Costs & Timelines with Piper Stromatt
Episode #83: Welcome to the She Builds Show, I’m your host, Stefanie Olson and today I am joined by Piper Stromatt, director of interior design and partner in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Piper followed her heart, and right out of high school she became an interior designer working for a residential construction company.
In 2015, Piper started at GreenTech Homes, and soon became their sole interior designer. After completing over 400 houses in the production home industry, she knew it was time to take her passion a step further and her heart led her to partner with Paul Teruya in creating Boutique Living By Curate.
Listen in to hear Piper’s story…
ABOUT PIPER STROMATT:
Director of Design, Founder, Partner
A graduate of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, class of 2015 (Interior Design & Architecture). As a highschool freshman, Piper started practicing interior design, at just fifteen years old, participating in two years of classes on the subject. Completing Design I & II, she knew her future field would be Interior Design.
Piper says you can typically find her with her husband Tyler and black Lab, Miller. Her hobbies include working out, music, travel, and quality time with friends and family. Piper considers clients family by the end of every design process, and the meaningful relationships created with each of them hold a special place in her heart.
CONNECT WITH PIPER:
• Website: https://boutiquelivingbycurate.com
• Website: https://www.hartstudiochatt.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/curate-custom-homes
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curate_boutiqueliving
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piper_thebuildingblonde
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 bold build the life we were meant to live.
0:24 So, honey, what are you building?
0:27 All right, you guys welcome to the She Builds Show.
0:29Today we have a guest from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
0:33 Piper Stromatt.
0:34 Welcome to the show.
0:36 Thank you so much.
0:37 I’m so excited to be on here with you and talk more about she build and women in the community.
0:42 That’s right.
0:43 That’s awesome.
0:43 Ok.
0:43 So Piper tell the audience like the name of your business and just kind of like what services you do?
0:50 What’s your zone of genius?
0:52 Absolutely.
0:53 So here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, we are a custom home builder in the heart of downtown and we focus on the custom design builds that aren’t fully luxury design, but they’re still encompassing all of their luxury elements.
1:09 But on a more production timeline, my company is called boutique living by curate.
1:14 So we really envision ourselves as a boutique builder and having that one on one experience that you truly get whenever you go into a boutique itself.
1:23 So we want to be able to cater to each homeowner and truly build their house and build that relationship as we move through the process.
1:31 Oh, I love that.
1:31 I love that term.
1:32 I’ve never heard that boutique builder.
1:34 Because I feel like I’m always trying to explain to people that I’m not like your average builder.
1:39 Like you’re going to get full service and I’m not going to ask you to run around and do things like we’re going to do everything for you and this is going to be like, you know, go into what’s a really expensive hotel.
1:51 I don’t know, I can’t think of one right now because I know you just, yeah, or like, yeah, something where there’s like somebody servicing your needs and your wants and you’re not having to run around and do everything and it’s a completely different experience.
2:06 And so it’s hard to compare us and our services and our costs to somebody who’s just going to show up, do the work and you’re not gonna be able to contact them or you’re gonna have to run around, you know, like a chicken with your head cut off and it’s going to be the most stressful thing you’ve ever done in your whole life and you’re never gonna do it again, you know, like.
2:22 Right.
2:22 Exactly.
2:23 Yeah.
2:24 So tell me how, give me a little snapshot of like, how did you get here?
2:31 What was a little bit of like walking towards where you are now?
2:35 Because I’m sure it didn’t start that way.
2:37 Oh girl, it did not start that way.
2:40 So I always joke and I’ve been on a couple other podcasts and I joke that dirt runs in my blood and everybody just looks at me like, what are you talking about?
2:49 So my grandparents did it.
2:52 Yeah, you did it.
2:53 Yeah.
2:53 My grandparents started a civil construction company based out of Knoxville, Tennessee.
2:58 So I literally grew up on job sites all the time.
3:01 They were in disaster response.
3:03 So a little bit different of elements than typical home building.
3:07 However, they started getting commercial properties, hotels and that kind of stuff.
3:11 My grandmother started taking classes in interior design in the fifties by mail.
3:18 Oh my gosh, that’s so cool.
3:19 Right?
3:20 So she joined my grandfather to build this great company, but lost the chance to be able to do interior design.
3:28 When she got her hands on a lot of these different properties that they were fixing up and they were making them better.
3:35 Flipping them essentially.
3:37 I started seven years old saying I really like the puzzle pieces and playing Tetris and seeing how the spaces come alive.
3:44 My mom’s naturally great at it.
3:45 My grandmother’s naturally great at it.
3:47 So we started really, that was where my love really started.
3:51 In high school, I was able to take a home class because I went to a public high school and they taught interior design and interior design one and two.
3:59 As a freshman in high school, I was like, this is my path.
4:02 This is what I can’t wait to do.
4:05 I think I was a little wise beyond my years for knowing as a freshman in high school to college.
4:10 So long story short, I took design one and two in high school, declared my major at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, which is a very small school in the heart of Chattanooga.
4:21 They have an interior design program and a construction management program, fun thing and fun fact, they combine the two.
4:28 No one really knows that.
4:30 We have all the construction management guys and all of our interior classes, which is interior architecture.
4:35 So you can drop to 5000 square feet and build 5000 square feet.
4:39 So it’s really cool.
4:41 It was just where that kind of all started.
4:43 And I, I joke and when I do say it, it runs in my blood, I can’t deny it.
4:48 So that’s kind of where it all started.
4:51 It was kind of like the passion and the, you know, like you just knew, I think that’s so cool.
4:54 I’ve actually just did like a presentation or like a chat with a bunch of high school kiddos and they were running from like, you know, sophomore to seniors and I’m like, you know, tell me, I don’t think maybe, but one of them knew exactly what they wanted to do and that you, you know, young girl was bright and smart and, you know, top of the class and, but she was still, like, I want to check out, you know, she wants to be a landscape designer and I was, you know, I set her up with some of my friends to kind of shadow and be sure.
5:22 But I think it’s rare to know at a young age what your passion is and what you want to do and what your gift is.
5:31 So cool to be able to know that because I think that is kind of half the battle in life.
5:36 People just still in their forties are like, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life, you know.
5:42 Exactly.
5:43 And I think once you find that passion, you find that love, you know, it in your heart, like you build the homes that you’re building, you’re working with the clients, you get that fire in your heart again.
5:51 You’re like, can’t wait for the next one.
5:53 Not, I never want to build another house again.
5:56 So I think it takes very special people that are in our industry to find that deep love and that deep appreciation for working with clients and going forward.
6:07 I luckily fell into to a great builder.
6:11 Right when I graduated college.
6:12 So I’ve been with him ever since and now he’s my partner at our custom company.
6:17Oh, that’s awesome.
6:18 Back up a little bit and tell me, so you didn’t go out on your own from the beginning and start your own business?
6:26 You started working with a contractor who was doing something else.
6:31 So, because I, you know, I was just curious, how did you get to the point?
6:35 Because like my end like question is here is like, how many mistakes and how many things did you have to do wrong to figure out that?
6:44 Like boutique building is what you wanna do?
6:46 Because I know, I know it didn’t start like that is my guess it did not start like that girl.
6:52 Nope, definitely not.
6:53 So I started out in the commercial world, believe it or not.
6:58 And I was putting office cubicles together and boy did I mess those up entirely.
7:05 So and no one goes through school saying I’m gonna design cubicles for a living like that sounds like a great time, awful time.
7:13 So like I said, messed everything up possible that I could there.
7:17 And then I bought a house and the builder that I bought my house from, I was telling him of course, coming fresh out of school, you think, you know everything wrong entirely wrong.
7:27 I went through and I was like, your H PAC load is incorrect.
7:31 You have your electrical is incorrect and you don’t have the outlets in these locations based for furniture and yada yada like a list of 20 things.
7:39 And at the closing table, I’m like, I’ll never see this guy again.
7:42 Whatever.
7:43 I’m going to close up house, have it fixed.
7:44 It’d be done.
7:45 Two weeks later, there’s an offer letter in my email saying I want you to come work for me full time And he’s now he was very much like a father figure to me.
7:55 We’ve grown.
7:56 So he took your like picky little list and was like, I want that girl, I want that girl to come work for me.
8:02 So I started two weeks later, I literally left my job that day.
8:07 I was like sold.
8:08 I’m going to come with you.
8:09 So we all grew that company from five people to 40 And we were production home builders for the seven years that I was with him prior to starting the next adventure with him, which is the boutique living.
8:22 We built our first year, I think we started close 30 homes.
8:27 And so you were buying land, developing it, building subdivision type stuff.
8:32 Spec builds, spec builds.
8:35 I would say probably about 30% of them were custom at that time.
8:39 And so we were getting a little taste and then we went way production.
8:43 So we ramped up and we closed 230 homes within the fifth year that we were open my choice.
8:49 A lot.
8:51 How many like how many subdivision or how many houses are they like infill projects or was it like?
8:58 OK, we did a whole entire subdivision.
9:00 That was 2:30.
9:02 What was it like?
9:03 Because you know, we don’t have a ton of land here.
9:05 And so like, you know, my infill projects and my subdivision stuff was like 018 lot, a 15 lot, a 30 lot.
9:12 But then I also know I got really bored with like the same granite every day, every day, every day.
9:21 Would you like Yuba Tuba or would you like white stripes?
9:27 Like swan white?
9:29 Oh my gosh.
9:31 She just like get me out of this.
9:34 So yeah, so we started that.
9:36 It was in Phil lot.
9:37 So we pride ourselves, we were responsible for the majority of the downtown housing of Chattanooga in the new upcoming parts that were called South Side.
9:47 So we did 32 in lots and then we kind of ramped it up to doing the 50 to 60 the 70 home track.
9:55 So that was a gradual build.
9:58 But once we found our groove, we were able to take it from the 30 to the two hundreds real quick.
10:04 So the seventh year that I was there, we ended that year with over 200.
10:09 And that’s when we both looked at each other and we said, we think we need a new market.
10:15 We’re against that line of, we’re very boutique for the production.
10:19 But we’re ready to take the next step and service that 700,000 to 2 million price point.
10:24 So what’s your average price point in that spec bill?
10:28 Like what was, what were you guys selling those for?
10:31 We were so Chattanooga was a great pocket of you got a lot of house for the amount of the value because Chattanooga really wasn’t discovered seven years ago.
10:41 So that typical price range like I bought mine for 3 21 and now they’re 700.
10:47 So like our curates spec value now is 1.2, 1.6.
10:53 So we’re still in that very high price range.
10:56 But our sister company, which is the Green Tech home, which I was telling you about still service the spec builds and they’re about 500 now.
11:05 So just with appreciation.
11:06 Ok.
11:06 So now you worked with, I can’t remember his name.
11:09 Did you tell me his name?
11:10 I haven’t told you his name yet.
11:11 His name is Paul Teruya.
11:13 So you worked with Paul and then, and you were just an employee at that point straight employee fresh out of school 21 years old and you did that for seven years with him.
11:24 And then you was it your idea like how did the next phase come into this?
11:30 And it sounds like you were doing specs but the higher end and then are you also doing client work?
11:38 Like is there two legs to the business?
11:40 There’s two legs to the business.
11:42 So yes, I started driving this.
11:44 We’re having a lot of client relation problems when we were trying to go to the next level design wise.
11:50 However, production was not ready for that.
11:52 Our systems, our invoicing, our accounting was not ready for that next step.
11:57 And I found myself, you mean next step with client stuff with?
12:01 Well, it’s a whole other ball game, right?
12:03 It’s a whole other ball game.
12:05 So Green Tech, who we were, I was with for seven years straight production.
12:09 But we are really on that cusp of being a very customized production company.
12:14 And so by that year seven, we, we were just having a lot of client relational issues.
12:19 Our clients wanted us to go to the next level.
12:21 We wanted to go to the next level.
12:22 We just could not get their production wise.
12:25 So we really had to come to Jesus, as we would say in the South and said, what do we need to do next?
12:31 And my heart was just no longer in production as a designer.
12:35 I was sick of doing the same granite.
12:37 Same me too.
12:38 That’s exactly why I switched to what I was doing because I’m just like, I, and even like my tile guy was like, if I see 12 by 24 stacked brick, one more time, I’m going to blow my brains out, you know, and I’m like, I feel you, bro.
12:51 Yes.
12:52 And if I buy to tell you to decide between light gray or dark gray, done, done.
12:58 So it was just one of those things.
13:00 And so we basically just said, I said, hey, I’m gonna either go elsewhere and start my own thing or I think we should start the custom side.
13:07 And he said, great.
13:08 We literally filed our accounting DB A everything in two weeks.
13:13 We started our company the month later.
13:15 So we acquired a lot of land that green tech already owned and that’s what That leg up.
13:21 And with him being the sole owner or the majority owner in both companies at the time that really opened up the door and then it opened up my door to be able to start our full custom side.
13:32 So the full design build still doing 10% spec but most of 90% is truly custom for us.
13:41 OK.
13:41 So tell me how long ago was that three years ago?
13:45 OK.
13:45 And how many like what’s been the journey there for you?
13:50 Because now it’s like ownership, right?
13:53 Oh, yeah.
13:54 And so you have a whole other, you know, a lot more skin in the game.
13:59 Tell me about like 1st, 2nd, 3rd projects.
14:03 How did it go?
14:04 What were they?
14:05 Yes.
14:05 So we really eased in.
14:07 Because we acquired a lot of the land that we already had, we had the knowledge behind it.
14:11 We also had the floor plans that were already sold.
14:13 We transitioned about 10 homeowners from the other company to the new company transferred all of our project managers that were already on those jobs.
14:21 So it’d be a smooth transition.
14:23 Don’t get me wrong.
14:24 There were some headaches and I don’t know if the listeners out there are really familiar with steep slope building, but we are steep slope builders, meaning we are like almost 12, 12 slopes in some portions, if not 6, 12 and 8, 12 is typically what we do tall crawls and then crawl on crawls.
14:44 So that’s nutty because I was just telling you, I was in Tennessee and some of There was like a house.
14:51 I was like looking for, you know, a flip or something and there was a house that was on a crazy slope that was obviously having major structural issues.
15:01 And we were like, actually in contract with a different house and we went and all of the footings were exposed and there was all this erosion and I was like, yeah, no, this is $100,000 worth of work.
15:13 We do not do any of that where I live like it is slab on grade.
15:19 Oh, girl, that’s so nice.
15:21That is so nice.
15:23 So slope building is, it blows my mind.
15:26 And I’m like, you have to have people that know exactly what they’re doing and some bomb engineers would be my guess, bomb engineers.
15:35 And I think we talked earlier about kind of what are some of the mistakes and kind of things that we’ve learned along the lines.
15:42 Like we’ve learned a lot about working with developers and being the contractor for those developers, the soil in these mountains, you never know the history behind them.
15:52 So I think test pits for us was one of the things that we had to learn that we had to do almost on every job rather than just saying.
15:59 All right, developer, you gave it to us perfectly.
16:02 There’s nothing under these underneath these seven layers of dirt and here’s we’re moving forward.
16:08 So I think that was one thing that we spent a ton of money on is having these foundational issues and realizing there’s a truck bed that one of our footers was sitting on 10 ft down that no one found.
16:21 It’s so did that happen on multiple houses after you guys started the company with the new stuff you ended up with structural issues on?
16:30 Yeah, we’ve had some we’ve had one house that The developer didn’t disclose that it was a landfill at one point and they checked like I think they checked 10 ft down and I could be wrong on that number, but they didn’t go 20 ft down and the footer that we needed needed to be rioted at like I think 18.
16:50 So that soil started failing because they didn’t realize that it was uncomplicated around that area.
16:57 We found rebar, we found concrete pylons, we found tires, we found truck beds.
17:04 And so I think if, if listeners are really out there, no one really knows when you’re getting into this type of areas.
17:11 What’s the history behind this area?
17:13 What’s the topography, what soils underneath it?
17:15 Did you dig 30 feet down?
17:17 What does your pylon, what do those need to even consist of?
17:20 And did your engineer tell you that you need to go that far down?
17:23 So, I think that’s been unfortunately our most expensive curve of all time, right?
17:30 And I think just the soil.
17:31 So first to your too, the crew hat and taking off all those different hats that you have to constantly wear.
17:41 And I’m thankful that my partner Paul, he’s so knowledgeable in all of that.
17:46 I can keep my designer hat on and the person I hat on with our employees most of the time because he’s looking out.
17:53 That’s awesome.
17:53 So you got to just kind of like stay within your realm.
17:56 Ok.
17:57 So we all struggle and we all, what I say is like, fail as fast as possible so that you can learn as much as you need to learn.
18:05 And sometimes those failings, you know, like if you didn’t go to school for it or you didn’t look like I didn’t go to school to do this.
18:11 But like everything I’ve learned is because I sucked at it and I figured it out.
18:15 But what brought you like, I’m so curious about the house like that you’re sitting in right now because I’m just looking at this gorgeous wall and you know, you’ve come from that place and now you’re sitting in, give me the details of This, I’m guessing is a spec that you’re gonna sell list all of that.
18:34 Is that right?
18:35 Absolute.
18:36 So we are in the development that I’m talking about with a lot of the soil issues and we’ve overcome that to where we are now going into phase 14 of this development and with 1200 homes.
18:50 So we’re one of eight preferred builders.
18:52 So the home I’m actually sitting in has taken us 20 months, believe it or not.
18:56 And we are gonna stage this house and we’re gonna keep it as our model home for two years.
19:02 So what we’ll do is we’ll walk all of our clients, but this particular one is blown out in every single way, shape or form with all of the gadgets, all the smart home technology to serve all of our custom homes that we could be building up top on those 1200 homes.
19:19 Ok.
19:19 So you have 1200 home sites that you guys are gonna be doing custom homes on it or you, you said you’re one of eight preferred builders.
19:27 So like, do you guys own all of those lots or if the client purchases a lot and they get to choose one of the eight builders?
19:34 Is that kind of how it goes and then you’re gonna sell it by showing them This masterpiece.
19:38 Yes.
19:38 So we can have both.
19:39 Which kind of is mind blowing to a builder, kind of like we are.
19:43 So we own 32 of those lots.
19:45 That’s going to be more of our spec built that we’ve had a lot of homeowners come in and customize those being more of the spec because those are on a very tight timeline with takedown schedules.
19:54 So we own 32 of those outright.
19:57 We have four more that we own currently that we can have anybody come do design builds on the rest of the 1200 are all up to these eight builders that somebody can come and choose from and they buy their own lot, choose their builder to build on it for them.
20:14 So it’s kind of both.
20:15 That’s awesome.
20:17 How did you guys get to that world?
20:21 Like I just, how did you get there?
20:23 Absolutely.
20:25 So the development came to us and we’ve had, we probably had about a year of round round conversations of, is this a good idea?
20:34 Should we do this?
20:35 And by that point, Green Tech, our sister company actually initiated that conversation and I was on these jobs as a designer.
20:45 So we started 10 homes in here as one Z two Z lots.
20:49T hen it went up to, we’re gonna take down 10 lots.
20:51 We’re going to do what they call the knoll, which is on this big hill and that’s where our massive steep slopes came from before we were very used to developing.
20:59 Kind of like you, do you have your slab on grade?
21:02 You have your mono slabs.
21:03 You have some crawls that are only like four block high, that kind of stuff.
21:08 But this is where we really sunk our teeth into.
21:12 We’re setting ourselves up for the future to learn.
21:15 Yeah, we really got into it by just onesy two lots.
21:18 And then the development saying, all right, we want you to be our preferred builder after we’ve tested you out on about 15 homes now.
21:26 And you’re doing quite well.
21:28 That’s awesome.
21:29 That’s so exciting.
21:30 I’m so jealous.
21:31 I wish we had like, you know, a bigger because like we’re in a smaller town and we just don’t have like the big sprawl of large custom second home stuff because there’s not anything super exciting to come, like travel here for or, you know, like we just don’t have the market for that.
21:49 So tell me, I want to walk through and I want to try to educate a little bit about if you’re gonna buy a custom home and what does it end up costing?
22:05 Because with a boutique type of relationship with a client, you know, in my world, we tend to get, you know, we’re, we’re smaller potatoes, smaller price points.
22:16 And so I don’t know if our general public is just not educated about how long it takes to do a project and how much it costs and why planning is so important.
22:30 Those are kind of like the three things I want to talk about with, you know, your perspective of your clients and the type of people you’re dealing with and how can we help educate them on like what is realistic?
22:42 What does reality look like if you want to build a house with you in terms of cost, timeline planning?
22:50 Absolutely.
22:51 So timeline I think is the biggest thing that is so surprising to people because once you get into finding the right builder for you.
22:59 So our company boutique Lu back here, right?
23:02 We do all the design beforehand.
23:04 So we have majority of the costs figured out the land, the raw land cost is already taken into consideration.
23:11 So one thing that is really big is we actually actually get all the land acquired first and then we’ll go to our timeline.
23:19 So I would say the people out there, we need to do two year timelines if you’re doing your plans plus building plus selections and then your build and then your closed.
23:30 So that’s gonna be the most time consuming part.
23:35 Plans can take anywhere from six months to a year to almost even do.
23:40 And what’s the size that you guys are ranging in terms of like square footage?
23:45 So square footage, we only go up to 5000 square feet now, but we can, we’re starting to flirt with that 7000 square foot range here soon coming up.
23:56 So we’re getting tight on this, but that’s our sweet spot is up to 5000.
24:01 So 3 to 5000 would be it.
24:03 Yeah.
24:04 Ok.
24:04 So that timeline for you guys and then what is, you know, price could you give like a range of like this is how much it generally costs to do your plans?
24:14 This is, you know how we service you with selections and you’re gonna, you know, 5000 square foot home, you’re gonna end up probably gonna end up costing you between X and you know, C for the price range.
24:25 Can you kind of?
24:26 Absolutely.
24:27 Yes.
24:27 So for people starting out doing plans, you can find them from a draftsman.
24:32 Keep in mind that is like basic, basic, basic.
24:36 You are not getting design services, technically, interior services with that, you’re not getting the structural components to it.
24:42 They usually have to outsource the structural component to a structural engineer.
24:46 So you’re not getting engineering.
24:47 So basis of that, we’re paying $5.75 a square foot to $7 a square foot for the plans themselves.
24:56 Now going through an architect, so think you’re layering a cake, you have your overall space planning, you have your interior design and that’s usually working with you on that.
25:06 You’re having a true architect plan, every element you’re doing your mechanical, you’re doing your electrical, you’re doing tile, you’re doing your elevations you’re doing your exterior design, you’re gonna get anywhere from $12 and I’ve seen it to 20 $5 depending on how luxury you want your plans to be and how big you’re going.
25:27 A lot of architects that are very renowned.
25:29 One of my favorite ones, he sits about $32 a square foot just because he is so high in demand.
25:37 But he’s also doesn’t build less until $10 million homes.
25:41 Kind of have to weigh the pros and cons to what you’re looking for.
25:45 Absolutely.
25:46 Tell me why, because I’m guessing, you know, a year for plans and setting it up and then a year to build is that kind of, if you were to do your two year project, why does it take a year?
25:58 And why is that important?
26:00 That is my favorite question ever because I feel like everybody just looks at designers and home voters like you.
26:06 And they’re like, well, you can do this in three months and get started and it’s like, well, that doesn’t really work that way.
26:12 So we, I like to take almost six months for planning of your floor plan because then we go through each and every question.
26:21 Are you right handed or left handed?
26:23 What’s your lifestyle?
26:25 How do you wanna live in this home?
26:27 All right.
26:27 How does this site pertain to this home?
26:30 Do we need a basement on a crawl space?
26:33 Do we need a slab?
26:34 Do you want stairs in your home.
26:36 Like so there’s so many things that guide these prompting to making the floor plan that you do need time for red linings, meaning you need to be able to go and mark up this thing 100 times almost to make it its perfect version.
26:49 So you don’t have change orders.
26:51 When you get into the field, you don’t have framing errors because you forgot that you need a door for your dog to come in and out of.
26:59 Right.
26:59 That’s one thing people forget all the time how to live in their house because they’re so focused on how is it gonna look to somebody else?
27:06 You need to focus on how you function.
27:09 So that’s the reason I say hone in on that for six months, leave the other six months for running around getting your interior designer in place, getting your furniture provider in place.
27:19 Start nailing down those details, tile colors, paint colors, grout colors.
27:25 How is your shower gonna function your plumbing elements?
27:29 So a lot of people are just mind blown.
27:31 They’re like we’ve been in design for a year where we don’t understand why we can’t get started.
27:35 It’s because construction requires all of these answers that you’re going through to get to that element.
27:42 That’s how you don’t spend almost, I’ve seen some another year building a year building it because not everything is planned.
27:49 Well, right?
27:51 Or they’re spending 100,000 in change orders because they have to rip out plumbing because they didn’t, they chose on the pretty, but they didn’t choose based on how does this function with each other?
28:01 Right.
28:01 Did we rough in two hot water heaters?
28:03 Because our house is over 5000 square feet.
28:06 Whoops.
28:07 It’s like you got to think about some of these things.
28:09 So, I hope that answers your question.
28:10 No.
28:10 Absolutely.
28:11 And I think that what, I don’t know if it’s, I think what I’m, what I’m trying to say is I think that there’s a disconnect with actually how good construction gets done and good construction doesn’t get done well by just starting the build, like good construction gets done by planning.
28:34 Well, like I always tell, like, even for a remodel, I’m like, I will not start your project until every material I know is gonna be here.
28:43 And I or I know when it’s gonna be here because I, once I start, I’m not stopping, we’re just the same because I’m like, ready to go.
28:53 We need our invoices and our POS to match your actual order that you thought you had online and then you avoid surprises for the client.
29:03 You know that there’s just, hey, oops, we forgot that you needed to, we wanted to tile all the way to the ceiling and we didn’t order enough tile or whatever like that and we do 3d renderings and stuff.
29:14 So people can, you know, kind of like visualize everything.
29:17 So I just think that, you know, you guys are at such a beautiful high level that it’s pretty amazing how long it takes.
29:25 But there’s reason for that there is, there’s so much reason behind it and like you said, Oh, our client, well, I didn’t think about the room being that tall.
29:34 I want to spend the extra money to take the tile to the ceiling.
29:39 That’s such a perfect example that you just said because in the year of 2020, I know everybody wanted to quit building in general and pull their hair out because it was times like these where it used to be a simple change.
29:51 Great.
29:51 Let me get some more of that tile order.
29:53 It’ll be here and two days my supplier has it in stock.
29:57 Wonderful.
29:58 2020.
29:59 We come around to you and client decides they want to do that.
30:02 All right, it’s discontinued.
30:03 We’ve got to rip your whole tile out or sorry.
30:06 You just can’t take it to the ceiling, right.
30:08 I’m just, I’m so glad to hear somebody else like you claims as much as I, I do because I literally get hives when somebody’s like comes to me because I do a side business as well, part studio and it’s just they come to me and they’re like, oh yeah, we’ve already framed and we’re, our plumbing’s all wrapped in.
30:24 I’m like, well, who chose those locations of our builder in?
30:27 And it’s like, how are you gonna turn the faucet on when you walk in the shower, like the, you’re gonna get wet when you turn the water on with your clothes on.
30:36 No.
30:36 Exactly.
30:37 Or it’s, oh, you didn’t, you don’t need that wall mounted tub filler.
30:42 And it’s like, well, that’s the only way the tub works.
30:44 You can’t, you’re on a slap.
30:46 How are we gonna do it?
30:48 So, I’m so thankful to hear that you plan as much on your remodels and on your bills as much as I do and agenda.
30:55 So it’s important and I love that you’re like to me, I want, you know, if I could choose in life, like to go first class and to be at like the, you know, the expensive hotels where they take good care of you.
31:07 Like I love being servant.
31:09 Not that I’m like this person unable to go like being a coach or whatever.
31:14 I’m just saying when you experience those things, it’s nice to be serviced.
31:18 Well, it’s nice to be thought of.
31:20 It’s nice to not have to stress.
31:24 And so like I always just put myself in the client’s shoes.
31:27 Like, what would it be like for them if they could just go do their normal job?
31:33 And I did mine so well that they only have to call me when they are like, I really want this changed.
31:42 But everything else they feel communicated with, I’ve let them know the schedule what’s happening and it’s so planned out well, that all we have to do is execute it.
31:51 You’re exactly right.
31:52 And I love that you said, like I want my clients to be treated really well because that’s the same thing for me.
31:58 How do I wanna have an experience where I want to build again?
32:02 Yeah.
32:03 60% of people, there’s a statistic, 60% almost get a divorce or they do get divorced because of this very stressful experience such as home building.
32:13 And whenever we started these custom companies and production, even production, I want you to have the best experience where you do it four more times with me.
32:21 And honestly, I’m so proud to say we’ve had four families that have built 3 to 4 homes apiece with us.
32:28 That’s amazing.
32:29 And like, isn’t that the best compliment that somebody like comes back?
32:32 I have a client, like we finished their job and she was like, ok, I know we’re done today.
32:36 But the next thing is this, you know, and I’m like, thank you, like, OK, the next, you know, like she already told me what the next project is and she’s wanting to know like, OK, can you give me a rough cost on that?
32:46 And I’m like to be there on the very last day doing the walkthrough, doing the punch list and for her to say that the experience was so good that she didn’t have to think one day about it to ask me for the next project, like we’re doing it right.
33:01 You know what I mean?
33:02 It wasn’t stressful for them.
33:04 You know, she was in the middle of taxis and she was an accountant like we did this for her to where it wasn’t added stress.
33:11 And I think that customers have to realize that that is worth paying for.
33:16 It’s 100%.
33:17 And I get the question all the time.
33:19 My agent does.
33:20 My director says, excuse me, she gets a question.
33:23 She’s like y’all are so much higher than everybody else.
33:27 And to me, I’m like, well then that means we didn’t answer her question.
33:31 Good enough saying you get X Y and Z all included.
33:37 Our base inclusions for allowances are the highest of the base that you can find before reaching that luxury level.
33:45 So And you get the experience, you get the concierge service, we’re not 24/7, but you can email us 24/7 and we’ll get you back when the regular 8-5 happens.
33:56 But you get one project manager, one designer on your job.
34:01 You get your estimating team, you get your procurement team and you get one on one with your accounting department.
34:06 So we call it a face for every face which is wonderful.
34:11 That’s awesome.
34:11 I love it.
34:12 And when I’m trying to sell myself, I’m always like, I’m not going to be your cheapest option.
34:17Ok?
34:18So let me tell you why because you’re going to, you’re going to love me when we’re done with this.
34:24 Yes.
34:25 I know our listeners out there.
34:26 If they’re building for the very first time or going through the process, don’t go with the cheapest person because you may, you’re gonna end up doing all the work majority yourself or you’re gonna have somebody do it for you that you don’t even know what happened.
34:40 Right?
34:40 And I think my best advice is just do your homework.
34:44 Look at that person, ask them the hard questions.
34:46 I have people just ask me, why do you love doing this?
34:49 And I love them to ask me that question because they’re getting to know me as a person behind the company.
34:54 And I’m sure that people ask you that too and then they see your personality come out.
34:58 Right?
34:59 Absolutely.
34:59 And I think when it comes to the relationships, it’s like we’re basically like dating, you know, like you and I are dating, you know, you, we’re gonna hang out a lot and, or you’ve got like, yeah, we got to like each other and you got to feel comfortable talking to me and, you know, know that I’ve got your back, you know, both like watching your budget and exactly.
35:21 I know exactly who you are and what you want and, and how you would choose it, that if you were gone, you would trust me fully to make that decision in your place, you know.
35:29 So it’s like if it’s worth it to you to have that type of experience, spend an extra six months saving the money or doing whatever you need to do to have that experience versus having an experience where you don’t ever want to do it again and you hate how it looks and you’re gonna have to hire me anyway to come in and fix it or whatever it is.
35:46 You know, just, just be mindful that the cheapest option is not always the best option.
35:52 You’re so right.
35:53 You’re so right.
35:54 Yeah.
35:55 So here’s to boutique builders.
35:57 Yeah.
35:58 Yeah.
36:00 Building which is even better, right?
36:03 But in building, I feel like we’re taking over and I love to see all the carpenters that have started to be on TikTok and Instagram and I like your page and you going through your processes and all of your installations and it just, it makes my heart so happy.
36:19 So I say if you’re a woman out there and you want to get into it, my best project manager, she’s downstairs right now was in banking before.
36:26 Oh my God, that’s exactly my story as well.
36:28 She was like, yeah, she was in banking for like seven years and then she was my like, you know, finance person and then our project manager left and she was like, I really want to do that.
36:38 And I was like, what?
36:39 And she was like, yeah, and she is breaking, killing it like, yeah, I’m like, you are so good at this.
36:44 How did we not know?
36:45 I know.
36:46 I remember Laura.
36:47 She’s one of my close friends too and she walked in and my partner at the time because we were both working for the Green Tech company and she walks in.
36:55 She’s like, hey, Paul, you told me to dig a footer.
36:58 What’s a footer?
36:59 And I was like, oh, no, I was like, it’s gonna go over well.
37:02 And so that’s one of our favorite stories to tell her.
37:05 And I, she, because now she’s knocking out 15 homes at a time, like, and she, it’s just so cool to see somebody go in from something that they thought they loved, ended up hating to something else they didn’t know anything about.
37:18 Right.
37:19 And it’s like, and that is what is so cool about this industry is like, it does not matter if you don’t know the industry knowledge, if you’re set up in your personality and your way of thinking that you can be taught those skills.
37:31 And that’s all I did with her was just, I taught her the information, she had the execution and the follow through.
37:38 And if she didn’t know something, she asked me and, you know, it’s like you’re just killing it and then she’s making it better.
37:45 She’s like, OK, so, you know, the painters they want to know, you know, sometimes I forget to detail like the sheen even though I know what it’s gonna be.
37:53 And she’s like, we need to make sure we’ve got everything written down on the wall right before, you know, like she’s trying to make it better, which is just so cool.
38:00 Tell me how, you know, because I know you have a couple of different companies.
38:04 So if somebody wants to work with you or hire you, you know, go through all of the things of ways they can contact you and the services you provide so that we can just send more business your way.
38:14 Thank you for considering that I really appreciate it.
38:16 So if you want me solely to come work on either redlining your house or like your plans, doing interior selections on your build or going through and helping guiding you through that process.
38:27 And you’re working with another builder.
38:29 I’m happy to do that for you virtually.
38:31 And that’s heartstudiochat.com.
38:34 You can reach me on there or Instagram, I’m Piper and it’s _thebuildingblonde, my other.
38:40 So if you are here in Chattanooga and you want us to build your home, you can go to curate chat dot com and we can build you anything that you have your heart desired on.
38:51 That’s amazing.
38:52 I love it.
38:52 Well, gosh, Piper, it was so cool to meet you and you have a podcast too, right?
38:57 I do the building blondes.
38:58 That is amazing.
39:00 So tell, so people can go listen to your podcast, give them just like a little snippet of what it’s about oh my gosh, heart and home.
39:08 So my biggest thing is my heart is in construction.
39:12 My heart is in working with people.
39:14 So my latest season is called Family Style.
39:18 And I’m interviewing everybody that has become family through this process and interviewing my family that is in construction in all different facets, interviewing them.
39:28 So that’s my latest season.
39:29 But other seasons I’m doing tips and tricks on what to expect and how to do it.
39:34 So those are the two primary things.
39:36 And then my Instagram is definitely more geared towards the everyday life of an interior designer and new home construction.
39:43 Awesome.
39:44 Well, it’s so fun and your Instagram is gorgeous and the stuff that you do is incredible and it’s just so cool to know you and to meet you and to now be in business and in circle together.
39:54 So thank you again for coming on.
39:57 Thank you for having me and again, Stefanie, like this is when you reached out to me.
40:01 I was so excited because you very rarely find somebody that is supporting other women just as well as you do.
40:07 So I really appreciate the time and I look up to you a ton on everything you’re doing as well.
40:12 So, thank you again.
40:12 Awesome.
40:13 Ok.
40:13 Well, have a fabulous day.
40:15 Thank you.
40:15 You too.
40:16 Talk soon.
40:17 Ok, bye bye.
40:20 Thanks for joining me today on the She Builds Show.
40:22 My name is Stefanie Olson.
40:24 My hope is that this episode leaves you feeling empowered and ready to boldly take that step into building the life that you envision 12 by four at a time.
40:34 And if you can do me a quick favor, please leave me a five star review on iTunes.
40:38 Get you over reading the reviews each week and I will choose one special person to win some She build swag.
40:44 Make sure you add your name to the review and I’ll reach out if you’re the winner.
40:48 Thanks again for hanging out.
40:49 Be sure to visit me at theshebuildsshow.com where you can ask me questions and share with me what you’re building.