Building cultural understanding, one building at a time

Through Spanish, alumnus improves communication, safety, and productivityin the construction industry

 

 

Bradley Hartmann
Bradley Hartmann

Bradley Hartmann grew up around lumber yards and construction sites. Now founder and “El Presidente” of Red Angle, Inc., he’s still in the construction business—and putting his degree to use helping builders and suppliers adapt to an industry that communicates increasingly in Spanish.

Occupation: Founder and El Presidente of Red Angle, Inc.

Place of residence: Dallas, Texas

Degree: BA, ’00, Spanish

Family: Wife, Melissa (BS, ’00, psychology), and Senior 100 honoree, and two sons, Brayden, 9, and Redding, 4.

What does your company do?: Red Angle delivers construction-specific leadership training to improve cultural knowledge on the jobsite and provide language training for English and Spanish speakers that requires only 10 minutes per day.

How did you pick your company name?: For better or worse, there are not many tall, redheaded Spanish speakers, so I played the ginger card and included “red” in the name of my company. The “angle” comes from looking at language and leadership barriers on the job from a different perspective, or a different “angle” ... Red Angle.

How did your major prepare you for your career?:Majoring in Spanish at U of I prepared me in numerous ways of which I was clueless while on campus. Aside from fluency in the language, I studied and lived with a family in Guadalajara, Mexico. Experiencing culture at that level provided a new context for how different cultures think—how they raise their children, how they teach in schools, and how they interact in business settings. This knowledge was put to use immediately on my first jobsite in Chicago as more than half the workforce was Hispanic. In time I learned these skills, while somewhat rare, were critical to ensure safety, productivity, and profitability—and most importantly, they could be learned. That led to the founding of Red Angle.

Are you a graduate of the College of LAS with an interesting job or career path that you ’d like to share in your own words? Please contact Dave Evensen to be considered for the LAS@Work series!