All In The Family At Haydon
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
As a fourth-generation construction employee, Haydon Sr. Project Engineer Brianna Esqueda is no stranger to the industry. Her great-grandfather was a laborer. Her grandfather was an electrician. Her grandma works in landscaping. Her dad started in landscaping and is now grading for a general contractor here in the Valley. And her uncle is a project manager for a general contractor in California.
“When I started looking into what I wanted to study – and pursue for a career – my Dad mentioned the idea of construction management,” Brianna shared. “I didn’t even know you could study this! I made a deal with my dad that I’d try it for my first year, and if I didn’t like it, I would pick what I wanted to do.”
Brianna ultimately enjoyed ASU’s program and liked taking construction classes starting her freshman year. “I had classes I enjoyed that allowed me to see a lot of possibilities, especially as a woman, and on the operations side of the industry.”
As a kid, her dad would take her to sites and show her what he worked on. “Looking back, both my dad and grandpa would do that when we would drive by an area or a project and point out, ‘I did that on this site. Or ‘I helped build that.’”
Seeing the breadth of all the pieces her dad and grandpa were a part of is one of her fondest memories of growing up around the industry.
Now that she works in the industry, Brianna and her dad are frequently able to talk about work. “Now I can understand what the work is about. It helped me on a personal understanding of how my dad got to where he is in his career and all of his knowledge. It’s great being able to appreciate the hard work my family has put in on the field side of construction.”
Brianna also shared that her grandfather is proud of how far she’s come, noting that he told her: “I didn’t ever reach a level to where you did and that’s a great thing.”
And the family tree continues to branch out – on the same project. Brianna’s brother Adrian is an intern at Haydon and she credits him as the reason she’s now working at the company. Brianna not only works with Adrian, but she also works with her cousin and fellow Sr. Project Engineer David Lopez.
“It’s been fun working with my family,” said Brianna. “It’s been good being able to help Adrian with cheat codes that I would have loved earlier in my career. And with David here, we all look out for each other. When you’re trying to build that bond with your team – we’re already ahead of that because we’re family.”
