Women in Construction Week 2024

Women in Construction Week 2024

Happy Women in Construction Week! During the first week of March, the remodeling and construction industries come together to honor the outstanding women in their field. This week, we’re celebrating by highlighting some of the inspiring women we get to work with here in San Jose.

 

1. Norma Quintero

Meet Norma Quintero! She’s worked with Daltile for over 20 years, and currently works as one of their Sales Representatives. We’ve been fortunate to work with her for years!

Norma first started out as a customer service rep in a Daltile showroom. Those years of firsthand experience and gained product knowledge helped her work her way up to being the amazing sales rep she is today.

During those initial years, Norma recalls that it was a bit of a struggle to be seen as an authority by field crew members. She remembers telling contractors what they’d need in the project, and they wouldn’t always believe her.

“The contractors had been doing it for so many years, and they’d ask, ‘do you know how to do it? Have you done it?’” And in those moments, the key was to be confident and have faith in herself. She’d say, “No but I’ve seen it a lot of times, and I can explain it. I’ve learned and gotten training on this.”

To women starting out in construction, she says: “If you want to learn how to do something, for instance in the tile industry: start fresh, learn how the product works, and try to visit jobsites when they’re doing the work. That’s how you learn.” She’s also an advocate for being open and coming in with a learning mindset, since “there’s always something to learn every day.”

Her favorite part of working at Daltile is getting to see the end result of the installs at commercial and residential projects. “Walking into a place and knowing that you and your company have something to do with something that people get to see, and what the homeowner gets to enjoy.”

 

2. Julie Sutton

Meet Julie Sutton! She’s worked with GAIA flooring for 4 years now, and currently works as their Brand Ambassador.

Julie has been around home improvement her whole life. Her first job was at Anderson Lumber as a cashier, and from there she found an incredible passion for flooring. She loves flooring because there’s always something new coming out, and she has a lot of fun learning about new things.

When she was first starting out as a flooring installer for Home Depot, she found it was hard to keep a man’s attention when she was talking about remodeling specifics. Over time, though, she found that if she could learn more than the guys she worked with, she’d become the go-to person and get listened to a lot more. In the end, not being taken seriously challenged her to go above and beyond, learning how to answer all their questions and resolve all kinds of issues.

Her advice for women thinking about construction is to “get involved, don’t be afraid to speak up and learn as much as you can. Men will question you, but if you know the answer, most of the time you’ll become their partner.” She also stresses the importance of doing your best and really applying yourself: “If you take your job seriously, people can tell.”

Her favorite parts of working at GAIA are getting to work with amazing people every day, train new people, and help out clients and staff.

 

3. Joey Kim

Meet Joey Kim! If you don’t know already, Joey is the owner of HArts Design+Build and works as our Renovation Lead and principal designer. She’s been in the remodeling industry for over 20 years, and this year marks the 5^th year of HArts Design+Build being in business.

Joey has always had an interest in the arts and architecture, but her first job was as a Paralegal at a law firm. After trying it out for a time, she decided to change jobs and pursue Real Estate. From there, she found her passion for houses, and segued into the remodeling industry.

As an interior designer, one challenge she faced was that the GC’s often thought the designers were “slowing them down.” She even remembers one project in which the contractor was impatient, and asked the clients to just pick products so the build could move along. However, the clients actually ended up asking Joey to pick out the products for them because they preferred to go with her expertise. “It was clear that particular GC didn’t really understand the value of an interior designer,” she explained.

In those types of conflicts, she found that she could get through it with good communication. She explained to the GC the importance of the product selection process, and made no assumptions about what they knew. Keeping those clear lines of communication helped set her contractors’ expectations and allowed them to work together more collaboratively. That struggle, in part, also motivated Joey to get her own general contractors’ license.

Her advice for women starting out in construction is to network with other women, and don’t be afraid to reach out for help when needed. “Tell them what you’re going through and ask them if they have any advice. Women in the industry now are great at building each other up and supporting each other!”

Her favorite parts of working at HArts Design+Build are getting to build her team and working on projects from concept to completion. “It’s always exciting to take on a new project and see the progression of the project all the way through, and to experience the joy of the clients seeing the whole project all come together. No matter how tough it gets, to see your clients happy is the most important thing.”

 

4. Tonia Forbus

Last, but not least, we want to highlight someone who’s essential to the management side of remodeling. Meet Tonia Forbus! She’s been with our trade association, NARI, for nearly 11 years now. She is currently the Part-Time Executive Director of NARI Silicon Valley, where she works closely with remodeling professionals across all areas of the industry.

Tonia first started out in administrative roles at her university, and later transitioned into being an Operations Manager. Prior to her start at NARI, she ran her own association management business for 7 years! The opening at NARI gave her a perfect opportunity to expand her business, and work with a great trade association in the process.

One of the biggest challenges she’s faced at NARI has been fostering increased member engagement and volunteering opportunities within the chapters. She’s found that while remodeling professionals are all incredibly passionate about their craft, getting them to be more involved has been tricky. To address this challenge, she is working on developing new and existing resources to make the transition, training, and experience easier for people to come in and thrive in these volunteer roles.

Her advice for women starting out in Association Management is to “actively engage with the association management community, embrace collaboration, demonstrate leadership, advocate for your ideas, seek mentorship, and maintain a balanced approach.” She emphasizes that Association Management is incredibly rewarding, and that the relationship-building and project realization aspects of the job provide a really “enriching and fulfilling career path for women in the field.”

Tonia’s favorite parts of working at NARI are cultivating connections with passionate industry professionals and contributing to the realization of innovative ideas. She says that these aspects of her role make working with NARI an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding experience for her.

 

Thank you to all the amazing women in construction for your hard work!