Core Drilling with Chelsea
Episode #77: Welcome to the She Builds Show, I’m your host, Stefanie Olson and this week I’m excited to introduce you to Chelsea Husum, the owner and operator of American GPR & Coring in Denver, CO. which provides core drilling and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) services. Today we talk about how Chelsea got started, Women owned Construction businesses, inspiring young girls to look into the Construction Industry as a career, juggling work and family and ways that we maintain our sanity.
Join us and listen in…
ABOUT CHELSEA HUSUM:
Chelsea Husum owns and operates American GPR & Coring in Denver, CO which provides core drilling and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) services. She loves being involved in the thriving construction industry throughout Denver and Colorado and is passionate about her growing company and team.
Chelsea is proud to sit on the Board of Directors for STEMblazers, Women of Asphalt and the Castle Rock Economic Development Council. She is actively involved in the industry to help promote, inform and encourage the women. She was awarded the Up & Coming Award from the American Subcontractors Association of Colorado at the October 2022 Gala.
She enjoys personal development, travel, and spending time camping and boating with her two young sons and husband. She loves to spend her free time outdoors and be active with family and friends.
CONNECT WITH CHELSEA:
• Website: https://americangprco.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-husum
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelseahusum
WAYS TO CONNECT WITH STEFANIE…
• Website: https://shebuildshomes.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shebuildsbetter
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shebuilds.homes
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/shebuildsshow
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
0:01 Welcome to the She Builds Show.
0:03 I’m your host, Stefanie Olson, a licensed general contractor who builds new construction, renovates and designs your vision today.
0:12 More than ever we need raw, authentic women who are willing to rise above society’s norms, break those glass ceilings and encourage each other to boldly build the life we were meant to live.
0:24 So honey, what are you building?
0:27 Okay you guys welcome to the She Builds Show today we have Chelsea.
0:33 Welcome to the show.
0:35 Thank you.
0:36 You’re welcome.
0:37 Okay so can you give the audience a little tiny introduction of yourself?
0:43 Kind of what you do?
0:44 Sure I’m Chelsea Husum.
0:47 I live in Denver Colorado and I own and operate Americana GPR and Coring. So we do core drilling and ground penetrating radar or a small business here working with general contractors and then probably our top two biggest clients are mechanical companies and electrical companies on the commercial projects.
1:09 Got it.
1:09 Then this is like nothing, I know I like know zero about what you do.
1:14 So I’m like so excited to have definitely Yeah, I was like, wow, she has nailed a niche for sure.
1:21 Okay.
1:22 So like how did you get into this?
1:25 How did this happen?
1:27 Yeah.
1:27 I was high school Spanish teacher for 10 years and just wasn’t loving it anymore.
1:34I was like I need to move on if I’m not loving it.
1:36 So I was an officer for a small construction company that did pavers, hard scapes.
1:44 So I did that for a couple of years and then just saw like a niche in the community, talked to a few different people in the industry and really saw that.
1:53 I really started the company with ground penetrating radar?
1:56 Not a lot of people know what that is.
1:57 So I’ll explain it quickly.
1:58 But it’s a small machine that scans slab concrete.
2:02 Then you’re looking and then it will tell you what’s inside.
2:05 It sends radar into the concrete.
2:07 If there’s anything like rebar pt cable conduit or anything else in there, it changes the radar like a sonogram waves and parabolas.
2:21 And so you have to interpret if there’s something in there, those waves will be different.
2:26 You’ll see something differently.
2:28 So then you mark it up.
2:29 It’s really safety.
2:31 I started a company solely with that.
2:33 And then just because there’s endeavor, there’s not a lot of companies that do it whatever you do there, large companies.
2:43 You know, I’m certified small women owned businesses disadvantaged all of that.
2:49 So, you know, companies want to work with us and they have to meet percentages on these jobs.
2:54 They’re like, oh wow, you do that?
2:56 We started with that and then I’d be on a site and people would be like, hey, can you just do a quick core drill since you’re here and I’m like, well sure.
3:05 So I added for drilling and honestly now we do a ton of core drilling and what is so many questions and I’m like, well I like, great is losing it when you say core drilling, what is the purpose of that?
3:21 We’ll scan to see, you know for safety if there’s anything in there and then it’s the core drilling, we use a healthy break.
3:28 It’s just a circular cut through concrete either on the floor or the wall and so that’s like before a mechanical or electrical company would come in and put all their stuff, we are really just cutting the holes they need for all of their like, hey you need this here, we need this here, you know, like I said for a wall and then they’ll come in and fill it all up with all their stuff wow okay, so give me like I need like a real world example to grasp this because it’s like commercial is it only apply in existing buildings, not new construction?
4:04 It’s both actually, so like a couple examples Denver Public Library or the Colorado Convention Center or existing buildings they’re renovating.
4:14 So then we’ll come in and do that.
4:16 But we also are on a lot of brand new buildings like high rise in downtown that yeah, like why would they need the core drilling in a new construction situation mainly just because they’re pouring slab and then they have to come in afterwards and lay out everything.
4:35 Sometimes it’s laid out first, other times they’re pouring and then we are cutting after and then you know, and then they’re putting all their stuff so they’re just not throwing conduit in that concrete to accommodate like the electrician or not always sometimes they are like priests leaving sometimes they’re not or they do it and then it has to it’s wrong or something you know there’s always like plumbing is always wrong and the island plumbing is wrong.
5:05 Yeah.
5:07 Yeah but I mean we just like jackhammer it up and then we refill it.
5:13 We don’t have Exactly yeah.
5:15 Yes so really it could go either way we’re working on renovations of existing.
5:19 We’re working on brand new.
5:21 But yeah some people do it before, some people do it after it just kind of we just come in when they call us and yeah we’re not trying to fix the problem they created we’re just trying to do our job.
5:34 Got it.
5:34 Yeah exactly.
5:36 Okay so when it’s a the renovation it sounds like you’re on, are these like public works projects or federal government state, what is the primary people you’re so some of them are definitely like government buildings or were at Denver International Airport, things like that.
5:57 It’s a lot of certified payroll jobs you know and like I said we’re just working for the general contractors or the mechanical or electrical companies on there.
6:06 But yeah I mean some of them are were at like government buildings sometimes or you know the Air Force academy or different things universities all of that.
6:15 I mean a lot of we can be working on private you know things as well but a lot of it’s like public works.
6:22 Yeah.
6:23 How long have you been in business doing this?
6:26 I started to come In March of 2020 because what else are you doing?
6:34 I’m joking.
6:35 You’re not teaching Spanish over zoom that’s for sure.
6:39 I had quit teaching the year before or thank God.
6:42 I mean seriously?
6:44 But I was working a full time job for the construction company was starting my company trying to home school to kids.
6:52 So that was interesting.
6:53 The company really started in March of 2020.
6:56 I hit the field like September October so really didn’t do a lot of business in 2020.
7:03 Just kind of get getting everything situated with all of that information.
7:09 Why?
7:11 It’s a lot like I I know about it and it’s a lot like it’s a lot of paperwork, it’s a lot of information.
7:17 It’s time.
7:18 So why did you choose that route like that to me that’s like the most difficult route I guess.
7:23 That’s why I asked that.
7:25 Okay.
7:25 Yeah it is it was not easy I guess I just saw the benefit like I think it makes my business stand out.
7:34 There’s very, very few of what I do is in Denver with those certifications.
7:40 So I’m S. P.E.E.D.B.E. and the Mebewebe will be so I’m all for those, but I mean yeah it’s like they want everything pretty much your firstborn child.
7:49 They’re like here, what else do you want?
7:51 Like, you know, all any financials like I mean all kinds of paperwork like you say.
7:57 And then because it was kind of the heart of covid there, like usually they’ll do a site visit so I office out of my house.
8:05 But then my, all my technicians have their van that they just take so much easier everything they need in there.
8:11 So we don’t really have like an office quote unquote.
8:14 I remember it was a two hour zoom video call at the end and I remember my lady kept me like, but so what is it you do again?
8:25 Like I don’t understand what you do.
8:28 And I’m like, I know it’s difficult to explain.
8:31 I’m showing her, I’m walking around my house showing her the equipment in my garage and trying to explain to her and find like YouTube videos to show her what I do because she’s just like, I don’t get it.
8:43 And it is weird.
8:44 I get it.
8:44 It’s totally a niche.
8:46 Most people are like, what are you talking about?
8:49 You know? I mean, yeah, and it finally got approved.
8:53 So then, I mean then I think for three years after you just do the easy, has anything changed?
8:59 We survived, which is fantastic.
9:00 So I think soon I’ll have to redo it again.
9:03 But yeah, I mean it’s just I think in what I do, it does matter to some companies, some just use us because they love us that, you know, my guys are are just great at what they do and you know, I just asked for a chance like can we just have one chance on a job and then the guys just prove themselves and they’re like, oh my gosh, yeah, we’ll be using you.
9:24 You know, So it’s I get a lot of businesses, word of mouth and referrals truly by who we work with and and they’ll, you know, spread the word.
9:32 But yeah, it was just important to me to to have that just to kind of stand out a little bit right well, but I applaud you because I’ve tried multiple times and I’m like, forget it.
9:43 I don’t even want to do it.
9:45 It’s so hard.
9:46 I’ve been everything else.
9:48 Yeah.
9:49 Well my entity has been in, you know, in existence for like 15 years.
9:53 And so it’s like to me if I was just starting something new would be so much easier.
9:58 But all of like the back information that they asked like, oh my God, never mind.
10:03 Yeah.
10:03 Honestly it was probably easier because I was just starting out.
10:07 I don’t have that.
10:08 I don’t have that.
10:08 Yeah, that doesn’t apply.
10:10 Yeah, totally.
10:12 I can’t even imagine.
10:13 So with the equipment, I’m just curious like how, how much does this like radar or coring machine cost and you know, how did you know how to use it or find people that knew what to do with it?
10:29 Like you know, you’ve got the guys working for you that I don’t know how many employees you have but you’ve got people that are you know trained in this, what was that process like?
10:37 So we used for the GPR Unit, and the core drilling rig, we used Hilty, like if I was to buy Hilty GPR it’s like 40 grand, which have I zero desire to do that because then you have this really expensive piece if it breaks it’s probably thousands to fix it.
10:56 I lease it.
10:56 It’s OK have at least program it’s a lot easier.
10:59 And then for the core rigs I bought some of the summit I think for buying them it’s like six grand for the rig and then you need a few other things and then the bids.
11:09 Oh so really I kind of found out the hard way that I just really need mainly from my first employee.
11:17 That wasn’t ideal and didn’t work out.
11:21 I really just need good people and experts at what they do when I interview people, they’re probably like oh who’s this crazy lady, I own a company.
11:29 Do you want to come work for me in this industry and what we do there either established companies that you know are pretty large and then there’s like you know and so these guys were they took a chance on, you know and I’m like we just have a really cool culture that we all work together.
11:51 We’re I love I can change anything at any time if it’s not working great.
11:55 We all are communicating all the time.
11:58 We’re all involved in discussions and estimates and in all this stuff and so we all just kind of take ownership in it.
12:05 And so I’ve been very lucky to find my technicians that they are experts.
12:11 They know what they’re doing and I have to have the best people in town.
12:15 They’ve been doing this forever.
12:17 They can do it in their sleep because they’re the company.
12:20 Yes.
12:21 I run the operations and things.
12:23 But like if they’re not good at what they do, we are never going to keep a client or earn a client right?
12:28 So they are the ones out there earning the business and earning the repeat business right?
12:34 So they know way more than I do.
12:37I I call them and harass them all the time.
12:39 Like hey somebody’s asking this, what do you think?
12:41 Or they’re like yeah let me go out to the site and take a look.
12:44 You know when they are experts.
12:46 I trust them.
12:47 I don’t micromanage them.
12:49 I let them go do their thing if they need me.
12:52 I’m here but like I don’t need to micromanage them, they know what they’re doing.
12:56 They got it, they got it handled and they just go out and do it and then I’m here to support as needed.
13:01 So I’ve been extremely lucky with with the technicians I have and honestly like each one of them I have hired from them.
13:11 I’m like, hey guys, I need to hire, I post online.
13:13 It’s just that I work way I’m a sandwich artist like talk with you and I’m like absolutely not.
13:22 Like I will never hire you.
13:24 You know, I mean how could I say my guys like, hey, you know, I need to hire somebody.
13:31 Do you know anybody that would fit in our culture that gets who we are, You know, and they’ve been really good about, that’s how I’ve literally hired them all.
13:40 So it’s been, how many technicians do you have now?
13:43 I have three right now And I’m hiring.
13:46 We’re very small.
13:47 I think that you’ve got a little dream team that knocks out the park.
13:52 What has been because you know you’re going from teaching where you’re getting a paycheck, you show up to work, you get a 401K.
14:02 You have insurance covered?
14:04 You know your schedule right?
14:07 And then you go deep into this just kind of like scrolling back and going, which one?
14:15 Like do you like better are you happy where you are, are you happy you made this decision or you like I’m so stressed I can’t deal?
14:24 Yeah.
14:25 That’s a great question.
14:26 Honestly, I mean teaching is very stressful also and I feel like maybe just that of you’re dealing with so many things at a time.
14:36 I’m just a good, like I’m, I’m a really hard worker, but I can handle, I mean there’s a lot going on in your business.
14:43 Like people who don’t understand unless you actually own a business, it doesn’t stop.
14:49 It’s on your brain all the time.
14:50 You wake up in the middle of night like, oh yeah, this that, you know, like did I do this?
14:55 It will never stay.
14:56 But honestly, like I freaking love construction.
15:00 Like I am so proud of what we’ve built.
15:02 Like it’s, I love all my clients, the industry, group people.
15:07 I’ve met just some amazing people in general and a lot of really badass women honestly in the industry.
15:13 It’s just like every networking events or different events.
15:17 Like I just love it.
15:18 Like they’re fun down to earth real people.
15:21 And, and honestly I’ve been really lucky.
15:24 I don’t deal with people that are super difficult or, or mean or thinking she’s a woman, whatever.
15:32 Like honestly I love, I love dealing with everybody.
15:34 It’s just a fun industry and I don’t know, it’s, it’s been really enjoyable and in every single day is different for me, you know, and so I love that.
15:47 Like today my kids woke up sick and you know, so I’m at home with him, but I have a bunch of meetings next week, you know, popping from one to the other and out of sight visit sometimes and it’s just, I enjoy doing different stuff every day and having flexibility to like today my kids home sick.
16:07 So here I am, you know, and I can do that because I can still, obviously I still work from home, but I can get my stuff done.
16:13 I truly, I never was a little girl be like being like, I’m gonna start a construction company when I get older, right?
16:23 Like never, no.
16:25 But I just really love it and I feel like I found my thing and yeah, so it was, it was a good choice for sure.
16:33That’s awesome.
16:34 I know, and I feel that way sometimes too where it’s like, it’s kind of a double edged sword because you’re probably busier than you want to be and more stressed sometimes than I think is healthy and yet it is like that, you know, it’s like, oh, I found my people and I found where I belong and sometimes I don’t want to talk to them because I’m tired today.
16:57 But that doesn’t mean like the, or you know, at the core that it’s really what you love to do?
17:03 So I agree.
17:04 I think business is hard.
17:05 What parts of the business has been the easiest for you?
17:11 Like what part were you just like, oh, that makes sense to me and I get it.
17:15 Yeah.
17:16 Well, I mean I have no business training or I’ve never taken classes, you just jump in and kind of figure it out, you know what I mean?
17:24 If you want to learn something, you can learn, you just got to put in the time and effort, right?
17:28 For me the easiest and most probably most enjoyable is just like connecting with people are creating relationships with people no matter what I’ve done in life, even when I was a teacher, like it was getting to know the students getting to know now, it’s getting to know the people I work with on a personal level, right?
17:47 We don’t always need to talk business.
17:48 Sometimes I want to hear what do you this weekend, like you have anything fun and whatever and I think I just naturally enjoyed that, so that’s just been easy and it really is a transferable skill, you can do it anyway.
18:00 Yeah.
18:01 Yeah, I think people underestimate that because if you can’t talk to clients or get to know them or have you know established trust and you’re just a introvert, not able to communicate, you know, I don’t think it translates well in this industry you have to be able to create relationships and I feel like out of those relationships, that’s how opportunities, you know are born and then obviously your work has to stand up for what you say you’re going to do.
18:27 But I love that.
18:28 What about the hardest part, what’s been the hardest, well I mean there’s been a lot of hardest part just really learning from what we kind of talked about before.
18:38 I mean owning a business, like I am responsible for people now, they depend on me for business for their paycheck for all this.
18:48 It’s there’s a lot, you know on your shoulders as you know, right?
18:52 And so it’s, you know, I think the hardest is the things that maybe are a thorn in my side insurance, I just leave it to them.
19:01 I’m like, hey this is what I need help me, you know what you’re doing, I don’t even know what you’re talking about, just figure it out for me.
19:09 I need ungodly amounts of insurance have pretty much every kind of humanly possible, you know that certified payroll used to just literally I would sit in my office like why God why are you torturing me?
19:22 You know because I didn’t know how to do it now.
19:24 I know exactly what to put where and bill.
19:28 There we go.
19:29 So I mean with time the harder things have gotten easier, right?
19:35 Yeah, I mean it’s just you know and then just managing people too, there’s always things like oh somebody’s sick or somebody’s you know going on vacation for two weeks and we’re small.
19:48 So then I’m like oh Lordy, I’m stressed out, you know?
19:51 And for work too and it’s like okay I can get through this, you know?
19:58 But it’s you know managing schedules and people but honestly I think I’ve found ways as I’ve grown the business and now we’re busier than we’ve ever been.
20:10 But like I also, I get up early, I go work out, you know, I get up at 5:30 I’m going to the gym, I’ll meditate, I’ll do things to make me feel healthy and good because if I don’t, it’s a mess.
20:26 Like now at this point I know what I need to do to feel good and have energy and be ready mentally to be like, let’s do this.
20:34 If I don’t do that, I don’t even know how to juggle everything.
20:40 I think that’s so my friends and I are like putting together a course we’re working on it.
20:45 I haven’t really talked about it.
20:46 It’s about like exactly that how we have these extremely strong, powerful, successful women and we don’t realize like the areas of our life that we don’t give attention to and then we, we end up failing at home or failing our health or failing mentally because we haven’t cared for our, you know, our thoughts are been able to have peace or boundaries and I think that’s so important.
21:16 I actually like, just this morning, it’s been a rough week.
21:19 My husband has been in the hospital and oh, it’s okay.
21:23 He well, you know, it’s just, there’s always something and there’s always something and I like, you know, I’m like, you, I get up early, I work out and I do all that and I just didn’t feel I was just wiped out today and I’m like, what’s, and I just sat there, I’m like, what’s the one thing that’s going to make me feel better?
21:39 I’m like turning off my phone and the peloton for 30 minutes, you know, and like a good sweat and it’s like, I’m so glad that I’ve established those habits enough to know that like the answer for me is not sugar or junk or like, you know, wine or alcohol or whatever, those things that are going to be hurtful to my body and not make me feel better, but like going and taking 30 minutes by myself, turning off my own and how that can just like restore you and no, and I don’t know if it’s like, does that come with age or like, I didn’t know that in my twenties, you know?
22:13 I didn’t either.
22:14 Yeah, but I don’t think we have these responsibilities or like that so much on our plate and you have to figure it out for sure.
22:23 Yeah.
22:23Absolutely.
22:25 And and the energy, I think that that’s like one of the topics that we’re talking about is like energy and joy, like and how do you sustain that?
22:32 And how do you have enough for your kids?
22:33 How old are your kids?
22:35 I have two boys, They’re six and nine, so they’re like so much energy.
22:40 It’s insane.
22:41 I mean half the time lately because I’ve been getting up early and you know, there’s so much happening in the day, your brain is like mush by the end, oh my gosh, what just happened?
22:51 And I’m like putting my little into bed and like, I’m just gonna go with you, but because I’m exhausted and I’m gonna get up early and I need sleep or I’m gonna be a crazy person, like I cannot go sleep.
23:03 Yeah, just like those habits and yeah, I I don’t think any of us knew that when we were younger, I have taught some classes to some, some high school and middle school girls on that kind of stuff because I had no clue about that when I was little and I and honestly it’s like coping skills as well to absolutely help you in the future.
23:24 So I’m really passionate about passing that on to younger girls because they really don’t hear about, you know what I mean?
23:31 So we just like, are filled with this stress and you know, we don’t know how to process it Yeah, or how to change the way that you think and what you tell yourself and that kind of stuff well and women, it’s the social stigma, it’s like if you, you know, you’re supposed to take care of everybody, make everyone’s life easier and do all this stuff, but if you take care of yourself and all your horrible mother, you horrible woman, horrible wife, right?
23:58 That is so messed up, like just is not okay, we have to take care of ourselves and it’s it doesn’t mean we’re selfish or whatever.
24:08 You know like then will be better for everybody else.
24:11 But so yeah, I’m always like, you know myself asked about that.
24:15 I actually had such a good conversation with one of my friends the other day and because I think I take that on like I’ve got to do everything like you know my job plus like everything in the house, right?
24:28 And she was like, well when I had my first baby, I just looked at my husband and I was like, I can’t do this.
24:34 Like we need to have a conversation about the chores, like the things that need to be done in the house and I’m not going to be responsible for all of it.
24:40 Like it needs to be a joint thing.
24:42 And I was like this freaking lightbulb went on.
24:43 I was like, oh my God, like I just silently take all of that on and I stress myself out and I walk around like a cranky person because I am mad at the fact that nobody helps me.
24:55 But I don’t communicate how they could help me. Yeah. I wrote that down and I made this like, yeah, I just do it.
25:02 I like do the dishes, laundry, the vacuuming, mopping and it’s like, is it because it’s my standard of how I want the house and they don’t have that.
25:10 Yeah.
25:11 And so they don’t do anything and I like sat down a few weeks ago and I made a chart, I listed all of the chores in the house and I showed it to the family and I was like, these are all the things mommy does, Which ones are you going to take?
25:28 And like they’ve taken responsibility.
25:30 It’s like my son, he’s a, he wanted to tidy the living room every day.
25:34 So because there’s something I don’t do or I do automatically and I don’t think about me doing it, but it’s like, he’s eight.
25:41 He can fold the blankets and put the pillows up and pick up every day.
25:45 You know, I was like, oh my gosh, I never thought to like elicit my family, which dad and they’re willing to help to, you know?
25:56 Yeah.
25:56 So we made a little chart and I made silly little pictures that goes with everything and like daddy wasn’t around when we did it.
26:03 And so like I put like a dog taking a dump and he has to pick up dog poop in the picture.
26:08 It’s hilarious.
26:09 Every my six year old is like, my six year old, like mom, I’ll go pick up the dog poop.
26:14 I’m like, cool, great.
26:15 Like, and he does.
26:17 I’m like, hey, that’s fantastic.
26:19 Yeah.
26:19 You know, I think that we just don’t realize that we put so much pressure on ourselves and don’t communicate that we need help.
26:28 I didn’t think that this topic was going to go where it’s going, but I think that’s great.
26:32 Okay.
26:33 So when you’re thinking about where you want to take this business and what you want to do with it, I would love to just like share in like maybe like the dreams and the, you know, where you wanted to go and what you envision like what do you carry around with that?
26:50 I don’t want to grow super, super big honestly.
26:53 But I think my max like employees would be nine or 10.
26:58 I don’t want to be massive and and I think that’s still small enough.
27:01 We can have control over the culture and the people and without massive changes happening or you know, but I I think, you know, growing the Denver business becoming more established, we already work with a lot of very large customers and medium and small.
27:17 I mean it’s a really great mix of people who we work with companies.
27:21 So I think just continuing to work and partner with those really great companies possibly expanding to Salt Lake City just you know, hiring right now is just really difficult and getting like people with zero experience again, Subway sandwiches.
27:38 Yeah.
27:39 What did you call him a sandwich?
27:42 What sandwich?
27:43 What did you call him?
27:44 A sandwich?
27:45 It’s what is it?
27:47 What did you say?
27:48 It was so funny.
27:49 It was like sandwich designer.
27:50 Sandwich Artist.
27:51 They call it a sandwich artist.
27:53Yeah, I’ve never heard of that.
27:55That’s fantastic.
27:56Yeah.
27:57Just continuing to like to establish our reputation and who we work for here and honestly like we’re pretty much on track to double the revenue you did last year.
28:07 That’s pretty easily.
28:08 So I mean that, that feels good when you’ve got every year.
28:12 Yeah.
28:12 When you just start seeing like the fruits of your labor, that feels good when it goes that way.
28:18 Are you passionate about, you know, now that you’ve kind of stepped into this role and knowing it was kind of like your passion or maybe your calling or the thing that you wanted to do.
28:29 But now you are this woman in, you know, a very male dominated industry, you know, specifically within the niche.
28:37 Are you interested in like encouraging other women?
28:40 Like has that become part of your impact or your purpose And I’m definitely active in a lot of organization.
28:47 I’m in like national women in construction and women have asked, I’m on the board with them.
28:53 I’m on the board for stem lasers, which is a really exciting nonprofit that is connecting middle and high school girls with women in the stem industry and doing field trips, job shadows internships, all really connecting them.
29:08 So they, if they decide to go into the industry, they have connections and you know, we can support them.
29:14 So that’s been really fun.
29:15 Yeah.
29:16 And I mean I’m just anything with women in construction?
29:19 I’m at like, you know, any of the events, I just love these women, they’re fantastic people and they’re out doing some really great in the community too.
29:27 So yeah, that has been just an easy thing to kind of step into and enjoy from being a teacher.
29:34 I already have passion for like getting kids inspired and thinking about things maybe they didn’t, which we know this, the construction industry is a massive industry, but not a lot of women, maybe no jobs like what you can actually do in this industry or you can actually make money.
29:52Y ou know, there’s a career paths for this that are really amazing.
29:56 One of my good friends just retired from C Dot after 33 years.
30:01 I mean, I have some friends here that have been working in this industry a really long time and they paved the way for all of us, you know, and they, when things maybe weren’t as easy for them or, you know, they went through a lot of stuff and they are fantastic.
30:14 I think, you know, with the women and the young girls, it’s just, it’s really exciting to hopefully inspire some of these people to look at the industry differently.
30:23 Absolutely.
30:24 Or to think about because, you know, there was never any talk when I was a kid that like, oh, you could do this, you know, just just like by myself for guys, like why would ever go into that?
30:35 Right.
30:35 I mean, yeah, there’s so many women in it now and, but I mean, I say that, but the percentage is like, it’s 10% or so 10-11% women.
30:44 It’s still extremely small.
30:46 I just feel fortunate I’ve met so many awesome women in it.
30:49 So I feel that connection in network for sure.
30:53 You know, friends, Hey, what would you do in this situation or you know, find like mentors are just colleagues too, you know? Absolutely.
31:03 I love that.
31:04 Well, this has been extraordinary.
31:06 Learning about coring and radar.
31:08 I feel like it’s like sonogram for the ground and pretty much yeah, it’s awesome.
31:15 Can you just share with people like where they can find you hire you follow you?
31:21 Yeah.
31:22So our website is AmericanGPRco.com.
31:26 There’s more info about my team, You know, different jobs.
31:29 We’ve worked on stuff like that there.
31:31 I’m on LinkedIn just under Chelsea Houston and that’s really, that’s all the business stuff we have and you have instant Yes.
31:41 Well thank you so much Chelsea.
31:43 It’s been such a pleasure to learn about you and your business and you know what you’re doing and thank you for sharing and enlightening that like there is a whole other way of being in the industry that like I didn’t even know about that’s so cool.
31:55 Well thank you for reaching out and this is wonderful.
31:59 Of course we’ll have a great day.
32:00 You too.
32:01 Okay, bye bye.
32:04 Thanks for joining me today on the She Builds Show my name is Stefanie Olson.
32:08 My hope is that this episode leaves you feeling empowered and ready to boldly take that step into building the life that you envision one 2×4 at a time.
32:18 And if you can do me a quick favor, please leave me a five star review on Itunes, I get giddy over reading the reviews each week and I will choose one special person to win some She Builds swag. Make sure you add your name to the review and I’ll reach out If you’re the winner, Thanks again for hanging out.
32:33 Be sure to visit me at She BuildsHomes.com where you can ask me questions and share with me what you’re building.