Episode 6 of the Empowering Women Podcast
GUEST: Sepi Saidi, Civil Engineer & Entrepreneur, Founding Owner of SEPI, Inc.
Sepi Saidi is a visionary leader who founded SEPI Engineering &
Construction in 2001 and has led the company to become a premier
full service civil, environmental planning, and construction
management engineering firm in the Southeast. The firm’s awards
include Fast 50 firm by Triangle Business Journal, Zweig White Hot
Firm List, Inc. 5000, and being ranked as a Top 500 Design Firm on
the Engineering News-Record’s 2017 list.
Incorporating the firm’s core values, SEPI is dedicated to providing a
unique work space and environment for its employees to plan,
design, build, and give back to the communities in which we serve.
With a dedicated passion to support organizations that align with the
health, safety, and well-being of the families in our communities,
Ms. Saidi and the firm are proud to be champions of community
service.
A Professional Engineer and alumna of North Carolina State
University, with degrees in Civil and Agricultural Engineering, Ms.
Saidi has been named by the Triangle Business Journal as the 2018
Businessperson of the Year, was recently selected as a Charlotte
Business Journal 2018 Women in Business Achievement Award
winner, and has been inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall
of Fame.
QUOTES
"Persistence is really really important, and believing in your vision, whatever that vision is... believing and being excited about that vision is extremely important."
"When you're excited about your vision and you believe in it, you can do more."
"If you love your career... focus on ways you could do it with the help of a husband partner, or building a community around ourselves... building communities and not giving up o the idea that it's important for me to stay in this... that I am really passionate about.
"You can start by really showing up when you say you show up, whether it is a committee you get involved in, whether it's a task you took on, or an extracurricular non-profit you're involved in - doing what you say you will do is really important - not coming up with excuses."
"Have a voice, but also allow other people to have a voice. So collaboration, positivity, solution-driven and supporting each other-- those are the beginnings and then it builds. [Success] just builds and builds on that."
"When you look at the world through the lens of curiosity, you are not being judgemental. You are open. You are interested in learning. You want to receive. And through that lens, everything is more inclusive... I feel that if we look at the world through the lens of curiosity, then we're not putting people, things, ideas in a box... and it creates more bonding opportunities."
"I believe we can find a common point with everybody, if you approach it from curiosity."
"Fundamentally, we are really all the same people... having freedom, having happiness, contributing to our communities, building a great career, contributing to our families. It's all the same. That's why I believe you can build bridges with people you think you have nothing in common. That has been one of the biggest secrets to my success. Embracing people from different walks of life. "
"It's not really about balance, and it's not really about having it all. It's about choosing... making decisions that create happiness and balance for your family, your particular lifestyle, and what's important to you. [You can] craft that. Craft your lif
