Women in BIM

In this inspiring episode of the Women in BIM Podcast, host Marie Grieve, Global Vice Chair for Women in BIM, is joined by Susan Brattberg, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer of Global eTraining, for a thoughtful conversation on the power of lifelong learning, bold decision making and building a values driven digital business.Susan shares her journey co-founding Global eTraining alongside her sister, reflecting on how her upbringing, family values and early exposure to education shaped her passion for learning. As Global eTraining approaches its 18th anniversary, Susan opens up about how 2020 and the COVID lockdown became a pivotal moment for both her family and the business, redefining priorities and reinforcing the importance of flexibility, empathy and resilience.The discussion explores the intentional choice to operate a fully remote workforce long before it became the norm, highlighting the cultural, personal and client focused benefits of this approach. Susan also offers practical advice for those who may feel overwhelmed by training and professional development, encouraging listeners to embrace learning with confidence, curiosity and courageAs the conversation closes, Susan reflects on her proudest achievements and shares empowering words of wisdom for the Women in BIM community, urging listeners to never stop learning, to trust their instincts and to never be afraid to be bold in shaping their careers and the digital future of the industry.

Differing digital maturity levels and the value they bring to projects across Europe is the discussion topic of the latest Women in BIM podcast. Women in BIM Global Vice Chair, Marie Grieve invited BIM specialists to give their perspective on digital maturity across Germany, Ireland, Poland and Portugal. Monika Filusch, CEO, FRESCON, Mariel Guiterrez, Principal Architect & BIM Strategist, marielgutierrez and Cláudia Antunes, Executive Director, StratBIM spoke about their views on BIM in each region, how things have changed in the past five years, particularly with the introduction of a BIM Mandate in Portugal. The key words that are mentioned repeatedly are: education, collaboration and communication. Listen to the full podcast to hear what these key areas mean for the construction sector across Europe and it might not be what you expect! 

In this episode of the Women in BIM podcast, WIB Global Team Member, Henry Fenby-Taylor speaks with Melissa Woolford, Founder and Director of the Museum of Architecture, about her journey from working at Zaha Hadid Architects to creating playful, thought-provoking public exhibitions like the Gingerbread City and Nature’s Architects Trail. They explore how creative engagement can make architectural issues accessible, inspire future careers, and connect communities to the built and natural environments. The conversation also delves into skills development, career diversity in the built environment, and the need for fresh approaches to attracting and retaining talent in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

Creative confidence is about believing in your ability to create change in the world around you and most importantly, positive change. It is the conviction that you can achieve what you set out to achieve both professionally and personally.In this latest Women in BIM podcast, host and WIB Global Vice Chair, Marie Grieve talks to Qatanna Palioca , Director of Marketing at Ideate Software – part of the GRAITEC Group – about being confident with creativity and having self belief.Qatanna is driven by creativity and strategy and specialises in transforming ideas into impactful realities. Qatanna believes that true self belief is a foundation that fuels creativity and resilience, and that a good leader recognised this in their team and encourages self-belief and self growth - principles at the very heart of Women in BIM.You’ll may also be surprised to hear where Qatanna’s career first started, and it wasn’t in the construction industry!  

In this latest episode of the Women in BIM podcast, Global Vice Chair Marie Grieve invited sustainability consultant and PhD Researcher Claire Brown to share her thoughts on sustainability within the property and housing sector. The pair dive into how Claire’s research at the University of Manchester has resulted in some outstanding finds when it comes to climate change, and how these have informed actions that industry has already taken and those that are needed to withstand the changes our climate is currently throwing at us! The conversation also touches upon mentoring, being resilient and why being a good listener is important. 

As we enter a new year, two of the Women in BIM Global Executive Team share their views on finding our inner confidence and never be afraid to be you! January is often a time when we are looking for a move in our career or taking the next step in our professional development, with both requiring confidence and good communications skills.  In this episode, our Host Henry Fenby Taylor, CEO and Founder of Athenophilia has a very open conversation with Vicki Reynolds, Chief Technology Officer at Catalyst about how to be confident in self promotion without any arrogance! Former professional actor, Vicki, has brilliant advice, insight and tips on how to stay calm when presenting, believing in your abilities and most importantly always being true to yourself. So if you’re looking for guidance on presentations skills, growing your confidence and how to positively promote your professional skill set to advance your career, listen to the full podcast now!  

Connectivity, problem solving and unusual career paths were just some of the fascinating topics of conversation in this Women in BIM podcast with Stephanie Fitzgerald, Software Developer at Ideate Software and Alix Tissier, IP Technical Enablement Specialist at GRAITEC Group.  Our podcast host and WIB Global Vice Chair, Marie Grieve, invited Stephanie and Alix to talk about their career journeys, what led them to the construction industry and what they find most rewarding in their current roles. The conversation is fascinating, enlightening and often humorous at times, when the three discuss life in general, travel and ambitions, as well as the future of digital in construction and the impact – good, and not so good – of AI. They certainly crammed in a lot into such a short space of time! 

Penny Locaso is the world’s first Happiness Hacker on a quest to teach 10 million humans by 2025 how to flourish in life. Voted one of the most influential female entrepreneurs in Australia, Penny is her own ongoing experiment. A little while back she turned her life upside down in pursuit of happiness. She left a 16 career as an executive, relocated her family from Perth back to Melbourne, left an 18 year relationship and started her own purpose-driven company, HackingHappy.co. Listen as Penny talks to Women in BIM Founder Rebecca De Cicco about life, happiness and empowerment for women all over the world. This discussion touches on not only female empowerment, but how women can perceive themselves and ways we can tackle the imposter syndrome we all sometimes feel and face in our every day lives.  

Siti Norman discusses digital innovation across the construction industry in Singapore and the current trends that exist in this region. Our podcast host, Founder and Global Chair of Women in BIM, Rebecca De Cicco asks Siti about the requirements and skills needed in the digital construction space, and how they can improve the way we design and build. Plus, Rebecca and Siti also look at how to attract and retain more women into our industry and what skills gaps can be filled with a more diverse landscape across all disciplines within construction. 

Women in BIM invited Laura Gouk of OMI Architects to tell us why she is championing the use of Vectorworks in her practice and how she has become the practice lead for implementing her go-to BIM software.  Laura talks with WIB Global Executive Team Member, Henry Fenby-Taylor about their level of design standards at OMI and shares lessons learned on some of her major projects.