If you follow along with Timmons Group’s inclusion practices, you know very well that one of our favorite ways to celebrate cultural heritage months is to feature individual employees at the firm who have chosen to identify with one or many groups that we support. For the past two years, speaking one on one with our staff to learn about their backgrounds and roles at the firm has been one of my favorite parts of the job, and I wasn’t going to change course in 2022.
In the spirit of celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 through October 15), I reached out to Rey Bravo of our Charlotte office to see if he’d be interested in an employee highlight during Hispanic Heritage Month. He was not only open to chatting, but excited to share his story with me.
Rey is a project engineer in our Charlotte land development practice. He has eight years of experience in his field and has worked in a variety of specialties like stormwater, site development, bridge, grading, and water/wastewater design. Rey is versed in design programs AutoCAD, Blubeam, and HydroCAD as well as processes like NCDEQ approval, stormwater BMP compliance, and Field Density and Dynamic Cone soil materials testing.
Rey and his dog Everest at Timmons Group’s annual Take Your Dog to Work Day in June.
Rey graduated school from UNC Charlotte in 2014 where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He grew up in Charlotte and confessed, “I originally was planning on going to either University of Miami or NC State, but then I realized that one of the best public North Carolina schools is in Charlotte, so I decided on Charlotte.” While in school, Rey was prompted with the question of what career path to take. “And there it was, the decision between what I wanted to do—architecture or engineering.” After some deliberation, he decided on engineering.
“It actually seems like I’ve been here longer, but in a very good way,” Rey said, after joining the firm in April of this year. He came to Timmons Group by way of recommendation and was already acquainted with several folks in the Charlotte office when he arrived. Rey was enthusiastic to join the firm and said his shift was a big growth opportunity for him, having worked with another firm for the past four years.
Rey became quickly acquainted with his new role, working on a variety of project types from his first day. “I transitioned to Timmons Group, and the team immediately gave me fun work, which I really enjoyed. So far, I’ve worked on commercial projects like car washes and offices.”
After hearing the rest of Rey’s story, I couldn’t help but wonder if he picked up his new workload so smoothly because engineering is just a part of who he is. But, as it turns out, civil engineering is an intrinsic part of his family’s history as well.
Rey’s parents immigrated to the United States in the eighties to settle in Union City, New Jersey. After he was born, Rey and his parents moved to Charlotte where he and his sisters grew up. By all accounts, Rey’s parents were supportive, thoughtful, and involved in his upbringing, especially when it came to their children earning an education.
Education was always a staple of Rey’s family. His two sisters (he’s the middle child) have secondary degrees as well, one is now in finance and the other, in human resources. “My parents were always involved in our education,” Rey said. “Always asking us questions like, ‘Have you gotten enough sleep before your exams?’ and ‘Do you have any deadlines?’ They sacrificed a lot to come here and now they see the fruits of their labor coming to life, and they’re so happy. I’m really glad they supported me the way they did growing up.”
Rey had another family supporter while growing up as well—his uncle. The whole family was always close, so Rey’s uncle, who works as a government-based structural engineer, would visit from Ecuador, and even lived in the States for a bit too. “Anytime he came to visit, he was talking about structural engineering this and that,” Rey said. “I always had this image of him. When I was growing up, I was just like him, and that translated to engineering too,” Rey said. “Hearing stories about his work piqued my interest, and I attribute my career in engineering to him.”
After Ecuador suffered the repercussions of a devastating storm in 2016, Rey’s uncle was hard at work as a structural engineer. “The buildings down there are not equipped for massive damage like that,” Rey said, “and they had to rebuild everything from the dirt to the pavement. My uncle was a huge part of that.”
As someone in a similar field, Rey’s uncle was always an inspiration for him from a career standpoint. But, after watching his uncle’s dedication to the rehabilitation of Ecuador, Rey learned that engineering could be much more than a career path, it could also be a way to engage with his community and his heritage. This discovery was, for Rey, a cornerstone in which his family culture and career met.
“I feel like a lot of people in my generation are first-born Americans and can relate, we are working hard and juggling everything because our parents gave us this, and we want to continue to make them proud,” Rey said. The mindset of diligence is apparent when speaking with Rey, and I can imagine that circles back to his Hispanic heritage and as well. “This experience has helped me understand my heritage more, and I hope that other young engineers see this and feel motivated in their careers too.”
Conversations like these help us open a dialogue that may not have been so accessible at one point in our industry, and Timmons Group is proud to be a leader in that way. Rey’s story, along with many of our other employees’, is unique because it gives us insight into family, culture, history, and the future of our communities.
“I’m grateful to get to tell my story and for it to be heard. This is who I am,” Rey said.
