We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Rader recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

After working in Chicago at my 1st job post college, I realized that I wanted to 1. Go back home to Dallas 2. Work for myself. My family was in real estate so the story begins. I returned to Dallas, acquired a bank loan and bought my first home to renovate. I hired my 1st crew and lived and learned every detail of construction that I could possibly learn. From there I did several projects similar to this learning as much as possible. I graduated to building homes, until a friend of a friend wanted me to renovate their home; my first residential client was born. I provided a General Contracting service. Later I would expand the design house out of.a need and it has become my favorite aspect of my work even if construction was my first love. We have grown to a multi million $ company providing residential construction management and design.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am 45 years old. I have been in constrcution in some form for 22 years. My parents working in flooring, real estate and rental properties so I have been around the industry my whole life. I would say I have taken what I do to the next level from what they did and somewhat of a different direction. I started when I was 23 years old by observing and learning as much as possible. I went to school for business but I did not go to school for construction management or as a trade so I had to learn. I watched, listed, and physically worked along side every trade everyday for several years. There were some years that my business was growing and I was managing large projects where I was the cleaning crew. There were some projects that ran from 6pm to 6am that I would superintend and then attend the business meeting during the day. I am not sure when I slept those years but I am glad I was in my 20’s becasue I am not sure I could keep that pace up now. My job has always to been to build and renovate. Houses and offices – from small renovations on existing properties to custom homes and high rise offices throughout Dallas.
It is my goal to bring a hospitality to construction. I want our clients to feel as if they are receiving the highest quality service with a team that stands behind them and is there to work for them.
I am a work horse and its always been my philosophy to make every client happy throughout the whole process of design and construction especially since construction work does not always have the best reputation.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In 2009 / 2010 I had to close my Commercial Construction Company, GCM. This was a pivotal point in time. What was I going to do next.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I have been in East Dallas most of my career. Referrals and social media garner all of our new business. It is imperative that we leave each client with the best experience and product because the referral is our #1 lead generator.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.raderrenovations.com
• Instagram: @raderrenovations.com
• Facebook: Rader Renovations
• Linkedin: rader renovations

Image Credits
Tabatha O’Brien Photography for the web version pictures My phone for the other photos