Anmol Gill’s Journey to a Career in Construction Safety

After being born to Indian parents who were living in Dubai, our family’s move to northern California in 2000 was a difficult transition for me as a 5-year-old. 

I remember bits and pieces of Dubai and I do remember the plane ride coming over to the U.S. Especially since my parents told me we were just going on a vacation, because they didn’t want me to be upset to leave my friends behind. When we were on the plane, that’s when they told me we would be staying here permanently. 

Fast forward to today, and I am extremely happy with where I live and what I do as a Northern Pacific Region Project Safety Manager in northern California. 

I enjoy being able to celebrate my family’s Sikh culture and heritage — but also comfortable sharing it with others and helping them learn more about me. 

I no longer get embarrassed when people ask me about Diwali or other Indian holidays. When I was younger, it was difficult to be myself because I wanted to fit in. I wondered what my friends were going to think of me showing up in my Indian clothes and celebrating Indian traditions and holidays. 

As I got older, I began talking to new people and experiencing new friendships. Their genuine curiosity, wanting to know my background and ethnicity, made me a lot more comfortable about sharing who I am and where we came from. 

It showed me that people really care about the many different cultures in America. 

Taking a different path to construction 

I still wonder how I got into construction because from the time I was in high school, I wanted to be a pharmacist. My original major at Sacramento State was biology, so I became a pharmacy tech and worked at Walmart Pharmacy on weekends. 

It took less than a week to realize that was not for me.  

I remember feeling very lost and speaking to my advisor about what to do. I considered several options and wound up in occupational health and safety. I had no idea what I was going to do with that, but I just wanted to finish college. 

As a junior, I was required to do an internship to graduate. We had speakers from the Construction Employers Association (CEA) at our school looking for interns, so I applied and got a summer internship with a large general contractor. 

During the internship I realized construction was my passion and calling. They offered me a full-time role upon graduation and being able to create a safer environment for employees was so important to me. 

College graduation was also a pivotal and memorable moment for me. It was the excitement and proud feeling I saw on my parents’ face, especially my dad. 

My parents gave up their dreams of going to school and higher education because they had a family to take care of and bills to pay. 

Seeing how emotional my dad got at my graduation … I’ve never seen him cry or get emotional about things like that. That was big. 

I remember our hug, the length of time of the hug. He was crying tears of joy, but that was our moment. Indian parents are bad at expressing emotions past that.  

On May 6, I celebrated my first anniversary with McCarthy Building Companies! 

One of my favorite McCarthy experiences was at the 2024 Fall Seminar, a yearly day-long event where employees gather to learn and celebrate the year. I didn’t know what to expect and it was just shocking in a good way, the amount of fun that I had personally and the fun everyone was having. All of a sudden, it’s like you know everybody and have been working together forever. 

Looking back, I never imagined I’d find such purpose in construction safety—but I’m so glad I did. Every day, I get to make a real impact by protecting people and helping them return home to their families. It’s a responsibility I take seriously and a career that continues to challenge and fulfill me. I’ve come a long way from the pharmacy counter, and I’m proud of the path I’ve taken—even if it wasn’t the one I originally planned.