WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION — Western Canadian Construction Industry ALL WEATHER WINDOWS’ CARRIE PEDERSEN Enjoying the window and door industry's complexity and challenges Canadian Design and Construction Report special feature Carrie Pedersen brings a business degree and a will- ingness to adapt to her Calgary-area new construction sales responsibilities with All Weather Windows, Canada’s largest privately-owned window and door man- ufacturer. Pedersen graduated with a business diploma 13 years ago. She joined the window and door industry and has never looked back. “I quickly fell into the complexity of the industry,” she said. “The technical information, the fact things are always changing… makes my work dy- namic and exciting.” While she works mostly with men, she says a female manager originally hired her and helped pave the way. “She was strong and driven and wonderful and I could see her struggles with upper management. I know the work she did made it easier for me.” Pedersen started out working with home owners and small contractors. She moved into management and later returned to her sales roots. She says many people have been surprised to see a woman in sales. There were understated challenges. She believes she had more to prove to her customers than her male counterparts. Possibly these challenges occurred because of the lack of women in the business, or because few had achieved higher success levels. “I had one manager tell me girls don’t work in this industry and another who said female candidates were often stronger because they tended to have better organizational skills,” she says. Pedersen’s advice to women considering a career in the field is to trust yourself and your knowledge, to be extroverted and thick- skinned. “In sales you hear a lot of ‘no’ so you have to be able to get past that regardless of who you are,” she says. “As a woman you will come up against someone who will judge or doubt you but remember every man has a wife or a mother or a sister. You can and have to find ways to relate.” Looking for a change in her career, Pedersen joined 40 – Spring 2014 — The Canadian Design and Construction Report Carrie Pedersen All Weather. She says the company’s family dynamic and its community involvement with organizations like Habi- tat for Humanity were important. “All Weather understands women are strong multi- taskers with the ability to balance family and work. As a company they also support the idea of family first. I see male co-workers taking advantage of this as well which is great,” she says. Pedersen says the networking and so- cial aspects are important to her job. She uses the Calgary Home Builders’ Association’s events and mentorship opportunities to stay connected and to grow. Within All Weather, daily discussions with her team, sharing infor- mation and questions, keeps everyone con- nected and informed. “This is a fun, exciting and dynamic industry. I like see- ing media coverage like this because it shows the many faces of women in the industry and shares their different stories. It opens the door to women considering career options and empowers them to reach for success in the industry.”