run, and what to do about it. We get into the real mechanics. How to spot the frog-in-boiling-water moment before something breaks. Why owners revert to the tools or start micromanaging instead of leading. How to make new systems actually stick when enthusiasm gets diluted at every level below you. And the difference between growth that builds a business and growth that breaks it. This one is for GCs, home builders, and any AEC owner who feels like the business runs through them. It's a straight, practical conversation about structure, margins, boundaries, and building a company that doesn't need you in the room to function.   About Derek Isaac Derek Isaac is a business systems coach who works with general contractors and home builders to bring structure and control to growing businesses. With more than 20 years in construction contracting and real estate investing, he understands how quickly growth creates complexity, reduces visibility, and increases reliance on the owner. Through coaching, training programs, and live education, Derek helps builders strengthen operations, improve margins, and run businesses that are easier to manage as they scale. He's the founder of Rapid Result Creators.   What We Cover Introduction and Derek's path from contractor to business systems coach Why technically great builders struggle the moment they become business owners The frog-in-boiling-water problem and the early warning signs owners miss Leadership catching up to growth, and why reverting to the tools is a trap Making systems stick: buy-in, enthusiasm, and the implementation period Finding the bottleneck when the bottleneck is the owner, using the org chart Healthy growth versus growth that breaks the business, and why margin beats revenue Setting client boundaries with a clear "what to expect" approach Hiring as a system problem first, the Ideal Employee Profile, and why good people stay with good businesses The one thing every contractor should fix: their numbers Where to find Derek and closing thoughts   Key Takeaways Systems are the foundation that lets your people do their jobs well. They are not bureaucracy, they are what makes a business feel professional and easier to run. When the bottleneck is you, fill the org chart from the bottom up. Document and delegate the lowest rungs first, then build management layers as your finances allow. Margin beats revenue. A 2 million dollar business at a healthy margin has more room and more resilience than a 5 million dollar business running on 5 percent. Boundaries protect the business, not just the owner. A clear "what to expect" conversation earns respect and still earns the referrals and the reviews. Hire like it's a six or seven figure decision. Build the Ideal Employee Profile, go find passive candidates, and keep a database of everyone who ever applied.   Resources + Links Rapid Result Creators: https://rapidresultcreators.com Derek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-isaac Career Collective: https://www.mycareercollective.com

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Wine After Work is designed for women who are ready to embrace their autonomy and take full ownership of their careers. Join us as we learn from one another and dive into meaningful conversations. In a landscape where women remain underrepresented across various industries! While I focus on the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction sectors, our discussions feature an incredible lineup of women from diverse fields—female founders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, creatives, and inspiring trailblazers. Hosted by Bryce Batts, this podcast inspires and empowers you to attract and retain top talent!

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