Good Day! I hope this blog posts finds you well and good, including your loved ones. First of all I feel like I owe you a big update. the
"my story and how I got here" blog post is a GREAT one, and it explains, ME really well. but now, after 3.5 years in business, there is a lot more to this whole thing, than JUST ME!!!!
So just for the sake of simplicity, I will summarize myself, in one paragraph, then I'll talk about the rest of the TEAM, and then I'll talk about some other stuff you'll hopefully find interesting. So, a little about me (amber) I went to job corps when I was 18. I graduated Job corps in 2001, I moved in with my NOW husband of 20 years, in JULY of 2000. My husband drives log truck for Gendenberg trucking. He has had his CDL for like 15ish years? many people are very surprised that well for one that I'm married to a man, I'll just come out and say it. and second, that the man I'm married to is a strong enough man to support his wife who has been a carpenter since she was 19. Actually I got caught using my dad's saw around 11 years old, but that's another blog post. Fast forward to Job Corps, and went straight into the union and worked union carpentry jobs for about 6 years. I got tired of working in portland though, and decided to learn residential construction around age 25. It was never "easy" finding a construction job. I most often was able to do so by offering to work for FREE, for a couple hours, if you like me you can pay me, if not i'll be on my way! I got many jobs that way. So, much of my experience is with decks,doors/windows, siding and fences. I have done MANY things in my life, but decks and fences are my favorite. I now live in warrenton (alder manor, though we are trying EVERY DAY to move into a house!) with my husband and two sons who are 7(sully) and 13(sam). and we are out of space! That leads me to my next subject......
Lanae lives right across the street from me (thats right we are not related nor in a relationship!!) . Although I'm unaware of our "official" meeting day, I do remember her listening to me cry about my grandma who had recently (then) passed away, and Sully was just a little guy. Lanae had her own little guy (at a young age, her son is 10 now) , and my two and her son, Thor played well together, so we took a few adventures together; albeit broke, but we had fun!!! We helped each other out whenever possible. she was a hard worker, I knew she took care of a disabled man at night and had a cleaning job during the day. she always accepted any other work she could get, too, kind of like myself. Her Dad was (and is) a construction worker, also. so she had some clue what she might be getting herself into, when I BEGGED her for help about 2 months in to my "new company" in 2019. Well maybe everything works out just like it's supposed to, because she worked a few days a week for me, and still her other jobs, until her disabled client unexpectedly passed away one day. All of a sudden, she had no job, unless she wanted to take on another client. I promised her, if she took a chance with me and stuck it out, if she had faith in me, I'd make sure she was more than compensated for it. well I tell you something, that first WINTER WAS ROUGH.... much harder than I'd ever imagined it would be. But with very hard work and dedication, WE MADE IT... and I learned to charge enough money to not go into debt every single job, and that made a big difference, too. Not to mention the people who cheer for the underdogs!!
YOU ARE THE PEOPLE WE ARE!!!!
anywhoo, back to my point. LaNae has been working with me almost 4 years, now. and we are a great team, but we can only get so much work done during the day, you know I have to sell jobs, and do bookkeeping, and taxes, and payroll, and well you get it, right?? I've made sure LaNae is happy, and paid well, and we get massages every month, lunch daily, she gets two weeks of paid vacation a year, we work 8 to 3 monday to friday, so it's a great work culture. I provide a much healthier work culture THAN I EVER EXPERIENCED. and I'm really proud of that!!! You know, it's a huge issue, there are contractors who charge a LOT OF MONEY and then they pay their guys 15 bucks an hour and work them 40 to 50 hours a week. that's why we are HAPPY TO BUILD THINGS!!! because, yes, it's hard and challenging, but it's rewarding, too.
Sooooo, a few months ago we tried hiring help, several times. for one reason or another, NONE OF THEM WORKED OUT... I think the longest was 4 days.
About a month ago, now I added Thomas, to the team. Who is learning this trade as he goes. he lives in warrenton, with his fiance and two sons. He's a hard worker, so I can work with that. I can teach, anybody who is willing to learn, really. I'm patient, because I needed patient people when I was learning this trade, and I will be the person I needed when I was younger!! Anyway, thomas hasnt' run away, yet, so maybe he's cut out for this.
it's not easy, being the owner and chief of a PROFITABLE construction company, in a male dominant field. You would think in 2022, you wouldn't have to explain that a woman can in fact, BUILD ANYTHING A MAN CAN... you would think I'd never need to explain that IVE been working construction for OVER TWENTY TWO YEARS, but that my husband has HIS OWN JOB and does his own thing, but I find on an almost daily basis, this to be true. that and people assume Lanae is either my girlfriends OR my daughter!!! I'm only 40 by the way and she is 27. so no, we are not related. soul sisters, maybe?
Don't think I am complaining, either, I wanted to EXPLAIN THAT, to explain this. I deal with adversity, DAILY... I've always had to make sure my work was THREE TIMES AS GOOD as the dude next to me, for half the pay. now, the "half the pay" may have changed, but I tell you what the judgements have not changed ONE BIT... I think other women are almost more harsh than the men, some times.
We do our best on EVERY JOB WE DO... I doubt there is ONE CLIENT out there who can say we DIDN'T do our very best. There's no other way I know how to do it. so, if you hire us, WE WILL DO OUR BEST. I can promise, that.
AS material prices continue to skyrocket, I wanted to talk about this. about how my whole career I had to be BETTER Than average, JUST TO KEEP A JOB. I had 3 bosses, in 20 years that paid me more than a male worker with the exact same job as me. THREE.... I hope that is getting better, I hope the world is changing in that regard. I know I AM DOING MY PART!!!!! I want you to understand what exactly you're paying for, and I don't mind answering your questions, either!!!
I think most people would rather well paid, & happy people be working on their house, instead of disgruntled folks making peanuts, who may be looking for other ways to compensate their paychecks, because the boss wont. I have seen plenty of bad situations in my 20 years of experience working for other contractors. Not all are created equally, I tell ya! you should ask one of the workers about their "work culture" when the boss is not around.
We are not the cheapest company and we are not the most expensive. but we are definitely the underdogs, trying to move out of the trailer park!!! And I will make it happen, eventually. I'm trying so incredibly hard, every single day. I sleep well at night, knowing that. So please, if you "hear" something negative about me or my company, take into consideration the SOURCE, and that they may not have the whole story. Or maybe they see me as a huge threat, and want to make sure I stay in the trailer park. whatever the reasons, I'm grateful for my struggles, without them I wouldn't know what "good times" are at all. the truth is, Ive been super happy lately, and never felt more healthy, mentally. I do struggle with where we live sometimes. I want so badly to be able to buy a house and have a place for my children to "land" when life chews them up and spits them out!! but as you probably know, we are talking a HALF A MILLION DOLLARS AND UP... we need about 24K for a down payment. we are ALMOST THERE... no joke!! and our credit is FINALLY GOOD>.. actually, I think it's great... around 720. that's way better than either of us imagined, after filing chapter 7 in 2016...
grateful for my struggle. for they gave me STRENGTH.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!!!!!!!!!! I will continue to do my best every day! I will continue to pay LIVING WAGES for our area and promote a POSITIVE WORK CULTURE!!! that is a guarantee.
See you on the next big job!!!! unless you're one of my haters.. have some haterade and watch me work myself right outta this single wide.
amber
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