We recently connected with Andrea Seymour and have shared our conversation below.

Andrea, appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Achieving or abiding by the status quo has never been interesting to me. Since I was a young girl, I have always been inquisitive. This has persisted throughout my life, and I believe is largely why i’ve been successful.

In my industry in particular, there are a couple of areas where we really challenge the status quo. The first is with communication. In a largely male dominated Construction industry, communication has been lacking since, well forever. Whether it’s getting straight answers, providing timely responses or displaying clarity on a project estimate, communication in the construction industry has left a lot to be desired by homeowners. We have turned that on it’s head, by being very communicative with our clients. We are in touch with them as frequently as daily, by posting current photos of their project, we send out weekly updates every Friday stating was happened in the past week, what is coming in the next week, and any timely items we are in need of from the homeowner at that time. We also do monthly zoom check-in’s, to get everyone in the same “room” – while we have an agenda, once we work through it we end up catching up with our clients and typically wrapping up early because they are already aware of what is taking place.

Another area where we challenge the status quo, is that we make a concerted effort to develop a realistic budget prior to their project starting (for either a renovation or new build), and then during the design and selection process, we provide our clients with selections within the agreed upon budget, to help keep them in line financially with the project. While it often takes more time to source items with parameters, it’s the right thing to do in being a trusted advisor for our clients.

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.

Co-founding and growing a design build firm was really full circle for me. Growing up, my parents owned a plumbing company and built homes, so I spent a large portion of my childhood on job sites in Michigan, where I grew up. I loved being on the sites as homes were being built – I would help sweep the houses and loved to be my Dad’s assistant, carrying copper pipes and being a gopher for him – it brought me so much joy. Fast forward to eight years ago when my husband and I started Springdale Custom Builders – me on the Design / Sales / Marketing / Business Development side, and. him heading up the Construction and Finance – we were really a business match made in heaven. We both have very different strengths, which we’re able to really enhance together.

Our focus is creating a different and better experience for our clients when designing and building their home. we believe in elevating the building experience. Raising the norm through effective communication, partnership & our authentic, carefully honed processes and procedures. Our clients receive an elevated experience that not only makes the process easy and enjoyable but also ensures a functional and beautiful end result. From transparent communication and proactive problem-solving to impeccable design and craftsmanship, we are committed to delivering a custom home that exceeds expectations at every step. We are proud to deliver a truly memorable and personalized home-building journey.

Most recently i’m most proud of a few things: in 2023 I was accepted into the Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program
– a yearlong program designed to grow women’s businesses through workshops, coaching sessions, network-building, and financial resources. It has been such an honor to be learning from such impactful, change-making individuals. Additionally, in 2022 our company was named the fourth fastest growing privately held company in Charlotte, NC by the Charlotte Business Journal. In 2022 I was also named one of the most admired CEO’s in Charlotte, NC by the Charlotte Business Journal. Receiving recognitions like these a business owner is so meaningful, and validating of the blood, sweat, tears and struggles that business owners face on a daily basis.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience is a major factor in my life in general. The amount of times I have been discounted, doubted and set back are hard to even count. My high level of resilience has carried me through some very challenging times – and at times even I thought I was crazy to persist. But the older I get, the more I realize that when people try to bring you down, it is a reflection of them, not you – and insecure, jealous people do not like to see others succeed. One particular instance i’ll call out, was my Junior year of high school. Each student had a college advisory appointment with one of our school Counselors. My counselor told me that it wasn’t worth it for me to apply to the college I wanted to go to. Did I get the best grades in high school? No. I was and still am a highly social, involved person however, and my mediocre grades were counter balanced by the many other things I was involved in – year round competitive volleyball, Spanish Honor Society, multiple clubs, etc… fortunately I applied to the college I had aspired going to since third grade anyway, was accepted, and earned my Degree – A Bachelors of Science in Tourism and Travel, with minors in both Business and Sociology. Had I listed to his “advice,” there is no telling what path my life would have taken. The moral of the story is: don’t listen to advice you are given if it goes against your belief system, persist regardless of obstacles, and believe in yourself! You were made for greatness.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I believe that having a strong set of well thought out Core Values, and an authentic Mission Statement that aren’t just words, but statements that have meaning – are integral to an organizations success. Also, they can’t just be a sheet of paper that people receive the day they start the job, and they never hear or talk about them again. In our weekly team meeting, our leaderships starts every meeting by reading our Mission Statement, and one Core Value every week. This helps our intention and culture stay top of mind throughout our organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.springdalecharlotte.com
• Instagram: @springdalecustombuilders
• Facebook: @springdalecharlotte
• Linkedin: @springdalecustombuilders

Image Credits
Please let me know which photos you will use so I can tell you specifically whose photos are whose… but the photographers used for the photos are: Katy Perry, Dylan Ellett, Amanda Anderson and Heather Ison.