having the right support is key to achieving your dreams
Unrealistic expectations are normal, but honestly the view from the outside is so different from the feels from the inside. Not always but frequently! I thought I would try to explain the what and why of what we do and how I became a DevelopHer.
But, before I launch into my/our story so far (it’s far from over) there are a few things I would like to dispel.
First, I have never achieved anything alone. I have always had support and help in many and various ways, some family, my Mum and Dad and brother and sister, and the family I created, John, my partner and the kids. Friends, too many to mention, consultants, colleagues and then I have had mentors! Having the right support is key.
I have been really lucky that I have so many amazing people around me. Everyone in my life plays a role, yet so often we feel the need to tackle everything ourselves. Why we feel pressure to try to take on the world without needing support is beyond me, but there does seem to be an expectation we put on ourselves that needing help is failing. I have taken advice from some amazing mentors (I have had the same coach for 3-4 years now, but I have also done some pretty (in hindsight) silly things that have bitten me in the bottom, and I have needed to put them down to a pain learning lesson and move on!
There is nothing different about me than anyone else, if this is the path or lifestyle that you want to create then this is 100% within your power. All you need to do is learn a lot and take continual action.
Second, we were not always able to do the projects we do now or have as much fun as we have now. Look, I have always had fun along the way, but I will not lie it is way more fun now! So much fun! But that is because I have grafted, I have painted, I have done manual labour and worked for other people to be able to make my way to the place we are now. Our first project was a conversion of a house to a rooming house in Berwick which is 42km from the city. We have done small, less than perfect projects for very little and we have spent years saving to afford to renovate in the beginning. There is always a steppingstone, but by not starting you can’t possibly get ahead.
We have not made it! There are people doing much better and much worse, and people that look like they are doing better, but who are doing worse, and people who are doing amazing and you would not know it to look at them. Everyone’s story is different comparing will only make you miserable, but watching and learning – there is so much value in that! We don’t believe in competition, we believe in building everyone up and this is actually how we all collectively win!
Some of you might know I am a registered builder. I have a degree in construction, a masters in entrepreneurship and innovation, and I have gone back to study a post grad in Garden Design, I may be eyeing my next course too! My passion is really for learning, and I love building and creating. As does my BuildHer partner, Kribashini and my life partner, John, which is why we do what we do.
John and I hilariously just worked out that we have been engaged for 10 years and have never bothered to do anything about the wedding (too busy planning building and having children I think to plan a wedding.) I met John when I hired him to do the plaster on a house I was renovating, fate stepped in and the rest you can see here.
Having a commercial construction background, Quantity Surveying, Project Managing and General Manager of a Construction Company were some of my roles, I thought residential building would be really easy and when my paid work started to take over all of my time, I quit the commercial industry to start building houses with John as a real gig rather than just on the side.
I learnt fairly quickly that the residential game has really different rules to commercial.
As builders you may think we are at an advantage, and in some ways we are, but in others we are still going through the same learning patterns as everyone else. We started by owner building, understanding one trade at a time, asking a lot of questions and making a small pile of mistakes. We do have construction backgrounds so yes that is a massive advantage, but we also invested a lot of time in learning from people around us, experts and groups.
Kribashini and I created BuildHer Collective, because we could see how hard this was for people, there are so many options and decisions you need to make really early in the building process that have big impacts further down the line and our friends and family were having issues that they shouldn’t have been having. We knew that it is no one person’s role to help you through the renovation or building process, so we created a guide to do just that, as it is too costly to just hope for the best.
Fast forward a few years, John and I build for a lifestyle. We have lived in some houses and grown out of them, we have a small pile of children, we have bought projects to renovated and sell, we sometimes build for other people and now we work on JV projects in collaboration with amazing women like the BuildHer8.
For us the power is in building one to three homes per year and really loving how we live. Working hard on projects that excite us. Being able to build better each time and explore something different. Having a big group of women and colleagues around us that are all doing the same thing is amazing!
Building and developing can be really lonely, people don’t understand the numbers, the project, how things come together and to be honest most people are scared, all they see is risk, time and effort. This is why having the right support is essential.
They say find your tribe, well, we have effectively created our tribe!
Our tribe understands the why!
DevelopHers love the building and renovating game, they love creating a lifestyle that they design, they are passionate about making a change and building the life they want.
How amazing is that!
If you are looking to build your lifestyle, to develop for profit, there is only one way that can happen and that is by taking some action. If you want to find out more about joining us and playing this game too, then book in for a call with Rachel here and she can talk about if you could be a good fit.
Xx
Rebeka
