The podcast Guiding Growth: Conversations with Community Leaders from the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, event and meeting venue Modern Moments and the Gilbert Independent/yourvalley.net explores the human journey of leaders. There are stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks, and lessons learned. This partial transcript of the most recent podcast with Lorraine Bergman has been edited for brevity and clarity       

Lorraine Bergman is president and CEO of Caliente Construction, an award-winning, woman-owned company, continually recognized for its dedication to safety, exceptional construction services and building strong relationships with clients. Under her leadership, Caliente has grown into Arizona’s 28th largest commercial building contractor and its fifth largest woman-owned company. Bergman’s passion is serving her industry and her community.  

Among Lorraine’s notable accomplishments are serving as the past president of the Arizona Builders Alliance, state director for the Association of General Contractors, president of the Arizona Center for Job Order Contracting Excellence, and co-founder of Gilbert Leadership, Positive Paths and Arizona State University’s Advancing Women in Construction. She is a two-time Athena Award nominee and winner of the ACE Most Admired CEO award, the ASU Spirit of Enterprise award, and the Construction Financial Management Association’s Construction Executive of the Year award. Bergman is a member of CEOs Against Cancer, AZ Builders Alliance Life Director, Northern Arizona University’s Women Taking Charge Initiative, Women Business Enterprise National Council and TGEN Ambassadors. Bergman has two children, and she is a grandmother of five. 

What did teen years look like for you?  

Teen years looked pretty challenging. My father got blood clots and could no longer be a barber, and so he had to choose another profession. And one of his clients was a developer and someone pretty famous in the Valley. And so they were building the first senior living community, and it was at Rossmoor Leisure World. So my parents decided to move, and it was not a good position for me to move at that point in time in life. So I actually moved out very young in my life, and it was good for me because moving there was not my vision, my goal, and it allowed me to continue with the independence. And so I was actually emancipated when I was very young. And so I went from a straight-C-D student to a straight-A student. I graduated high school early. It changed my whole life, and it really was the best thing for me, but it was not easy. I was definitely that starving student, and it gave me a lot of ambition to be a high achiever because I didn't want to settle for anything less, and I had big aspirations. And the only way I was going to get there was I really working hard for it. And so it was good for me. 

You have a full 20-year career (at Arizona Public Service) before ever even thinking about the career you're in today. So talk about the time you spent at APS and what that looked like. 

APS was a great company for me. When I grew up, my father, women weren't supposed to go to college. The boys could go to college, so my three brothers could go to college, but the girls couldn't go to college unless, of course, we took it upon ourselves. So one of the things that APS did was they had a very wonderful leadership development training. So they offered so many leadership opportunities for me, but they also had tuition reimbursement. So I started going to school, raising my family, working. And actually right after I retired, I finally got my degree, my bachelor of arts and my bachelor of science. I got a dual degree and my children got to watch me walk.  

I remember one thing that APS always said is that you really don't need to know. You just need to be a good leader and be able to lead people. And what I learned from APS helped me as I transitioned from my career into construction. But another job I had there was, and this is where my volunteerism came, Sarah knows I was heavily involved with the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce. I was president of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, one of the original founders of the Gilbert Leadership, but I was a loaned executive for three years assigned or for three months assigned to United Way. I became someone I could do public speaking, I had the biggest fear of public speaking, and they broke me into that. And now I can get up and speak to a group of a thousand and it doesn't bother me at all. 

You went back to construction. There's a story there. 

We actually started the business out of our home and worked out of our home. And then we moved into this small office complex, actually industrial park. And we kept on growing and growing and growing. And then we bought a building on Price Road. 

(In February 2004, husband Tom) was diagnosed with stage four terminal cancer, colon cancer. And they actually gave him two weeks to live. And they said, you can go home and get your stuff in order or you can try chemo. ... So he did live a year. He passed away in February of 2005. And during his year of illness, he sat down with me and went through contracts, the why things are the way they are, and he started trying to educate me on certain things.  

As you reflect back on that time, was there ever a moment after where you thought maybe I don't want to continue this company, or were you from that point on fully dedicated? 

I wanted to be very transparent with the employees and tell them and keep them updated. Lost more employees than I care to ever mention, lost clients — I mean, that year he was sick because nobody knew what was going to happen to the company. 

So the day Tom went home into hospice care, before the ambulance was coming to pick him up, I went to the office, and I have a project manager that comes in my office, and he shuts the door, and I go, “No, please, not now.” And he goes, “Yeah.” So when you're the most vulnerable, he goes, “I'm putting in my two weeks' notice.” And I was like, “Please, just give me three months. Give me three months.” And he goes, “I'll give you three months.” 

And then I had a man who entered my life. I said, God dropped him off at my doorstep. He came out of retirement. ... We talked a little bit. And then he came back on Monday and I was at work because I had to run the business, and he put my purse on my desk and he goes, “You go home, you take care of your husband, you sign three checks and I won't spend any of your money unless I reach out to you.” And so I left and I was able to spend the last few weeks with my husband. ... I was exhausted. And so Tom passed away, and Russ, the older gentleman, stayed and ran the office, and he was extremely knowledgeable. And when I came back, he goes, “I don't know what I'm going to do for you, but I'll stay here for three months and help you.” And that three months turned into 13 years, and I'm so ever grateful for that. 

So he just really taught me things that just added to my repertoire. And he stayed with me. And then Larry stayed. So I said I had my right-hand man and my left-hand man, and they really helped me grow the business. And then the employees that stayed on board, they were so committed, and they still are.