HOW I DID IT: RAISING THE ROOF
Essence, Sept, 2001, by Tenisha Mercer
Angela Boone
doesn't mind wearing a hard hat, construction boots and overalls.
They're everyday attire for this president and CEO of Detroit's
Boone Construction Management & Consulting,
Inc. Her first exposure to the industry was as a construction-company
office assistant in the mid-1980's. Other jobs followed. But ten
years later, Boone found herself back in construction, where she
rose to become a project engineer.
In 1997, using $700 in savings, she started her own construction
company and landed a contract to inspect concrete structures on a
$275 million renovation project at a water-treatment plant. She soon
got other contracts, including a $2.8 million job building an energy
center for Detroit Metro Airport.
With plans to expand her six-employee company to other locations
in the Midwest, Boone, 40, is capitalizing on Detroit's housing boom.
She has teamed up with a large construction company in a $750,000
joint-venture project to convert an old, historic turn-of-the century
mansion into condos.
Here's how she nailed it:
GETTING STARTED:
"I leased a small office and started my business part-time while
working as an engineer at General Motors Corp. I was hoping to subcontract
my firm's services to other companies, and I sent off more than 100
proposals. But a year later I still hadn't gotten my first contract.
So I refocused and quit my job to run the business full-time."
KNOWING THE BUSINESS:
"It's a never-ending struggle for African-American females in
the industry. You have to prove that you're ready and capable. But
I get the job done and know what I'm doing. I know more about the industry
than some of the men. I just want equal opportunity and equal treatment."
SHATTERING STEREOTYPES:
"Female contractors are viewed as little girls playing on the
big boys' playing field. The fact that I'm a female-owned construction
company means I have to excel."
COPYRIGHT 2001 Essence Communications, Inc. in association with The Gale Group and LookSmart.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group |