International Women's Day: Celebrating Women in Construction

Photo - Women of CRD Leadership

Image: The women of CRD's leadership team (From left to right): Teri McDermott (Co-owner/CEO), Leslie Eiler (Design Manager), Michelle Woods (Busines Operations Manager) and Jenny Zimmerman (Marketing Manager).

You may have heard some of the buzz around “International Women’s Day”, celebrated annually on March 8th around the world, but did you know there’s also a “Women in Construction” week? This year, we’re taking a moment to honor CRD’s female employees who contribute to our company’s welcoming and diverse culture while also bringing a level of expertise that helps CRD excel in the design-build remodeling field.

What is International Women's Day?

The first International Women's Day (IWD) celebration took place in 1911. It wasn't until 1913 that it was officially decided that IWD would be held on March 8th. Millions of men and women all around the world come together every year on this day to celebrate the achievements of women and to bring awareness to the inequality they face.

Today we reflect on the extraordinary women who help make CRD one of the industry-leading remodelers!

Looking at the numbers

There’s no internal quota to hire for women, rather, at CRD Design Build, we focus on qualifications and expertise. The women we have hired have been the best candidates for their roles. CRD has 26 employees, 10 of whom are women (38%). One works in the field and nine work in the office; women occupy four of the positions on the seven-person company leadership team. According to a study conducted by OSHA, in 2010 there were 800,000 women working in the construction industry.

At CRD, we focus solely on qualifications and expertise whenever we’re looking to fill a role, which has resulted in 26 full-time employees who help us fulfill our company passion of “Finding the potential in people and spaces.” 

BLOG_v2 Women of CRD 2022 icons

Compared to most remodeling firms in the country, CRD’s female-to-male mix is much higher than average. According to OSHA’s most recent statistics, only 9% of the United States construction workers are women (including both administrative positions and field positions.) When you look at the makeup of CRD’s workforce, currently, 38% of our staff are women and 62% are men. When focusing on just our seven-person leadership team, over half of the members (57%) are women.

Meet our leaders

CRD’s leadership team is comprised of seven employees who meet weekly to review the current status of the company and compare that to the 1-year, 3-year, and 10-year plans they are striving for. Four out of the seven members are women, and they bring a diverse background of experience to the leadership table.

Woman-owned

Image: Teri McDermott - CEO

Our co-owner and CEO, Teri McDermott, had been working at CRD for over a decade before she moved into her current leadership position. With only 13% of construction companies in this country owned by women, she’s part of a very unique segment, which helps CRD offer a different type of remodeling company for homeowners to partner with.

In addition to overseeing CRD’s business operations and staff, Teri also conducts personal discovery calls, where she meets with homeowners to review their remodeling goals.

In the office

Image: Michelle (Shelley) Woods - Business Operations Manager

Michelle Woods oversees the Business Operations of CRD, from finances and tech to employee benefits and daily office management. Michelle brings her current CRD financial knowledge to all leadership discussions, as well as the CRD cultural value of “Work hard, play hard”.

From staff events to employee welcome lunches, Michelle not only works hard to make each employee feel like they’re part of the team, but she also makes sure they have the supplies they need to get the job done.

Image: Leslie Eiler - Design Manager

Leslie Eiler is the youngest member of the leadership team and is a recent winner of ProRemodeler’s national “40 Under 40” award. Leslie oversees CRD’s in-house design and architectural team and has a gift for creating and implementing clear and helpful processes to keep things moving along efficiently, especially during a pandemic when long lead and permit wait-times impact the remodeling process and our clients in a whole new way. 

Image: Jenny Zimmerman - Marketing Manager

Jenny Zimmerman works hard to maintain the CRD branding and all public-facing messaging. Aside from keeping up with our socials, she focuses on making our client experience effortless by creating online resources like our pricing guides, portfolios, and other downloadable PDFs. She strives to make our clients feel valued by sending holiday cards and creating individual gift baskets to be given when a project has been completed. Jenny’s  event coordination and planning has brought many fun experiences to our community with more to come in the future!

In the field

Image: Kalia Krichko - Project Manager

Each CRD remodeling project is managed by a Project Manager, who is responsible for all sub-contractor coordination, scheduling, client communications, and onsite project details. Currently part of a team of three, Kalia Krichko represents women in the field by working closely with clients, carpenters, and subcontractors to keep things on schedule. On any given day you’ll find her at jobsite reviewing order details with a carpenter or walking a client through their new addition. Her level-headed thinking and detailed organization have often received rave reviews from our clients.

The lovely ladies of CRD!

Image:Starting from the top going left to right: Lucille Nicholson (Accounting Assistant), Kayla Bigsby (Client Development Specialist), Kalia Krichko (Project Manager), Leslie Eiler (Design Manager), Teri McDermott (Co-owner/CEO), Michelle Woods (Business Operations Manager), Jenny Zimmerman (Marketing Manager), Amy Moore (Senior Interior Designer), Lizzie Armstrong (Interior Designer), Kerby Fleurine (Interior Designer).

CRD Design Build has been a leader in the home remodeling space for over 40 years. In that time, women have brought their knowledge and talents to help hundreds of homeowners achieve their remodeling goals. This year, we want to say thank you to all the women of CRD, both past and present, for helping us grow as a company and improve the homes of our clients. Thanks for being you and for helping make the remodeling process fun!

Article Categories: Remodeling

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