Melbourne, FL--
NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK 2015
AWARDS BANQUET AND SILENT AUCTION
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| Carol Craig, Karen Gregory |
On February 26, 2015, lifetime Women In Defense member,
Carol Craig, was the guest speaker at the NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK 2015 AWARDS
BANQUET AND SILENT AUCTION hosted by Space Coast WID, Canaveral Council
of Technical Societies (CCTS) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics (AIAA) Cape Canaveral Section, and sponsored by United Launch
Alliance.
Carol Craig, the Unconventional CEO®, and a
lifetime WID member, spoke about how in 1999 she took her one person business
startup idea and grew it to nearly 400 associates, becoming one of the most successful
Hispanic (Cuban), woman, veteran (Navy) owned companies in United States
history through unconventional means and a raw talent for problem solving that
she had developed in the beginning of her engineering career.
“Even a blind squirrel finds a nut.”
After landing her first job from the University of Illinois analyzing
COBOL code, Ms. Craig found herself managing Navy fighter pilots in a
consulting role similar to Charlie in the movie “Top Gun”. Believing she could
do the job as well as the aviators who were benefitting from her consulting,
she volunteered to become a commissioned Naval Flight Officer for the United
States government. During combat training for P.O.W. survival school, she suffered
an injury just a few months after receiving her Navy wings. It was during that
time that she met her husband John. After surgery for her injury proved
unsuccessful in returning her to combat flight duty, Ms. Craig made the hard
decision to transition out of the Navy and found her way back to her consulting
roots as a civilian GS engineering contractor.
She and John started a family and it was at that time that
Ms. Craig landed a contract with AmeriGroup Corporation where she was tasked
with reverse engineering COBOL code for their Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The workflow was strong and steady. Never wanting to decline new work or to say
no to a challenge, Carol Craig decided to start a company, Craig Technical Consulting,
Inc., which later became Craig Technologies. Ms. Craig had so much work that she started to
hire Navy wives that had once been in situations similar to her own. Ms. Craig
knew she could identify talent and train the new recruits. Some of those Navy
wives that were originally hired at the company’s inception in 1999 continue to
work for her today.
“Don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail.”
Carol Craig identified and sought out the advantages of
contractual government set asides. In her particular case, she was a service-disabled
veteran and Hispanic woman. She also discovered that the area where her parents
lived was designated a HUBZone or a “Historically Underutilized Business” Zone.
Ms. Craig combined her engineering credentials and her talent for problem
solving to obtain as many government certifications that she could qualify
for. She then broke with conventional
wisdom and hired her friends and family. Ms. Craig’s parents are both 84 years
old today and still help in the business with accounting. “She (Carol Craig’s
mother) claims that I’m the reason she’s still alive, because I’ve given her
something to wake up to every morning, be excited about and that she can focus
on (in addition to all her other ‘retired’ activities),” said Carol Craig. Carol has done everything you’re ‘not supposed
to do’ and that’s been one of the keys to her success.
Carol Craig’s business model for becoming a successful leader
in the community:
1.
Don’t be afraid to break the rules.
2.
Be prepared and have the courage to maneuver
around career obstacles.
3.
When one door closes, another door opens.
4.
Embrace new opportunities.
5.
Develop your skills into a marketable talent – (e.g.
Carol Craig’s engineering background). Ms. Craig’s confidence grew from knowing
that she was really good at business because she had a natural talent for
solving problems that hearkened back to her roots as an engineering student. It
was this ability that allowed her company to grow to the success it has today.
6.
Have an important mission and follow it.
7.
Love what you are doing.
8.
Do something important in your life.
9.
Don’t give up regardless of how difficult.
1 Embrace
the love and encouragement coming from your friends and family
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| Carol Craig, John Richmond , Victoria Richmond |
Young Victoria Richmond Express's How Carol Craig Inspired her
.
Contributor
Alexander Penalta, Esquire
Penalta & Stiger P.A.
http://www.penalta.com
VP Trent Realty
Community Outreach
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