Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/315858
72 l MACON MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2013 A D V E R T I S E M E N T Piedmont Construction Group, LLC CHRISTY KOVAC How did your career path lead you into a construction management profession? When I was a senior in high school, I decided I wanted to be an architect. I enrolled at Georgia Tech, but after a few months realized that architecture was more talent than learned skill. Because I was more practical than artistic, I looked into the college's construction management program, which was in the school of architecture. I liked it because I could still be involved in the building process. After graduating from Tech in three years, in 1991 I began a career at an international construction firm in Houston, Texas, before returning home to Macon. For a while in Texas I was helping manage a construction project at a nuclear power plant. But at the huge company where I started, it would have probably been years before I got the experience I did from moving back here. What is your specialty at Piedmont Construction? I specialize in project estimating as a managing partner at Piedmont Construction Group. Sometimes when I tell people I work in construction, the first thing they think is that I swing a hammer or saw boards. And I do have a hard hat to visit the job sites, but what I do is build relationships with subcontractors and pour over building plans to tally the cost of the job. What do you enjoy most about your profession or find the most rewarding? Women in my field are few and far between, especially locally, but I have found that clients welcome the diversity I bring to the typically male-dominated field. I bring a different perspective and a different skill set, and I enjoy that. And there are always new things to learn. As a LEED accredited professional, I study sustainable building strategies and have been involved in three LEED certified projects. I am also now learning about LEAN construction, which strives to reduce productivity waste in the design and construction process. I preach to the young people who'll listen that construction is a viable and rewarding career. You often hear about the shortage of qualified medical professionals, but it's about the same in construction. Piedmont Construction Group, LLC 107 Gateway Dr, Ste B, Macon, Ga. 31210 478-405-8907 Office I 478-405-8908 Fax Beverly Sanders, MD Kala Cunard, MD INTERNAL MEDICINE How did you decide to pursue medicine as a career? Beverly: That's sort of an easy one. My dad was a physician, a dermatologist. I grew up around a white coat and a magnifying glass. I remember spending time in his office as a child; then, as I got older I found I loved biology - the human body, the way it worked and the diseases that affected it. Kala: I have wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. My favorite toys were my doctor's kit and white coat. I feel privileged now to be living my childhood dream. What is the most challenging or most stressful part of your practice? Beverly: I think the most stressful part of practicing medicine is an obvious one, the responsibility of caring for someone's health. It's a big responsibility to have someone's life in your hands. Medicine isn't always clear cut and I'll often spend evenings thinking about what else I can or should do for a patient. Kala: One of the most challenging aspects of practicing medicine, but also one of the most rewarding, is the constant evolution and growth of medicine and research. What do you enjoy most? Beverly: I love helping people and I love teaching people. You have information and someone has needs. You take that information and provide for their needs – it's kind of an amazing exchange. Kala: My favorite part of practicing medicine is getting to know my patients and forming long-standing relationships with them. Practicing primary care will give me the opportunity to take care of my patients for years. What do you do to relax on the weekends when you are not on call? Beverly: I love to cook, read, watch movies and spend time with my extended family. I do love to travel and have the occasional adventure but all around I'm more of a "relaxer." Kala: I enjoy spending time with my husband and our pets – a dog, a bunny and a turtle. I also love to read, bake, and have recently developed an interest in gardening and refinishing old furniture. 330 Hospital Dr. Building C Ste. 304 Macon, Ga. 31217 I 478- 742-1010