Andrea Weisheimer was born with an inherent desire to create, to build, to do. Growing up with a passion for painting and design, she thought she would pursue a career in art until she discovered the construction engineering management program at Oregon State University.

Now a project executive in DPR’s Austin office, Weisheimer uses her art background to guide and connect construction and design teams, embracing the challenge of taking a rendering or sketch and figuring out how to technically bring it to life. It is this diversity of skillset that brings fresh ideas to her jobsites.

“Art has always been a passion of mine, but after first trying industrial engineering, I decided I didn’t want to be behind a desk all day. I needed to find something that could combine business with engineering and technical skills,” said Weisheimer.

When a college advisor suggested construction management, she asked, “Do I look like I would work in construction?” but gave it a try and fell in love with it.

After graduating and starting her career as a concrete field engineer, she laid out specific goals for herself. She wanted to learn how to build a high rise (she would build the tallest building in the world, if she could) and become a project manager. With a focus on high rise construction, and a penchant for balancing the structural design complexities of tall buildings with creating cost efficiencies for her customers, Weisheimer became a project manager by the age of 27. She asked herself, what’s next?

DPR was next. Since joining DPR in 2015, Weisheimer has continued with her passion for building commercial high rises, including Third + Shoal, a 29-story, 345,000-sq.-ft. Class-AA corporate office space in downtown Austin. The project, which features 24,000-sq.-ft. floor plates and Austin’s first ‘smart and connected’ building system, is expected to be completed in 2018. As construction booms in the Texas state capital, DPR continues to change the city’s skyline, including the ground-up construction of Colorado Tower, the J.W. Marriott, the Aloft/Element Hotel, University of Texas Replacement Office Building, and more.

“Just being a part of this industry makes me proud,” she said. “It makes me proud to see others succeed, and I love to see others get passionate about building.”

Weisheimer has been a crucial contributor to developing DPR's Build Up high school internship program, which gives under-resourced students with an interest in construction or engineering a chance to work at a jobsite for the summer, exposing them to career opportunities available in the industry. She helped create curriculum for the interns’ initial tasks: writing daily journals, interviewing different roles on the jobsite, and operating in mock scenarios to get a sense of how to overcome typical challenges on a project.

She personally mentors a 17-year-old high schooler named Anais, who–just like her–loves art and even participates in art competitions. When people come into Weisheimer’s life, she figures it is for a reason and she sticks with them. She plans to mentor and guide Anais through her college education and beyond.

Weisheimer wants women to know that it is OK to let go of insecurities and follow your passions. Through her involvement with Girlstart and Girls Empowerment Network (GEN) Austin, organizations that focus on increasing interest and engagement in STEM fields, she wants to inspire young women to be confident, be bold and be brilliant.

“There aren’t a lot of women in this industry, and I can see the passion in Anais’ eyes,” she said. “I want to share my experiences with her, and I want to show her, ‘this is how we build!’ Construction is an option for women, too.”

Every day on the jobsite brings a new challenge for Weisheimer, whether it is figuring out how to construct a high rise double helix parking garage, install complex exterior skin systems, or integrate building system controls. When she goes home, she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, inspired with an idea for a sketch of a renovation project or a landscape design.

So she gets up in the pitch dark, and just like everything else in her life–she creates, she builds, she does.