Achievers Under 40 profile: Heather Rouba
By: Russell Ray The Journal Record June 3, 2019
Heather Rouba has several titles. She’s a project manager at a well-known construction management company, owner of an accomplished modeling agency, Mrs. Oklahoma 2009, and an advocate for children and young adults.
But the title she covets the most is mom to her three children – Iliana, 11, Oliver, 8, and Estelle, 5.
“I am continually finding the working mom balance, but my children always come first,” said Rouba.
In addition to being owner and president of Brink Model Management, Rouba is a project manager at CMSWillowbrook, a full-service construction management company in Oklahoma City.
Rouba’s new job as a construction project manager was borne from a desire to launch a new career after years of staying home raising three children.
Armed with a 2007 bachelor’s degree in interior design from the University of Central Oklahoma, Rouba began her new professional journey in 2017 by pursuing a master’s degree in construction management at the University of Oklahoma.
Just three weeks after beginning her graduate work, she was hired by Manhattan Construction, one of Oklahoma’s largest construction firms, as a project engineer. While Rouba was pursuing her master’s degree and working in a demanding new field, her oldest daughter was diagnosed with autism.
Meanwhile, Rouba played a chief role in placing Dunbar Commons, a former elementary school built in the 1920s, on the National Register of Historic Places. A developer wanted to renovate the building to use it for senior housing. Rouba helped the developer determine the preliminary estimate for the construction project. CMSWillowbrook was hired by the developer to manage the project and Rouba was hired as project manager.
“I could not be more proud to be a part of this transformation and to be realizing my goal just two short years later,” Rouba said.
Rouba has been recognized for her work with several honors in 2018, including being named the National Associated General Contractors Scholar, National Association of Home Builders Professional Women in Building Scholar, NAHB Lee S. Evans National Housing Endowment Scholar and Pulte Build Your Future Award recipient. In 2017, she received the TEXO Construction Association Foundation Award.
“Heather Rouba is an example of what women in construction should aspire to become,” said Lisa Holliday, principal consultant at Rimkus Consulting Group. “But the area I admire Heather the most is her dedication and ability to balance work and family life.”
She is married to Yury Rouba.
https://journalrecord.com/2019/06/03/achievers-under-40-profile-heather-rouba/