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The Home Building and Remodeling Show
A groundbreaking platform that is reshaping the narrative on construction. Our podcast is dedicated to championing best practices, offering expert analysis, conducting insightful interviews, and providing valuable product recommendations based on real-life industry experience in the Home Building and Remodeling Industries.
At The Home Building and Remodeling Show, we are on a mission to drive positive change within the home building and remodeling industry, which in turn affects everyone worldwide. As we strive to create better and more affordable homes for all individuals, we believe it is crucial to shed light on the latest trends, innovations, and challenges faced by the industry.
Our podcast features in-depth discussions with industry experts, thought leaders, and professionals, offering our audience invaluable insights and strategies to navigate the dynamic landscape of home construction and renovation. From sustainable building practices to cutting-edge design trends, our podcast covers a wide range of topics that are shaping the future of the industry.
The Home Building and Remodeling Show
She was told she couldn't build homes. Now she manages them.
Breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field, Jan shares her remarkable journey from being told "girls can't be builders" to becoming a respected project manager in residential construction. Growing up in England with a builder grandfather, Jan always dreamed of constructing homes despite family discouragement. After establishing a career in nursing, she finally pursued her true passion by taking residential framing courses and boldly approaching construction companies—even offering to volunteer just to gain experience.
Jan's story highlights the power of persistence. After being initially turned down for a position, she continued reaching out until an opportunity opened. Starting as a crew member doing hands-on construction work, she demonstrated exceptional work ethic until a shoulder injury created an unexpected pivot point. Rather than leaving construction, she transitioned to material coordination and logistics, where her nursing background proved surprisingly valuable. The documentation precision required in healthcare transferred perfectly to construction project management.
Now leading teams of men and women alike, Jan embodies how transferable skills, life experience, and sheer determination can overcome industry stereotypes. Her perspective on the complex realities of construction management—balancing client needs, material lead times, and budgets—demonstrates that building homes requires far more than physical labor. For women considering construction careers or anyone facing discouragement in pursuing their dreams, Jan's path from field worker to project manager serves as powerful inspiration to make construction a first choice rather than a fallback option.
The Home Building and Remodeling Show. Let's go. Welcome everybody to the Home Building and Remodeling Show. My name is Chris Kirby and I'll be your host. I am the owner of three construction companies on the Alabama Gulf Coast. The show is about residential construction. We're going to cover topics of home building and remodeling. Are you thinking of doing a remodel or building a home? Are you a contractor looking to improve your knowledge base or grow your business? Have you ever done a remodel project or built a home? There were so many things you wish you knew or that you could have done differently during the process. Then this show is for you. We break down the process of building and remodeling and how to have the best results during your project. Whether you're a DIYer looking for tips, someone looking to hire a contractor to do a project, or a contractor looking to expand your knowledge base or your business, welcome aboard. Glad to have you. Stay tuned. We kick off the show with my thoughts on home building and remodeling. I'll share best practices and talk about some of our experiences in business and out in the field. These shared thoughts and lessons learned are meant to help you on your very own journey. Let's go.
Speaker 1:So this month we're going to be talking about women in construction. I sat with Jan. She's one of our newly promoted project managers and we had a discussion, just her sharing her story, her journey in construction, and it's a powerful one. She's from England originally. She moved over to the States a while ago. She met her husband who was in the Coast Guard. He's a retired veteran and she's here in lower Alabama now, and so it's a great story for young women looking to go into construction and for them to see. Jan went from working in the field to, you know, having an injury with her arm, having to do some rehab, so I put her in the office and then from the office she was doing supply runs and ordering parts and pieces for our jobs and for our projects, and then from there we recently promoted her to project manager where she's doing planning, scheduling and helping.
Speaker 1:The most important part of that is helping lead our teams. It's a great conversation that we had. It's an inspiring story. We always talk about changing the narrative here on the Home Building and Remodeling Show, about how construction needs to be your first choice, not an alternate option because you couldn't do something else. Jan always wanted to build homes. She always wanted to go into construction and was told she couldn't, even by her own family. It's inspiring to see where she's at, how far she has come and now leading people men and women alike at our company and being a part of the management team and running things here, helping us do what we do, whether it's for Kirby Homes or Kirby Custom building these houses. It's such an inspiring story. So please listen, comment, share, like and definitely let Jan know how you feel about her story and we'll be paying attention to the comments. And now we move into Shop Talk. It's the portion of the show where I bring in a co-host and we cover trending topics in home building and remodeling. Hope you enjoy, let's go.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the home building and remodeling. Hope you enjoy, let's go. Welcome back to the Home Building and Remodeling Show. I'm here with Jan, one of our new project managers, and this week we're going to have an emphasis on women in construction, but also just the project manager role in general, and we're going to talk about her journey in construction, why she came into construction and then some of the new responsibilities in her position as a project manager and how she's going to navigate them. So welcome, jan. I appreciate you coming on. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Yep, and we were just talking about her being nervous and everything and kind of, as we get through these first questions, you know it'll just be us conversating, all right. So let's start with what inspired you to go into the construction industry.
Speaker 2:I've always wanted to be a builder. Really, my granddad built homes and my uncle took over his business and I always remember my granddad telling me I couldn't do it.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Yes, because I was a girl and in England it would be too cold and the cold would make me want to quit, and it just finds something different.
Speaker 1:So you've been battling that kind of stigma of the female in construction role since you were young. Yes, wow, okay. But you did not jump immediately into construction no, okay. So what did you do before this?
Speaker 2:I had a career as a nurse.
Speaker 1:Career as a nurse in which you do help out around here when somebody gets a Momo or you know we got a bunch of big babies running around, so Jan helps us out with that stuff. And do you find that construction in any way relates to the pace or anything in nursing or Documentation, I think, in nursing is a big aspect, and really even in construction.
Speaker 2:When it comes to project management, documentation is a big aspect too.
Speaker 1:Right, so in nursing documentation can get you, I'm sure, in some big trouble if it's not proper.
Speaker 1:It can get you out of trouble too, right, okay, I'm glad you said that. And in construction it can get you into some big trouble, but also out of trouble. Out of trouble. And our documentation protects both sides. You know, it's not just a us versus them when you get into building these. It's a let's document so we can go back and reflect on the conversation. Okay, so you've been battling the stigma of women in construction, or you know, even from your own family, being told, hey, that's probably not the right industry for you, right? Or a female, so that made you want it even more. And then, as you came out of the nursing industry, how did you get your start in the construction field?
Speaker 2:I also always wanted to build my own home.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So that was a goal of yours. It was, and did you build your own house?
Speaker 2:I did, you did build your own house With the help of another construction firm. Before I came here, I've always loved working. I always used to help my dad do different things in the house.
Speaker 1:So hands-on stuff.
Speaker 2:Hands-on stuff, and so once I knew that I wasn't going to do nursing anymore, I decided to take a course in. I think it was in Baymanette.
Speaker 1:Okay, so here locally, you took a. What kind of course did you take?
Speaker 2:I think it was a residential framing building course, I can't even remember.
Speaker 1:And did you like it? I loved it. It was probably at the North Baldwin Trade Center. Okay, good, and like a residential carpentry course or something Okay. And then that was a little bit of book knowledge, but also hands-on right, it was hands-on. So what were they teaching you in that course?
Speaker 2:How to use the tools. Different framing techniques.
Speaker 1:So that that it was basic. Okay.
Speaker 2:But very information orientated.
Speaker 1:But you need that. You need a foundation, right? So it gave you that foundation, but did that make you more hungry? To say, you know what? I want to figure something out in the construction.
Speaker 2:Yes, Once I finished it. I don't know, I had the balls to go up to Blake at the time and say, hey, I'll even volunteer to get experience, just let me help out. And I gained experience that way too, when he took me on.
Speaker 1:And you with him. You were doing a little bit of everything, right?
Speaker 2:Like so what was remodel? Ok, and then we did home building.
Speaker 1:OK, and you were doing some framing as a part of that, so you were getting great exposure there. Ok, and then you know, just like anything else or any other industry, when times get tough, it's hard to carry a lot of people on payroll. So I'm assuming Blake had to downsize. He did Okay, and then you found your way over to us.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And at first, you know I don't know if you remember this At first I was struggling to figure out, you know, how to build the company and who we wanted. And you know, do I need experience versus do I want somebody fresh? So we were going back and forth and when you first came, I'm pretty sure I said we didn't have a position. You did, oh my goodness, okay, and I don't know what it was. But during your interview I could tell that you were eager and that you were going to be the type of person that came in and worked hard, just based on the conversation. So I don't know if it was me calling you back and saying we're going to make it work or how that conversation between me and you went. It was persistence, persistence on your half right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you told me that you didn't have any availability as yet, but you would keep me in mind when that time came.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 2:So to reach back in a month or so, of which I did.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And then I was like okay, and then you came on and in your first role here, which was we said what three and a half years ago, roughly February. February, so four.
Speaker 1:It'll be four this next year, okay, so you came in and you had that little bit of experience. But also what I look at when I'm hiring people is life experience, right. So you have already been under pressure as a nurse, no doubt way more than anything we could put you under pressure with here, right, different kind of pressure. It is a different kind of pressure but also, just like my background in the Navy, it was a different kind of pressure. Mission was everything and you know, not meeting mission was a big deal for you. Making mistakes as a nurse could affect people's lives. So there's a lot of pressure and everything that we do.
Speaker 1:But I looked at, you know, just the total package. You were a young spring chicken, right. So you had that life experience which is super valuable to me. I knew you were willing to work hard. But I'll tell you what. Also, jan, that I remember and this was from church you had just donated your kidney, had just donated your kidney and I could not believe, like that whole story with you know, with Stacy, and the whole thing, and it just made such an impact on me and just knowing that you were that type of person. Because we try to hire for culture, we try to hire for fit. We want good people here, not just people looking to get a job. So all of those things played into that reverse decision of let's go ahead and bring her in. And so back to what I was asking, though when you came in, you were hired basically to be a part of a crew, right? Yeah, so like a crew member, okay, and Were you with Adam at first, or were you just kind of going?
Speaker 2:I worked with Carter first.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And then Adam.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And then me and Jeremiah teamed up.
Speaker 1:Got it. So then, one of the first projects, if I recall, was the locker room. Right, yes, okay, we had built some custom lockers for the football team in the back, and I can remember walking in to shoot videos because we've always done that and you were just getting after it, so it didn't take me long to figure out like you were going to. You were about to outwork some people and do the right thing, so from doing that, we brought you in, so you did that for a year or so I think, yeah, a year and a half and then I thought you got your yeah your surgery.
Speaker 1:Okay, you had shoulder shoulder surgery, but it was also a situation for us where I didn't want to lose you and there was an opportunity for you to do some material management, logistics management. So you went from labor in the field to requiring surgery and then we brought you into the office. And what were you doing for us there?
Speaker 2:I was doing material coordinator, purchasing materials and kind of planning what they need and helping the clients out with choices.
Speaker 1:So let's. And that's, you know, leads into your current role as a project manager. But what was the difference that you saw going from working in the field as a part of a team doing onsite construction to going into the office?
Speaker 2:It's not as simple as just getting the material there. Yeah, you have other aspects that you're relying on.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Like clients, like budget, like just there's such a more pieces of the puzzle than the material just being on the job.
Speaker 1:Right, it's not as simple as go to the local supply or go to the big box store pick it up, take it to the job. Right, it's not as simple as go to the local supply or go to the big box store pick it up, take it to the job. Okay. So when you say that, what do you mean by like the client or the budget? So let's talk about the client first. What do you mean? You know you can't just go pick it up. Why not, and how?
Speaker 2:does that it's not my choice. Right, clients have the choice of what they want. Okay, so, for instance, if it's tile, they need to pick out their tile.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And sometimes that takes a while and you're waiting on those to make that choice Right and you don't feel that you can pressure them to go. I'm on a timeline here. You want your project to start, but ultimately you need to make the choice Also, once you make the choice, you then have to work out what the lead time is to get that tile there. Choices can vary so much, in the sense that sometimes they're a month ETA, sometimes they're just a couple of days because they're in stock. It makes a difference to how you're planning.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us today. As always, we are grateful for our listeners and your continued support. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on social media via Facebook, instagram and TikTok. Get more info at our website, wwwthehomebuildingshowcom and, as always, remember who we are the Home Building and Remodeling Show. Outro Music.
