--- title: Paving the way for other women in the industry who strive for a seat at the table date: 2023-06-23T12:00:00+01:00 author: Izaak Blanksma canonical_url: "https://kentplc.com/news-insights/paving-the-way-for-other-women-in-the-industry-who-strive-for-a-seat-at-the-table" section: Blog --- 23 Jun 2023 Press Releases & Featured Stories, Inclusion & Belonging, Sustainability. by Kent # Paving the way for other women in the industry who strive for a seat at the table ![Paula Fitzpatrick IWED Banner]() In celebration of International Women in Engineering Day, we were thrilled to have the chance to learn more about some of our talented women engineers at Kent. Paula Fitzpatrick, VP of Projects, USA, spoke to H2Tech to share her experiences as an engineer. She talks about the challenges she's faced throughout her career and tells us how she's overcome those challenges. Committed to paving the way for others, she advocates for increased support for women throughout their careers. ###### Do you have any personal anecdotes you would like to share? > I once was asked the question, can women “have it all?” and honestly, that was a difficult question to answer. I concluded that having it all means different things to different people, and even over the course of my life, the definition of having it all has changed and ebbed and flowed. Twice I have stepped away from my career: once to support my husband in a job change and relocation for 2-1/2 years and again when we had our third son, and I chose to stay home with him for 3 years. These were scary choices not easily or quickly made, but easy decisions once I focused on what was most important to me at the time. So, my advice is to be kind to yourself, be willing to reassess your priorities every now and then, and put the work in to make it possible. 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