Teresa Drelick
Submitted by Connolly Brothers
Since 2015, Teresa Drelick has worked as chief financial officer for Connolly Brothers, a design-build contractor and construction management firm serving the greater Boston area and based in Beverly, Mass. An adventurous spirit who served her country in the Army and traveled the world from the Arctic Circle to Africa, Teresa brings a strong intellectual curiosity to her work. “One of the best questions I ask of anyone who I have a meeting with is, ‘What should I have asked that I didn’t?’” she says. “I learn so much from the answers to that question.”
With a business management and accounting degree from UMass Lowell, Teresa puts her education to use to ensure that Connolly Brothers’ financials are spotless, and her spirit of service has not diminished since her Army days. Recently, she secured sponsorships to cover the cost of producing beds for 61 children for the nonprofit organization, A Bed for Every Child.
From the initial idea phase through negotiations and on to construction, Teresa enjoys working with a team that routinely builds something out of nothing and draws on its collective creativity to transform spaces. Doing so for a family company where bureaucracy is kept to a minimum, she says, is an added joy. Asked about advice for other women looking to enter the construction industry, Teresa says the key is to strive for excellence while staying true to one’s self. “We have to respect ourselves and not change who we are to fit in,” she says.
