My Career: Executive director Sara Steele

Did you always want to be a ___?
Engineer, project manager, executive director? I’d say Sara age 10 probably wanted to be an artist. Sara age 18 had decided to be an engineer alright. I think engineer is too broad a term though when I look at the different roles I have had through my career. I didn’t understand what it meant to be a project engineer, project manager, director etc. until I experienced those roles. That’s the fun part. Even within one stream, there are so many different aspects. 

In college, I studied… building services engineering, followed by project management, topped off with process and chemical engineering as recently as 2020! I loved them all. I just love learning. 

My most formative work experience was… any time there’s a stretch out of my comfort zone and into something new. I can always feel growth there. 

My first real job was… as a project engineer in Dornan Engineering. I had one job that had to be drawn in ink before I got to install the first AutoCAD package that they bought. And that was well before email.  It’s phenomenal how much work practices have changed. I must be careful or I’ll start sounding like my nan!

The most invaluable thing I learned early on in my career was… to listen to people with experience. They have done this all before. I used to try to sit next to the oldest person on site… there was no Google at that time!

A common misconception about what I do is… that I am an engineer who is doing calculations all day. The reality is that I am a manager. People, processes, marketing are all huge parts of what I do. To be fair, I have confused people by changing roles over the years and building services does need a little bit of explaining at the best of times. 

My main responsibility in work is… the management of the Cork Office, which is approximately one-quarter of the business. I am responsible for the profit and loss sheet here as its own business unit. I have other whole company strategies that I am involved in also and really like that. 

Do you have a career mentor or someone you look up to/seek advice from? 
Yes! I have had several mentors over the years, I find it extremely useful. My current mentor is someone I personally knew years ago, and we reconnected on LinkedIn. I’m really enjoying these sessions because he has a wonderful way of giving a fresh perspective. Having someone to bounce ideas off is never a bad thing. 

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far was… the jump I made to EDC. It was completely out of my comfort zone. I did a lot of talking with the outgoing exec and Richard O’Farrell, EDC’s Founder and MD, to make sure I understood the role in as far as I could, and that we were all clear on what I was bringing to the table. When I think about it now, I can see how ‘doing something that scares you’ is a super strategy. 

I wake at… 6am, sometimes earlier. I like an early night too though!

The first thing I do every morning is… put my glasses on. I cannot see a thing without them. 

My morning routine is… quick enough at home. I don’t eat till after 9am so I make myself presentable, grab my food and hit the road. I make tea and drink it in the car. 

I can’t go to work without… listening to whatever book I am into at the momen. I’m a massive Audible fan and consume books at a phenomenal rate. I reserve the time in the car on the way to work for non-fiction and have listened to some fantastic books that have really helped me grow.

On an average workday I… try to do some concentrating work between 7am and 8am. I organise my day then and have a huddle with the other execs at 8:44am. That’s been a new concept for me here and helps me focus on priorities. 

I break for lunch at… 1pm. My favourite lunch, if I haven’t made something myself, is sushi from Aldi straight across the road. I like to take a break and chat at the lunch table. We have a great team here. 

The most useful business tool I use every day is… One Note. That was a tough question though because we have some fantastic tools here in EDC. Dynamics and Power Bi were new to me and EDC has a superb systems specialist who has developed them to suit our business. We also use Hubspot which is great, and of course Teams. How did we manage without that!?

I save time by… trying to meet people I’d like to catch up with at lunchtime. Trying to keep on top of what’s going on in the industry is a full-time job! Hubspot sees plenty of action!

I rarely get through my working day without… learning something new. That’s the joy of working in an evolving arena. Sustainability targets and changing technology make sure work is never boring!

The best part of my day is… seeing happy staff and clients. Knowing that we are providing a quality product as a team is great. I am aware of how positive feedback impacts people’s day, so I like to make sure I notice when things are going well. 

The most challenging part of my day is… always when a new issue arises that takes some time that I hadn’t anticipated. That’s the joy of being the boss, there are myriad things that will demand attention. It’s making sure the right one gets the focus is the key. 

I know it’s been a good day if… the majority of my priority list is complete. That’s a great feeling – 75% is a win!

I finish work at… I don’t have a fixed finishing time. I sometimes arrange a meeting for on the way home. Sometimes I go earlier to avoid traffic and log on again at home for an hour.

I switch off from work by… doing more work! I am volunteering on the development committee of a new rugby and athletics club in Carrigaline. Fortunately, it’s a great bunch of people because we have a mega task ahead. 

Before I go to bed, I’ll… hit Audible again or read – fiction this time. I will read anything. I’m halfway through The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins. It’s super atmospheric and suspenseful. The classics often surprise me like that. 

I often prepare for tomorrow by… organising what I’ll need in the morning. No one would thank me for waking them at 6am! I’d make a great cat burglar! 

After a long work week, I de-stress by… spending time with my family. I absolutely love it. My kids are 29 and 16 so we can do lots of fun things together. We have already camped, hiked and dived this year. The kayaks will be out soon. I have a feeling it’s going to be a great summer! We are so lucky to live next to Cork Harbour. I love it there. 

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to… understand the principles of project management well. People skills are essential. Reading for personal growth is a powerful tool. 

I’ve just finished working on… a process improvement project here. We called it The Magnificent 7. It was a great learning experience and I am excited to see how the implementation will go. At the moment I’m working on finding more electrical engineers… does anyone know where they’ve all gone!? 

Imagery via Sara Steele