A Chat with Corinne Lawler, Superintendent at JE Dunn Construction

Laughter, communication drive camaraderie + success

By Chris Maday Schmidt

Corinne Lawler, superintendent with JE Dunn Construction, began her career with the general contractor as an intern a half-dozen years ago. She eventually transitioned into a full-time position as project engineer before her promotion to superintendent this past spring. Join Construction Superintendent as Lawler talks about the importance of field experience and relationship building with her teams, as well as the role she played on a couple inhouse committees, one thing she wishes someone had told her before she started out in the trades, and more.

(Q) Where did your interest in the skilled trades originate?

I fell into my job in construction due to my interest in bridges and roads in high school, which led me to pursue a degree in civil engineering at Clemson University. I interned with JE Dunn Construction and returned after graduation. On my first few projects, I was working onsite alongside seasoned superintendents. They’re the smartest men I’ve ever met because they were capable of doing so many things and they had tremendous people skills. One of them, Monty Bonds, told me that the best project managers were ones who had field experience. I knew regardless of my path that I would want to work in the field to grow professionally.

(Q) You began your career at JE Dunn as a project engineer before being promoted to superintendent. Talk a bit about the transition.

As I mentioned above, following Monty’s advice, I knew I wanted to get field experience. The intent was always to go back into project management, but I asked to be on Emory HSRB-II (my current project) in a field role back in 2019. When the pandemic hit, I worked predominantly remote and reviewed concrete submittals to support the project management team. When the concrete install started in summer 2020, I came back onsite to review rebar and in-slab MEPs due to the complexity of the design and my specific knowledge from reviewing the submittals. My team told me it was the most difficult reinforced concrete design our region had ever built – and I was in charge of quality control. I never thought I would be good at being in the field. I didn’t come up through the trades. I wasn’t street-smart or tool-savvy like my past superintendents who I admired. My team and the trades encouraged me to become a superintendent; I was promoted last March.

(Q) You’ve participated in a couple different committees during your career — share a little about both the PE Group and the Moment Connection and what role you played in each.

For both groups I was a co-leader.

The PE group is a relatively new group born out of our Atlanta, Georgia office with the focus of providing entry-level employees with a place to build relationships, grow professionally and network with their internal JE Dunn peers through monthly meetings. This was helpful because, working on construction projects, a project engineer is often the sole or one of a few PEs on a jobsite. PEs rarely get to meet each other or go for happy hour like other industries’ cohorts. Myself and two other guys inherited the leadership of this group from the founder and our greatest contribution was securing funding for an annual budget and expanding the group to include all entry-level positions, not just project engineers. We hoped it would combat early career attrition.

Moment Connection is a women’s networking group internally at JE Dunn that was formed to provide a space for this minority group to connect and grow. I was on the founding Atlanta office committee. We planned quarterly events for all female employees in our office and an annual regional event. The events ranged from volunteering, socials, financial seminars, guest speaker panels, etc. Women are still a minority of the workforce in construction and it was amazing to be a part of kickstarting this group to connect our female employees across various positions and projects.

(Q) What has proved the biggest challenge you’ve encountered as a superintendent? How did you solve it?

Communication – in two different ways. For the first challenge, I have to be able to communicate the schedule, which is ever-changing and not built just by me, but rather with all the trades as a team. I use color-coded scheduling boards combined with highlighted drawings as part of our daily stand ups to build the plan with my foreman. The second, more difficult, challenge is managing personalities and learning how to motivate people. I don’t have a temper or use anger to motivate those around me (which works for some people). My style is more like a disappointed parent – “you can do better than this and we both know it.” The follow-up communication that I had to learn is detailing exactly what your expectation is for correction and to literally follow up. “Trust, but verify” is a very common saying in construction. Every superintendent, myself included, has been burned by not back-checking work.

(Q) Of the projects you’ve supervised, which one stands out? Why?

My current project, Emory HSRB-II, is the only one I’ve been a superintendent on. However, I’ve changed roles within the project. The role that stands out was running the concrete and rebar quality. At that point in my career, I still thought the field role was a stint for me. I never thought I would be good as a superintendent and I did not expect to be respected by the trades, partially because of my gender, but more so because I’m book-smart and not street-smart. I was surprised and proven wrong when I grew close with my rod-busting crew (rebar installers), especially the foreman Julio. I gained his respect by solving problems, making game-time decisions, owning my mistakes and communicating with him and the crew like they were teammates in this challenge with me. I also used my old Spanish-speaking skills from college to communicate and bond. The crew used to tell me “todo va a salir bien” which means “everything is going to be fine.” It was the most complex part of the project at the time and the camaraderie helped us succeed.

(Q) What do you wish someone had told you before you started out in the trades?

You will make a plan and your plan will fail. You’ll re-work the plan to improve it and your plan will fail again, sometimes in the same way due to factors you can’t control (e.g., weather). Instead of falling into a negative headspace of failure, you have to pick up the pieces of the plan, address the problems and plan again until it works. There is no one right answer. You will not get it right the first time usually, and construction is a lot more creative problem-solving than you realize.

(Q) Where do you see yourself in another five and 10 years in the future?

My career path has been atypical and unexpected and I imagine it will continue to be a surprise to me. I don’t see myself staying in field supervision for the rest of my career, but I think field experience is invaluable to any young construction professional regardless of the path they choose. One takeaway I have from my field experience already is that I’m interested in the technology superintendents are equipped with. Construction is becoming slowly, but increasingly tech-savvy, and I would love to help future superintendents build with more helpful tech than what I have access to now.

(Q) Favorite tech tool and why?

BIM modeling has been the difference-maker in my opinion. The current project I’m working on would not be constructible without 3D modeling of the overhead MEPs. BIM modeling also helps clarify design intents that are hard to grasp in a 2D drawing. When construction professionals first get a set of plans, they start building it in their heads. If I struggle to imagine how something will be built, I either draw it out in 3D or consult the BIM model. It’s a game-changer. Looking ahead, I’m excited about the innovation coming from 3D printing and automation in construction.

(Q) What’s the most helpful advice you’ve received in your career that you would pass on to an aspiring superintendent?

Be sure to laugh every day. Superintendents work long hours, often fire-fighting problems or dealing with difficult people. You have to laugh and not take anything home with you.

(Q) What’s a little-known fact you can share with Construction Superintendent readers?

I’m an active member of my local gym and coach fitness classes there a few times a month. I’m known for my themed playlists, especially around holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day.

(Q) What do you enjoy doing when you’re not on the jobsite?

I have a very active friend group that mostly formed from our local gym. I spend my free time with my boyfriend and friends – one of our favorite things to do is play grass volleyball at a local park in the summertime.