Kimberly Evans — Thinking outside the construction box

“She ain’t no punk, I can tell you that much!”

So says executive director of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) Dennis Hickey, when describing Kimberly Evans, his quantity surveyor and project manager who is upping her game in a man’s world.

Petite Evans, 31, has been promoted twice since joining TPDCo seven years ago, and is changing the face of women in construction.

Evans tells All Woman that construction wasn’t her first choice; in fact, she wanted to be a fashion designer while she was in high school.

“I was a girly girl — hair, clothes, make-up, shoes, the whole works,” she laughs.

But when it came time to choose her CXC subjects, the St Hugh’s and Camperdown past student chose population-related subjects.

“The structure at school back then allowed me to do geography and other related subjects. By sixth form I felt as if I was being pushed in that direction. To this day I have no regrets.”

She added: “But growing up, my stepfather was into construction. Our yard was always filled with trucks and tractors. I was not really interested in the field, especially since one of his tractors crushed and killed my pet dog. At that time I completely resented anything to do with construction.”

But when she reached sixth form at Camperdown, geography developed into a passion. By the time she graduated, she felt confident enough to pursue her passion at the tertiary level.

“The first programme I applied for at the University of Technology was land surveying. However, I didn’t qualify for that programme. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when I received the news.”

Evans then applied to do the urban and regional planning course at the same institution, for which she gained entry.

“That course was a good one; however, it was very competitive, a little bit too competitive for me. At the time you would have as many as 50 persons vying for the same job, which to me didn’t make sense.

“I decided to stop the degree. And so for a short period of time I was a receptionist.”

Confident that she was destined for bigger and better things she later applied to do a degree in quantity surveying.

Over the three years of the programme she was able to hone her skills as a quantity surveyor and soon entered internship.

“During my final year, while I was on internship, I had to complete my thesis which clearly had to be fitting with the course of study. It was so difficult to come up with a topic and at the very last minute a light bulb went off. I thought of titling it ‘women in construction’, to explore women’s involvement and experiences in the male-dominated field. As fate would have it, it was at this point that the influence of female mentorship came into play. I interviewed Lucille Brodber, a veteran quantity surveyor, in order to get material to complete my thesis. She was able to adequately shed light on the challenges ahead and advised me on ways to handle it. I have been able to apply her teachings every step of my career thus far. Every time I encountered a challenge I would make reference to the information I received.”

Evans graduated in 2008 as a quantity surveyor and was quickly gobbled up by TPDCo. Her portfolio has recently grown to include project management as well.

Assigned to the Negril area, Evans is committed to providing value for money to her clients.

“My job entails accurately assessing the cost of the materials needed for a job and monitoring all the financial aspects to ensure that the clients are aware of the cost implications as well as being assured that they are getting what they paid for,” she said.

It hasn’t been all easy though; she has faced challenges, merely by being a woman in a man’s industry.

“I can recall instances where I would be on the site and would make a suggestion to the workmen and they would just brush me off. Then a male colleague would come by only minutes later and make the same suggestion I made, and the workmen would automatically take it as gospel.”

Evans and her other female colleagues in the field have thus found meaningful ways to support and encourage each other.

And she gives career talks to students, where she encourages girls to rock the boat.

“To me it’s no longer a male-dominated world. Women can find their place in this world. I believe things are changing, especially with construction. Despite the misconceptions out there about construction being hard, from my experience it is actually doable. I sincerely encourage women to think outside the box and pursue careers that are unconventional.”