Building a Career in Commercial Construction: Valerie Redhouse

When Valerie Redhouse walked into Shiprock High School for a recent career fair, she returned with a perspective she didn’t have when she was there as a student, a clear view of the opportunities a career in construction offers.

Valerie personally signed Jaynes up for the event because she wanted to bring career awareness and face-to-face guidance to students on the Navajo Nation. Returning to Shiprock High School allowed her to become an example she did not have as a student. She wanted young people, especially young women, to meet someone from their own community who entered construction without experience, worked through the trades, and built a strong foundation of a successful and meaningful career.

As a Jaynes project engineer, Valerie came prepared to do more than pass out recruitment brochures. She showed students project photographs, talked with them about her work, and invited them to examine the details of a floor plan. It was a simple exercise, but it gave students a glimpse of the observation and problem-solving involved in helping build a complex commercial project.

“I wanted that connection with them because I never got that in high school,” Valerie said. “I wanted them to understand the diverse jobs in a commercial construction company like Jaynes and how they could begin a well-paying, fulfilling career.”

Her message carried the weight of experience. Valerie has built her career from the field up, moving from laborer to journeyman carpenter and then into project management. Each step began with a willingness to enter unfamiliar territory and keep learning.

Creating Her Path in Construction

Valerie graduated from Shiprock High School as an honors student but had not settled on a career. She imagined that she might become a scientist or a marine biologist.  

Her father, a chromoly welder at Four Corners Power Plant, encouraged her to try construction. Valerie mentions, “My dad has always been a great inspiration to me because he saw something in me before I could see it in myself, and his advice helped shape who I am today.” Her father advised her about the value of Union apprenticeships and the training they provide, so she found Laborers Local 16, completed the necessary paperwork, and was soon called to work.  

“I didn’t know what I was going to do or what would happen that day,” she recalled. “It was a totally new environment. I didn’t know what to expect. The more I worked, I realized, I love this. I love construction and building things.”

Beginning her career was intimidating, especially as a woman entering a field where few of the people around her looked like her. Valerie continued showing up to work every day. I learned so much working alongside boilermakers, pipefitters, and carpenters. It was amazing to see all the logistics involved in completing an outage at 4 Corners Power Plant.

While working on a project at the Four Corners Power Plant, the general carpenter foreman noticed her potential and recruited her into a carpenter’s apprenticeship. Valerie entered the apprenticeship program with Carpenters Local 1319 in Albuquerque, completed the program, and became a journeyman carpenter while working with Jaynes.

Her skills eventually took her to other companies and projects in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico, showing her how the many kinds of work a construction career can offer.

Creating Opportunity

At Jaynes, after multiple projects, she was ready for a new challenge. She approached Four Corners Director of Operations Neil Dolder.

“I told him, ‘I want to be a project manager,’” she said. “I wanted to do something beyond working with my hands, setting forms, and finishing concrete. I wanted to challenge myself.”

That conversation led to interviews and an opportunity to become a project engineer. Valerie brought years of field experience into the role while learning the collaboration and communication required to manage a project to completion.

On that conversation, Neil mentions, “When Valerie came to me and said she wanted the opportunity to become a project engineer, with the goal of eventually becoming a project manager, I respected that she knew where she wanted to go and was willing to ask for the opportunity. She had already built a strong foundation in the field, but she was willing to step into something new, learn, and challenge herself. Sometimes people just need someone to believe in them, give them an opportunity, and encourage them to take that next step. Valerie has taken that opportunity and has run with it.”

Her first assignment as a project engineer was the Farmington Preschool Academy. The fast-moving project tested her in a new role and gave her a firsthand view of what an integrated project team can accomplish.

“It was a challenging job, but we got it done,” she said. “I still can’t believe I was part of such a satisfying project. The schedule was so compressed. Project partners came up to our team and told us how tough it was to complete that project in the time we had.”  

Farmington Preschool Academy is now New Mexico’s largest preschool facility. The 51,900-square-foot campus opened this fall, and more than 500 children are developing skills there that will support them throughout their lives. For the owner, the project was a smashing success; Jaynes completed the project three months ahead of schedule and under budget, returning significant contingency to the State of New Mexico.

Now in her second year as a project engineer, Valerie is continuing to build her management experience. Valerie is the project engineer on the recently awarded Diné College Student Services facility in Shiprock. Her long-term goal is to become a senior project manager.

Creating Connections for Future Builders

Valerie’s path included union training, travel, fieldwork, an associate degree in business administration and accounting from San Juan College, and a personal decision to pursue project management. Her message to students is that construction offers more than one path forward. Skill, initiative and a willingness to learn can open doors.

That message is especially important to Valerie as a Navajo woman from Shiprock. She wants young women to see themselves in the industry and understand that they can build careers in the trades, project management, and other construction professions.

“I want to encourage women, especially young women in high school, to see that there is opportunity there,” she said. “They just need to try it. If they love it, then we’ll have more women in construction.”

Her return to Shiprock High School brought her journey full circle. Years earlier, Valerie left school uncertain about what came next. She found her direction when longtime mentors showed her an opportunity and encouraged her to take those first steps. She continued by putting in the work and asking for new challenges. Now she is using that experience to make the road more visible for young people from her community.

For Valerie, building a career has meant learning from every role, taking ownership of her growth and believing that the next opportunity is worth asking for. Her visit also gave students a larger picture of what they can build through construction: not only projects, but the confidence to break barriers, strengthen their communities and create futures of their own.

Jaynes is a great place to work. For more information on career opportunities at Jaynes, please visit our Careers section.

‍