Mollie and The House That She Built
Episode 54: Welcome to the She Builds Show, I’m your host, Stefanie Olson. Today, I have an incredible guest, Mollie Elkman! Mollie is the owner of Group Two, a full-service marketing partner for home builders, and she is also the author of the best selling children’s book, The House That She Built.
Listen in…
SHOWNOTES:
• So, my background was working for two really awesome agencies, one in Florida and one in Southern California. And really… Advertising was my passion. And then when I came into the family business, it was really during a major market shift, 2006, and a lot of people of that generation were choosing not to come into construction and housing because it was a recession. And really part of that is why we have a labor shortage now, it’s because basically all these people who would have come into the industry didn’t come into the industry, and that’s exactly when I came in. And because things were going more from print to digital, that was my opportunity to rebuild Group Two into a digital marketing partner for home builders, so we’re an old business with a young heart. (2:26)
• So, the group of women, there were about 10 of them in the core group that started this idea to build an all women built home in Utah. And I know your listeners have already heard about the actual build… Part of that was the group had reached out to me as a woman-owned marketing company. So, my company named it The House That She built, and we did the marketing for their project in Utah. So, all their graphics, their social media, we did some graphics about the individual women to tell their stories, and we ended up getting some national publicity through the National Association of Home Builders, so we were really a part of the build and The House That She Built. And basically how I got pulled in was actually the other general contractor, her name is Christy Allen, our dads did business together, and Stephanie is second generation as well, you see that a lot in our industry. And actually, the three of us were talking about how all of us were brought into the industry by our dads, and now we’re here, and it’s like, Okay, we’re here now, how do we bring in more women? (4:00)
• Those women just go to work every single day and maybe they have a social media account, maybe they don’t, and so there’s not a whole lot of light shed on the fact that, as a younger woman or a girl, seeing them in a place that is like, Oh, I just brought my mom to work day and shared their profession, we did back in the day. But in this alternative format, I just think it’s so cool and so influential to just the young community, and I love that it was like a children’s book and not an adult book. You know what I mean? That was very important because as I mentioned before, of course, we all know there’s a labor shortage, the labor affects the entire US economy, so there is no one in this country who is not affected by the labor shortage, and these are really in-demand jobs and their noble awesome jobs. And I think if girls don’t see that these are potential careers for them at a young age, we’re missing such a major opportunity. (7:09)
• I always say this, one of the things that I learned during the build of The House That She Built, is that these women who worked on this home all have different backgrounds, different education, different skill sets, but they’re all so valuable to the industry. And for me, it kind of made me think like, okay, I have never framed at home, I’ve never done plumbing, I haven’t done that, but I do have a skill set. My skill set is on the marketing side, how can I use my skill set to help the industry? So for me, being able to tell this story that elevates the women who are doing these jobs, it’s like, I think that they are the superstars, and I want them be like… Whenever I tell a school, if you meet a woman who’s doing plumbing, have her sign your book, that is so cool. And so for me to get to use what I am good at in a way that benefits the industry and women in the trades has been just so cool. (11:04)
ABOUT MOLLIE ELKMAN:
Mollie Elkman is owner and president of Group Two, a full-service marketing partner for home builders. She is the author of the best selling children’s book, The House That She Built, published by NAHB BuilderBooks in collaboration with The Professional Women in Building Council and NAHB’s workforce development team. She was recognized at The 2022 International Builders’ Show as the National Sales and Marketing Council’s (NSMC) Sales and Marketing Professional of the year. Mollie is passionate about proactively sharing the successes of those in housing in order to diversify and grow the number of people in the skilled trades. She is currently doing this through The House That She Built Patch and Charm Program for Girl Scouts of America.
CONNECT WITH MOLLIE:
• Website: https://www.grouptwo.com
• Book: https://shebuiltbook.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GroupTwoAdvertising
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grouptwoadvertising
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/group-two-advertising
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/GroupTwoAdvertising
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