Jessica Disher was born and raised in a small town in Iowa and moved to a suburb of Dallas, TX in her late teens. She enjoyed playing competitive sports and spending time boating with her family and friends. In her childhood, her parents taught her to follow through with her commitments and work hard to stay true to her beliefs. Those values were instilled in her at a young age building the foundation for her strong work ethic, which has contributed to the growth of her professional career.

Growing up, Jessica would take her weekly allowance and split it into different ‘budget categories’, savings, donations and spending, contributing to her interest in cost management. Jessica remembers the time her high school counselor suggested she consider an occupation that involved numbers and critical thinking. She did not think much about it at the time, until her senior year when she challenged herself by taking calculus. She then discovered her passion for working with numbers, critical thinking and problem solving.

Jessica attended Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi earning a BBA in Management with a Minor in Marketing. While attending a career fair dinner hosted by the university, she was seated with a potential future employer. During dinner, he introduced her to project controls by talking about an open position at Kiewit. She was intrigued by the roles and responsibilities of the position and attended the career fair the following day to get more information.

Upon graduation, Jessica began her professional career in 2011 with Kiewit focusing on cost management supporting projects in the oil and gas industry. As she grew in her role and became more comfortable with cost, she realized the importance of understanding the project schedule and the impact it could have to the forecasted cost and profit. Jessica had a growing interest to become proficient in scheduling to expand her skillset. Her experience at Kiewit built the foundation for her technical skills as well as teaching her how to succeed in a high stress environment with strict budgets and tight schedules.

In 2016, Jessica began working for Burns and McDonnell as a Senior Project Controls Specialist. She is responsible for managing cost and schedule for EPC projects in the transmission and distribution industry and has an active role in proposal efforts. She believes it is important to focus on upfront planning to ensure the project can be executed safely, on time and on budget. One of Jessica’s favorite things about being in project controls is having the ability to see a project from conception through closeout, seeing the day to day details and to see the overall picture of each project.  

Jessica’s manager at Burns and McDonnell, Juan Arellano, has been a very important mentor in her career. He has been there to coach and encourage her on her growth and development. He once told her ‘knowledge is power’. This inspires Jessica to challenge herself to continue learning and get involved with other aspects of the company to broaden her knowledge.

The first annual AACE meeting Jessica attended was the June 2019 conference in New Orleans. She believes AACE offers valuable networking opportunities. It gives participants the chance to learn and talk with others in the same profession. AACE also offers many avenues to grow yourself personally and professionally, whether it is at a local chapter meeting or reading through publications.

One piece of advice that continues to resonate in her mind is something a colleague shared with her, ‘to better yourself, you have to be put in an uncomfortable position to grow’. This is something she always keeps in mind as new opportunities present themselves. It reminds her to say ‘yes’ to new or unfamiliar situations knowing the end result will bring greater rewards. Jessica also strives to succeed in everything, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing it well.