Meet Sonia Hartwell, Berto’s current President and daughter of Alberto Morgadinho. Read what she has to say about the company’s 30 year anniversary in 2024.
WHAT´S NEXT FOR BERTO?
Sonia Hartwell thinks a lot about legacy. The 40-something year old President of Berto Contractors Ltd. had big shoes to fill when she assumed the top leadership position at the company started by her dad, Alberto – navigating an industry and team that weren’t quite sure she was up to the job. But under her guidance, Berto celebrated its 30thAnniversary last month, just months after executing an internal leadership restructure, launching a major diversification strategy, and closing off a year that saw annual revenues at double what they were just four years ago.
When we asked her how she managed to make it to that big 30-year milestone, she looked thoughtful and a little bemused. “There was never a moment where I thought we wouldn’t hit it. Berto has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I don’t really see a future where it doesn’t exist,” she said. Read the rest of our interview with Sonia to hear her thoughts on what it takes to run a growing business with such strong family roots.
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Q. What does it mean to you to be celebrating such a big milestone this year? Berto is officially 30 years old!
A. I’m very proud that the business has continued to thrive for 30 years. It’s a huge accomplishment. Construction can be a very volatile business so enduring all of the ups and downs is certainly an achievement.
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Q. How does your father’s legacy influence the work that you do today?
A. His legacy is very important to me. I will always celebrate everything that he set up and everything that he started. But I’m really enjoying putting my personal stamp on it. Always looking at what we can do differently and do better. My big goal right now is diversification of our services so that Berto can continue to grow into a modern company.
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Q. What does a modern Berto look like?
A. Using the strong backbone of the business that’s already in place and diversifying our services to meet the evolving demands of our customers, both existing and new, is really what it’s all about. We want to be able to service more of the industry that we’re part of. And becoming an end-to-end solution provider who can deliver the quality of workmanship that Berto has become known for is all part of that goal. We know how much easier it is when you can have all of your needs met in one place without compromising high quality.
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Q. What are some of the achievements that you are most proud of in Berto’s 30-year history?
A. Navigating the transition after my dad passed away was a big one. Everything changed and we weren’t really sure what was going to happen. Having gotten over that hurdle was massive. More recently, our taking on large scale civil projects and diversifying our services into design & engineering have been game changers.
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Q. What are some of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced since you took over at Berto? And how did you overcome those challenges?
A. It was definitely an uphill climb at times. I did not originally aspire to lead Berto. I didn’t have a construction background. I didn’t have a business background. I was a young female walking into a very male dominated industry. So my hill was very steep because not only did I need to learn the business, I needed to understand the business and its key players, and learn to lead in a way that would demonstrate almost instant credibility.
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Q. How did you do that?
A. I chose to focus on stabilizing the business after the sudden changes and putting the spotlight back on what Berto was known for in the industry – the quality and workmanship that was so important to my dad. I also started looking more closely at our internal organization and structure, trying to visualize how I wanted it to look in 3 to 5 to 10 years.
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Q. What were some of the biggest managerial changes you’ve had to make to your team? And how did you navigate those changes?
A. The biggest, most recently, was navigating the retirement of a senior level Manager who was a specialist in the industry and deciding that I was ready to start trusting my own instincts when it came to day-to-day operations. That also pushed me in a direction where I had to start focussing on hiring people with more specialized functional skill sets so that I could take the company to a new level. The bigger our projects get, the more important it’s becoming to bring in experts that can lead within the HR, Finance, and Customer Service areas. We have always been strong in Project Management, but as we diversify our services, we need to build out new teams that can oversee a greater breadth of functional business requirements.
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Q. How has your personal leadership style evolved as a result?
A. I’ve become more confident and consistent in my decision making knowing that I have the right team around me that supports my vison. I think the biggest change was accepting that I can achieve my goals by surrounding myself with other talented people who specialize in their specific functions.
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Q. How do you balance the demands of leading a company with the demands of maintaining a personal life?
A. Poorly. (She laughs.) I manage them very poorly. My job is all encompassing. I’m very invested in what I do. My work life is so personal to me that it’s not easy to separate the two. My husband is a Superintendent here, my kids work here for their summer jobs… so it’s very much a part of everything that we do, whether it’s at the office or at home. I sometimes fantasize about unplugging a bit more, but I feel better when I know what’s going on at all times because not knowing makes me too nervous. I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t really think of my job as work. Berto is such a huge part of my life that it just doesn’t feel like work.
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Q. Does your team feel the same way?
A. I’m very conscious of the fact that how I operate sets the tone for the rest of the team. And that the bigger the team becomes, the more important it’s becoming to start drawing lines between work life and personal life. I’ll always remain plugged in. But I try to make sure that my team knows that I don’t expect them to operate at that same level. I think everyone is finding ways to find their own balance.
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Q. What makes the Berto Team unique?
A. We have a very family focussed mindset. I try to make everyone feel like they’re an extension of the Berto family. And I genuinely hope that they feel like they are.
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Q. Is there a moment in time that reinforced your passion for the industry?
A. Winning and working on the ONNI Project at Gilmore was a big one for me. It was so complex, during both the project management and execution phases, that it forced my team and I to come up some truly creative solutions that reignited a spark in me to pursue other large-scale builds. Working with clients is really rewarding when you can work together to overcome so many unexpected obstacles.
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Q. Where do you see Berto in the next 10 years?
A. The next five years will be very much about growth. And so, the five that follow that will most likely be all about sustaining what we’ve built – stabilizing for the future. I always want to feel like a family business. And while I am very focused on growing into new opportunities, whether in the power sector or design and engineering, I never want to lose that family feeling.
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Q. How does it feel to look back at the evolution of the company?
A. I’m very proud of all of our accomplishments. I’m proud of how we’ve been able to represent the core values of the company and how we’ve stayed true to my dad’s values. I also feel lucky to share space in an industry that has so many big players in it. Berto is now a contender who’s known for quality work and meticulous execution. And I will never stop building on that because I want Berto to be a company that people trust. Everything that I do is for the benefit of the business. This is personal to me. And I want people to know that I take that very seriously and never want to let them down.
