March Is Women’s History Month: A Look at Our Journey as a Woman-Owned Business
As women working for decades in a non-traditional field, Tam & Diane recently sat down to reflect on their path to success and lessons learned along the way.
Tamara and Diane both got their start in the trades in the early 1980s after attending art school. Tam attended Temple’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture for her BFA and later Drexel for architecture, while Diane earned a BFA at Philadelphia College of Art.
Having learned carpentry skills working for other remodelers and home services professionals, Tam launched a small word-of-mouth carpentry service, while Diane was running a small art and antique restoration service and doing residential faux finishing painting services.
“At first, I used my bicycle to move materials to my job sites,” recalls Tam. “Later, it was my little green Honda Civic, which I would fill with tools every morning and empty every night to prevent my tools from being stolen.”
After meeting through friends and working on a couple of small projects together, Tam splurged on a good, used, full-sized truck.
The work picked up.
They officially launched Myers Constructs, Inc., in 1997 after getting a call for their first large project: a fire-damaged 3,000+ square foot South Philly Italianate brownstone row house that was formerly a convent. Thankfully, the homeowners and their cats got out of the house safely, but after the smoke cleared, they needed extensive repairs and a whole-house renovation.
That project was a true pivotal moment for the firm, earning its first national awards in kitchen and historic restoration categories.
“I am so glad these homeowners had the confidence to let us do the project for them,” recalls Diane. “They were amazing clients, and the house still looks amazing so many years later. Our work and design there has aged well.”
In the business’s early days, it was still pretty unusual to see women in the trades and they would sometimes encounter negativity or even hostility from male professionals and vendors.
“We very quickly removed anyone like this from our network,” says Diane. “Going forward, we never tolerated prejudice of any kind. On occasion, some people had to be firmly excused from our job sites. We never regretted losing them.”
Today, the partners are completely focused on creating and building great designs for customers, growing the business, and running it professionally.
“We’re grateful to the many women and others who broke ground for us, and we’re proud of having made the way easier for other women to enter the world of home services and business ownership,” says Diane. “We have definitely had to push for access and assert our place in the pecking order. We earned our chops. Every day, we expect the same from employees, vendors, and subs — and we get it.”
Reach out today to learn more.
