00:01.17 GBA Podcast Well, hello there, Elizabeth. 00:03.64 elizabeth clarke Hey guy, nice to see you. 00:05.92 GBA Podcast Hey, so today we're excited. We have Elizabeth Clark. She's the CEO of Structures Group. And I think Elizabeth brings a lot to the table in terms of, for lots of reasons, she's been very successful. But I think most importantly with Elizabeth, she just has a very non-traditional path to hear. So we're going to get into that a little bit. And I hope you're willing to tell us all, Elizabeth, 00:27.71 GBA Podcast But let's just start, let's dial the, dial the clock back and talk a little bit about, you know, what were you like growing up? What were your interests when you were a little kid? 00:36.01 elizabeth clarke Uh-oh, uh-oh, now the interesting stuff comes. You know, I actually grew up in a very middle-class family out of the middle of California, smack dab in the San Francisco Bay Area. Very typical liberal parents though, so they were all about love and hugging. It was an Italian Portuguese household, so very loud, very angry at times, but we used food to get through everything. 01:02.09 elizabeth clarke But my parents were married 61 years. They stayed best friends forever until my dad passed away. And I would tell you that I enjoyed living in that household. It was completely different. It was the house where everybody wanted to come and hang out with their friends and stuff. That's just how the open feeling was. always no pressure. So I was kind of ideal growing up. And I was sort of the girl next door, very timid in many ways. 01:31.70 elizabeth clarke outgoing but shy deep inside. 01:35.52 GBA Podcast So Clark does not sound like a Portuguese Italian name. What was your maiden name? 01:39.89 elizabeth clarke Fata. 01:41.36 GBA Podcast Vada. 01:42.23 elizabeth clarke Yeah from Bologna, Italy. So go figure and then you know having that Portuguese influence so my mother was very loud my father was very calm. 01:52.64 GBA Podcast So your father was the Portuguese. 01:55.04 elizabeth clarke He's the Italian. 01:55.74 GBA Podcast Oh, he's the Italian. Oh, I always think of Italians coming from Italian family as the loud. 02:00.16 elizabeth clarke yeah 02:02.59 GBA Podcast Interesting. So, you a good student growing up? 02:05.93 elizabeth clarke Oh my gosh, you know, I would like to tell you I was subpar and middle. I think I liked the social aspect of school much better. It was always good in English, physical education, history. In fact, I actually had wanted to be a eighth grade history teacher for years. That was my goal, going through high school. And then after that, I just kind of got, once I got into college, I kind of felt like, 02:34.21 elizabeth clarke it was just overwhelming too much. And I went back to what I would call a part-time job and going through junior college and my dad said, just feel it out, see you like. And I have to laugh guy because I probably put them through trials and tribulations because I think I had one time wanted to be a park ranger. you I wanted to study birds. 02:55.81 elizabeth clarke I wanted to do all sorts of things and then I got a part-time job working at the police department and that's kind of where it shoot shot off from there. 03:04.05 GBA Podcast All right, why don't we go back before get there. So loving family, you wanted to be all kinds of things. Let's think about like yourself in you school, high school. What was, you know, we at private school, public school, tell me a little bit about that experience. 03:17.77 elizabeth clarke Went to public school, was always involved in singing activities, a tennis, I was a tennis player. Went to every dance there was, very big into fashion. Probably wouldn't know that now, but very big into fashion. Loved anything that had to do with music, playing piano, singing. Involved in everything I could get my hands on, that was social activities. 03:43.26 GBA Podcast And many of our listeners might not know this, but you have some famous singing, right? Tell me your famous singing story. 03:49.83 elizabeth clarke I actually, Yeah, a little bit. I was on Star Search, made it three rounds before somebody even better came along. What I've learned about singing is that as good as you are, there is always somebody better and somebody that has more drive and inspiration. And that's what I think keeps us all sort of grounded. I was allowed to sing the national anthem at the Oakland A's Coliseum. And of course, I've gotten the 04:19.51 elizabeth clarke the privilege of singing for GBA back in a Denver fall meeting. So, yeah, I've got a little bit of glamor there. 04:29.03 GBA Podcast That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. And lessons about singing probably applies to everything, right? There's a lot of talented people in this world and just about everything, whether you're talking about sports or or geo professions and a lot of drive to go with it. 04:33.70 elizabeth clarke Very much. 04:42.11 elizabeth clarke Oh, yeah. 04:43.50 GBA Podcast So that's cool. So that was you in high school, although the star search was after high school, right? You were... 04:49.39 elizabeth clarke was just the year after I graduated. 04:51.59 GBA Podcast Okay, cool. So what were you thinking about at that point in your life? know, go from high school to star search to junior college. 04:59.05 elizabeth clarke Well, I'd learned I think literally early on after the star search that the Grammy wasn't coming anytime soon. 04:59.10 GBA Podcast Tell me about that. 05:05.81 elizabeth clarke And so I decided to kind of delve into different things. And like I said, I had gotten that part-time job at the police department and I was working there and I thought, well, why don't I take a couple of criminal justice courses and evidence collection? And that just started me down another rabbit hole. And I realized that I really enjoyed fact finding and sort of the critical thinking of things, how to put things together and figure out the answer at the end. 05:33.91 elizabeth clarke And that kind of led me onto that career path at that time. 05:37.61 GBA Podcast So were you studying criminal justice in and college? 05:41.10 elizabeth clarke In junior college, I studied criminal justice, and then I decided to take a full-time job at the police department at the same time, tried my hat at being in law enforcement itself, but found that I am not the right person to wear the badge and carry a gun at the same time. So I decided that I would try dispatching, and I found that I was very calm And it wasn't self-serving. 06:04.18 elizabeth clarke It was more about serving the public and helping people. um I found that I was a very good, calm influence on that. And I felt I could be a better help, not just to the officers, but to the people in my community. 06:20.28 elizabeth clarke changed. 06:19.78 GBA Podcast So what why did you determine you weren't suitable for the badge? Like, was it the danger situations or like, tell me about that. 06:24.20 elizabeth clarke Oh my gosh. 06:27.88 elizabeth clarke Yeah, we came up upon a situation where there was young guy with a gun, and I was the only person that didn't shoot. And I realized then that I was a hindrance, not only to myself, but also a hindrance to the people that I was out walking the line with, so to speak. And so they were more than apt, and they always said that I was more than, I always seemed like I was the calmness and the storm. 06:54.36 elizabeth clarke And so they put me in a different role and I found, at first I kind of pushed and pushed, you know, hey, why don't I be, I was even McGruff the dog. yeah yeah ah And the daredog kind of thing for a while, but that just didn't suit me so. 07:07.26 elizabeth clarke I think where I ended up was really where it set the tone for where it was going to be, I think, moving forward in life. I've always been the calm, the Switzerland at the house, so to speak. Growing up in the family, I was always Switzerland, always trying to you get both sides to come together and stuff. And I found that I was able to pull resources better together. It taught me a lot about stopping, looking at what's around, seeing and navigating the different terrain on how I could help the different situations that were happening in the field at the time. 07:40.49 GBA Podcast So I should have asked this earlier, but part of a big family are brothers and sisters? 07:45.54 elizabeth clarke Nope, just a brother and myself. My mom decided after me, it was a done deal. She had a boy and a girl and that was enough trouble for her. 07:54.56 GBA Podcast Complete set. 07:55.93 GBA Podcast So back to the police. So you were actually a deputized officer. You were out there with a gun on the beach. 08:01.13 elizabeth clarke less than 13 months though so it was a very uh unglamorous uh pitching so to speak but I think when I moved on it you know it was one of those things where you just kind of have to get used to it you know do you leave the department and go someplace else and hide your shame but it really wasn't shame it was just knowing full well that you weren't cut out for this as much as you um I enjoyed all the training there's so much training that goes into it but they also afforded me a college education at the same time So I was able to get a BS in administration of justice as well, showing commitment to what I was trying to learn at that time. 08:38.74 elizabeth clarke So I'm very, very grateful for the experience. is a 08:41.76 GBA Podcast So that a four-year degree, the the BS? in And where did you go to school for that? 08:45.97 elizabeth clarke San Jose State. 08:47.55 GBA Podcast San Jose State, nice. Okay, cool. Well, so here you are, CEO of a geosciences company. There's nothing that would suggest that first 10 years of your career and education that would put you there. Tell tell about your path into the geosciences. 09:04.39 elizabeth clarke So the path, you know, I know it's going to sound kind of odd. So I lost a child early on while I was working at the police department. My daughter, she was almost two. And I'd gotten to that 10 year mark and feeling sort of in a different light about things and really needing to reassess my life. And so I was driving home one day. 09:27.85 elizabeth clarke And a civil engineering firm, believe it or not, had a job. They were looking for somebody to do dispatch for their construction materials testing group. And I thought, well, I'm a dispatcher. If you've dispatched once, you can learn to dispatch somewhere else. So I called them up, set up an interview, and was hired the same day. In fact, I remember the gentleman that hired me told me, can you start right now? 09:50.53 elizabeth clarke Can you just sit down and start doing this job? And so I said, sure, what the heck? And this was just as, I'm dating myself big, but this was just as computers were coming out. And they still had the Dot Matrix printer on the side and everything, right? And the Lotus. And I said, sure, you I'll give it a try. And really, it never really worked on computers at all. 10:11.98 elizabeth clarke and started there. And he left me alone so much that it allowed me to like move around and talk to the different groups, the geotax. We at that time at that office didn't have the geologists and stuff, but we had the industrial hygienist who was always interesting to me because he seemed like he never fit in anywhere. But the lab work was interesting. And so I'd go out there and test cylinders and help you pound curves and stuff. And I just found myself being a sponge. Went back, took some courses in the local junior college to try to get an idea of maybe how to estimate, see if I could help with marketing and stuff. Anything I could do to try to improve myself to be more worthy, because I thought this was something exciting and new, something completely different. And of course, I got to be honest with you, Guy, my mouth was very potty mouth driven being in the police world. 11:04.88 elizabeth clarke And I needed someplace that people could just take that candid open feeling every once in a while and not be shocked if you said a bad word here and there. 11:14.67 GBA Podcast So you thought you could get that in the in dispatch role. 11:17.34 elizabeth clarke Oh yeah, and it was wide open. It was a wonderful growth opportunity for me. I started off in dispatch, moved over to marketing. For marketing, I moved into the group manager's position handling all of the COMET services. From there, I took over all of the six branches radiation safety program. I helped oversee all of their accreditation programs for the labs. They started sending me now to different programs I remember they sent me to Fundamentals of Professional Practice. They sent me to ASCE's equivalent. And they finally made me branch manager. I was now kind of at that nice regal step, they'd call it. And it was, I spent probably 17, 18 years doing that and absolutely loved it. I i think, 12:15.08 elizabeth clarke Although it was a very unusual path and people always wonder like, you have nothing. I mean, basically I didn't bring anything to the table other than my dispatch background. Obviously my degree didn't make sense for most people. But truly, I think what I brought was the fact that I was always good at bringing people together. So when they would tell me to create a team or, hey, this had to get done, I would pull the best out of what I felt these people's attributes were so that we could get things done together. And my father always taught me, you get in before everybody else, you leave after everybody else, you show them working in the trench just as hard. And you know just enough so that they feel comfortable bringing their greatness to the table and sharing with you and always allowing that sharing and collaborative nature. And I think that's what kind of set me on my path. 13:06.22 elizabeth clarke always felt like I wasn't the smartest person in the room, but that was okay because there was five other people bringing something else with what I brought as expertise into that collaboration. And so we all as a team were moving at 150% to get something done. 13:21.88 GBA Podcast It sounds like your initiative has helped you at every step of the way. I mean, you're out there taking chances and making it work and trying to figure things out. Good for you. 13:30.10 elizabeth clarke Yeah, I mean, my dad always told me that the the the comeback is always better than the setback. So no matter what happens in life, whatever something gets thrown to you, whether it's death, grief, you know, money issues, anything, you have an opportunity to come back. And that comeback is going to be amazing. And you'll forget all about the setback. 13:53.06 elizabeth clarke it'll seem so insignificant because it got you to where you want to be. That door might have slammed, but the other one's opened and it's fully open wide. So how you open, it's how you enter that door and walk in. 14:06.30 GBA Podcast Your dad sounds like a wise guy. You probably didn't always think that when you were growing up. But what was what his profession? Elizabeth, I'm curious about his background. 14:13.09 elizabeth clarke My father actually, I think they called it Recreation and Community Services and he has a master's and he ended up, I think, 14:22.96 elizabeth clarke where he ended up in his career was he was the assistant city manager for a city. 14:28.86 GBA Podcast OK. 14:29.99 elizabeth clarke And it always worked in local government all the time. And it's funny, I thought after he left, I always thought I was my mom's, I was closer to my mom and I realized now I was really a daddy's girl. 14:43.26 elizabeth clarke there's much of who I am is my dad. 14:47.09 GBA Podcast How about your mom? Did she work outside the home? 14:49.50 elizabeth clarke My mom did, she, didn't and when we first were very little and then in in the 70s I came home and she had cut her hair from long to short. She was wearing a mini skirt and boots. 15:00.96 elizabeth clarke And she was going to have it no more. And she was going to work. And he had nothing to say about it. And remember thinking, oh my gosh, my parents are getting divorced. And my dad came out and said, we're changing. You guys will make your lunches. Here's a key to the house. You will let yourselves in in the afternoon. And we moved forward as a family. And I was i very impressed because i I believe that was when it was instilled in me that women had a voice and that we could be heard. 15:29.64 elizabeth clarke Even though my mom's voice was always a very loud guy. But it was just a neat feeling to know that moving forward, I could be heard. 15:32.28 GBA Podcast Right. 15:39.49 elizabeth clarke And he would always hear me. Men would hear us. It was nice. It was nice to know that support was there. 15:46.77 GBA Podcast That's terrific. Thanks for sharing this. So we still have a big gap between, know, you working as a branch manager and now you're CEO of your own company. So tell a little bit about that transition. 15:57.82 elizabeth clarke So that is a little bit more, obviously, a little bit more heavy. I had a big setback. My husband died when I was 47. He was 51. And we were very involved in GVA, so a lot of people knew him. And he had a massive heart attack on a cruise ship when we were on a vacation. And thank God I was with my family. But for the next year, I almost felt like I was in transition, going through different stages in my life, finding out who Elizabeth was after all this time, too. I mean, we were married for almost 16:34.28 elizabeth clarke 17 years at that time. And I felt like change was needed and maybe some of what I wanted no longer aligned with the company that I was working with. And like I said, I mean, I'd been there for almost 20, 22 years at that time too. And so we finally, I finally sat down and I said to myself, I have to make a change. 17:00.87 elizabeth clarke In doing so, Guy, it wasn't probably the best way I would tell you any change occurs when you want your employees to make a massive change. I mean, for the company you work for, they think they have complete trust and 17:15.34 elizabeth clarke a very cohesive person working for them. And in many ways it becomes, well, it's not deceitful, it almost feels that way because you're running kind of parallel in another path, but they have no idea. And so by the time that I probably had the guts to even come out and say, hey, I'm going to start my own company, it pretty much had already gotten out there. And so I didn't get to leave the way that I wanted to, the proper way I think I should have left a company. 17:42.89 elizabeth clarke But essentially I did I mean I went home that day the following morning, you know filled out the paperwork to start a business Hardest part was telling my parents at 47 that oh by the way My husband died as you know last year and today I decided to leave a job of you know 20 something years that was paying me six figures And now I'm gonna go over my business. I think my parents bless their hearts were only happy that I wasn't saying I was pregnant and but I'm certain they drank for the rest of the afternoon, right? 18:14.02 GBA Podcast You that's a compelling story. Elizabeth, you've had some real tragedy there that spurred you to make some changes and it takes a lot of courage to do that. 18:23.02 elizabeth clarke I appreciate that. It was all well worth it. As you know, opening your own business, it's your own piece. You get to do what you wanna do. You get to say no when you wanna say no. Hardest part is, 18:36.68 elizabeth clarke not knowing all the elements. I mean, I really knew about running a business, but I didn't have all the staff. I didn't have all the finances. I didn't have really all the wherewithal. I mean, you're president of a company now, but do you know how to you cut payroll? Do you know how to do all the things that you take for granted in a larger firm where you have like five or six people? 19:00.10 elizabeth clarke And I had to laugh the first time I ordered a piece of lab equipment in my first year and spent like $12,000. When it came, Guy, I was like, oh my gosh, it's so tiny, right, for the amount of money that I was getting. And I had to laugh. But I was really impressed. Having good relationships in industry really paid off. I was able to call several competing firms and say, I don't have any cylinders. And I had, you know, cases of cylinders on my doorstep the next day. 19:28.71 elizabeth clarke Hey, I have no proof load testing equipment. I don't have any soil gear. What do you need, Elizabeth? We got you covered. And not one of them ever asked for payment back. It was just, I had like two or three firms that just really surrounded me and said, hey, you know, we want to help. Knowing full well, I mean, obviously, I mean, I was a firm of what at that time, five people growing to to what we are now, 22. 19:54.08 elizabeth clarke You know, they had 300 plus, you know, people in their firm. So obviously I'm going to take no competition away from them, literally. But it was a nice feeling to know that at any time, whatever I needed, in fact. 20:06.59 elizabeth clarke The greatness of this is GBA at that time, I was a committee chair. I was a committee vice chair. And Chuck Gregory had called me and said, hey, if you can get your business in line right now and become a member of GBA, we will put you back in place. It won't even miss a beat. And they were willing to rally around and help me with whatever I needed to put my pieces in place for my company. It was truly an amazing feeling to know that, you know, I had built solid relationships with good people out there. 20:34.89 GBA Podcast So your initiative and your your your social relationships really helped you pull you through there. 20:39.65 elizabeth clarke Yes, I cannot speak, you know, I think I'm one of the biggest cheerleaders for GBA, but those friendships I've made since 2006, I have still had. 20:50.95 elizabeth clarke And many of those were members. 20:51.12 GBA Podcast Well, this is the GBA superheroes. So please go on. Please go on. Talk up GBA. 20:56.85 elizabeth clarke Yeah. Yeah. 20:58.99 GBA Podcast it's a great segue, Elizabeth. And think that's ah ah a terrific story. how long have you been in business now? 21:05.34 elizabeth clarke It's going on 12 years. 21:07.51 GBA Podcast 12 years. So um you're over the first hurdles for sure. And now you're in charge. 21:11.03 elizabeth clarke yess 21:12.78 GBA Podcast And as you look at it, what scares you most in your current role? 21:17.98 elizabeth clarke cashflow. I think that's probably a big one for everybody is cashflow. And then wondering what else is out there. You know, technology is changing so much and being as old school as I am in things. you know, AI is very trippy and it's very, very liberating at the same time. It's very cautious and risk taking. 21:43.62 elizabeth clarke I think those are probably my big focus right now is stopping staff from utilizing AI as much as they are as well. It's not the answer to everything. 21:55.72 GBA Podcast I think everybody's trying to figure that out now, although we're, we're trying to be timeless. 21:57.99 elizabeth clarke Yeah. 21:59.37 GBA Podcast So for you future listeners, you know, we had it all figured out and whatever really happened, Elizabeth and I knew that's going. 22:05.79 GBA Podcast We're just not, we're just being coy with you. 22:08.05 elizabeth clarke Yeah. 22:09.30 GBA Podcast So how do you think the outside world views Geoprofessionals? You know, we we talk about it, but what's your, your take on how, uh, your clients or just people in the community see a Geoprofessionals if they even see us at all. 22:21.13 elizabeth clarke I do believe that they see us. I don't still see that the value is yet there, meaning they value us, but for whatever reason were never mentioned. I took a trip to St. Louis and the geotech solved the arch, but yet they're not even talked about or put on any sign or thanked. And it's always kind of interesting to me to see that kind of stuff, that the value is there. 22:47.86 elizabeth clarke yet they still squabble over this value over plumber's cost or the electrician's cost, which are actually most of the cost on a project on any build. sometimes I worry about those things because of the fact that we ah address the global changes and challenges in the work that we do. We're forward thinking. We have a commitment you to sustainability in the projects that we're working on. And we help build a safer, more resilient, sustainable future for our generations. So I think, I believe that there's more value in the geo professions. I think we're getting there. I just think we need to be out there a lot more educating the public to show them what we all do. 23:35.38 GBA Podcast So why do you think that we're not noticed? Is it people just like, we haven't done a good job educating people or they don't see us or go into that a little bit. What do you think the disconnect is? 23:46.28 elizabeth clarke You know, sometimes I think it's, it's, we're really not good about the whole, you know, blowing the horn and standing up for what we do and showing people the amazing work that we do. I think at times we're very bashful and very, very humble and that's great, but I think We need to share more and we need to show them what's going on. We're leaving a footprint. We're helping them leave world a better place, let's say. 24:19.38 elizabeth clarke for generations to come. But I think in not talking about it more, we're also not building the future geo professionals as they come up because they have no idea about what else has been done. You know, they get it in school, but and they're probably getting it a lot more now because we have more interns and we have more, the younger generations really want to be a part of things and be a part of something that's changing their environment and I think we're getting better at it. I just don't think we're really good about getting the message out. 24:51.12 GBA Podcast How do we do that? 24:53.86 elizabeth clarke I think we need to talk more. I think we need to talk more to our clients. I think we need to put our projects out there. I think we need to find ways to collaborate with others outside of our industry that have a similar focus so that we can be out there bridging those gaps and talking the game. 25:14.63 GBA Podcast I don't want to be an investigative journalist, but I'm going to just keep encouraging and go down that rabbit hole. Who outside of a profession should we be talking to? Where do you see these specific opportunities? 25:24.39 elizabeth clarke You gave me a hard one. 25:26.06 GBA Podcast You could skip it. 25:27.64 elizabeth clarke Yeah, I'm trying to think, you know, to be honest with you, I'm not sure of of of where to go only because of fact, I don't have the scientific background like you do. In trying to figure out who's that next component, I always think of similar industries, you know what I mean, that are moving in the same path. We are starting to do that as I see in a lot of our crystal ball workshops, right? We're bringing other people in that have a lot of pieces that play within the geo professions as well. And I think that's a great start. Going out to other countries obviously help as well to see where they're at. What are they doing? 26:06.58 GBA Podcast So where do you think the most opportunities are for for in the geo professionals? 26:12.36 elizabeth clarke I think the changing needs in your society are going to probably push that. And whereas you're talking about maybe a greater focus on sustainability and projects, things like that, I think we're going to play a critical role with the climate change. That's a huge one. Designing infrastructures, that's going to be more resilient to the increasing different inclement weather that we have. 26:38.99 elizabeth clarke Of course, we have rising sea levels, other environmental challenges. I think that's where we're going to probably be hitting more as we grow into the latter years. I know you originally were probably thinking further out maybe than that, but I'm thinking more of it's going to be on climate change. 27:00.90 elizabeth clarke a lot of our weather changes, green infrastructure, and anything that obviously minimizes any of your environmental impacts. That's where the work is going to be. 27:11.53 GBA Podcast So put your, I'm gonna ask you to to reach under your desk and pull your crystal ball out and take a deep look at, you know, what what you think we look like in like 25 years? 27:23.88 GBA Podcast Like where does our profession go? 27:24.36 elizabeth clarke boy. 27:27.83 elizabeth clarke think we're going to have some cutting edge technology. I mean, AI is just the start of things, but we're going to have major global challenges. We're going to, you know, evolve with, within our society. But I think we're going to be the geo professionals are going to be the forefront of addressing humanity's greatest challenges, blending all that science, technology, our ethics, what we do to build a sustainable future on the earth. That's where I think we're going to be. And I think we're going to be ahead of the game. 27:55.73 elizabeth clarke We have people even coming up in our GBA groups that are so brilliant and so smart and so out of the box thinking. It gives me excitement when I come to the meetings and I hear these young people talk about where they're taking us. And I'm eager and and interested to learn more this wasn't even a possibility to me, you know, honestly 30 years ago, right? And looking at science different and knowing that I'm part of a profession that's going to have apart in something so big. 28:27.14 GBA Podcast This gets me excited. So, you know, we go back 500 years, we're the master builders. according to Elizabeth, that are going to be recognized again. But I think take your point, you know, there's, the geo professionals generally have demonstrable skills, you know, practical skills, and maybe we use them so much that they become taken for granted, but in times of crisis, those those skills tend to be very necessary. 28:49.24 elizabeth clarke Exactly. 28:51.95 GBA Podcast Yeah, I like your thinking there. Okay, anything else generally about the JIRA professionals you want to share or some wisdom or thoughts or just perspectives or anything? 29:03.26 elizabeth clarke If you're asking me for a piece of advice to anybody coming into this crazy job that we have, would tell them to stay curious and never stop learning. And embrace everything that comes to them. You know, work in the mentorships to grow their expertise. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate with everything and everybody that you touch. Everything is an experience that to learn from. 29:28.63 GBA Podcast Any specific advice related to your very know nonlinear and frankly unique approach to entering this profession and running a company? 29:39.23 elizabeth clarke You know, I always tell people when they're talking to me and they tell me their dreams and that they have, you know, they either felt like they failed or they didn't do something well. And I always say, you know, adapt. Adapt and rebuild. Who's to say that you're not the next lab technician for somebody's firm? Say you're not the the next person to decide at mid-30s to go to college and become an engineer. Life is too short to not be adaptable and not to try to tackle some different challenges, but have patience and figure out maybe there's something new for them out there. And this might just be something they never thought of. 30:15.57 GBA Podcast It really resonates, Elizabeth. I mean, as I have known you and I have led you with some of these questions, but true hardship that you've overcome and the sort of disparate way you kind of approached your career and of overcome all the challenges and made something out of it and to be where you are today is really an impressive story. 30:34.32 GBA Podcast And I appreciate appreciate appreciate you sharing that with us today. I want to switch to the next part of our segment. That's the speed round. I'm going to ask you some questions in quick succession and I'm going to ask you to answer off the top of your 30:48.37 GBA Podcast You can answer a a short or elaborate as much as you 30:51.65 GBA Podcast GBA has been great for me in that I find there's a lot of really smart people and they're reading interesting things all the time. Some business books, but some are other books. I've really felt like I've grown by learning what other people are reading. So what's your favorite book or book you're reading right now or or both? 31:07.39 elizabeth clarke Well, actually, I was going to say my favorite book, and it was about two years ago, is The Alchemist. And it was by paulwell Powell Coelho. And it was just about somebody following his dreams and discovering his purpose, finally. And I think that summed up, it was my favorite book because I kind of felt like I couldn't put it down because it just really talked. It mirrored my thoughts and my feelings at the time. And after that, it made me feel like I knew I was where I was supposed to be. 31:36.92 GBA Podcast Hmm. The alchemist. 31:38.63 elizabeth clarke the alchemist. 31:38.94 GBA Podcast Okay. Awesome. And I read anything right now that's interesting. 31:44.38 elizabeth clarke No, I am a big suspense reader. My husband laughs at me because he's like, do you ever read anything that's not like about a cop, you know, or an FBI agent or something, right? And I just choose those because it just, it really brings me in. And I can't, I'm a horrible, I can't have a book be read to me. 32:03.06 GBA Podcast So you're not an audible fan. 32:04.27 elizabeth clarke I cannot have an audible book at all. I do not like being read to at all. And I think it's because I like to immerse myself in a book and feel like I'm part of the book. 32:13.16 GBA Podcast So it's an escape. 32:14.33 elizabeth clarke Yeah. 32:14.35 GBA Podcast How about when you read these crime novels or police stuff and you juxtapose that against your experience, are they pretty accurate? or 32:22.34 elizabeth clarke They're pretty accurate. Sometimes they're like, are you kidding me? And those are the ones where they throw in the love and the romance into the story kind of thing. But for the most part, they're pretty good and true. 32:34.03 GBA Podcast That's probably the book editors that make them add all those things. 32:35.23 elizabeth clarke yeah 32:37.97 GBA Podcast All right, as we sit here, and this is, late two twenty twenty four what's your optimism index you know as you look look forward to the next four or five years. 32:48.31 elizabeth clarke So I would tell you that I am a four out of a one to five, so to speak, I'm a four. So I call that like being optimistic and and and outwardly. 32:54.74 GBA Podcast Five five if i being good or five being bad. 33:00.09 elizabeth clarke I'm a four and I would tell you that it goes for what I call it cautiously optimistic. And that didn just really just means that I'm hopeful. I am hopeful and I acknowledge that there's challenges, but I'm confident that the progress and the solutions are always going to get us pushed forward and moving. 33:17.04 elizabeth clarke And that I believe in like what's going on in the world today, ah you you know, all the technological advancements, I believe in what we're trying to do to be, so you know, a sustainable living environment. I always believe in human resilience. I'm a lover, not a fighter. And I believe all the time that that will help us address our global issues as well. So. 33:41.24 GBA Podcast Interesting. Okay. So now I want you to think back, and I shouldn't even use the word back, but you've had illustrious career, you've done a lot of great things. When you look back at your life as a totality, what's your biggest impact? What do you think you've done you far in your life that you've had your greatest impact? 34:00.50 elizabeth clarke My greatest impact looking back on my life is probably Of course people won't think it's the greatest impact while I was allowed to be a parent for a short period of time I believe that's one of my greatest impacts in my life at being Somebody else's mother for a while I then again got a chance when I remarried my current husband Mike who had two grown boys at the time but had no real female side in their life and I was allowed to impact both of their lives. Both boys now work for me and they call me mom and we have created what I think is a really great 34:48.95 elizabeth clarke company but family atmosphere. So it's not really a ah mom and pop shop as some people might call it. But I believe that the impact we have come out of this creation of this company is more about being in partnership and collaboration with the clients. And I couldn't have asked. I mean, it's taken a long time, but it was always a thought of mine to have with our clients and that you could have good clients and per se be in bed with them and still have good clients. And I feel like we've made that impact with that family feel to it and that we're very much like I'm talking to you now is how I talk to my clients. 35:32.72 GBA Podcast So it sounds like in addition to um your impact as a mother, you're also really proud of your company and what you've been able to accomplish there as well. 35:38.73 elizabeth clarke I am. 35:40.86 GBA Podcast That's great as you should be. The flip of that question is if you you look back on the totality of your life and you had to do it all over again, what you think you'd change, if anything? 35:52.44 elizabeth clarke So don't hate me for the answer, but I wouldn't change anything, Guy. And the reason why is because every failure, every disappointment, and every shortcoming has shaped me to who I am. 36:05.59 elizabeth clarke And so I've learned greatly from everything, good or bad. It's taught me resilience. It's taught me to be a better person, every setback, every stepping stone. 36:17.34 elizabeth clarke palm you know I truly believe that without it, I wouldn't be a little bit more smarter, wiser. I wouldn't be more appreciative of things that I have. I wouldn't take for granted the time that I have with people. 36:33.75 elizabeth clarke I wouldn't change, I know that's kind of cheeky, but I wouldn't have changed anything. I think we go through things for a reason. 36:40.06 GBA Podcast Actually, I expected that. And I think you you you saying that is authentic to you. I mean, if you you listen into your story here today, you're nothing if not adaptable and making the best out of it. 36:45.44 elizabeth clarke yeah 36:51.29 GBA Podcast And I think that's really inspiring, 36:52.06 elizabeth clarke Thanks. 36:53.98 GBA Podcast So good for you. 36:57.65 GBA Podcast So here I'm going to you ask you to turn outward. And you for our listeners, if there was one piece of advice that you could offer them, what would it be? You know, and then that's limited to like our profession. 37:08.82 elizabeth clarke Our profession I would tell them, I would tell them that collaboration is key. 37:09.02 GBA Podcast Well, actually, i don't even want to I don't even that. Any advice that you have for our prospective listeners? 37:16.68 elizabeth clarke The ability to work with any diverse team, and I mean diverse, throw you into a group of people and it will create challenges with patients and things like that. 37:27.15 elizabeth clarke So I want them to remember the impact of their work as a, you know, also is gonna help create a safer, more sustainable future, especially if they're going into the geo professions, but to embrace any mentorship that's provided to them so it can grow their experience. 37:44.96 GBA Podcast And that can come from all kinds of avenues, perhaps, right? 37:48.51 elizabeth clarke Absolutely. I mean, you never know where you're gonna find a mentor or an opportunity. to get more knowledge on anything. I, like I said, soak up everything. i I sit quietly and listen to conversations sometimes and just go back and then write notes on things that I, you know, scribbled or, you know, got off of something that somebody probably thought was meaningless chatter. But to me it was like, oh man, that's a great little idea, you know, or something. So you never know when you're going to get your tidbits. 38:17.94 GBA Podcast Can you think of one offhand that you could share? 38:20.03 elizabeth clarke Yeah. 38:20.75 GBA Podcast A tidbit from a meeting that probably was a throwaway that was impactful for you? 38:26.68 elizabeth clarke Sit a lot with one of my buddies, Rick Heckle, and I always have to laugh because, you know, he tells me to get rid of things and I never thought about that. Get rid of the personality tests and the different things that we look at employees for and get to the root of actually looking at the employee. 38:49.84 elizabeth clarke and not measuring them in such a scientific way. Because not everybody can be measured that way. And a lot of companies do that. And I never thought about it. So when I opened up my business, I'm all about second chances. If people tell you the truth, and you allow them to tell you the truth, you can embrace it, find out if it works. And to me, sometimes having that one diverse person in the office can make the difference. 39:15.92 GBA Podcast Well, Well, there's another nugget. 39:18.50 GBA Podcast Thanks for sharing that. That's a pretty good story as well. Well, Elizabeth, I appreciate your time today. I really you know getting to know you better. learned a couple things, even though I thought I knew 39:29.04 GBA Podcast And I appreciate you being willing to share that. So thanks for being with us today. I'll give you the final word. 39:35.64 elizabeth clarke I appreciate it. I have enjoyed talking with you today and getting to know you too on a personal level. So this has been a lot of fun. 39:44.62 GBA Podcast All right, well, thanks again, Elizabeth. Take care. 39:47.21 elizabeth clarke Thanks.