 This is S.A.R.B. Storefront. This month is Women's History Month, and we've partnered with Cat Footwear to bring you stories from female entrepreneurs in the construction industry. This is the final episode of our four-part series. The goal is to highlight some of the female movers and shakers in an industry where they make up only around 11% of the workforce. Our guest today is Stephanie Olson, founder of She Builds. What started out as flipping a single house has turned into a career spent renovating, flipping, and building new properties from the ground up. She Builds now tackles entire housing developments, most notably for the town of Paradise, California. In 2018, the campfire raged through Paradise, destroying 95% of its structures and killing 85 people. To this day, it remains the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history. Stephanie has been a big part of the rebuilding process, helping those who were displaced by the disaster a chance to call Paradise home once more. So listen in as we cover everything from how she used to go so far as hopping backyard fences to scope out potential flips, why she'll never sell a house without staging it, and why no one ever leaves enough money in the budget for landscaping. Now, on to the episode. All right, welcome to the podcast on today's show. We're talking to Stephanie from She Builds for people who don't know what does your company do? Yeah, we are a woman-owned design and build firm. So right now, for the month of March, we're doing this cat footwear, where we're trying to highlight women in male-dominated industries and hear their journeys. And so how did you first get into design, construction, architecture? What was your, sort of your first step? You know, I've always been a really creative person, but I think probably the very first experience I ever had, my dad, he was an accountant my entire life, and he really encouraged me early on to be an investor and to save my money. And so at a very early age, I bought my first house, early 20s, and I redid every inch of that house myself, and ended up making quite a bit of money after a few years sold it. And then that turned into about 100 flips after that. And so at the beginning, it was just more of like, you're renovating your own home, and then all of a sudden you found a passion in doing that in the renovation piece. And was it something specific? Like was it carpentry? Was it kitchens, bathrooms, the whole bit? Was it bringing it down to like the studs, like a full demo, or what was the thing that you really enjoyed the most? You know, I think my gift is the ability to see what other people cannot see. You know, I can walk into something that's in shambles and I can see what it looks like done. It took me a while to learn that that was actually something that a lot of people don't have and can't picture in their mind. For example, my husband. And so being able to know that that's really my gift to be able to envision what something could look like and then execute. You know, I'm really good at executing the details and the design and the layout and, you know, materials. And I didn't go to design school. I didn't go to school to be a contractor. I think it was just like as you get older, you really, your gifts really unfold. So how did you first learn the trade itself? I mean, you bought this house and then you renovated every room, but like were you on YouTube looking up tutorials the whole time? Like, what was your education process? I don't think YouTube existed. I might look older. Didn't mean to date you like that. I'm like, I don't know. I don't even know if I had a phone. No, it wasn't like a full extensive remodel. You know, it was a lot of cosmetic stuff. But if I didn't know how to do it, I found a sub or somebody that could do the work. But, you know, I put the entire kitchen together and did all the countertops. I did the like Ikea craziness. And, you know, it was just like, I'm the type of person that if I don't know how to do it, I'm either gonna like find out how or find somebody to teach me how to do it. How did you get into the flipping business? And so what was the first like, obviously the one that you bought and you renovated was your primary home. But then what made you want to get into the flipping business? Cause I know, so we're in Los Angeles, we had a home and we basically flipped it. I do real estate development on the commercial side now, no longer in homes. And I remember at least in this market, it was like the hardest part was just trying to buy, like everyone's watching HETV. Everyone's trying to become the next flipper. And I think a lot of people just go underwater because they're not doing simple math or they don't understand the extent of what can go wrong, right? There's no contingency. And so when you first got into the game, what was it like? Was it a hot market? Were there a lot of people trying to flip also? Or what was sort of like just the beginning stages for your business? It was probably like 2009 when I started. So there wasn't a whole lot of people doing it or knowing how. And it just started with like the idea. You know, my husband was like, I want to do it. And I'm like, okay, let's try one. And we ended up with a really good realtor that helped us through that process. And I also ran an accounting practice for 15 years. So budgeting and being in charge of financials is definitely my forte. And then also just like early on understanding that like the separation between personal and business and like this home is not gonna be my home. I'm not gonna live here. This is a business transaction and I cannot make decisions based upon, you know, my emotions. And so I think just early on, I was very strict about that line. And so you're at 100 flips now. Do you have like a favorite flip? Hmm, well, I mean, that was quite a while ago. I've been doing development and residential subdivisions and stuff. So I kind of did that, you know, I haven't done probably a flip in maybe five years. But gosh, my favorite flip, probably the most disgusting one was probably my favorite because at one of them, I was pregnant with one of my children. And I walked in and somebody, I used to buy stuff off auction. So everything was off auction. I mean, I don't know how legal this is, but I would go and like check out the houses before and, you know, scope out, jump over fences, do kinds of stuff, you know, just to make sure I knew what I was buying. But most of the time I'd never gotten in a house before I purchased it. And this one, I think somebody had been smoking in it for at least 50 years. The walls were like just yellow. And I walked in and I was, I don't know, I was maybe eight months pregnant. And then I just like immediately walked out and threw up everywhere. It was just so disgusting. And there was like trash, you know, like quarter style stuff. And I think like when you, when I can still be optimistic and be like, this is gonna be a great project. And then it turns out, you know, when you sell it and make money and but you just never know what you're gonna get. I think the biggest like, you know, transformation is always my favorite. And like when people don't believe in me, when they're like, oh Steph, you'll never recover from this one. And I'm like, all right, watch me, you know. So was that shift going from flipping single family homes to residential and subdivisions? Was that a pretty straightforward step? I mean, because by the time you get to 100 flips, that's a repetition that you probably feel pretty comfortable in that line of work. Was it like at all the same confidence that you had built up going to the next phase of your career? Like what was that thought process like for you in switching? Because I know some people do make a career out of just flipping homes, but for you it seemed like you wanted something more, something bigger to, you know, to tackle. So like take us through your thought process in that moment. Sure, you know, I just think you can anticipate the market shifting, you know, and the inventory for flips was becoming extremely low and you know, everybody and their mother wanted to flip. So the competition was high. And I just like to be out in front by myself before everybody gets wind of something. So I'm always looking to be sure that I'm shifting at the right time in the market. And I definitely had confidence in my ability from, you know, the standpoint of knowing houses and floor plans, but building a house is completely different than remodeling a house and flipping a house. And so I started with four. I bought one lot, subdivided it into four. I had my dad hooked me up with, you know, long time developer in town that kind of took me under his wing and, you know, gave me his floor plans and kind of told me what to do and how to go about, you know, just development in general. So that was a lot of like support that I had and going into it and feeling like, okay, I have somebody who has the knowledge that I don't. From a housing perspective, obviously thank you for doing your part in housing California. We're in a huge bit of a problem here. Do you view your mission as like, do you view it as a bigger level of impact because you're choosing to do housing? Or is it just like, that's your sweet spot. That's what you like to do. Like how do you envision, I guess, when you think about your future, just the projects that you decide to do, is it the impact that you're chasing? What's the thing that really motivates you? I think it's kind of dual. You know, I have giant dreams. Like I want to, you know, I'm a DR Horton, I'm coming for you type of stuff. But then, you know, to me, because I really feel like I bring something different to the table, you know, like when I build a spec, it's not build or grade. Like I want that term to like barf up and go away. I just, I think that we need to provide quality, beautiful homes that are lacking nothing. So I really, I have a fierce desire to change the industry in terms of what's offered in the new construction realm and like the spec build and development. And with that, hopefully, you know, waving my freak flag of like, come on women, like join me, let's, let's impact this industry and get more of you to, you know, enter the trades and become leaders of large businesses so that we can make impact. So, you know, the mission runs pretty deep for me. And how big is your team now and how many women are on your team? We have seven, I think, you know, that are internal. And then, you know, a lot of, there's just not enough subs to be able to hire all women. But like when I find one, you bet your butt I come for them. Like I'm like, the other day there, there was like a, like a sheet rock, somebody like a woman doing sheet rock on my jobs. I'm like, what's your name? Where'd you come from? I attack every woman that I see out there that is like learning a trade. And I also just like encourage them. Like if this is something you want to do, like let me help you open the doors. Like let me introduce you to people that, you know, that you could work for that I know would support you in their industry and stuff. So just going off of that, of course, the field's increasing in diversity, but what's it like to be the only woman in the room sometimes? Like what advice do you have to other women who are trying to get into your field and are the only women in the room? It doesn't really bother me. I think it's been that way for so long that I think I am oblivious to it. But in terms of advice or anything that I would say, I think it's just about respect. You know, like I never come off as knowing, like knowing something that I truly don't know about. I'm the first one to be like, I don't know, you know, and let's go talk to the expert about it. And just absolutely like respecting and building relationships with the people and the men that are in the industry. I have had such like a warm open welcome arms by, you know, every male in the industry that I work with that are so kind to me and accepting. And they're like, oh, why don't she build that and get me some swag. And they're just so supportive because they think, you know, they see me out there trying to change something and they're really supportive. So I think when you find the right people and you absolutely respect them, that they give you that respect in return. I also know what I'm talking about 90% of the time. I think that helps. Like I don't come off as like, oh, that stupid idiot doesn't know what she's talking about. I can say this much on our brewery project right now we have a female GC, that's my wife. My wife has a commercial construction company. And then we have Charlene, who's a PM. And then our plumber, she started her own company and her name is Brittany and she's probably the best plumber I've ever worked with. Which on a brewery project, it's super important. And then there's like a female welder. And so just from a development perspective, I'm certainly starting to see a lot more women in the trades of like the welder one got me. I was like, wow, like she basically runs like a steel company at this stage and amazing, like amazing. And she welds just because she enjoys it. Like she owns the company, but she just likes welding because it's like meditative for her and just cool. And you're starting to see the industry shift. And I think we had this conversation earlier, but it's about representation where the more it happens, the more obvious it becomes and the more nobody thinks it's the thing anymore. It's just like, oh wow, there's a female plumber, not a thing anymore, female welder, not a thing anymore. What's on deck for you? Like where are you trying to go? Yeah, you mentioned you had lofty goals, big visions. Just one day at a time, one year at a time. You know, right now we're really focusing on paradise. And I don't know. Yeah, the town of paradise, the wildfire, right? Yeah, yeah, the campfire, so that's where I live. So, you know, where we, my focus is really just like being and offering a beautiful and quality home and rebuilding the ridge. And it's kind of just like one house at a time up there. They don't have the infrastructure for, you know, a sewer system, so we're all on septic up there. So it's really difficult to purchase, you know, multiple lots and just, you know, knock out 30 to 40 homes. So, you know, our goal is that this year we have 15, I think that we're trying to get done. That's kind of our plan for this coming year, is to just solely focus on, you know, on the ridge and rebuilding paradise. What are you seeing in terms of the community up there? I know that a lot of people were displaced because of that fire. And, you know, you're saying that you're trying to get like a couple dozen homes per year. Are you seeing the community members that once were there, maybe were displaced? Are they coming back or is that a slow process still? They are definitely coming back. It is like, it's finally feeling like a town again and people are, you know, everywhere you turn now there's new houses being built or a year ago was kind of like, oh, you can still feel the fire and the effects. And now it's just really feeling lively again. Before it'd be like you drive down one street and there'd be one house, you know, rebuilt. And you can tell that person felt lonely, you know, cause they're just not neighbors. And so like now entire neighborhoods are being rebuilt and businesses are being rebuilt. And so it just is feeling so much more welcoming and full of life again. And there are a lot of people that are definitely rebuilding that had lost a home. And then it's also attracting, you know, other people because honestly, like in Chico, you know, that's my main market, but Paradise is above, you know, you buy a $500,000 house in Chico, your yard is gonna be like a little postage stamp and you go to Paradise and you can get a half acre to an acre for that same price. So, you know, it's really attractive to people who aren't looking for just a little bit more land, a little bit more room to roam. Given that your expertise is also somewhat in accounting, are there any things that you like would literally advise people of like this is the one thing that you've seen other people miss, other GCs, other builders when it comes to just either a pro forma or just doing simple numbers that they just either maybe it's contingency. But do you see anything on the accounting side that's always missed? You know, I think right now, gosh, I feel like, well, if I were to say like two things if you want me to answer the accounting aspect, I feel like you never put enough money in your budget for landscaping. It's just always something where you're like, cool, yeah, five grand will do it and then it's like 15. And then I also, I have my real estate license as well and I absolutely believe in the relationship of a realtor and you know, even though I have my own license but having that buyer's agent that brings you a buyer, there's this huge stigma and tension between new home builders and realtors and how they, you know, oh, if you don't show up to the first meeting, you know, I'm only gonna pay you five grand and I've just over the years really come to realize that that relationship is valuable and that they bring you more business and they bring their buyers to your houses and I think putting it in your budget to pay two and a half percent, pay 3% for your build that you're gonna sell because that will come back to you, you know, 10 fold in the long run. I think a lot of people just try to skimp on that part and it puts a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth. That's a really, really good tip. I can say on my side from the broker, I mean, there's not many good brokers, I'll be honest about that, but the ones that are really good, they've constantly bring me deals and they even have invested in some of my projects which is even crazier. You know, they're thinking about it long term, I guess, is the view, right? They're thinking about it like this is a relationship that's gonna develop over time and we're planting trees and they're slow but they're, you know, with some watering, things will take off together. Do you always stage your projects? Always. And that's in your budget, I'm sure. Like since the very beginning, since every flip, I just think it's worth every penny. Even if I'm like representing, like sometimes I'll represent sellers for friends or whatever and stage it and put their houses on the market and they'll fight me on staging their house and I'm like, I won't sell your house if you don't stage it because people just have such a hard time. Like I was going back to visualizing how they live in this space and the pictures, like everybody buys based upon what they see online right now and if you see a room and you have no idea what size bed can fit in there based upon that picture because the picture doesn't give you dimension. I just feel like it absolutely sells the picture and that idea of you living in that space and I absolutely 100% always stage even if I don't have the money for it. And we also know that you started a podcast and I'm curious about the reason like why you started that and like what your thought process was. I had a transition period. You know, I'd ran this accounting practice for 15 years with my dad. He is my best friend, my hero and he decided to retire and the plan was that I would always run that practice. You know, there had been a succession plan for a very long time and then he retired and I took over and had, you know, a year without him and I was like, oh wow, I really hate this. You know, the only reason I did it was because I loved being with my father, like just spending every day with him and learning from him was the greatest joy of my life and him being gone, it was like, oh wow, this is not something that I love. And I've been running all of these flips and all of this business and building and all of that on top of tax season and running my accounting practice. And he came to me and said, you know, you don't have to do this. And I think it took him a while to step back to be able to come to the place because he had built that business from nothing, you know, and then, you know, basically handed it to me. And coming to that realization, I kind of had this crossroad of, well, if I'm not gonna do that, then what am I gonna do? And I had the opportunity to kind of pause and go, okay, I know I'm gonna have enough money from this selling this accounting practice because we ended up finding a buyer. What am I gonna do? And to me, she builds was born in that and I didn't just want it to be, I want to be a better contractor than everybody else. I want to impact the world. I want to be world-class and I am such a multifaceted woman that I wanted to build, like to me, she builds, it's called the She Build Show and it's like building strong marriages, building strong women, building, you know, being an amazing mother, being an amazing wife and just building like a wholehearted woman and finding the other women out there that would inspire the listeners to jump into a dream that maybe they'd been sitting on and they weren't sure how to do it. So I wanted to show them experiences and paths of other women who have done it and then also share the insight and wisdom that I've gleaned through all the years of the businesses that I've run and the things that I've gone through. So to me, I'm a very introverted person but also very full of depth and I needed an outlet to feel like there was something bringing purpose to my life. So there you go. I will step off my soapbox now, sorry. We provided that for you for a reason. It's important to know your why and to share it. Step back on it, step back on it. How is it going? How do you feel about the mission that you're on? It is my most favorite thing I do right now, by far. Like when I get to record a podcast because I've been doing taxes and I've been, you know, building and I had other partners, you know, throughout this whole time I was doing development stuff and there was just nothing ever that was just Stephanie's. If that makes sense. I always had partners and everything and there was always like, cool, I have a dream now Stephanie's gonna implement it and there had never been anything that was just my creative outlet and whether people listen to it or not, I really don't care. It's like so healing and providing an avenue for me to just be able to feel like I'm giving purpose to my life. I get it. When we first started the podcast it was like, frankly, it was like you were listening to my therapy session. That was really it. It was me talking to a founder about the difficulties about what we're both embarking on and you know, sharing in that misery but also in the joys of it too. And to your point, you know, I'd do it for free. I would do it if my mom was the only listener which I'm sure she was for probably the first few weeks. These things have a way of inspiring everything else. And what is your goal for it? Like how big do you wanna take it? What would be like an ideal scenario for you a year from now? Who's your, maybe a guest you'd love to have on? Things like that. You know, my goal when I started the podcast was to just do it. You know, the things that stir in your heart and your soul and you just kind of ignore them and stay busy? My goal was to just do it. It took me a year to get like enough episodes recorded. I had a coach that I met with every single week and my goal was to just stay committed and consistent because, you know, change only happens through the small consistent habits that you do daily. And so for me, it was about just doing it and I have not set a particular place for it. It's, to me, it's unfolding and the relationships that come from it and where it goes, I'm actually just okay with. My business, I have like very, very planned out and very set lofty goals, but for me, this creative outlet is something that I just want to unfold to see where it goes. I love it. It's the same for us. People are like, what's the business plan? I'm like, there isn't one. I'm like, I have no idea. I just want to talk to cool people. And now we have a team and so it's a lot better and we're providing more content. And through that, oddly enough, we were able to get Kat as a sponsor and now it's just becoming like its own, it's really its own entity is the way I look at it. As much as I can say I control it or we control it, it's really just its own thing with its own personality and we just kind of give it a little push every week but really it's its own living, breathing organism and it's kind of cool. I mean, it would be super cool if I made money but I don't know if that'll happen. I mean, it's like anything. I think it's like anything. It's just like when you first start out, maybe even with your flip, it's like you're investing quite literally, right? So first you buy it, then you're investing whatever it is, 50, 60, 100 grand into it and then the money comes later. I think the podcast is the same. It's literally the same. That would be like a cherry on top but that's not the reason I'm doing it for sure. Yeah, no, totally. Have you ever bought a property and you felt like it was Pandora's box? Like you opened up the doors and you just found all of these problems? Like what did you have to do to overcome that? Yeah, my own house. You know, I think over the years the problems don't overwhelm me. I think they tend to keep me up at night if there is more so a problem that I can't fix within budget. That more stresses me out. Like if, okay, how do I stay within budget? How do I protect this investment? How do I make sure that we still make money? I think that stresses me out versus like just coming up with solving a problem. The problem, solving the problem is easy, staying in budget is hard. That's so true. It's the hardest thing. I think a lot of people get less in the hard way, unfortunately also. Yeah, and like sometimes you have lofty goals and dreams for a property and like you have to be willing to cut out stuff that maybe you wanted to do in order to stay in budget and I'm the first one to be like, nope, we can't have that anymore. I mean, it goes back to what you were saying about the landscaping. I feel like, you know, you're always under budget for landscaping because that's the thing that gets cut. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, sorry, you don't get anything but bark. That's one thing I've learned, I will say as a developer, is increase the landscaping budget significantly. Like if there's one thing that's gonna be increased, it's always landscaping because it always, it just makes it, it's expensive, but it also just makes the space. Well, yeah, yeah, exactly. Then like, if you do ditch out on landscaping and then it looks like terrible at the end, I do. Yeah, if you have a good landscaper, they can make the curb appeal look incredible. But it's always more than I want it to be. Do you have any landscaping hacks where you're like, this has to go in every front yard or whatnot? I'm all about, you know, most the time for us, I think not skimping on driveways and concrete and functional use of the house. Like I can't stand when you go to a house and they have like three feet of sidewalk to pull, you know, your trash can out. That's like three and a half feet and the wheels fall off. And like, I just, you know, make it a five foot walk, you know, and give people a little bit more space to read and you know, and same thing with like garages. I can't stand like a 20 by 20 garage where you can't park two cars and get your groceries out or your children. So I just am all about like functional living and parking and moving throughout a house and how do you actually use it? And does it have enough space to be able to do that? I know some developers who do some funny, superstitious things like on every project, they'll dig something in the garden and it's like for their forever or like a garden gnome and it's like their way of going, this project is gonna go well. Do you have anything odd like that? No, I don't, you know, I don't, I'm not really superstitious. I have a lot of faith so I don't really go that route. I used, like when I did my flips just so that I could like punch people in the face and they knew it was mine. I would paint every door red, but then like everybody started painting their doors red and then that made me mad. So I stopped doing that. Have you ever left a time capsule of some sort, like a note in a renovation, like last remodeled by Stephanie in 2012 or anything like that? I haven't, but now I need to do something. You know, the other night I had a dream that I could make this like really cool plaque that I could put on the houses that was like built by She Builds in the day so like you couldn't take the plaque off, but no, I don't, you guys, I'm missing the boat here. I did a time capsule on our last project and it was, I put coins in there, I put like a couple bucks, I put the newspaper, I put like Trump was president, I put the price of gas. Is it just like so that they can like get it later and know like what happened when the house that project was built? Yeah, I put like the social media of the era. So I was like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, which for sure, you know, whenever they dig this up in the future, they're gonna be like, what the heck was that? It's always an afterthought, but it is fun. That's a great idea, I wanna do that now. Leave your mark, literally leave your mark. I will, okay, I'm gonna take a picture of something super weird and send it to you guys. That's perfect. Please do. Well, Stephanie, where can people find you and reach out to you directly? Probably the easiest place is Instagram, we're at SheBuilds.homes. Thanks for joining, I really appreciate it. I'm sharing your story. Pleasure having you on the show. Yes, thank you so much, you guys. This conversation with Stephanie was the final episode in our four-part series highlighting women in construction. We'd like to thank CatFootwear for helping us to share these stories. And since you're still here, please consider subscribing if you're not already or even better, leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. It's honestly one of the best and easiest ways you can support the show. We are found at Startup Storefront on every social media platform with the notable exception of Twitter where we can be found at STS Podcast LA. The team consists of Diego Torres Palma, Natalia Capolini, Lexi Jameson, Owen Capolini and me, Nick Conrad. Our music is by DoubleTouch. Thank you all for listening and we'll see you next time.