career exploration & workforce development ... FOR GIRLS!
After high school Samantha got her cosmetology license with the plans of becoming a makeup artist and esthetician and starting her own skin care center from the ground up. She got fully involved with the construction process and that is what kicked off her passion for the industry. She found herself becoming more interested in construction and less interested in skin care.
Samantha says that she has never felt out of place being a woman in the construction industry, but she has had some interesting treatment while on job sites. She’s been ignored and overlooked when some of the subs she hired assumed that she was just an employee and not the actual owner/GC. She once hired an HVAC company to do some work on a project and when she entered the job site, one of the employees of the HVAC company called her a “little office girl”. She promptly let him know that she was the General Contractor and Owner; aka the person that hired him to do the work he was doing. She also politely mentioned that if he ever disrespected any female on any of her job sites, he would never be hired by them again.
Samantha credits a gentleman by the name of Keith Meisenholder of Team Koncepts who took her under his wing as soon as she decided to enter the construction industry. He showed her all the ropes for running a project from start to finish. His guidance was instrumental in her success and for that she says she will forever be grateful. She was also granted a scholarship for attending the Clark Construction Strategic Partnership Program. This program supports and encourages small businesses, especially those owned by women and minorities. The course lasted 9 months and has helped catapult her career and sense of confidence in the construction arena. She says the lessons she learned and the people she met while in the program were priceless.
If she could go back and give her 18-year-old self some advice, Samantha says that advice would be to shoot for the stars. She would also encourage her younger self to try out a trade school before committing to college right away. Not only will you start earning money as soon as you graduate but you will get hands on training right out the gate.
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