50 Leading Companies of The Year 2020
The Silicon Review
“What makes us distinguished from our competitors is that we believe that quality does not come by chance. Quality is a responsibility that we all share. Our focus on quality requires accountability, commitment, and excellence across all business sectors.”
The oil and gas industry is by far the most male-dominated field one can come across. Despite the growing number of female engineers, the industry continues to be male-dominated leaving very little space for women in the arena. However, women like Nooshin Behroyan, CEO of Paxon Energy & Infrastructure Services, have not only entered the field but are making space for other women to shine in the industry too.
Paxon was founded by Ms. Behroyan as a multi-specialty organization that focuses on benefiting its clients and communities financially, economically, and socially. It specializes in construction management, project and program management, document and project controls, and field safety management and third party inspection. Paxon currently has four offices throughout the United States and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Nooshin Behroyan: Interview Excerpt
What has the journey of Paxon so far been like?
I wanted to start a company that would not only respond but also enhances today’s movement to help the environment. I wanted to solve my clients’ challenges in a way that makes the earth a better place to live. Hence, in 2016, Paxon was incorporated as a full-spectrum energy consulting services company in the oil and gas industries. From the get-go, Paxon was focused on a portfolio of projects focused on reducing greenhouse gases and quickly established itself as a leading ‘icon of energy innovation women consulting firm’.
Further, my passion to empower women drove me towards creating a company that advocates for gender diversity and workforce equality in the energy industry which is not known for much diversity, by addressing barriers, and driving change for positive impact, especially for women engineers. My mission is to empower women engineers to succeed at every stage of their careers through training and skillset development.
What challenges did you face in your initial years?
When I decided to strike out on my own and started Paxon, a company devoted to delivering full-service, multidiscipline engineering, project management, and pipeline transmission and distribution integrity management, I had underestimated the time and effort required to win new business. Finding time to nurture client relationships was one of the top challenges considering all the other needs of establishing a new company.
With the seller/doer model which pressures the staff to do more with fewer resources, it was quickly apparent that Paxon was not positioned to hit home runs anytime soon with large oil and gas companies. It wasn’t until we had put together a robust strategic and impactful plan in place outlining competition and identifying new prospects that we were able to be vigilant about which projects are worth pursuing, which clients are worth investing in and what markets will be lucrative.
How do you manage to serve the needs of a highly volatile market?
Our firm continues to be more strategic and deliberate about business development to win more projects in a highly competitive space. For us, project management is at the heart of everything we do, but with staff tight schedules and competing priorities, we rely on new technologies.
Identifying technology trends is very important to our business. As a relatively new company, we are always looking for ways to leverage technologies that could improve not just our project delivery but also identifying which trends are most applicable to our business. As a company, we are committed to adopting new technologies needed to help drive our business forward in financial management, business development, project management, and human capital management.
Moreover, we’re advancing ahead of the curve providing environmentally conscious solutions powered by the latest technology backed by the steadfast follow-through of our technical professionals (of whom many are considered industry leaders) and their support personnel. For instance, global energy is perhaps the most important issue we face in today’s society; as a result, the energy market is constantly going through revolutions, emphasizing the importance of energy-efficient solutions and technology for a cleaner and safer energy. As a young organization, the team at Paxon remains flexible, agile, and reactive to any changes and is committed to strive for excellence in this important and evolving sector.
What factors make your company lead the current market?
When it comes to energy consulting services firms, Paxon is a powerhouse in the industry, delivering success to its clients since 2016. Paxon’s primary unique selling point has been the caliber of its people and the cost to value ratio they are able to deliver. The firm is made up of a group of highly experienced and professional personnel who operate with extremely high levels of expertise, intelligence, and due diligence that offers not only excellent services, but Paxon is also innovating the ways that those services are offered.
More than anything, Paxon remains focused on their goal to, always, add value to their clients’ business by working with intelligence, impartiality and the highest ethics and code of conduct to go above and beyond for those they serve. This is how we stay ahead of the current market’s needs and changes.
Anything you would like to add?
At Paxon, we believe in overcoming adversity and giving back to our community and volunteer whenever possible to assist in fundraising efforts. Women and their advancement, whether it is through business or personal is a core value for Paxon. It’s going to take all of us to really move the world forward and to change society for women.
Nooshin Behroyan: A Charismatic Leader
Nooshin Behroyan, Founder, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Paxon Energy & Infrastructure Services. She has 17 years of progressively responsible oil and gas industry experience that includes evaluating and improving processes and building programs from scratch to enhance safety, reduce costs, and expedite projects while leveraging environmentally innovative approaches. Ms. Behroyan brings extensive cross-cultural experience that promotes gender diversity and work-force equality by addressing barriers and driving change for positive impact for women engineers and the Veterans. Veterans alone make up 20 percent of Paxon’s total employees. She was recently named Engineering News Record’s Top 20 young professionals who are under the age of 40.
Ms. Behroyan holds a B.A. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Davis, and an EMBA from UCLA. She is also a professionally trained piano player and has played for the U.C. Berkeley Jazz Ensemble. In addition, she is a mom to two active children (11 YO Arman and 8 YO Ava).
“My passion to empower women drove me towards creating a company that advocates for gender diversity and workforce equality in the field of oil, gas, and utilities.”