People told Lucy Leonard she was crazy when she was pursuing a degree in petroleum engineering during the industry downcycle of the late 1980s. She pushed through, and today is thankful for her career choice.

Leonard grew up in Alice, Texas, the daughter of a Corpus Christi firefighter. On his off days, he did land work for Esenjay Petroleum, which sparked her interest in oil and gas and petroleum engineering.

She enrolled at Texas A&M University, graduating in 1994. Through the A&M employment center she landed a job at Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. She worked for Oxy for two years in Longview, Texas, before being transferred to Houston in 1996, where she has remained ever since.

She spent the next decade in the energy insurance industry, with stints as an energy adjuster for Charles Taylor Consulting, underwriter for Catlin Underwriting and broker for EnRisk, before joining Houston-based EnerVest Ltd. in 2007. Mark Houser, the company’s chief operating officer and formerly a vice president with Oxy, offered Leonard the chance to reenter the engineering side of the business. She is now an evaluation engineer with the company.

Leonard is married to a fellow engineer at EnerVest and serves on the board of Houston-based Small Steps Nurturing Center. Recently, she spoke with Oil and Gas Investor about her career path, how she spends her free time and some of the unique deals she has covered.

Investor How did you get into the insurance side of the business?

Leonard It was quite slow in 1998 (many people remember this), so I left Oxy to become an insurance adjuster on energy losses, focusing on surface and underground blowouts. It was another side of the business, but I enjoyed it and learned so much from the service perspective.

Four years later, I was offered a position at Catlin (a syndicate of Lloyd’s of London) as an underwriter for energy accounts. In 2005 I joined EnRisk as a broker, where I had a wonderful opportunity to meet many people in the business.

Investor What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on at EnerVest?

Leonard Our acquisition of the CDX properties out of bankruptcy has been the most interesting for me. What usually is a month-long process turned into a year. A portion of the acquisition included San Juan Basin assets located on the Jicarilla Nation lands, which added a whole other aspect to the acquisition. In the end, it was worth it.

Investor How is the current market affecting EnerVest and your work there?

Leonard It’s been very busy. The deal flow is picking up again, and we’re fortunate to be in a buying mode. I spend about 90% of my time screening assets, attending data rooms and reviewing the properties. We closed four deals over the summer and have now kicked off our fundraising for Fund XII, which is expected to be around $1 billion. We see ourselves in a great position for 2010.

Investor What do you like most about your job?

Leonard I really like A&D, and I knew it would be a learning curve, but there’s always something new. We focus on onshore assets, specifically Permian, East Texas, New Mexico, Appalachia, and our largest position is in the Austin Chalk, so I get to see a little of everything. In acquisitions you go full circle and start all over again.

Investor Who was a mentor to you?

Leonard Personally, my parents were my mentors. They had me late in life. My dad was a World War II vet and he retired when I was in fifth grade. They made sure I valued my education. With my older siblings they were a bit more protective, but when I got into oil and gas, they kept saying, “When are you going international?”

Investor Do you see yourself owning an E&P someday?

Leonard Not at this point. My husband is also a petroleum engineer at EnerVest, and it’s been a great company to work for. I don’t want to say never, but maybe when we retire we might dabble in it.

Investor How do you spend your free time?

Leonard Sometimes I wonder what free time is! When I do have it, I cherish it. I enjoy my time with my husband Kevin and my seven-year-old daughter Audrey. She plays softball, so I spend a lot of weekends at her games. I am also active on the board of Small Steps Nurturing Center and the advisory board for the annual golf tournament. It is a great event.

Investor Given the cyclical nature of this business, what would you advise young people?

Leonard To students, stay with it, don’t give up. I entered A&M in 1989 when E&P was at a low. I heard from a lot of people about how crazy I was to major in petroleum engineering, but thankfully, I stayed with it. If you look around, there are not a lot of us who graduated in the early 1990s. I see that as a good thing. To those who are younger than me, I think you are in a great position. As a lot of people in the business retire over the next 10 years, the industry will look to you.