People
Issue No. 9 - February/March 2003
Constructing a Solid Career Path
by Penelope Herbert
Mandy Keillor is a rare breed. In less than a decade she has achieved success in an unforgiving industry whose female representation is less than 20% of its membership.
Identifying a niche in the fragmented construction industry was relatively easy. Developing a client orientated, customised design construct building company was not. As a newly divorced mother of two young and active boys, singledom was challenging enough without developing a business in an industry that didn’t welcome competitors, and where there were few like minded people.
Keillor Building Associates was born with a very broad vision that Mandy soon realised was unmanageable. Finding a niche was the answer, combined with an unshakeable desire to succeed and refusal to give up. Mandy decided her niche would be high quality residential extensions and renovations customised for upper end clients with specific briefs.
‘For the first six months I had no clients and I just door knocked and made contacts until I secured a bathroom renovation,’ relates Mandy, ‘and even though I had studied and I was determined to win there are many things that they just don’t teach you in a classroom. Who knows that a bricklayer never brings his own sand but a plasterer does? They just don’t tell you those things.’
Potential clients wanted to see Mandy’s prior work which was incredibly hard for a young business with no track record. Mandy cold canvassed and networked hard and effectively to the point where, through the Home Improvement Centre, SA Homes magazine did a feature article on her first bathroom renovation. That led to more work.
‘I recommend you just hold on to the momentum and focus’, she laughs.
Mandy was further challenged by some contractors insisting on speaking with a man in the business. Even though she had a builder’s licence, Mandy believes this wasn’t a gender issue, but merely reflected t...
