Make all of life’s ups and downs your best rollercoaster ride

Mas Construction Services, a mechanical contractor, offers commissioning services. Sherie McCarty, president and CEO, oversees turnkey projects from design to installation and commissioning. They have innovative energy-efficient, reliable, and productive design solutions that help customers reduce costs. Data centers, healthcare, life sciences, and manufacturing dominate their market.

Sherie believes her staff sees her as persistent, level-headed, and customer-focused. She prioritizes what they want over what they don't. In addition, she takes care of what they aspire to and what they seek to prevent benefit everyone and improve life quality. Sherie interacts with each employee daily and encourages feedback. Each team member works on their strengths to become team leaders organically. Taking children out of their comfort zones, she adds, can sometimes help them grow.

Based on what Sherie has shared, they are not a particularly large organization; therefore, communication and focus are not issues. Beginning their thirteenth year in operation, the company's staff has developed the ability to anticipate and adjust successfully to new challenges and changes. They share a trust and a bond that goes beyond the office walls.

After decades of using paper files, they finally made the leap to digital documentation. In order to make more informed decisions, Sherie says they should conduct a thorough search of all relevant files within 5 minutes, have full access to the preceding project, and analyze all lessons learned. They can see how each step of a project is going in real time because their customer relationship management software, project management software, and QuickBooks all work together.

Sherie says all their clients are repeat consumers. She always focused on the good. Over the previous two years, they have overcome several challenges. Her view is that a positive attitude will spread to teammates. Their full-time compliance officer monitors DBE certifications and helps with contract and project monitoring and reporting, business ethics and policy implementation, and diversity practice plans. She also possesses a Master HVAC license and is a CxA, and claims she is the only woman in the Tri-State area with both licenses.

Their long game is to continue to grow while only accepting work that they can complete successfully. Recently, they have been asked to consult with non-DBE companies as their strategic partner to oversee projects where they have execution and estimating issues. Their team will be reviewing those projects. Larger construction management companies are happy to have them involved because they know how well they can understand and talk to people.

Currently, supply chain issues have been unreliable for the last two years, according to Sherie. Delivering their solutions has caused delays in projects; however, communication has been key. They ensure that information is delivered directly from them to their clients. Sharie adds that they keep their subcontractors and other vendors continuously updated. They want to be driving the communication; it is imperative to be forthright. Some of the information is difficult, but everyone knows what the current situation is.

Sharing her views Sherie advices to entrepreneurs; don’t get in over your head or ruin your reputation. For her, "Success means dealing with failure." She advises them to accept the fact that failure is an inevitable part of the path to success. Control your feelings and take note of your sources of information and decision-making processes. The ups and downs of business are similar to those of a roller coaster ride. There will be adversity but the key to all of this is not what happened, but how you choose to respond.

Sherie adds with pride that, "Being a woman in a very male-dominated field has its benefits, and for me, it's my name recognition." Being a leader means leading the charge and being the voice of reason. While there are struggles going on, there are always good things going on as well. Appreciate the time with your family, pace yourself, and take note of those little gems throughout the day. "The more you can stay positive, the easier you can manage through the tough times," she suggests.