How Andrea Clough Is Engineering a Better Future

Pathfinders For Good
Jun 11
3 min read

Updated: Jun 13

When Everything Goes Dark

The lights went out again. Five-year-old Andrea sat in her family's small apartment in Romania as the familiar darkness settled around them. The water stopped flowing, too, as the family endured another power outage during communist rule.

But something magical happened in those moments. Her parents couldn't work, clean, or do anything except sit with her and play. For the first time all day, she had their complete attention.

As Andrea listened to the silence, one question burned in her young mind: Who has the power to control our entire world with the flip of a switch?

What happened next changed everything.

The Hidden Struggle of the World's Builders

Years later, in the United States, Andrea discovered the answer to her childhood question: engineers.

These were the people who built the infrastructure that brought power to homes, who created the technology that transformed lives, who literally held the ability to change the world. But she found something unexpected about how people talked about these world-changers.

While everyone spoke proudly of their doctor friends, few mentioned their engineer colleagues with the same warmth. Andrea recognized something familiar in this pattern—the same feeling she'd carried as a Hungarian child in Romania, never quite fitting in, always being questioned about who she really was.

Engineers, despite their massive impact, felt misunderstood and overlooked as human beings.

A Grandmother's Revolutionary Question

The connection became clear during a memory from her summers with her grandmother in a small village. Sitting on the old couch, Andrea expected another request for stories about her day.

Instead, her grandmother turned serious and asked: "Andrea, what do you think will happen after I die?"

Without hesitation, five-year-old Andrea announced, "We're going to have a big party!"

She launched into detailed plans for celebrating her grandmother's life, describing all the village people who loved her and would gather to honour her impact.

Her grandmother could have corrected her, educated her about death, or redirected the conversation. Instead, she smiled and said simply, "Tell me more." In that moment, Andrea experienced what it truly meant to be seen and heard for who she was.

Building Bridges Through Authentic Connection

That experience became Andrea's blueprint for working with engineers today. She realized that trying to "fix" someone—as she'd painfully learned with her own mother—never works.

Instead, she helps engineers discover their own answers through deep listening and authentic curiosity. "I had one client who spoke for 10 minutes straight," Andrea recalls.

"Afterwards, he asked why I listened the whole time—nobody had ever done that before."

Her coaching doesn't involve telling engineers what steps to take or how to be successful.

It starts with helping them see themselves clearly, just as her grandmother had done for her. When engineers experience being truly seen for who they are—brilliant problem-solvers who want to serve humanity—they begin to believe in their own dreams again.

Your Engineering Pathway

For changemakers reading this, Andrea's story offers both mirror and map. Her journey reveals that sustainable impact starts with seeing yourself clearly before trying to help others.

Whether you're working with engineers or any other group, the principles remain the same: listen deeply, get curious about who people really are, and trust their capacity to find their own solutions.

Consider these reflection questions for your own changemaker journey:

Who in your work feels unseen or misunderstood? Like Andrea discovered with engineers, there may be powerful allies hiding in plain sight.
What would change if you approached helping others like Andrea's grandmother approached her? Sometimes the most transformative thing you can do is ask someone to tell you more.
Where might you be trying to "fix" rather than truly see? Andrea's painful lesson with her mother shows how good intentions without genuine understanding can backfire.
How could deep listening become your superpower? In a world of quick solutions, taking time to truly hear someone can be revolutionary.

Ready to explore more of Andrea's insights on seeing and empowering the engineers who shape our world?

The full conversation reveals her complete framework for helping technical innovators become their most authentic, impactful selves—and how this work is quietly changing how engineers approach everything from career transitions to solving global challenges.

Explore the full episode or audio summary using the links provided below.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube