Nancy Espie-Underwood rose to the top with a hope and dream in hand that would make her one of the few black women to own a construction company. The ambitious woman has many accolades to her name including being the first black woman in the state of California to receive a General Engineering Contractors Class A license in 1992.

Underwood General Engineering & Environmental Consultant Services started in 1982 but since then, the company underwent a series of changes that contributed to the company's current success. 

In the early days, her burgeoning company provided environmental health and safety training, risk assessment and management. The company had a wide variety of clients including the city of Compton, the city of Redondo Beach, the California Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington state and many others.

But success did not come easy. She had to work harder to achieve even more. 

“My grandmother raised me to work 200 percent harder than everyone around me," Underwood said. "I grew up with that in my mind."

She began to work with the Small Business Administration in the 1990s that would ultimately lead to her securing a $27 million contract with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). That substantial contract put her company in prime position to be in charge of removing contaminated diesel tanks and installing above-ground storage tanks and integrated monitoring systems at runway checker boxes.

Underwood General Engineering & Environmental Consultant Services also did this installation on the runways of every airport governed by the FAA in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii and American Samoa. She went on to win contracts with the  U.S. Department of State that took her company global.

The success just kept coming, inspiring her to help others. When she isn't closing million-dollar contracts, she is giving back to her community and speaking at motivational events. 

"Be good to those who do you wrong, because God will bless you based on how you live your life. That lesson is a part of me."