AT WORK WITH SUZANNE SPENCE, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

When I was in junior high, our math teachers found out about a seminar that U.Va. was doing for women in engineering, so we took a trip to U.Va. I listened to all these speakers and I thought this is what I really want to do, because I like math and science. I graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in civil engineering in 1986. I was working for the Navy as a project manager and an opportunity came up for a promotion. I applied for it and I got it and came over to the U.S. Army Corps in 2005.

The 2005 BRAC program closed certain bases and relocated them to consolidate and save money. Fort Lee (in Petersburg) was receiving folks from different bases all over the place. It was very stressful. We had four years to complete a $1.4 billion program to house all these people and their training facilities, their living facilities, their dining facilities. There were 35 projects. I did nine of them. The project manager is responsible for leading the team to design and construct these projects.

I've been a project manager 16 years total with the Navy and Army Corps. You need to be able to lead a team that has different personalities, different agendas, different goals. I live by the golden rule. You treat people the way you want to be treated. I expect someone to be a professional and do their job. I call them out if they're not. But I generally like to have a team concept where everybody is working together.

I don't have a big ego. People with egos think they're always right. I know I'm not, and I'm willing to admit that I don't know how to solve a problem. I say, "Give me your input. How do you think we could solve this problem?"

You have to be a leader, too. You are ultimately responsible for the project. The team members don't report to headquarters. I do.

We have a new set of projects for Arlington National Cemetery. I requested to get involved because it's such an important symbol for the U.S. and military families. I'm going to be working on the flame for (John) Kennedy's grave. To me, that's exciting. It's a piece of history.