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Planning Your 9-5 & LLC · AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations

• speaker-0: Welcome back to AccessCo Leaders. I'm Ilyne Deliquina and I get to host this session with our students from Freire Wilmington, and our incredible guest, Kimura Anderson, who is the director of HR for Clemens Construction and also the immediate past president of Naywick, Philadelphia, Chapter 145. Welcome back, Kimura. speaker-1: Thank you so much. Thank you for welcoming me back. I am happy to be here. speaker-0: Of course, of course. Now we need to hear. what are you doing as a director of HR? And tell us a little bit about Clemens construction. speaker-1: So Clemens Construction Company is a general contractor within the city of Philadelphia. So how it's told is we will build ev everything but a house. So we do multifamily, we do residential conversions. We recently did it used to be a law firm and we converted it over to luxury apartment buildings. So we are small but mighty. and our portfolio of clients is vast in nature. from U Penn to Jefferson Hospital to Cooper. So we have a lot of different facets within the construction industry that we work with. speaker-0: Everything but a house. That's amazing. And that might be heart. That that's amazing, amazing. Now I would like for you to share a little bit with this group and for our listeners what it is that Nawick Philadelphia chapter 145 is. speaker-1: So NAWIC is the acronym for the National Association of Women in Construction. So our Philadelphia chapter 145, I served as president for two terms, 2024 to 2026. So now the title is immediate past president. Does that mean that I do nothing anymore? No, it does not. speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-1: So our new president is here. I'm still hand holding and, you know, right by her side, making sure that everything goes smoothly and you know, here is a resource. But The Philadelphia chapter basically is there to support women in the construction industry. Mentoring, we're working on a scholarship program, just making sure that, our sisters in this industry have a point person and can connect with other ladies in this industry. speaker-0: Excellent. Now, how did you get into construction? You're the director of HR. I have some experience in that and I always say that's all the people-y things, but you're in construction in that industry. Tell us about your journey into construction. speaker-1: So my journey into construction, it it really fell in my lap. my former supervisor called me about the opportunity from a re a recruiter. So I was like, well, you know, HR are very transferable skills. every industry needs HR. I've never done construction before. I had never done it. And I said, you know what, why not? I'm up for the challenge. And it is everything from recruitment, looking at resumes, interviewing. Onboarding, offboarding, benefits, open enrollment, company culture, you know, investigations, HR complaints. Basically, you are an advocate for the employee, but also you are an advocate for the company, and an effective HR person will balance both. So I do my best to balance both, protecting Clemens along with advocating for the Clemens employees. And I love what I do. speaker-0: Awesome. What I'm hearing is that you do all the people things, which is a transferable skill, whether it's construction, engineering, healthcare, that's something you can take anywhere. so thank you for sharing that detail. Now tell us how did you discover that about yourself? You know, let's go and really quick before we go to our students. Where did you grow up? Where are you based now? And bonus question what kept you busy while you were in middle school and high school? speaker-1: So I am a native of Delaware. I grew up in Bear, Delaware, born and raised in Wilmington, Bear, Delaware. Went to Dell Castle High School, I say the best high school there is in the state of Delaware. Some may beg to differ, but how did I jump into HR? So I went to Delaware State University and then I got my master's degree at Wilmington College, and I always said, Let me get everything done schooling first before I leave the state of Delaware. Left Delaware, went to the Washington, DC area, left DC, went to New York City, but that's where I started my journey in HR was in Washington, D.C. So the bulk of my background has been with law firms. So it's been legal marketing, business development, human resources. And human resources is where I found that you can encompass because my undergrad is in marketing, my MBA, Wilmington College, that's business. HR, you can combine them both. You can do the marketing aspect because you're still promoting company culture. So that means event planning. That means pushing out the emails, drumming up the business, the marketing aspect of it. But in Delaware, I was a cheerleader for Dell Castle. My major there was cosmetology, Delaware State. I became a member of Alpha Cap Alpha Sorority Incorporated. So I've been very, very, very involved growing up in Delaware. And most recently I just joined my homeowners association board. So I'm gonna be their secretary since I moved to Middletown. And I tell people jump in and get involved in your community. So wherever I am, I'm jumping in and doing something. speaker-0: I mean, I remember the stories that you shared about when you were even younger than middle school. You were out there doing things in the community and your church and now you've you're a a graduated president of a large organization and you're like, you know what? Have a couple minutes here and there. Let me work with, you know, serve in my in my homeowners association. Kimura, you Kimura, you are staying busy. Now we've given our students a lot of information to ask their questions, even though I know some of them are already prepared. Let's hop in with our student questions. Jhiada, you get the first one. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-4: Hi, so what do you enjoy most about your job? speaker-1: What do I enjoy most about human resources? Probably connecting with people, helping them, because some things will come to me. I remember a gentleman said, My son's about to go to college. Do you have any resources? Is that a part of my job? Technically, no, but I love helping people. So I did research. when scholarships opportunities or grant opportunities would come in, I would flip it his way. and then I started doing back to school lists of stores that would have coupons or s or specials, sales on things. So probably the most intriguing part or the part I love the most is talking with people and helping them. speaker-0: That's why we get along so well. Very surely wired. All right, Samir, your next question. speaker-4: my first question is, what is your top goal for Naywick this year? speaker-1: that's a good one. So, my top goal for Naywick is now out leaving presidency, entering into this new position, I'd like to get our scholarship program established. So when Naywick, when we start fundraising, and I'm actually going to serve as chairperson of what is called the bootball, the number one question people are going to ask well, what are the proceeds going to? So the boot ball was supposed to happen this year. But the scholarship isn't implemented yet. So I really want to focus on getting our scholarship program up and running. So our students that are entering into civil engineering, construction management, electrical engineering, architectural engineering, they can benefit or trade. They can even go into a trade and benefit from getting a scholarship from Philadelphia Chapter. speaker-0: Love it. You heard it direct from Kimura. I mean, there's some some opportunities there right in your in your area. All right. Let's go to Jonathan. Your first question. speaker-2: Hi Ms. Kimura. I'm Jonathan. Nice to meet you. speaker-1: Nice to meet you. speaker-2: Listen, could I could you take me back to a time in your career where you didn't know when the HR career would work out? speaker-1: Yes, I can take you back to a time in my career when I did not know that HR would work out. it's when I was in sales. And one thing they don't tell you unless you already know what you want to do in in school, right? Be it high school, middle school. If you already know, you know. Business is so broad. So when I left high school, I wanted to own my own hair salon. And I was like, okay, well, let me get a business degree because I should know how to run a business. Well, that's so broad. So leaving there, I was in sales. And sales, if you do not have the personality for sales, but now I know sales is across the board. It doesn't matter what industry you're in, sales is across the board. But with that, I was working for a cell phone company. And that means that I had to get like 400 activations per month or something. It was not for me. And I learned that very quickly. This is not for me. I like talking with people and it was business to business sales. And I was talking, but I couldn't hit the quota. I could not make 400 activations per month. So I learned, okay, well, let me see what else is out there. And that's what I like to tell young people as well. When you go to middle school, high school, college, trade school, whatever it is, right? Get out there and you start Googling and learning about different jobs. You can learn. How to do a lot more, let's just say as a receptionist or an executive assistant, if you want to be in an office, because you're going to learn what's in that office depending. But if you have to jump a little bit job to job to job to job to try to figure it out early in your career, do it. See what else is out there. You may like it, you may not. And that's the beauty of it. You don't have to stay. You can go, right? So that's when I learned sales and putting a Quota on Miss Kim, that's not gonna work. That's not gonna work. speaker-0: Right, Miss Kim. Yeah, no, I love how you touch on upon a couple of things there. Like figuring out how to learn more about yourself. Like, ooh, I like sales, but would you actually get into it? Are you really built for that? Do you have the you know the skin and the motivation to do that? If you do great, keep going for it. But I love that encouragement of like keep trying. And if it doesn't work out, try something else. This is what you're, you know, this is the season for you. Thank you for that encouragement, Miss Kim. right here, you're up next. What's your first question? speaker-4: Hello, Miss Kim. The question I got for you is what opportunities does the company offer for career growth and advancement? speaker-1: What opportunities does Clemens offer for career growth and advancement? So within Clemens, you have a very various positions, right? So I'll jump into project management and superintendents because that's like the meat of the company. You have admin behind the scenes, HR accounting, office admin things. But if you're a project manager or superintendent, you're probably gonna start with us as an APM, which is an assistant project manager. And then you can work your way up. You can go all the way up to the VP of project management. so it depends on what you want to do because the superintendents, they're out in the field, they're driving the work, they're working with your subcontractors, making sure the plumber's in, making sure the electrician comes in. But they also start as an assistant superintendent and work their way up to a senior superintendent. So there's different opportunities. It just depends on what you want to do with your career. speaker-0: Awesome. Great question, Rykier. Jaceir, You're up. speaker-4: How you doing Ms. Cam. My question is what do you need to be successful in your job, career? speaker-1: What do you need to be successful? I'm, you know what? And I'm not even just gonna say in my job career, I'm just gonna say across the board, whatever industry you're in. A couple of things, my top three things. One, you have to have drive. You have to have drive. Drive means you're not lazy. That means that when it's raining outside and it's cold and it's dark, I'm still getting up, I'm still showing up, I'm still going to work. Two, you have to have what's called punctuality, be on time. I knew that it was going to start today, 1 30. Okay, let me log in, 125 or 122. Make sure that the camera's going right. You want to be early because to be early is to be on time. And number three, you want to be open to always learning. Ms. Kim knew nothing about construction. So I could not come in as the director of HR. I knew HR. I knew that, but I didn't know construction. So I had to learn. I had to ask questions. I had to be quiet in meetings and take notes. Sometimes not even ask a question in the meeting, wait till later, talk with my supervisor later about it. Always be open to learning. And that's why I took this job because I didn't know anything about construction. And I said, well, why not? Why not learn about it? Always be open to learning. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-0: wrote that down three things drive punctuality and open to learning that's awesome Kimura how you package that just for us to all be able to take it and it's so true any industry and any point in your career just focus on those three and you'll continue to drive just to strive or excuse me to thrive. Jhiada, round two questions and I know you have plenty. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-4: Okay, what was your first job before becoming a director of HR? speaker-1: Working at McDonald's. I was a junior, I think. No, no, no. Sophomore. I think I was a sophomore working at McDonald's. And you know what that taught me? It taught me how to be polite. It taught me how to work with angry customers. I had a man throw a fish filet across the the the counter at not at me, but he threw it because he said it was stale. And I just walked over and got the manager. It taught me how to multitask. You had the drive-thru going. Sometimes I have to go drop fries, but my first job was working at McDonald's. speaker-5: Yeah. speaker-0: That's amazing, Kimura, What do you hold today that you continue to apply to your position now as a director of HR? speaker-1: that multi multitasking component because it's it's never like if you saw my setup right now I have three monitors up and I could not live I don't like living without it I like my three prong setup as I say it because I got something here I have another something here I have something here I can swing it over I can because it's always more than just one thing to do. If I have to read a resume or resumes have come in, okay that's one thing to do but an email is going to pop up. That may need attention like urgently. So let me answer that, go back to my my stack of resumes. And that's how McDonald's was the drive-thru, if I was on drive-thru, but if there were no cars in the drive-thru and I saw that the lobby was backed up, I'm gonna go drop some fries or help bag because the cashiers over there need help. So I learned to jump in and help, not just stand around looking like, well, they don't have me as a cashier today. I'm on drive-thru. No. It's called teamwork. We're here working as a team. speaker-0: So that's right. What I'm hearing too is taking the initiative, right? So even while you're there, if something needs to get done, go ahead and lean in and make make it happen. Those are the kinds of people we like working with, right? speaker-1: Yes indeed. speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-0: Samir, your next question. speaker-4: my next question is, what drew you to HR in the construction industry? speaker-1: Say because I didn't have a background in it and I wanted to learn more about it. given that my background had been mostly working with lawyers in law firms, working when the opportunity presented itself to learn about construction and become their director of HR, and they were very clear in telling me, you're gonna have to build this from the ground up. This is a blank slate, and everything has to be be built from the ground up. So I said, okay. not a problem. And brick by brick by brick by brick, you built I built it. One brick at a time, learning along the way. I'll I will have been with Clemens in April five years. And I'm still building another brick on top of something else because I've learned something new. So let me bring that here to benefit Clemens. So yep. speaker-0: I love that. I I love that illustration too by building building your office as the HR for Clemens construction brick by brick, but you professionally did not start from a clean slate. you had that experience like you shared with the the law firms. Can you share a little bit about what you took from that experience working with attorneys and law firms in a different city to what you're doing in, a large in in this in a bigger industry, I'd say, with with construction. speaker-1: So working with attorneys, you know, they they have their client base. They have, you know, they're still growing their clients. And the Philadelphia Defender Association of Philadelphia is who I was with prior to Clemens, and they are a nonprofit law firm. So they will represent you for free. So the bus behind the scenes paperwork that I had to assist the director of HR with was a lot of things like I9s, so that you can work in the United States. Your W four that takes the taxes out appropriately of your paycheck. you know, helping with other HR related things, benefits, paperwork, you know, so really the skills are transferable. It's just a different industry. So you got to put on a different lens because you're talking about a different subject, if you will, right? So if I was in the math class and I had to do that for math, all right, now I'm in English. I'm looking at two different things. I'm in English class now. So now, my focus needs to to shift. So that's really how it was. speaker-0: Awesome. Awesome. Thanks for sharing that, Kimura. Jonathan, your next question. speaker-4: Hi, Ms. Kimura. My speaker-2: question for you is when things don't go your way career speaker-4: throughout your speaker-2: in HR when things haven't gone your way what happens within your head and what keeps you going when motivation disappears? speaker-1: Good question, Jonathan. when things don't go my way, what goes on in my head? All right, so what did I say? When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. That's what I do. Okay. I'm not always gonna get my way. That that is life. You're just not always gonna get your way. So if you can change it, change it. If you can't, then learn to live with it. And that's what I do. there's really nothing in terms of Okay. So sometimes let's just say this. You will have a hiring committee, right? And sometimes the vote doesn't swing your way. I may have wanted to hire this person, but you know, whoever else on the committee may wanted another person based on experience, based on background or something. And I'm like, well, we can develop it here, and it just didn't go my way. So I'm like, okay, you know, because ultimately that person isn't working in my department. And sometimes I need to defer to the managers of that department to understand what they need. And I just go ahead and and deal with that. And it it really is okay. second question: you said when motivation leaves me, what do I do? Go work out, go for a walk. Like I keep I'm sitting next to my window and it's beautiful outside. So I'm gonna take me a 30-minute walk to get some fresh air, some sunshine on me, because that helps. And in working in downtown center city. I can walk outside on Broad Street, on Market Street, on Chestnut. It's the buildings. I'm a city girl at heart. I love the city. So looking at the buildings, looking at the architecture of the buildings, the sun and all of that, I just come back and I'm got a little bit more pep in my step, if you will. So that the motivation and the drive that I have within me is to be successful. So for me, that's what gets me up in the morning. And I'm a mom. I have two sons. So I have to be successful. speaker-0: Let's go. Let's go. Okay. You talked about not things not going your way, but how do you, what do you do to practice growing that thick skin that it's not personal, that this is just something, it might be a business decision. It might, not it's not personal to Kamora that this this was the response. How do you continue to grow more confident in that? speaker-1: Especially in this industry, and and that's where Naywick has been instrumental for me because we are the minority. We're women. There are more men in this industry. Some don't like the term a male-dominated industry. And the the word dominated for me really means just population. It's more men in this industry. So sometimes men have a difference of opinion and can can communicate it differently. They just do. To me, it's always business. It's not personal. It's not they're not attacking Kimura personally. I've never been attacked personally, verbally or physically, they actually made the attack personal to me. It's always business related and and specifically with a topic. And many times they have more knowledge than me in that area, in terms of, you know, it might be material or or the process of how it goes because I am still very new in this industry. So okay, I'll share my point of view. They'll share theirs. And sometimes we just don't agree. Okay. Well let's see how it works your way. And then, I just let it go. So I don't take it personal. speaker-0: Awesome. Thank you for that. It's actually super encouraging for me as well. All right, Raikir, your next question. speaker-4: Hello, Miss Kimura. My next question is what advice would you give for a c high school senior who wants to start a career in the construction industry? speaker-1: The advice that I would give you or any high school senior that wants to start a career in the construction industry would be to get an internship. And don't focus on whether it's paid. That's the thing. Your resume needs to get the experience on there. That's the tough part when you're graduating from high school or college. If you don't have an internship, you don't have any working experience. Me graduating from Delaware State. Okay, that's nice you have a degree, but I had no working experience. So I had to, okay, well, I'll look at the sales job, I'll look at this job, or I'll take jobs in the summer to beef up your resume because you need to get some work experience on your resume. So if you are a person that wants to work in the construction industry, go to the websites and call or email and say, hey. I'd like to apply for an internship and I'm willing to be an intern that's unpaid so I can learn more and get more experience in this industry. I guarantee you they are going to say yes in some form or fashion, but you have to get that experience. speaker-0: So we're gonna hop over late in a few minutes to getting to know our students. But Rykier, I'm gonna let you unmute right now and share with Kimura what you did this summer with your internship. speaker-4: This summer I internship with the Bacini Poland Group Real Estate. We went through different programs where we toured the Bracebridge building. We seen the the layout of it, how it's gonna outcome, and just overall run on of how the company works in Bacini Bullin Group. speaker-1: Yes, awesome. Very familiar with that group. speaker-0: Awesome. Well we'll come back around to Ray here and we could just spend a little bit more time hearing more about what his interests are. But in the meantime, let's go to Jasir for your final question for for Kimura. speaker-4: Okay. The question I have is speaker-1: In five years, what goals do I see Clemens Construction meeting? one, we're probably going to dive deeper into the healthcare industry, the higher education industry. So that's your post-secondary, that's your college, universities, all of that. we are going to still thrive as a small but mighty general contractor in Philadelphia. and we're gonna speaker-3: Really, you know what we're going to do? speaker-1: And we're in the middle of it. We're transitioning our technology. So I can see us really enhancing even better programming behind the scenes to help those that are doing the work propel this forward. So I in five years I still see Clemens construction being successful. I really do. speaker-0: Don't doubt that one bit. Well, thank you, Kimura, for answering their questions. This is where we're gonna shift in the show to spend a little bit more time on each of our students. We're gonna and and the students, this is your time to really engage with with Kimura, Miss Kimura, and share with her your interests and practice your professional introduction. So, Jhiada, go ahead and share with Kimura a little bit about yourself. speaker-4: Hi, my name is Jhiada and I was thinking of going to the University of Delaware for nursing. because it's close to home and I don't really like want to go out of state for nursing. So Okay. speaker-0: So Kimura, do you have any wisdom or encouragement to share for somebody like Jhiada? And she shared that she wants to stay close to home. So family is a big priority. And I know that that's important to you. That's a value you hold. And any any encouragement or wisdom you have about starting a career in healthcare? speaker-1: Sure. So my mother is a retired psychiatric nurse. And one thing I would say with nursing, all of the nursing students that I was friends with at Delaware State, they did not goof around. Nursing is hard. Nursing is a lot of studying, a lot of reading, a lot of quizzes coming up. A lot I think you all have tests every week. So I just really would say I encourage everybody to go away to school, even if it's not too far. I'm again, I'm from here and I just went to Dell State. but go away to school, have fun at school, but also understand why you're there. You're there for your education. So you have to learn how to balance it. Balance going to the talent show, balance going to the the circle as we had it at Dell State. That's what we called as where everybody corralled around and had fun outside. But also, if you know that you have a test. they're gonna give you the paperwork that outlines everything that's gonna happen that that semester has called your syllabus. If you know that, then you gotta go home and study. Sometimes you got to sit things out. So really understand that your education comes first before any type of partying or anything else. But that's a great industry to be in. And the reason why my mother said that she wanted to join being a nurse or become a nurse is because she'd always have a job. And that's the truth. Nurses are needed everywhere. They're never gonna go out of style. AI cannot take over the entire population of nurses. You need a nurse, a person there. So that is an awesome opportunity for you. And I hope you do pursue that. speaker-0: Kimura, you bring up we had another guest who is a nurse and she said AI cannot wipe a booty. So nurses, not that that's the only thing you do, but you guys do a lot. and we thank our frontline workers there. Jhiada, so you share that you want to be a nurse. Is there something specific that you want to do with nursing yet? Or have you thought about that? speaker-4: I was thinking of becoming a pediatric nurse 'cause I feel like I would do better, take care of babies. speaker-1: Very nice. speaker-0: Taking care of have you had any exposure or any experience or do you have an in with other nurses that you can ask those specific questions? speaker-4: my sister's like a medical assistant. So she tells me all the how to clean, do the needles and the blood work and all that. And just like ask questions about like patient and tell them like what's going on, what they need to like prepare for like the actual doctors to come in and take care of them. So yeah, that's just a a person I can like look up to is my sister. speaker-0: That's excellent. Awesome. Now what is keeping you busy now, Jhiada? I know that you're a twelfth grader, you you're you're staying focused in school. What what are the activities that keep that that you do after school? speaker-4: So I'm in like this program called Lite and they help me with my college applications. So I've just been taking the time on my day to do my college applications. I already submitted three. So and I just finished my college essay. So I'm very excited to, you know, move forward with that. speaker-0: This is something that we that Vinessa and I particularly we love hearing when our students tell us about their college application journey and then in the spring you get to keep us on our toes and announce announce where you're going. So we're excited for you, Jhiada, with that. So keep that, you know, keep us in mind when you start making those announcements. Kimura, do you have any other encouragement or wisdom to share with Jhiada? speaker-1: Actually, say again, if you can get an internship there, you know, I know healthcare is a little different due to the nature of what's going on, but if you can see, you know, even if it's at a doctor's office and you're filing paperwork or something, it'll still give you exposure to the healthcare industry. That would be really great for you. speaker-0: Good. Thank you for that, Kimura. Let's go to Samir. Your opportunity to share what your interests are with Kimura. speaker-4: Okay, so I'm Samar and my interest after high school is trade school. I went to attend trade school to become a welder. I've been interested in it for about a year now and I I think I really like it. I've I haven't really done much research yet, but I'm gonna start now. speaker-1: Okay, yeah, welding is a phenomenal industry. I actually took a tour of a welding program and the fact that there is a career path for an underwater welder, and there is a tank in in yeah, it's it's in Philly, and I had to walk up the steps and this tank that they actually train welders, underwater welders that come here from New York. all around the United States of America to weld underneath the water and bridges and things like that. it's such a one, it's it's a very dangerous career path. I'm not even gonna sugarcoat that because that's how they said, but it is a very lucrative opportunity for you. and the world of trade school is so, so underrated. I'll also say that. so for you to be a welder or enter into the trade school, understand that you can be very successful because one, once you get the skill set, they can never take it from you. So you learn it. You have it, you can have it, this is your career at nine to five, and then on the weekends you have your own client list. You open your own business, you have your own LLC. And this is, Samir's welding company, and you have your own. business portfolio going on that you can pass down generation to generation. But the trades, the world of the trades, yes, absolutely go for. speaker-0: Samir, did you take notes? Because I think believe Ms. Kimura gave you an entire formula on how you can continue to build some wealth for yourself. Now, Samir, I know Freire charter schools are really great about having your you you guys be t before your twelfth grade year do some internships. Did you get an opportunity to do an internship this summer? speaker-4: Yes, actually. Over the summer alongside Rakier, I interned at BPG. We toured the Bracebridge project. We toured underground and we toured some of their different hotel suites and it was it was nice. I liked it a lot. speaker-1: Nice, very nice. speaker-0: Samir, what did you learn? What was the most important or most surprising thing for you in your internship this summer? speaker-4: Well, I wouldn't say that there was anything surprising. It was it wasn't really that different from what I expected. It was just more like corporate. I'm I wasn't really used to being in a corporate setting. So that like made me like learn to be like more professional and just show up on time and be engaging. And it also taught me teamwork more. speaker-0: I love that. Well, you're you're showing up here on AccesssCo Leaders being professional, engaging, taking an initiative to ask us how we're even doing before we go on air. So you're doing a great job there. Samir, you'd mentioned that you haven't really started doing too much research on welding. Kimura, can you share with Samir probably the best first step he can take on researching that industry or that direction? speaker-1: Sure, I would Google welding programs, state of Delaware, welding programs, Philadelphia, or welding programs wherever you want to go. But if you're already here, I would definitely say welding programs near me. and I know a lot of you go with, you know, chat GPT. I would even put that in there, you know, I want to be a success for successful welder. Tell me my next 10 steps, you know, because Chat GPT and AI can get, you know, you go down a rabbit hole. But I would definitely Google like programs near me because then you can see what's out there and making sure it's a good fit for you. Because that's a lot with recruiting and interviewing the person coming in, I'm interviewing them, but they need to also interview me because it may not be a good fit and understand that you don't have to take, you know, what's just handed out to you. This is the welding program, and that's it. No, that's not true. Make sure that it's it's a fit for Samir. speaker-0: Love all those pro tips. and it's funny because we often have our students ask questions about AI, but this is one of the first times that I can recall that our guest is saying, Hey, I know you're using AI. This is what you should do with it. So hope you're all speaker-3: You might as well. Right. speaker-0: That's right. That's right. Jonathan, let's spend some time with you. Share with Kimura what you're interested in in your next steps. speaker-4: Hi Mrs. Kimura to wisdom speaker-2: So excited, almost forgot the question. Well, what I'm planning to do after high school is pursue a dual major in economics and philosophy. The reason for going that route for higher education is because I want to become an entrepreneur slash philosopher for my career. It's it's a creative pairing because I want I want to be able to engage in competitive intellectual thought while also creating the systems necessary in order to sustain my living. so in order to do that, I thought that that would be the best route for further education. Now, the kind of businesses I intend on making, well, as I'm an entrepreneur, is rather uncertain to me now. However, or rather unclear, sorry, not necessarily uncertain. However, I do have projects that I have thought of throughout my youth so far that I do intend to pursue. Once I am established enough to be able to pursue them. And I mean, you know, more dedicatedly, right? I wouldn't want to pursue the bigger things without being in the right place with, you know, the right resources and the right opportunity. one of which actually is a construction company. So seeing to seeing as to how you are d the director of their HR pro department, I'm very keen on gaining your exp not expertise, but your insight as to what makes a construction company great, essentially. So yeah, that's just a little about me. speaker-1: So you say you want to be a philosopher and what was the other one? speaker-4: spin. speaker-1: Entrepreneur, okay. So one of your entrepreneur stems, if you will, would be a construction company? speaker-2: Yes. So it would it wouldn't simply be like just the one company. the way I've envisioned it, it'd be more of a an enterprise of of construction companies within different sectors of the industry, such as the aggregate resources and the building parts of the industry, such as like sectors where companies are dedicated toward building industrial buildings or corporate buildings or things of that nature. It would be, I'd be putting my hands in both and taking up a lot of space. speaker-1: Yes, I see. Now, so I think for you, one also start going to the the well one, the chamber of commerce meetings. That's that's always an open door, you know, for you to start just sitting and listening and learning. two, I would Google construction companies near me and just start looking at their websites and what they do, like their about us section of the website, exactly like what do they do. Right, because are they so say for instance a construction company, I work for a general contractor, but our clients are within the construction industry. So your owner who's on the developer side has an owner's rep. So the owner's rep works with the so it it's so many different branches. And I think that if you just start Googling, real estate developers, real estate development, understanding like what that looks like. general contractors, subcontractors, trade partners, just learning like the lingo of construction industry and then start outlining what your path looks like and what you want it to look like. is it Jonathan Enterprises and what does Jonathan Enterprises have underneath of there? What does that look like? are we only dealing with healthcare? Are we, you know, doing full gut outs and rehabs? Are we building anything but a house? Or are we building Everything and a house, So yeah, just start looking and seeing what's out there. You don't have to have it all clear yet, but you know, have to have a plan of some sort and then tweak it from there. But that's so that's such an interesting dynamic you have going on. speaker-4: Thank you. I I definitely do speaker-2: I definitely do be more unique and diverse with my career. speaker-5: can tell. I can tell. speaker-0: You're definitely unique in that experience. We have not heard that combination. So Jonathan, thank you for sharing that. Rykier we're coming to you. Your opportunity to share with Kimura what you're interested in doing. We already shared a little bit about the internship that you had this summer. so go ahead and share with Kimura. speaker-4: Hello, Mrs. Kimura what I plan on doing after high school, it's actually quite two things. I'm not sure on which one I'm gonna pursue yet. But one is going to UD to study mechanical engineering. Cause I always grew up liking machines and robots and cars. So I always thought it would be cool for me to study that. And then the second route that I was depending on taking was going to trade school for HVAC. I only started one I only started to like HVAC. because my uncle was a maintenance man back in the neighborhood we lived in and he was telling me the simple things that I will need the start and if I was a if I had went to trade school for HVAC, I would make more money as a maintenance man in the neighborhood. speaker-1: So yes, great opportunities, great career paths. the mechanical engineering part going to college, that's really going to propel you far because every single construction company, construction project has something dealing with MEP, mechanics, engineering, plumbing, something. So if you have, and it's a niche, like it's it's a niche. that she would have, wherein as sometimes it can just be very broad, civil engineering is a little bit more broad. Architectural engineering is is the design of it. But mechanical engineering, that's the the guts, if you will, on the inside. So that that's a really good opportunity for you. And HVAC every building needs some sort of HVAC HVAC, you know? So what is that heating, air conditioning, ventilation, how all that comes together. I definitely would explore both, but I don't know that you'd be able to do both at the same time or you'd want to stress yourself out even doing both at the same time. you know, so I would see and again Google which one and look at, you know, the the colleges that have that mechanical engineering program. and then look at the the trade schools that are offering HVAC because with a trade school, you'll get the trade, you'll get the certification, you'll take the tests and all that. And then the the good aspect of a trade school is they're gonna want to place you in a job. That's the point of getting the trade, so then you can get job placement. Wherein as college, not all colleges, they they have a component to it, but you have to do a little bit more legwork to get the actual job. but then you have that degree. Now, does that say the degree holds more weight than than a trade? No, it's just two different career paths. So you just gotta figure out for Rykier which one do I wanna do. Because if you do the trade school, you can always do the the college education later. You can get your trade under your belt, start working, and then you can go to college at night. You can go to college part time. you can you can figure out how you wanna do that. speaker-4: th thank you for that information. speaker-1: Absolutely. speaker-0: And speaking of going, that I love that that discussion and some of that advice as far as go out, get the trade, get the job, make the money. And also we always like to encourage our students, find a company that's gonna pay for your, you know, higher education. Kimura, can you share a little bit about Clemens Construction; do you guys have education programs or tuition assistance? What does that look like in your profession or your experience with other companies? Is that even a possibility? speaker-1: It is. So tuition reimbursement is is it's a possibility. It just depends on if the company offers it. So Clemens, we actually have a partnership with GBCA, General Builders Contractors Association, and they have a tuition reimbursement program and they offer various construction related classes. So but that's also when you interview with companies, ask them about the different opportunities that they have that can help you. That's why I tell people when you go interview, yes, we interview because we want the job, but we also need to make sure it's a good fit for us. Nobody wants to go to work for somewhere where you get up and the alarm clock goes off and you're like, I don't want to go. Nobody wants that. It is not a good feeling. I've been there, it's not a good feeling. So interview the company when you get there. Hey, do you offer tuition reimbursement? What does that look like? Yeah, well, pay for your, bachelor's degree. You just have to, you can't get a grade lower than a B or whatever their rules are, So you take your notes and you're like, okay. And then you have things that you can come back to and look at. well, this company is good for me because they said that they, don't offer tuition reimbursement, and that's important to me. This company is good because they offer. Three weeks of paid time off and sick time and vacation time. It's all about what's important to you to make sure it's a good fit. speaker-0: Love that advice. Rykier, do you think that's something that you could you can step into? speaker-4: That's definitely something I can step into. speaker-0: Excellent, excellent. All right, Ja'cier, what about you? What are your interests? Share with Miss Kamura. speaker-4: My interest after high school, I wanna go into the trade too as well. But I wanna go into trade for electrical employment. I'm really looking into plumbing first right now. I'm thinking about going into union. 'Cause they make a lot of good money and I wanna do that because eventually I wanna start my own real estate business. So when I start that I can learn how to do the I can learn how to do the plumbing. So when I do the real estate I can do my plumbing on my own. speaker-1: Okay. Okay. No, that that is awesome. So you said electrical and plumbing. So those are two totally different trades. So for you as well, you have to Google, look it up, take a look and see is the electrical aspect the one I want to do more than this one, to start off. It's not to say you can't do both at some point. I just would not stress myself out trying to do both all at the same time coming out of school. plumbing, I remember going to Dell Castle and that was one of the rotations. trades that I was in and I had to solder the I don't know the pipe thing together and solder fell on my sneaker and that solder stayed there the whole school year because I couldn't get it all. But again every building needs a plumber just like every building needs an electrician. So it's up to you to figure out which one do I want to do first because both of them are lucrative opportunities for you. They're going to pay you well And then you can always open up a business on the side later once you get the trade. That's the thing. So you have your nine to five here, you have your business on the side here on the weekends, you know, however you want to do it to grow your wealth in a different facet. So that's a I'm telling you, Miss Kim just learned about the trades and how lucrative and how great and successful it really can be once I got in this. And I asked my boss probably two year, three years ago. I said, if I did my career over, what would I be? A project manager or a superintendent? He said, You'd be a superintendent. He said you would. And I really would. I probably would end up going to the trade school too. speaker-0: Now, did he tell you that based on your personality or just how he's seen you work? speaker-1: Him, I said in kindergarten terms, tell me the difference between a project manager and a super. He said, if you're building a house, your project manager is going to order all of your materials. They're going to make sure all the materials are going to get here for you. Your superintendents are going to make sure all of your contractors are here to build the house. So knowing that I need to get all my contractors here, my carpenters need to be here, my plumbers need to be here, my mechanical guy, all this needs to be here. He said you'd be a superintendent. And I would, I could so see. Pour in the concrete. Let's go. Let's go. So Yeah. speaker-0: Kimura, you make me look at drive when I drive by construction projects, like I'm gonna look at this much different now. Thank you for that. It really helps me personally understand. Now, Ja'ceir, was that helpful for you to understand from Kimura on her experience between a superintendent and a project manager and the advice of should you go into electrical or plumbing? Is that helpful to you? speaker-4: Yeah, that that helps a lot actually. speaker-0: Good, good. And you'd mentioned that you kinda wanna do this kind of on your own. So that sounds like to me that you do have that interest in on in being an entrepreneur. And just earlier Kimura mentioned, you know, companies do pay for school or make that money and then be able to go to school. Kimura, would you share a little bit about like what basic business classes now you have experience in in in marketing and business, how that could help somebody like Rykier, Samir and Ja'cier with with their interest in trades and Encouraging them to start their own business. speaker-1: Absolutely. So s one business class is it was called Intro to Business. So what what even is a business? Like you you start there, like why do you even want a business? What do you want to do with it? You know, because a lot of people, you know, I want to open my own business. Okay, but what do you want to do with it? and then that's where the marketing components come in, the accounting components, because okay, you're getting clients and you're getting all this work coming in. How are you keeping track of all your money? How are you making sure that your sales, do you have a goal for yourself up here? Are you hitting your goal? Everybody should have a goal in the art of sales, So your business classes help with that. I've I've taken international marketing, I've taken general accounting, I've taken managerial accounting. And let me just tell you, Ms. Kim hates math. I don't like it. I never have liked it. But once I got older, I started to understand it when it starts working with within an industry that you're interested in. I think that's when the lights go on. So even if it was nursing and you decided to have a nursing business on the side where you offered private duty nursing for special needs children, right? What what is out there that is is a is a industry that it has a need? That is not tapped into. That's the name of the game with business trying to figure it out. So that that's where, in addition to, your nine to five and and Clemens, we're union strong. So going into the union and Philadelphia is a heavy union city, definitely a good opportunity for you to have a brotherhood there. have men of like mind with you that are in the industry. You get you gain a mentor and get mentorship, growing yourself in that industry, retiring early. than, some of us that are still out here working at a certain age, so it's a good opportunity to join the union as well. speaker-0: Love it. Well spoken there, Kimura. Thank you so much. Before we close, I want to make sure I get to hear from each of our students and hear what they picked up from this conversation. So let's start off with you, Jhiada What was the best thing that you heard from Kimura today? speaker-4: One of the best things I heard was the advice, like don't be just you don't have to be just so sure about what you wanna do right now. It's good to like explore and you know, take steps into your career. So like the advice really just helped me today. speaker-0: Samir, you're up. What what resonated with you the most today? speaker-4: I feel like would you I'd have said the advice because I wasn't so sure if I wanted to go to trade school at first. I was still unsure. I was still picking between college and trade school. But you talking made me even more certain of me going to trade school and what I wanted to do. So thank you. speaker-0: Look at that encouragement. Awesome. All right, right here, what about you? speaker-4: what I learned from Miss Kimura today is that internship before graduating high school could really help you and that putting on your resume can really get you a job. 'Cause I did an internship but I did not put it on my resume. So that that was some good information that I did not know. speaker-0: There you go. Changing lives here, Kimura. All right. We're gonna end with here, with Ja'cier. We just spent some time with you. What's the most insightful thing you learned from Kimura today? speaker-4: The most inf insightful thing I learned today is that no matter what career you wanna be in, that you have to work hard and be into what you wanna do. speaker-0: There you go. There you go. Kimura, thank you so much for joining us today. What is the website for Clemens construction? speaker-1: Clemens Construction Company dot com. speaker-0: All right, well, students from Freire Wilmington, take what resonated with you today and keep exploring what feels possible for you. You've been listening to AccessCo Leaders and we will see you next time.