Quinn gets the call, pursues love of working outdoors into trades

Kristen Quinn –
Payne and Dolan Inc.

Kristen Quinn has fond memories of helping with daily chores on her grandfather’s farm, where she grew used to working outside and being around equipment.

As a young adult she held a few indoor jobs where she excelled but found she missed being outside.

She recalls coming home from work one day and rollerblading around the subdivision where she then lived. Payne and Dolan equipment was parked on the side of a road and Quinn saw a phone number on one of the cones.

“I had to call every day for a month and a half until I got my interview with a gentleman named John LaConte,” she said. “After some convincing he said he would give me a chance, but not to disappoint him. When he retired, he told me he never regretted hiring me.”

Now with 16 years in the industry, Quinn is in charge of training new employees to help with traffic control and working with her supervisor and safety manager to contribute to workers’ knowledge and help them better perform their duties.

“She has taken on and successfully handled many of Payne and Dolan’s toughest and highest safety risk jobs, working to coordinate and organize traffic control employees on those jobs,” said Supervisor Mark Zuber. “She has been the hardest working, most positive example for those new and existing employees. Kristen has been a true leader in her field and has my respect as the best of the best in my 42-year career.”

Quinn encouraged other women who want to take charge, have an eye for detail and a passion for protecting others to join the industry.

“Traffic control is a very dangerous job, and my main goal is to ensure my fellow workers and everybody who crosses my path goes home safely,” she said.