One Small Step for Two Young Sisters, One Leap for Women in Construction

As I was considering what to write to celebrate Women in Construction Week, which is especially important to me and to DigiBuild, a news story from the Indy Star popped up in my feed. 

This story happened in the last few weeks in Carmel Indiana, a beautiful suburb north of Indianapolis.

It seems that two young women, sisters Blair and Brienne Babione (ages 11 and 9), noticed something that seemed incorrect as their school bus passed a local construction site, with a sign that read ‘Men Working’.  

"Why is this sign here? Why does it say, 'Men Working' when we've seen plenty of women doing construction?”, the girls wrote to the city council President Sue Finkham.

We’ve all seen those signs too many times to count.  They are a fixture that we never give a second thought at. If you look at the numbers and hear some of the stories from women like Barbara Res, our Vice President of Construction, Blair and Brienne are justified in their concern. 

Barbara has spent 50 years in construction and, oh, the stories she can tell!

Barbara’s story about her start in construction:

I started out in the construction business 50 years ago.  I had a summer job between semesters in college where I was studying electrical engineering. Yes, I was the only woman in my class.

After graduation I went to work for an Electrical Subcontractor full-time.  As in school, people thought and treated me like a novelty.  When I got nowhere with this one contractor, I went to another. I was making some progress when I was stopped in my tracks – twice.  

First time, I was in the Estimating Department and we were bidding on the Moscow World Trade Center. I was in this with both feet, meeting and even dining with the clients, but I held my own and I was an essential member of the team.  Then we got on a short-list and were invited to Russia.  So everyone went. 

Except me. 

It was decided that it was not proper for a woman to be traveling alone with the men. 

The second time, in an attempt to placate me I guess, the company threw me a crumb.  They let me run a small project.  I did that well and I had really impressed the PM and foreman on our biggest project, Citicorp Center.  So they went together to the upper management and asked that I be transferred to their field office.  The bosses were excited and I was set to go when the labor superintendent got wind of it.  

No way.  

That was it.  No woman in the field - ever.

But that was 50 years ago, right?  What is it like today? 

• Only 10.3% of total construction staff are women and only 2.5% are tradespeople.
• 86.7% of the women in construction are in office positions.
• Women make up just 7.5% of construction managers.

Those are not impressive numbers when you consider that women make up 44% of the workforce in the United States.  

But there are some positive trends!

Women now make up 14% of the executives staff of construction companies even with the overall low number of women in construction.  And, it is on the increase!

Here at DigiBuild, women make up 40% of our executive team.

Besides Barbara, DigiBuild is honored to have April Moss, Co-Founder and EVP of Operations & Customer Success.

I first met April when I worked with her on the P&G business at Acosta Sales and Marketing over a decade ago.  We eventually reconnected by happenstance and she immediately wanted to get involved in DigiBuild.

April is an experienced Market & Retail Strategy Executive and consultant with proven results with some of the largest global consumer product goods companies, retailers, brokerage firms, direct to consumer start-ups, and co-manufacturer.  She’s worked across more than 24 categories touching every retail channel.  Over her career she has built and led over nine sales teams, including the first Costco retail operations team in CPG history and Starbucks' first ever U.S. retail sales team.  

After a successful 21 year career with Procter & Gamble, which included several promotions, awards and expanded responsibilities, April joined Acosta Sales & Marketing.  She was part of the executive leadership team and worked directly with many top 33 Commercial Product Group companies.  The majority of her time was focused on corporate retail strategy, company acquisitions and integration, new business development, and creating partnerships that included two of the large crowd sourcing companies.   

The breadth and depth of April’s executive leadership in operations, sales, new business development, customer acquisitions, product supply & logistics, and most importantly her ability to construct organizations from the ground up, will be instrumental in forming strong client and partner relationships and continuing to build out the DigiBuild team. 

Barbara’s story continues...

Ironically, my first real opportunity came  when I went to work for the Construction Manager from Citicorp Center.  I was tasked with reviewing their change orders.  They loved what I accomplished.  

For years, no change orders had been processed!  In a few months, I emptied out a large room filled with boxes of change orders - not only electrical, but plumbing, HVAC, structural, all these trades which I learned in a baptism by fire.  I negotiated fair deals on all of them.  I stayed with this contractor and that is where my career finally launched.  

I went to work on the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  First, of course, I checked and negotiated all the extras. I also did the monthly requisition, a very arduous task.  Since I knew mechanical so well, I was given the job of mechanical superintendent and I did all the coordination.  After that I was promoted again and made the Superintendent in charge of building the ballrooms and kitchens.  That was where Donald Trump discovered me, and the rest is history. I can share more of that later.

Be aware, It isn’t all a fairy tale from there.

Every step of the way, I was harassed, intimidated, and discriminated against.  Even my mentor, the guy that promoted me, tormented me.  

Once at Trump, as a Vice President, it was all still there but I was able to rise above it. Unlike the Hyatt, where a man who constantly tormented me was not punished when I reported him, if I had a problem with someone, I could have him fired.  I never did because they became irrelevant, and finally seen as the jerks they were.  I did not walk away unscathed.  I was damaged and that stays with me.  That is why I seek out opportunities to talk to the women in my industry, to help them cope and conquer.  Now there are laws, and there are more women. I had none of that. Just my own stamina and the ability to keep walking through the fire.

I am very fortunate that Barbara did walk through that fire and is here with DigiBuild today; her experience is invaluable!

Here are a few positive stats that women like Barbara worked hard to clear a path to make.

• 1 in 3 construction companies promoted women in 2018.
• 31% of those promotions were management related.
• 44% of construction companies have women in executive positions.
• 16% of construction companies employee women in C- Level positions.
• 13% of construction firms are owned by women. 
• There was a 64% growth in women ownership between 2014 and 2019.
• 9% of women owned firms had revenue greater that $500,000.

Back to Blair and Breinne in Carmel, Indiana:

The girl’s letter to Council President Sue Finkham led to an introduction of a resolution to enforce gender neutral guidelines on Carmel construction projects. It passed unanimously!

“’Men Working” or “Men At Work” signage communicates the false and unacceptable message that women cannot or should not work in the construction trades or other related fields, the resolution reads in part.

Maybe we will see these two perceptive young women in the construction industry in the years to come. 

One more leap for women in construction?  Time will tell but here at Digibuild, we're betting big on it.

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