Tell us about your overall educational and career journey.
I’m from New Zealand, and I received a bachelor’s degree in structural engineering in 2012. I worked for a year in New Zealand, came to the United States in 2014, and received a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.
I initially worked on the paving side of construction but wanted to do more. I discovered Lithko and worked for the Oklahoma City BURG from 2015 to 2019.
Was Colorado on your radar?
My first trip to Denver was in 2017 when I came out here for about a month to help support a distribution center project Lithko was working on for a large ecommerce company. Some of the Denver team members encouraged me to move to their city at that time.
Being from New Zealand and having lived in Oklahoma City, living near the beach or mountains again was appealing to me, but I wanted to see what happened with my wife’s career before making any big changes.
Why did you move to Denver?
My wife is an international tax accountant for a firm that has offices in Denver, Dallas, and Minneapolis. In 2019, they expressed interest in having her relocate to one of those cities, and Denver was a win-win for both of us.
Did you know you would stay with Lithko when you started planning the move?
Yes, definitely. Unfortunately, I went through some immigration issues in 2018 and had to take three months off to sort out my paperwork and Lithko was extremely understanding, which I appreciated. I felt especially loyal after that experience and knew I would stay with the company.
What did the transferring process look like?
It was pretty smooth. At the time, I was a Territory Safety Lead. I was based in Oklahoma City and also covered Tulsa. I had been in the safety role for a little under two years, and TSL is typically a two-year rotation. I was planning to move into a role helping with safety items on a corporate level and being involved in other aspects of safety compliance for the company.
When I arrived in Denver, the local TSL had just resigned, so I ended up covering the position for a few more months. I enjoyed the TSL role, but I was ready to get back in the field. It turned out that I spent about six months with the safety team after moving.
I transferred back to the field in March of 2020. I worked as a Field Lead, and I’m a Project Lead now. I saw some aspects of site work that I could have a positive impact on and am pleased to be in this role.
What stands out about Lithko?
We have tools and processes in place that are standardized throughout the country, and it’s easy to transition to different roles and BURGs. Lithko gives each BURG autonomy to do things differently as needed while still aligning with company goals and procedures.
The Project Execution Process is well thought out and helps create consistency across projects and locations.
Thank you, Liam, for contributing to teams throughout the company and country and for sharing your story with us!
