Tatiana Mancilla
BIO
Civil engineer and CEO of a Construction Project Management company based in Guatemala. Mom of 3 children.
Instagram: @tatianamansilla2013
Tatiana Mancilla
“I used to think that being a woman in construction was my greatest weakness, now I consider it my greatest strength!”
I had never considered myself a woman in STEMM–I am a woman in construction. I was a little girl who did extremely well in mathematics, with an engineer father who always told her that she should take advantage of that talent, and who never stopped telling her that she could achieve whatever she set out to do. And she also had a mother who was a medical doctor and a pioneer at her time.
I’m a civil engineer from a country in Central America who’s life was changed by winning a scholarship to study a Master's degree in Project Management in England and turned down a PhD grant because she wanted to build millions of square meters. I’m also a mother of 3 children, a wife, and CEO of bM101, my Construction Project Management company.
I have achieved what I never believed could be real, that fragile balance between professional, personal and family life. I believe that if I wasn’t an engineer, this would not have been possible, and it would also not have been possible without the husband who accompanies me unconditionally in my journey.
For a long time, everyone doubted, including myself, that someone would ever give me a job in a ¨macho¨ society like Guatemala. I started as an employee for real estate developers in the Central American region. When I started to work, I was married but had no children, so I seemed like the perfect employee, working without schedule and passionate about each of the goals that were set.
I wanted to show that being a woman was not a weakness for my role and that I could do the same job as a man. I had completely oversighted that women have strengths that are crucial at critical moments and that complement the technical profile in an outstanding way.
I did not have to try to be like a man!!! I just did not realize that at that time. I was fortunate to lead emblematic construction projects, thousands of square meters led by a woman. But then the kids came into the picture.
When my first daughter arrived I still worked without schedules because I had an excellent support system (my parents and husband) that allowed me not to neglect her or my work. When my second daughter came, things started to get complicated, especially when at eight months of pregnancy I was at construction sites all the time.
I began to feel like a bad mom and at the same time like a bad employee for worrying about something other than the project goals. When my third child arrived, I saw myself as the worst mom in the world because I left my 2-month-old baby all day and all night to supervise construction projects. I reached the point of forgetting to buy the birthday cake of one of my daughters.
Finally, when my third son was 1 year old, I quit my job thinking my career was over. I was certain that I could not combine being a mother and being that superb civil engineer in charge of projects of that magnitude. I felt that I disappointed myself, but in my head, there was no way to combine both roles successfully. I could not have been more wrong.
Companies with important construction projects contacted me insistently and I could work on their projects in the way I chose. I was very clear that now my family was my priority and by setting rules, customers began to arrive continuously.
In 2017, the Guatemalan Chamber of Construction chose me as one of the "Successful Guatemalans of the year". Me, a mom with 3 children was chosen!!! A lot has happened since that year, so many projects and clients have come.