The moment two men wearing hard hats and carrying drawings walked into a third grade classroom for Career Day was precisely when Kelly Mejia decided she wanted to be a part of the construction industry when she grew up. Now at the age of 24, Kelly is a Balfour Beatty project engineer with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida (UF), a Master in Construction Management from Florida International University (FIU), holds a General Contractor license, has her LEED Green Associate credentials and is a member of the Miami Chamber of Commerce. And that’s just the beginning.
Kelly is passionate about setting goals and working relentlessly to achieve them. “I always ask myself what I can do to improve myself and make myself more knowledgeable,” said Kelly. “I picture what I want to be and then I work toward that until I get there.”
Right now she’s picturing her email signature block with ‘LEED AP BD+C’ following her name. You can mark this one on your calendar – she’ll take the test before December 31. Her five-year goal is to be a project manager ideally working on a hospital project. Her interest in healthcare stems from the consistent demand for such facilities as well as learning about the challenging projects from veteran Balfour Beatty general superintendent, Steve Nielsen, who has more than 37 years industry experience and 20 healthcare projects under his tool belt.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone this young with so many significant achievements. She’s extremely motivated and has an exceptional work ethic,” said Steve. “I tell the guys all the time that they better be nice to her because she’ll probably be their boss one day!”
