This week in our BuildHer podcast with Candice Liew, we get into the guts of her first build. Candice is another fabulous BuildHer student who was lucky enough to have time to really get stuck into her build! Discover more about Candice and her building journey below in this episode of Building with BuildHer!

WELCOME TO SEASON 3 | EPISODE 10

CANDICE HAS THE BUILDING BUG

A BUILDHER STORY

HELLO CANDICE LIEW!

The building industry is so fun and so cool. There’s a whole world out there that a lot of people don’t even know about. Once you’ve got the building bug, like our guest today, there’s no telling where it will take you.

Candice Liew is one of our brilliant BuildHers who’s taken a really inspiring approach to her very first project. She’s now at an exciting part of her build, close to the end. Kribashini chats with her about her building journey and the pathways she explored to get to where she is now.

IN THIS EPISODE OF THE BUILDHER PODCAST

We talk about the investment of time that’s required in order to run a project successfully. Candice was fortunate enough to take 6 months off work to really focus her time and energy on her build. Having zero experience in the industry, Candice talks about how she treated the build like her job. Dedicated 5 days a week to researching, finding quotes and selecting materials. She really dove in headfirst and that’s super inspiring stuff. Now Candice has gained a whole bunch of knowledge and experience to put towards her next project, whenever that happens.

During the beginning stages of her project, Candice really took the time to clarify what she wanted. She talks about how she went full circle after engaging architects and investigating numerous building options and both Kribashini and Candice agree that sometimes the investigation process requires you to spend some money. But it’s all worth it in the end when the finished product is something that you’re really proud of.

Candice shares how becoming a BuildHer really enabled her to enjoy the process. Armed with so much knowledge and wisdom from the community, it was really invaluable. And last but not least, we talk about how building isn’t linear – yes we’ve said it before. How understanding that things will go wrong will help you relax through the ups and downs.

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TOPICS WE COVER IN THIS BUILDHER PODCAST WITH CANDICE LIEW:

  • [1:50]: How trying to build while working full time was really hard so Candice took the opportunity of taking 6 months off to focus on the build.
  • [3:30]: How Candice had no experience in building or renovation. So, in doing her homework to make sure she did the right thing, she spent a lot of money engaging architects and designers that she didn’t end up using.
  • [5:00]: What you want out of the design process is personal to you and you need to be clear about what that is. Sometimes you have to spend money in the discovery phase.
  • [6:25]: How Candice found clarity in what she wanted by exploring volume builder options and going full circle back to original concepts that were drawn by an architect at the beginning of the process, refurbishing the front part of the house.
  • [8:00]: How Candice was really clear about her budget, knowing that she didn’t want to overspend. At first, she was looking at doing a blended BuildHer model and then she decided to hire a custom builder to take on a lot of the work.
  • [10:30]: It’s not all about price, it’s about finding the right person with experience.
  • [11:00]: Through the BuildHer course, Candice understood that building is not a linear process and that things will go wrong, which helped her have an enjoyable experience.
  • [12:20]: How Candice spent 5 days a week full time during her gap 6 months, spending a lot of time researching, finding quotes and material selection.
  • [14:10]: A lot of the heavy lifting had been done once she went back to work. From then on she spent a half-day on the weekend working on the build.
  • [15:15]: In referencing back to inspiration photos she has saved along the way, Candice is looking forward to her next project but is not quite sure what that looks like yet.
  • [16:45]: The value of taking the time to do the research for the first build is exponential because the learning is layered and she has upskilled herself for the future.
  • [18:20]: The building industry is fun! No day is the same, you get to be creative, problem solve and be pragmatic.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

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