Welcome to SOLV Energy's Cultural Corner! As a way to illuminate our DEI path, we have introduced a new series highlighting diverse perspectives on career and life featuring members of our SOLV Energy team. Cultural Corner will build awareness and encourage appreciation for our variant cultural backgrounds!
Tell me about yourself. Who are you? Where did you grow up? How do you identify? I am Linda Drews, I was born in a small town in Wisconsin – yes I am a Cheesehead and Packers fan. While I was growing up, I moved around a bit from the East Cost to the West Coast. I consider home in several different states, like Wisconsin, Hawaii and California. I grew up with a blended and bi-racial family. My Dad was stationed in the Navy stationed in Japan where he met my mother. They got married and my Mom moved to the United States. When I was in kindergarten my parents divorced and later my Dad remarried and we became a blended family with seven kids and I am the youngest of the kids. I identify as Asian American.
What do you value most? I value family and friends the most. I love my family and have learned over the years that your friends are also your family.
What were you told as a child that you still believe today? Believe in yourself. I was never told that I couldn’t achieve or do anything. I was told to believe in myself, and you can accomplish what you choose to achieve.
How does your cultural heritage influence who you are? I resonate with both of my cultural backgrounds of being Japanese and American. Japanese culturally believe in Harmony and Respect. These are things that I grew up believing and I try to practice daily in my life. My American cultural heritage lets allows me Individualism and Independence.
What family traditions or superstitions do you have? One thing that my family celebrates a person’s birthday. It was a day to celebrate YOU and it was your day. Whether I am with family or not, I still take this day each year to celebrate who I am and where I am in life.
What cultural similarities and differences do you have with your closest co-workers? I think that most people have similarities with each other. Which I believe that we can all celebrate these as similarities and respect and value that we are also different.
Please share something that you’d like everyone at SOLV to know about your cultural heritage. Traditionally Japanese people are superstitious, I grew up with my Mom telling me of some strange superstitions that I wasn’t quite sure if I should believe them or not. I was told not to whistle at night (this only made me want to do this!) The belief is that if you whistle at night is that monsters and snakes will be drawn to the area by the sound and terrorize you. The superstition is based in some reality, however. It is said that in Japan, a criminal used whistle sounds to communicate with each other at night so the action of whistling at night is negative or bad. The criminals represent a snake or monster.
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