In Her Element

While most people are still easing into their morning, Darcy Rogers is already striding through the framed-out corridors of the new SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.

Her predawn routine begins with a purposeful walk of the active jobsite before crews ramp up. “I spend an hour or so making sure everybody knows what they should be working on for the day and helping them with any issues or obstacles,” she says. The balance of her morning involves fielding questions, logging inspections and making calls to keep work moving.

Rogers’ current focus is the building enclosure—primarily metal panels and roofing—with plans to transition to the site work package as the project nears completion in 2027. 

It’s intricate, fast-moving work that demands precise coordination with multiple trades working in close proximity at different elevations. “It’s important to make sure everyone’s following overhead rules and controlled access zones so they’re staying safe and not putting themselves or others in danger,” she says, noting quality control is another priority and involves conducting regular inspections to ensure everything is completed correctly.

The field is where Rogers feels most at home—a conviction that crystallized during her engineering studies at Missouri S&T in Rolla. After visiting five structural engineering firms, she determined a desk-based job wasn't for her. “I had no desire to be behind a computer drafting all day,” she recalls. “Talking to people and helping solve problems in real time is much more meaningful to me.”

Field work also plays to Rogers’ relational instincts and natural curiosity. 

Bedside Manner

The new SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is the second consecutive St. Louis healthcare project Rogers has worked on since joining McCarthy in January 2023. 

She previously contributed to the Plaza West Tower at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where she gained practical experience as part of the concrete self-perform team before transitioning to the interiors team, supporting punch list and closeout efforts on the basement and street-level floors.

Helping to shape a 14-story academic pediatric hospital deepens that sense of purpose. While Rogers doesn't yet have children of her own, both of her nephews spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as newborns—and she hasn't forgotten what it meant to her family to have access to specialized care in the right environment. “Knowing that we're going to provide that for others gives me goosebumps,” she says. 

Rogers is equally energized by the design-build team dynamic, which is governed by the “Rules of the Sandbox.” This framework codifies everything from decision-making and accountability to feedback and conflict resolution—ensuring the team remains aligned. “We truly live by that playbook,” she says.

Building with Purpose

Growing up in the Ozark foothills town of Bismarck, Missouri, Rogers traces her professional journey to two primary influences: a deep-seated family legacy and an inherent curiosity for the built environment. Her dad works in railroad construction, and her younger brother is a superintendent at a regional general contractor.

“I’ve always been super fascinated with architecture and how buildings go up,” she says. “I think that piqued my interest more than I realized.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and completing a pair of internships, she landed a full-time position with a large general contractor in Dallas. While there, she worked on the International Terminal expansion at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport—an experience that provided an immersive introduction to project complexity and around-the-clock coordination.

Seeking a bit of a slower pace, she returned to the St. Louis area in 2021 and began working for a smaller general contractor. But it didn’t take long to realize she missed working on more demanding project challenges. “I very quickly realized that I love tackling problems every day,” she notes.

When a McCarthy recruiter reached out to her via LinkedIn in 2022, Rogers didn’t hesitate to pursue the opportunity. She hasn’t looked back. 

Beyond the demanding project work, she has become a champion for the company’s core values: Genuine; We, Not I; and All In.

Rogers is now helping to extend that same cultural experience to others. She serves as one of three regional chairs for Partnership for Women—an employee-led initiative dedicated to supporting, connecting and advancing women across the company.