From Construction to Couture Interiors: A Woman in a Man’s World Carving Her Own Lane
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
What does it look like to build a career that blends technical mastery with creative freedom? In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce sits down with Nicole Roe, founder of R. Nickson Interiors, to talk about her unconventional path from construction to couture-level interiors — and what it takes to carve your own lane in a male-dominated industry. With more than 15 years of experience across construction and design, and a degree in Building Construction from Georgia Tech, Nicole brings a rare blend of technical credibility and expressive creativity. She shares how her background allows her...
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Leadership That Actually Works in AEC
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
What happens when technical excellence is no longer enough to lead? This week on Wine After Work, Bryce is joined by Kirby Lee, Professional Engineer, third-generation HVAC construction professional, and AEC leadership expert, for a candid conversation about what leadership really requires in today’s AEC industry. With more than 23 years of experience spanning consulting engineering, owner’s representation, HVAC construction, and equipment sales, Kirby brings a rare, holistic perspective on the pressures facing AEC leaders today. He shares how his engineering background — combined...
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Getting Unstuck: Leadership, Burnout & the Moments No One Prepares You For
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
What happens when working harder stops working? In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce sits down with Ritu G. Mehrish — former corporate executive, leadership advisor, and author of Leader’s Block and Rewrite the Rules. After leading global teams across five continents and managing multi-million-dollar business lines, Ritu reached a pivotal moment many high-performing leaders quietly face: the strategies that once worked… no longer did. That turning point became the foundation of her work today — helping leaders navigate burnout, loss of clarity, confidence dips, and high-stakes...
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Workplace Autonomy, Values & Referrals: Designing Work That Feels Like Home
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
What if true workplace autonomy wasn’t about working alone — but about working in alignment? In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce sits down with Virginia Muzquiz, widely known as The Referral Diva® — founder of Master Connectors and creator of the Referrals on Demand® system. Virginia believes autonomy doesn’t come from grinding harder or escaping structure — it comes from aligning your work with your values, strengths, and relationships. Whether you’re in a corporate role or building your own business, the right environment creates trust, breathing room, and sustainable...
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AI, Hiring at Scale & the Future of Talent with the CEO of Braintrust
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce sits down with Adam Jackson, CEO and founder of Braintrust, the world’s largest user-owned talent network and the company behind Braintrust AIR, the first end-to-end AI recruiting platform built to benefit both companies and talent. Adam shares his entrepreneurial journey—from founding telemedicine giant Doctor on Demand to building Braintrust—and unpacks how AI is fundamentally changing hiring. We dive into what Braintrust AIR actually does, why now is the moment for AI in recruiting, and how technology can finally make hiring faster, fairer,...
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High-Achieving Women, Motherhood, and the Myth of “Having It All”
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce Batts is joined by Kate Kripke, LCSW, PMH-C, maternal mental health expert and transformative coach for high-achieving women navigating motherhood. Motherhood can be deeply meaningful — and deeply overwhelming — especially for women who are used to excelling, leading, and carrying a lot of responsibility. Kate helps women break free from emotional overwhelm, guilt, and burnout by shifting old patterns, regulating their nervous systems, and reconnecting with their intuition. In this conversation, we explore how mothers can thrive without sacrificing...
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Why Great Leaders Struggle (and How to Lead Anyway)
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce Batts is joined by Rachel Burr, executive coach, leadership consultant, and expert in people and organizational dynamics. Leadership is hard — not because leaders are doing it wrong, but because people are complex. And leaders? They’re people too. Rachel brings more than 20 years of experience working with leaders who stepped into management not because they were trained to lead people, but because they were exceptional individual contributors. In this conversation, we unpack why that transition is so challenging — and how leaders can...
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Engineering Leadership That Actually Works — with Anthony from Engineering Management Institute
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce Batts sits down with Anthony Fasano, founder of Engineering Management Institute, to talk about what leadership really looks like inside engineering and AEC firms today. Anthony has spent years helping engineers grow beyond technical excellence into confident, people-first leaders — and in this conversation, we unpack what firms get wrong about leadership development, why burnout is so common in AEC, and how engineers can build careers that feel both successful and sustainable. In this episode, we cover: Why technical skill alone isn’t...
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Becoming the Truest Version of You: Hypnosis & Identity Shifts in the Corporate Space
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
Today on Wine After Work, I’m sitting down with someone whose work is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before — and exactly what so many women need: Michelle Boyde, Registered Master Hypnotist, subconscious expert, and the creator of The Alchemy Sequence™. Michelle specializes in helping visionary women who’ve walked away from “successful” careers — only to realize they’re still operating from outdated identities and old rules that no longer fit. Through her transformational hypnotic work, she guides women through The Liminal Space — that electric, uncomfortable, deeply...
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How to lead from your own values and not from corporate expectations
Women in AEC: Wine After Work
On this week’s episode of Wine After Work, I’m joined by someone whose heart, experience, and leadership style will resonate with so many of you Kelly Price, founder of ThriveHR, and a woman who built an entire career around empowering people to thrive at work. Kelly’s journey started in hospitality at Marriott International, where she learned how to create meaningful experiences and make people feel seen. She carried that passion into the world of HR becoming a recruiter, Benefits Manager, Director of HR, and eventually a VP of HR. Along the way, she reduced turnover, strengthened...
info_outlineThe engineering industry is staring down a projected shortfall of 600,000 engineers by 2027. Recruiting alone won’t close the gap. Retention and equity have to be part of the conversation.
In this episode of Wine After Work, Bryce sits down with Michele Heyward—civil engineer turned tech founder and CEO of PositiveHire—to talk about why engineers are leaving the profession and how firms can rethink workplace culture to keep them.
We cover:
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Why 40% of women engineers leave between 10–20 years into their careers
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The persistent barriers to retaining women and underrepresented talent in engineering
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Why graduating more women engineers isn’t solving the pipeline problem
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Practical steps AEC firms can take to make workplaces more inclusive and sustainable
About Michele Heyward:
Dirt road born and raised in rural South Carolina, Michele Heyward is a civil engineer turned tech founder on a mission to build a more equitable infrastructure future, one inclusive workforce at a time. As CEO of PositiveHire, she’s helping AEC firms tackle two of their biggest challenges: the engineering talent shortage and the underrepresentation of women of color in technical roles.
Michele holds a BS in Civil Engineering and an MS in Industrial Management from Clemson University. She spent over a decade in the energy sector as a construction project manager, where she helped build the power grid, breaking gender barriers in the field. Her career spans technical sales, technology transfer, and leading billion-dollar infrastructure projects. Recognizing that solving the engineering talent crisis means retaining the talent you already have, Michele launched PH Balanced, a proprietary software platform that helps AEC companies retain technical professionals, especially mid-level women of color engineers and scientists.
As a 2024 LinkedIn Top Voice, Michele uses the platform to connect with industry leaders and share practical insights on how to close the gap between workforce needs and inclusive innovation. She believes the future of infrastructure starts with who’s at the table—and she’s here to make sure it’s not the same few faces.