As our resident Smartsheet subject matter expert (SME), Emily’s in the unique position of advising nearly every Webcor department—IT, Sustainability, Quality, active projects, her own Safety teammates, etc.— on the smartest ways to use Smartsheet to meet their project goals.
“I love working with my teammates and our various projects and departments to see where I can automate work, identify trends, and make the safety aspect of project leaders’ jobs a little easier,” she says. “I hate wasted time, so I’m always looking at ways to streamline tasks and take some items off everyone’s plates.”
Prior to Webcor, Emily never imagined she’d be working her “dream job” in the construction industry. Before joining Webcor’s Safety team, she designed Smartsheet systems for a 500-person mental health practice with the goal of improving client outcomes, reducing worker injuries, and improving process efficiency through data collection and analysis—all of which she explained to Safety Director Mario Rodriguez during her interview for Webcor’s safety coordinator role.
It was music to his ears. Immediately, he asked how she’d feel about taking on Webcor SAFE, a homegrown safety app based in Smartsheet that’s designed to provide Webcorians and trade partners instant access to safety-related data without any of the administrative barriers inherent in third-party apps.
To Emily, the opportunity seemed too good to be true. “I’d previously told my husband, Superintendent Justin Schmitt (who, along with former Webcorian Kristin Paulazzo, had referred Emily to Webcor) that making a career out of working in Smartsheet would be my dream job. Now, I’ve seen that dream come true!”
Soon after the interview, Mario offered Emily the role of safety department manager responsible for the continued development of Webcor SAFE. She accepted in February 2022—and the rest is history.
“Since joining the team, Emily’s made a major impact on the Safety department,” says Regional Safety Director Brandon Hagerman. “She’s dramatically improved Webcor SAFE and is currently working on a 2.0 version with even more improvements. She’s also worked diligently with HR on transitioning and saving safety trainings in Workday’s platform. Everyone in Safety understands that we’re lucky to have her.”
Although transitioning from the mental health world to construction came with some changes, the central goal of Emily’s role remained the same: to determine the root cause of problems (particularly safety-related ones) and strategize solutions through Smartsheet.
“It took some time to adjust to the different safety hazards at work, but once I understood everything we were doing at Webcor, I was able to dive in and look at places where I could shine some light on our industry trends,” she says.
Still, adapting to a new industry inevitably came with its challenges. The learning curve quickly forced Emily to abandon her comfort zone and ask questions that she was convinced were obvious to everyone but her. Although she’d grasped some of the basics from Justin, she still had plenty to learn—the work being performed, all the regulatory aspects, and general industry knowledge.
Fortunately, her teammates welcomed her questions with patience and enthusiasm, knowing the more she learned about the field, the more impactful her work would be.
“Emily’s continued to be a reliable source of support for our Safety team,” says Safety Manager Clara de Lara. “Whenever we have a ‘hot’ item that needs attention, she does everything she can to take care of it. Her positive attitude continues to foster morale not just within the Safety department, but all the other departments she supports.”
Currently, Emily’s pouring her energy into Webcor SAFE 2.0—a new version of Webcor’s safety app that she’s building from the ground-up. Her days are spent analyzing lessons learned from the original Webcor SAFE and strategizing how to maximize Smartsheet’s capabilities, which have significantly improved and expanded since the project launched several years ago.
Her Safety teammates have been dedicated partners throughout the process, taking the time to test the app, provide thoughtful feedback, and share innovative ideas to ensure Webcor SAFE 2.0 is as efficient and effective as it can be.
“It’s a huge undertaking with a lot of unchartered territory for me, but it’s also been the most rewarding experience of my career,” Emily says. “Webcor SAFE is truly making a difference in our culture. Offering a system that Webcorians, our subcontractors, and our JV partners can easily access engages every aspect of our projects in our mission of safety. I feel like the work I’m doing every day is important and hopefully, improving the lives of our teams in the field.”
To Emily, the fact that Mario has championed her ownership of such a groundbreaking initiative since the very beginning speaks volumes about Webcor’s commitment to innovation (as well as our core value of Trust). And although she may still be considered new to the industry, she’s been immersed in the day-to-day long enough to know that innovation is essential to the continued success of any construction company. Through Webcor SAFE, she hopes to inspire more Webcorians to think creatively and go beyond what our competitors are doing.
“It’s easy to grab an off-the-shelf item, but if we want to have the best safety culture, we need to do what no one else is doing,” she says. “That’s what I love most about Webcor SAFE. Unlike the general contractors using third-party safety apps, we’re not confined to the limitations of a vendor. We can see a problem and implement a solution within days without having to wait for someone else to help us.”
“Emily’s always focused on improving the processes we have in place and looking for better practices,” Brandon says. “She’s very dedicated. Everyone in the Safety department appreciates her contributions sand truly enjoys working with her.”
When Webcor’s internal Smartsheet Committee caught wind of Emily’s work on Webcor SAFE, it didn’t take long for them to recruit her and eventually name her the committee’s co-lead alongside Project Director Ted Williams. Today, she’s Webcor’s official Smartsheet SME.
Once she was named an SME, the requests for her expertise started coming in—fast. Tackling the onslaught of requests from Quality, Sustainability, active projects, and more opened her eyes to the breadth of opportunities she had to grow within her new “dream job.”
“There’s never a dull moment,” she says. “I can honestly say I never get the ‘Sunday scaries’ because I know the week is going to bring a new and exciting challenge.”
So far, she’s worked with HR on safety trainings, Technology on Smartsheet, Sustainability on its waste-tracking system, and Quality on its quality management system—her second-most ambitious Smartsheet project to date, after Webcor SAFE. She was connected to the opportunity by former Webcorian Solomon Tsegay, an assistant quality manager she met through the Smartsheet Committee.
Since Solomon’s departure, Emily’s partnered closely with Assistant Quality Manger Erika Chavez on reinvigorating our quality management system (now called Webcor QUALITY) by bringing it up to par with Webcor SAFE. Once complete, Webcor QUALITY will streamline and standardize the way Webcorians view and manage quality on every project.
“My promotion to Department Support Manager for Safety and Quality has allowed me to really run with the plans I had in my head for improving Webcor SAFE and QUALITY—our two largest Smartsheet systems,” Emily says. “It’s been an interesting project for me because I started working on the system before I knew anything about quality. It feels like I’m riding a bike backwards, but everything comes into focus a little more every day!”
Every year, Safety Week coincides with the first week of Mental Health Awareness Month—a topic particularly relevant in construction, where suicide is rampant.
The severity of our industry’s mental health crisis stunned Emily, who’s long advocated for normalizing the conversation around mental health and wellness. For the last two years, she’s been a member of Webcor’s internal Mental Wellness Committee, where she works closely with Total Rewards and Employee Experience on strategizing practical ways to support our field teams’ mental health and foster psychological safety on job sites.
“Having a husband in the industry has really helped me understand the level of stress our teams are under and why the mental health crisis is so prevalent,” she says. “This is a demanding industry with surprises at every turn that have huge physical and financial ramifications if not handled properly.
“Not only does our craft workforce face these struggles every day, but our field supervisors also carry a huge weight in this. The pressure to be tough and not let emotions ‘get in the way’ of the job comes with both our craft and supervisory roles.”
That pressure has cost thousands of lives. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), 6,000 construction workers died by suicide in 2022, compared to 1,000 who died from a construction-related work injury.
“When someone physically injures themselves, it’s easy to see and treat it appropriately,” Emily says. “But it’s not always obvious to see the mental or emotional pain someone might have.”
Above all else, mental health is the safety issue she wishes the construction industry as a whole would take more seriously. But she doesn’t just wish it—she’s doing everything in her power to make it happen.
In addition to her work with the Mental Wellness Committee, Emily’s spearheaded our companywide suicide prevention trainings in partnership with the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention, and this year she coordinated Webcor’s first-time sponsorship of Construction Suicide Prevention Week. Every day, she seeks proactive ways to help alleviate the mental health struggles that, like so many construction professionals, a portion of our people likely endure in silence. When it comes to mental health, proactive—not reactive—solutions are absolutely essential.
“Creating a safe space for everyone at Webcor and our subcontractors to voice their struggles and ask for help is a big mission of mine,” Emily says. “I’m so proud that we’re sponsoring Construction Suicide Prevention Week and keeping the conversation going year-round through our Operations Meetings, Toolbox Talks, Manager Talking Points, etc. We cannot stress this topic enough, so it’s important that we keep psychological safety in the conversation just as often as physical safety.”
When Emily isn’t revolutionizing Webcor SAFE/QUALITY, advising her colleagues on their Smartsheet strategy, or researching mental health resources for our field teams, she’s drafting Webcor’s nomination for our next safety award.
After three years of submitting our people and teams for safety awards, the thrill of winning is still as strong as ever. The submission she’s most proud of, however, is for an award Webcor technically lost.
Last year, the Associated General Contractors of California (AGC) invited Emily, Mario, and Safety Manager Dora Orozco to interview for the next phase of the Construction Safety Excellence award process, a direct result of the nomination materials Emily had written, collected, and submitted weeks earlier.
“This prestigious award was a huge opportunity to get Webcor’s name out there,” she said. “Although we didn’t win, placing in the top three was a major victory that proved we go above and beyond typical industry standards to keep our workforce safe. Shout-out to everyone who contributed to the submission, especially Clara and Rochelle!”
2024 was also a big award year for Emily herself. At the company holiday party, CEO/President Matt Rossie announced that she’d won Webcor’s Sustainability award in recognition of her outstanding work on the department’s waste-tracking system—another Webcor project fueled by Emily’s Smartsheet expertise and further proof of Webcor’s dedication to innovation.
“Webcor’s constantly growing and adapting,” Emily says. “I love our willingness to innovate and evolve. I’ve seen so much change in our safety culture in just the three short years I’ve been here—we ensure everyone from our top leaders to our newest Webcorians are deeply invested in safety, which I think is really special and not super common in this industry.
“Without that deeply embedded safety culture, meaningful change wouldn’t be possible. It takes everyone’s engagement for our safety program to work. I really love that Webcor prioritizes safety and schedule working hand-in-hand so we can complete work quickly and send our employees home safely every day—the best of both worlds.”
As Emily reflects on all she’s accomplished over the last three years and envisions all that lies ahead, her potential seems limitless. Integrating her passions for safety and innovation into a career she loves has been a dream come true—and she’s just getting started.
“I don’t think my work here will ever end,” she says. “My passion and curiosity for safety is constantly growing, so I’m excited to see what innovative ideas we come up with next. Thank you to my mentor, Mario, who’s always looking to improve our safety culture! I have no doubt my future here is full of exciting, impactful projects.”
