Name: Claire Koenig
Company and position: Unistrut Construction, Regional Sales Manager
Many of our members will recognize our WiOPS NorCal May 2020 Member of the Month, Claire Koenig! Claire has been an enthusiastic and out-going member of our WiOPS NorCal chapter since the beginning, rarely missing an event. She lives in the city of San Leandro, but spends time in communities all around Northern California as the Regional Sales Manager for Unitstrut. Claire has been in the industry for 40 years and told us she has two favorite things about construction, “(1) I love visiting “my” buildings, places I’ve invested time and talent into. (2) I enjoy the diversity of career opportunities within the umbrella of “Construction.” I’ve been a self-employed general contractor, a sales rep for construction data and a construction trade association, and now I’m a subcontractor. There’s always something of interest.” A quote that Claire reflects on and would like to share is, “Be more concerned about your character than your reputation.” – John Wooden
When Claire is not hard at work on her projects, she enjoys traveling, I believe the Hawaiian Islands might be her favorite destination. She also enjoys spending time reading books and completing puzzles, which she is likely getting plenty of time to enjoy during this pandemic.
Claire shared with us the following observation with us in regard to women in the construction industry, “I’d like to comment that I’m also so pleased with the advancement of women that I’ve seen over the course of my career. I’ve had people refuse to work with me, ask for my boss (when I WAS the boss), question my directions, and generally assume I didn’t know what I was talking about. I’ve seen that shift significantly over the years and while it hasn’t gone away, it’s much healthier than it used to be. I get to meet and work with interesting women who also love construction, and I enjoy that very much.”
We want to extend an enthusiastic Congratulations to Claire Koenig on being voted as our May Member of the Month!