Quiet Confidence Ensures Lorraine Carlisle’s Place at the Top

Lorraine Carlisle, CEO of The FKM Group knows how tough it can be for women to juggle busy careers and family life but as a mum to 3 young boys, she says it is doable, even in a male dominated industry like construction.

You started out doing accountancy with PWC, before moving into the Logistics industry.  Tell us about your progression from that to CEO?

I joined TDG Ireland in 2001 as their Finance Director and I suppose that industry was quite male-dominated, maybe not as male dominated as the construction industry but still a tough business with tight margins.  I would have been working with a lot of blue chip clients like Diageo, Nestle and Marks and Spencer.  I was there for about 9 years as FD and things were changing significantly for me.  They wanted me to take the role of MD at that juncture but I was 35 and it wasn’t the right time for me to commit to such a role.  I decided to take a career break for two and a half years and had two boys.  After that, I decided to dip my toe back into the water and look for roles but it had to be the right role.  I was introduced to Matt Mohan who is the owner of FKM and we believed our individual skills would complement each other to help grow the business.  I joined as a financial consultant in 2011 and within 18 months I had been promoted to commercial director and was made CEO in February of this year.

You went from logistics to construction, one fairly male dominated industry to a very male dominated industry? Did that aspect ever bother you?

I can honestly say, no. I think it’s very much to do with the individual and I would be quite confident in my ability.  Coming from PWC and moving through the ranks there, there would never have been a perceived (gender) imbalance. But if you look at the number of partners in accountancy and law, there is still probably a marked imbalance of females to males but not as much as in the construction industry.  I genuinely believe that if you’re good at the job you’ll get ahead.

What was industry like when you started?

For me there was that shock element for other people, for example, I’ve been mistaken for Matt’s secretary in the past.  He would be very open and inclusive and copy me in on emails and people have come back to me, asking me to check his diary.  It’s just stereotypes.  I’m quite unassuming and it doesn’t bother me if people underestimate me initially.  I wouldn’t be a bang the desk type person but people would be aware after speaking with me what my position in FKM is.  I think it’s important for people to do a little bit of research before coming to a meeting

I would hope with more and more companies coming in here and the millennials approach and style is very different and they’re not going to take it.  Maybe that is what it’s going to take, that generational gap.

What is an important characteristic for a CEO?

Listening to clients, the team, our supply chain and other service provider.   What’s paramount for me is client service, listening to the client and I make sure the team really listens and often after we’ve had a briefing workshop from the client I would go away and say to the guys, what did you take from that?  It’s honing them in more on what the client wants and sometimes females are actually better at reading the situation.

What projects are you particularly proud of?

We had a particular client and when they set up here, they had one office manager and they wanted us to share some knowledge with them.  We have worked with that client on an ongoing basis and they are now out there looking for a 60,000sqft facility.  I feel it was seeing an opportunity and spending real time with that client and seeing them grow- that makes me proud.  In terms of a building that I’m proud of, one that we worked on quite early on in my time with FKM was a conservation project- 32 Molesworth Street and we won Fit Out project of the year for that.  It was a protected structure, so it was quite complex and as a building it was restored sympathetically.  It’s now Saville’s head office.

What do you consider you greatest achievement:

It’s actually being part of something that has been built back up. In 2011, FKM was down to a skeleton staff and we have built that team back up by more than tenfold.

Favourite thing about the job:

I love the diversity and that no two days are the same and there is a lot of interaction with people, I like that.

What advice would you give to young women considering this as a career?

Be confident in your ability and stand by your beliefs and morals and that will see you through.  Do not be phased by or focus on the fact that it’s a male dominated industry.  Like anything, do your research.  It is an exciting industry; it’s challenging so you do have to be quite tenacious and resilient but it an exciting industry and there is variety in terms of career path and it can take you on many different routes once you are in.

What does your day entail?

For both me and the team, we try to keep weekends sacrosanct, so unless it’s really critical, Saturday and Sunday should be a no-no.  But an average day would see me on the phone from 7.30am till 7pm at least.  It’s a mixture of pitching with a new client, handing over a job, internal meetings and networking.  There are a lot of events but I am selective about what I go to because you could be out every night of the week if you wanted to.

How do you do to unwind?

I’ve introduced going to the gym before I start work, otherwise the day takes over.  That’s my time, even if it’s only 45 minute in the morning but it sets me up for the day.  Genuinely, the weekends are all about the kids; I’m taxi mum and football mum then.  My kids are 7, 5 and 2 so they’re at that age where it’s always busy and my hands are full.