Meet Jade Nunes of Ardebili Engineering in Scottsdale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Nunes.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up knowing that there was only one thing I wanted to do with my professional life – I wanted to see my name in print. I wanted to become a well-known journalist, renowned for my tenacity, accuracy, and curiosity. When I was only a third-grader, I began writing for a local children’s newspaper called Bear Essential News for Kids, where I was able to interview people like Antonio Banderas and Bill Nye the Science Guy – all before high school! I had a passion for speaking to people and asking questions – I still do. I majored in journalism at the University of Arizona, but I did not end up becoming a reporter. Instead, I fell in love with the construction industry after working at Habitat for Humanity in Tucson.

I tell people that the skills I gleaned from my studies benefit me to this day – I can write, talk to people, and ask strong questions – skills that help me now sell the services of Ardebili Engineering. At 27 years old, I truly have my dream job – a role that allows me to write, still ask questions and watch the landscape of our world get built, change, and evolve.

But it was not an easy road. After moving to Phoenix three years ago, I found that without an established network of professionals, I had few friends that I could lean on, and what’s more, I was a girl in a man’s world trying to make a name for herself in the construction industry. I joined GET Phoenix Young Professionals in 2017 as a means to grow my network in the valley, and meet like-minded individuals. I worked for three combined years in marketing and sales at architecture firms, where I grew my professional and industry network. I poured myself into my LinkedIn profile and made sure that I was visible at industry events. New job opportunities constantly presented themselves to me, I was feeling like everything I had done in the last few years had paid off, and in 2019, was elected president of GET Phoenix Young Professionals. It was bliss.

Then – COVID happened. My year as president of GET Phoenix should’ve had me speaking at every event, and working alongside my amazing board of directors to pull together world-class mixers and professional development events. Like the rest of society, we had to cancel everything. And yes, I felt that I was being robbed of my year. But I saw it as an opportunity. And the positivity and ingenuity of my fellow board members kept us going – truly kept me going. And then – I got laid off. As an overhead role in an architecture firm, my job was lost to an industry that is struggling to understand what the impact of this virus is going to have on commercial construction.

But I was unemployed for only a week. My network supported me and helped me find a young, forward-thinking engineering firm that contacted me on LinkedIn looking for someone with skills like mine to further their mission and business. My world had shattered when I was laid off – and I was scared. But I truly have the ability to say that my hard work and efforts to build my network has paid off in more ways than one!

Today, I sit as the Business Development Manager at Ardebili Engineering and am so excited for what the future holds. This new opportunity is so tailored to my goals that I have found that I am so incredibly invigorated to work each and every day. There’s room to grow, room to evolve as a professional, and freedom to truly make an impact not just at my company, but in the construction field as a whole.

I proudly serve the community alongside 11 other talented individuals who are relentless in their efforts to give back to the community and our fellow young professionals at GET Phoenix, and yet, the world is still experiencing a global pandemic. I joke – but this truly has been the best worst year of my life.

Has it been a smooth road?
Struggles include being a woman in the construction industry, moving to Phoenix (the fifth largest city, with no family or friends), and losing my job to COVID.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Ardebili Engineering – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Ardebili Engineering offers mechanical, electrical and plumbing design services. Our projects range from hotels, multi-family high-rise, retail, restaurant, industrial space, and more. We are known for a client-first mentality and for truly becoming a partner to the architects who hire us. We are a young team, and address each and every project with a goal to provide efficiency through the use of technology and creativity. I am most proud of the amount of client referrals that we receive and kudos given to our staff of professional engineers and designers.

GET Phoenix Young Professionals is a grassroots networking group that goes beyond just passing out business cards – we truly want to make a difference in our community by partnering with local philanthropic groups and providing opportunities for young professionals to polish skills like personal branding, interviewing, time management and more. GET stands for Growing Emerging Talent, and I’m fortunate to have personally benefited from the GET Phoenix line-up of events and topics.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Phoenix! I think we are such a unique community because we are fairly young as a state, city, and community – in more ways than one. I think Phoenix is a great place for young professionals to truly shape the future because we inherently lack some of the historical significance of other large cities in the United States, where history is prevalent daily and in some ways dictates how people act to each other. I find Phoenix absolutely beautiful – like a giant playground of art, food, scenery, and more. And we have the BEST landscapes for outdoor activities.

What I love about our city is also one of the things that I dislike about it – because we are so young as a community, we don’t have the legacy fan base for things like our sports teams. I get so bummed (as a local Arizonan myself) to show up to games and see that the visiting team has way more fans in the stands than our own! But it makes sense – a lot of the folks here are transplants and cheer for their home teams!

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