Woman's Work

Jill Moran, project developer, McCutcheon Construction

Credit: Compoa

Kelly is not the only remodeler to realize that women bring a different perspective to the office and the field — a perspective that he believes improves the remodeling process. Many company owners are becoming increasingly aware that creating an atmosphere in which women thrive helps everyone in the company.

Clients' perceptions of women influence both the sales and the design processes. Kelly says that customers are often intimidated by salespeople and are fearful of being sold. “Women present a softer, more easily relatable individual,” he says. “When consumers walk into one of our showrooms, they are more immediately comfortable with a woman than with a man.”

Debby Allmon, vice president and sales manager at Schloegel Design Remodel in Kansas City, Mo., says that this is especially true of single female clients. “They are very untrusting and sensitive about someone taking advantage of them,” she says. They also worry about the crew and subcontractors who will have access to their home — concerns that Allmon says they are more likely to confide to a female salesperson.

Allmon says that saleswomen try harder to earn the client's trust. “Women don't assume. We want to prove we can take care of them,” she says. Saleswomen also ask more questions, such as, Why are you doing this? How will it make your life better? “We find out more about lifestyle than about construction,” Allmon says. She and president Jake Schloegel often make calls together as a mixed gender team, which they feel is the best option. “He is the construction expert,” she says, “and I can talk about soft things such as the impact on the family.”

Iris Harrell says that having saleswomen works well for Harrell Remodeling. “There is a gentleness — something that puts clients at ease. We offer suggestions like adding an outlet in the hall to run the vacuum. We talk about the safety of children or scheduling work around naps. I'm sure other companies that are not gender-based do this, but women think about these things and bring them up more often,” says the president of the Mountain View, Calif., company.

Architect Anita Rogers of Byggmeister Associates in Newton, Mass., says many clients take on remodeling projects at turning points in their lives. “People need handholding along the way,” she says. “The perception is they will get that more from women.”

Rogers handles most of the laundry and the cooking in her household, so she relates to clients who are renovating to enhance these chores. “I would not say that men can't answer the same questions,” she says, “but these are topics that women are more used to discussing with women.”

On the other hand, Allmon says it's an unspoken assumption among clients that, as a female, she can offer advice on the kitchen design. “People defer to me because they think I should know these things,” she says. “But I'm not the cook in my family.”

Female salespeople and designers also look at the larger picture — not just making the sale, but building a relationship. Jill Moran, a project developer with McCutcheon Construction in Berkeley, Calif., says that in their cultural training, women learn early to focus on family and on nurturing relationships. This training is especially helpful in remodeling because it involves working inside people's homes. “We have skills in our back pocket that men living as bachelors might not have,” she says. However, Moran acknowledges that she sometimes has to demonstrate her understanding of building technology. “If it's too much of an uphill battle and the sale might be jeopardized,” she says, “I will ask for support from a male production manager.”

Michael McCutcheon agrees that in some situations it's better to send a male. “When we get into a very traditional culture where women are not accepted in business,” he says, “we try to identify that and send a man.” Harrell says that even after 20 years running her company, if she feels that prejudice exists, she will introduce a male employee to aid her in the sale.

Most of Schloegel's salesmen have a construction background, so he sent them out on their own sales calls early in their training. “With women,” he says, “I stay involved on the construction side because they don't understand the complexity.” Schloegel says that he would rather his saleswomen focus on what they excel at, “getting clients excited about their project,” rather than learning the details of construction.

Sales consultant Adrienne Zoble, president of Adrienne Zoble Associates in Fort Collins, Colo., says that males focus on the sale, not the follow-up. When she suggests to male remodeling company owners that they call past clients to touch base, they are often surprised. “They say, ‘I don't have a new product or a new service and you want me to just call and say hello?'” she says. However, women can have difficulty closing the deal. “Women are programmed — particularly in the South and the Midwest — that it's not ladylike to talk about money,” she says.

In any role, women can bring a positive energy to a company. “They are quicker to give kudos, more generous with compliments, and more likely to reach out to employees and ask them what they think. Some look at that as wimpy. Others look at it as good management,” Zoble says.

Debra Moore, president, Custom Design/Build

Credit: Compoa

“Women are good at juggling [tasks] —they make fabulous production managers,” says Ruth Ewing, production manager at Byggmeister Associates. In Ewing's experience, males moving from field to production have a low success rate. “They just want to deal with what is right in front of them,” she says. “They can't handle having many items up in the air.” But women “can see the big picture and are organized,” she adds. “They comprehend the actual business of it and the flow of the work.”

Schloegel had a female production manager for three years, before she left his company to move overseas. “She brought a level of organization we had never had,” he says. And her strong personality helped her plow through any resistance she faced from the crew. “We lost lead carpenters,” he acknowledges, but adds, “I was OK with that because we were going in the direction I wanted to go. Now 90% of our projects end on the scheduled date.”

Elizabeth Youhn, executive director of the California arm of Tradeswomen Inc., a coalition for women in the trades, says that company owners tell her that women are more safety conscious than men. “Women don't bring a tough-guy approach, [whereas] some male crew members will not say something because they don't want to look weak,” she says.

Similarly, production manager Nancy Madynski with Winans Construction in Oakland, Calif., says that she openly admits when she does not know the answer to a client's question. “I'm OK with being wrong or not knowing, and that puts people at ease,” she says.

In addition to a knack for organization, women's communication skills and empathy serve them well in the field. “Some people want to be communicated with constantly. Other clients do not want to be bothered. Being able to cater to individual personalities is a female skill,” Madynski believes. And she brings those skills to her relationships with subcontractors. “I listen to them,” she says. “They are OK with not getting what they want as long as they feel like they're being heard.”

Ewing believes that clients like having women working on remodeling teams in their homes because it feels more civilized. “They know you're going to respect their home and their space,” she says. Also, women in remodeling tend to have a higher education level than their male counterparts. “That is very valued by the clients,” she notes. “They treat you more as an equal rather than a worker bee.” But occasionally, she adds, that sense of equality results in clients sharing a bit too much personal information. “Sometimes they ask you about things they would ask a friend.”

In contrast, Paul Eldrenkamp does not think that female carpenters in the field bring anything different to their work. “A good carpenter is a good carpenter,” says the owner of Byggmeister. “From a skills point of view, I don't see a difference.” However, he does acknowledge that clients may have a different perception. “From a client comfort point of view, they may bring something to the table that a crew of men does not,” he says.

As with all employees, the key to recruiting and retaining is creating an encouraging work atmosphere. This is especially true for women, and even more so for women in the field. Madynski says she has found a supportive network at Winans Construction. “Everyone talks about teamwork, but this company really works on that. At previous companies, I felt I was by myself in the middle of a war zone,” she says.

Moran echoes those sentiments regarding her employer, McCutcheon Construction. She was hired as an apprentice carpenter by a female project manager at the company. “She was really positive about having other women in our company,” Moran says. Owner Michael McCutcheon has also assembled a diverse team where all employees feel comfortable. Eldrenkamp says that once you hire one woman, other women feel more secure about coming to work at your company.

Lead carpenter Jeanette Wagner actively recruits female carpenters for Neil Kelly Designer/Remodelers “It's nice to have other women on staff. You lean on each other,” she says. Lakshmi Jackman of Transformations Remodeling in Austin, Texas, says that being a female owner immediately sends the signal that her company welcomes all groups. In addition, she makes it clear to new hires that being equitable is very important to her. “I don't want to hire anyone who is racist or sexist,” she says. “I want fun and intelligent people who care. When I hire people like that, it makes us all look good.”

Youhn says that the goal of being inclusive is not satisfied simply by having women onboard, pointing out that “you have to support them while they are there.” Trades-women Inc.'s survey of 400 women in the trades in California found that they did not receive as much on-the-job training as their male counterparts. “It's a downward cycle. If [women] don't get trained during an apprenticeship, they will have trouble holding the job when they are journeymen,” she says.

Jake Schloegel initially hired sales manager Allmon as an office manager, and slowly eased her into sales. “She was my sales assistant at first, making calls with me,” he says. “She would do a lot of the work putting together design ideas, coordinating with the architect, and working with clients.” He also encouraged her to participate in the local NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry) chapter where she serves on the board. “When a woman is in a leadership role in an organization, it makes other women step forward,” Allmon says.

According to Eldrenkamp, it will take businesses with more sophisticated career paths and training roots to attract women. He has the luxury of hiring for both attitude and aptitude. “For every person that has spark and experience, there are 10 to 30 who don't have experience,” he says. “I get to hire people who will be really good lead carpenters in five years. Other businesses need to hire someone who is good now. That will exclude a lot of women and minorities.” He comments that remodeling companies are a better fit for non-traditional workers than is corporate America because “they can earn a lot of autonomy and take on energizing responsibilities very quickly.”

Dealing With Prejudice

The atmosphere for women in the field in remodeling is better than in new construction or in commercial construction. The people drawn to remodeling tend to be more sensitive because they are working in people's homes. However, prejudice still exists. Nancy Madynski, production manager at Winans Construction in Oakland, Calif., describes some instances where fellow carpenters would ask if she was delivering lunch and would make catcalls or sexual innuendos. When she was a carpenter, Ruth Ewing says that some crew members were wary about working with her, but accepted her once she proved she could do the work. “It's the ones who are insecure about their own skills who have a problem,” says the production manager at Byggmeister Associates.

In her early work as a carpenter, Lakshmi Jackman, owner of Transformations Remodeling in Austin, Texas, worked on crews where the guys were patient and shared their skills, and on others where they did not have the time or the desire to teach her. In the early days of Harrell Remodeling, Iris Harrell hired independent subcontractors to work side-by-side with her and teach her skills. “As long as I wrote them a check, they were fine,” she says. “The ones I found were not prejudiced or they would not have worked for me.”

Women use a variety of tactics to deal with any sexism they encounter. Madynski says that once she developed more confidence, she could say: “You work for me. If you can't follow my rules, find another job.” Jackman says that she either ignored the sexism, yelled back, made smart remarks, or threatened people with legal action before concluding that “the most powerful thing is to be unattached.” Once you are not concerned about the person liking you, she points out, you can let go.

Vice president and sales manager Debby Allmon of Schloegel Design Remodel says she is careful not to use her construction knowledge to prove herself because people may think she is challenging them. Debra Moore, president of Custom Design/Build in Ann Arbor, Mich., feels that much of the on-site prejudice is related to class rather than gender. Coming from an academic background, it took her awhile to learn to relate to construction crews. “There is a totally different language spoken in the trades,” she says. “Where some women go wrong is screaming sexual discrimination — not that there is not — but when you are an apprentice you get harassed and hazed. You have to learn to speak their language.”

When presenting seminars, Harrell asks remodelers one question to evaluate how open their company culture is for women. “I ask if they would be comfortable having their daughter working in the field. If the answer is no, something needs to change.”