Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Prieto.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am originally from Bogota, Colombia and came to the United States when I was 7 years old and saw first hand the sacrifice my parents made of moving to a new country where they didn’t speak the language or know the culture, in search of a better future for my sister and I. Growing up knowing that sacrifice led me to strive to do my best in school because I could see their pride when I received good grades and it was my way of thanking them.
I went on to University and pursued Civil and Environmental Engineering, always having clear that my goal was to have a profitable career that would enable me to help out my family and give back to them a portion of all they had given me. Throughout my engineering journey, there were difficult times, many times I thought about giving up and trying another field, but my intention of fighting the statistics that I had heard about not enough women engineers, motivated me to keep going. During these difficult times, I was blessed to have a strong support system made up of my family and my Golden Retriever, Lucky, that would always be by my side while I studied and always seemed to know when I needed a break to relieve some stress!
In 2016, one of my grandmas and my dog passed away within almost a month of each other, and these events helped me realize that our most valued asset, next to our health, is time! There were so many things I had wanted to do with both of them, but I had not made the time for them because I gave priority to my work and everyday tasks. By this time I was already working full time as an engineer and was working 60+ hour weeks, which led me to look for a different job within the same industry. I began to blog and explore more of my creative side again, since I always loved drawing, painting, and doing different crafts.
This creative revolution propelled me to start a shop for dogs, with Lucky being my main inspiration! Eventually, this led to me reminiscing about all the times that I would say Lucky could probably graduate as an engineer with me because he was always there learning with me when I practiced problems for Calculus or Chemistry.
I am always flowing with ideas and aside from the shop, in 2019, I also started a podcast, Pongase las Pilas podcast, to motivate other Latinas in the professional world, this podcast has been a creative outlet for me, especially after becoming a mother and having a lot of my priorities shifted.
I now run both my shop and podcast, while still working as a Drainage Engineer, raising my daughter and I am actually now expecting our second baby! Last year, I decided to niche down my shop to women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and their beloved dogs! I was convinced that there had to be more women in STEM that probably had the same experience with their dogs and I have found them!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth ride! For starters, when I arrived in the US, I did not speak English and had a little bit of culture shock, it was also difficult to not spend time with my extended family, we went almost 10 years without being able to return to Colombia to see them. As I have mentioned, my engineering journey was also not smooth, there were a lot of internal fears and lack of confidence with certain subjects, and time management was also difficult while in College. As one of the few girls in a class of mostly boys, there were moments that I thought if I really should be there or look for another field, classes were difficult and exams were very stressful! Then starting out in construction, in such a male-dominated industry, I faced a lot of challenges, knowing when to speak up, building confidence in my knowledge, etc. The entrepreneurial journey has also been very challenging, I’ve had to do a lot of mindset shifts, there is a lot of trial and error and sometimes disappointments but everything has been a learning opportunity. When it comes to my motherhood journey, I have also had many challenges, being a first-time mom, accepting so many changes to my body while pregnant, juggling how being a mom affects my career, dealing with different stages of my daughter’s life, it is all a roller coaster, but a wonderful one!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I selected other, because I am a professional, a creative, and an entrepreneur.
I work as a Civil Engineer, in Transportation, designing the drainage component that is tied to new roads, I own a STEMinist dog online shop, I host a motivational podcast, and also do some freelancing in logo and web design.
I believe what sets me apart from others is my story, and caring so much for everything I do. I am not the type of person that does things, just to do them, if I am working on something I believe in it 100% and care for it 100% so I try to give that much as well!
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite childhood memories goes back to when I used to play chess with my father! I was around 10 years old and usually on every Friday night, I would wait up for him to arrive from work and we would play chess; I loved it because it was one of those things we did together to check in every week, and we would talk about what had happened that week!
Contact Info:
- Email: lauracamiprieto@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.canva.com/design/DAE4Ch0W0j8/OKVR2K0kNXcL_x6G8pNAzQ/view?website#2:stem-paws
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pongaselaspilaspodcast/ | https://www.instagram.com/stem_paws/
Image Credits
Calani Media (@calanimedia)
