An inspiring leader and Marine Corps veteran, Lisa Wolford, President and CEO, founded Constellation West in 1997 as a single mom needing a career that could help her better support her family, including a son with severe disabilities. A dynamic, financially savvy executive, she built Constellation West into a place “where extraordinary works” ‐‐ becoming one of the country’s fastest‐growing service‐disabled veteran‐owned, women‐owned, small disadvantaged businesses – attracting top talent, winning contracts ‘where no woman‐owned business’ had gone before, and delivering top cyber security, agile development, and IT systems solutions to help federal agencies tackle their toughest challenges.

What was the process like of starting your own company? Did you know other female CEOs?
Well scary. I had done an Entrepreneurship class in college along with others that really set me up well to run my own company, and I had a contract before I started the company (18.5 years ago) where I was an architect for client-server technology, which was really hot stuff back then.

I didn’t know any other female CEOs. I knew of one in the community. I didn’t perceive any barriers. I’ve spent my entire life in male-dominated fields. I was in the Marine Corps, which back then was one to two percent female and now it’s up to seven percent. I work in technology, a lot of DOD, and that’s 90% male, so that is my normal.

What would you tell a young woman who’s starting out in those fields?
To go for it! They pay is better in a male-dominated field so you should go for that. If money doesn’t matter to you, then I suppose that’s not an issue. But whatever hobbies you have cost you the same no matter how much you make.

What’s an overrated piece of advice that people have tried to give you?
People will frequently try to tell others not to speak their mind, and this is my perception of a gender bias, that because of my gender, people expect me to be less outspoken. But that is my basic nature and I’ve found people either like it or they don’t. You should be true to yourself, and obviously treat other people well, but I think being authentic is highly valued.

For young people starting out, what attributes do you value in them?
I was at a women in government contracting event recently and they were talking about millenials (under 30), and it wasn’t very positive, though I actually don’t agree with that. People come in all different flavors so I don’t think you can generalize like that. What they were saying was that millenials aren’t loyal, that you have to retain them differently, that they don’t want to work hard, and that’s just not been my experience. The millenials I’ve worked with are loyal, and I think relationships are important even when you’re dealing with millenials. I think people like to be valued and known. They like to hear “You did a great job with that” or “I really like how you handled x, y and z”. That’s more valuable than money most days.

45% of the people in my office is female. I had to collect those statistics recently because I don’t hire people based on gender. But I think what happens is that women know that it’s ok to be a smart woman in my organization. Your gender is irrelevant to me. I don’t mind the fact that you’re female; females typically are able to multitask and think in multiple directions, and they solution differently stereotypically than males. So having a blend of the genders actually gives you a blend of solutions.
 
What I tell young women is that when you get challenged with sexism, and you will, you should beat them and enjoy it. Be smarter, be better, work harder, and don’t back down.