We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tracy Stegner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tracy below.
Tracy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
If I were staring over today, there are several things I would do differently. First of all, I would find a dedicated mentor to partner with-especially in areas of business I don’t feel I’m strong in. I would take advantage of grants, loans, and everyone who offered me help along the way….instead of either feeling like “I should be doing this on my own or at least should be able to do this on my own”. I didn’t know anything about the “business side of things” and was only focused on the relationship with the client and the “design side”. When my business partner had to step away from the business, I was left struggling to try to figure out how to do it all. I would have been light years ahead, if I would have known how to ask for help and from whom to ask it. I would start networking immediately and utilize those connections to their fullest potential. Those connections, I have learned (the hard way), are vital to growing a team, and are critical for growth. I would also make “trust but verify” one of my mantra’s! It applies to all aspects of business and all dealings with people.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have the very good fortune of being able to say that I’ve at least dabbled, if not had a career (however short lived it may have been) doing all the things I’ve ever wanted to do for work….except two (more on those in a bit). From a very young age, I had a list of all the things I wanted to do when I was a grown up. I’ve been an administrative assistant, a substitute teacher, a waitress/server, pizza maker and delivery driver, a dance teacher, a cake decorator/pastry chef, my favorites-a Certified Flight Instructor and a Pilot!
I flew business jets, until I was 5.5 months pregnant with my first child. After that, I stayed home with my two boys and volunteered at their school…..until I found myself going through a divorce. As I navigated my divorce, I supplemented myself and my boys by being a substitute teacher at their school. It helped, but it certainly wasn’t the answer for long term and certainly wasn’t what I felt called to do. I realized I as awful as going through the divorce was, it was also an opportunity to do something I never felt had been possible before. Deep down, I had always wanted to “flip houses”, but had always been told it was “too risky financially”, that I “had no clue” what I was doing, “had no training”, and the list from the naysayers went on and on.
However, the thing was….I did have a clue…no formal training, but I had a clue. I also had a Dad that had done extensive remodeling to my childhood home on his own. My dad, the ultimate “Jack of all Trades” had already taught me a ton–some by actual doing and some by osmosis. Another thing I had was a friend who had been in Real Estate for 30+ years as a landlord and “flipper”. She was willing to not only give me some advice, but she was willing to have me do some work for her, so she could assess my strengths and weaknesses, and point me in the right direction. Lastly, I had two little boys who were watching me to see how to navigate the world that had just been pulled out from underneath us. I wanted to show them that I was willing to put myself out there, give new things a try, and have faith that things would work out. I had desire, motivation, and hustle. I began to work with my friend helping her with her houses she was flipping. Sometimes I would do some of the work, but often I found myself designing the spaces in the house, helping her to find subcontractors to do the work, and then managing the project.
After about a year of working with her, I met a couple of guys at my church, who also happened to be going through divorces too. We spent time each week after the service, talking and supporting each other, while we waited for our kids’ religious education classes to let out. One week it came out in conversation that I really loved what I was experiencing working with my friend. I wanted to do more! It just so happened that one of the guys I had been talking with, was also interested in flipping houses and also had a friend in the business. We begun dating shortly thereafter. It was November of 2015. We spent the next year and half working with our respective friends, gaining further experience and insight. In early 2017, my significant other and I decided we were ready to go out on our own. We formed Red Door Renovations LLC. With the help of some investor friends, we bought our first flip house and got to work. It was a 1918 farmhouse and a full gut. It took 7 months. We learned more on that first job, than we could of learned in in any course or school training. From that point on we were hooked.
Fast forward to 2020. The world shut down and flipping came to a halt. We had a “hot minute or two” of wondering what the heck we were going to do. But then the phone started ringing with requests to remodel kitchens, bathrooms, and finish or remodel basements. As people were forced to spent all of their time in their homes, they realized quickly their spaces didn’t actually work for them any longer. Inside of about week’s time, we morphed from flipping houses, to remodeling houses and have been full steam ahead since then!
Red Door Renovations LLC is a woman owned company that prides itself on Quality Craftsmanship, Attention to Detail, and Excellent Communication with our clients. I love using my creativity and organizational skills to help people, by designing and creating spaces in homes that not only are beautiful, but efficient, functional, promote ease and comfortability, thereby reducing stress and allowing people to live their best lives. We listen deeply and are very transparent with our clients, which fosters trust and a great working relationship. We take a very collaborative approach with clients; we fully discuss ideas, materials, offer suggestions for material swaps as needed, to make every effort to give them the highest quality of materials while keeping the clients within their budget.
We are very proud of the work we do! From the quality of the materials and workmanship, the thoughtful design, to the great care and individual attention given to each client-we want our clients to be 100% satisfied!
As for the two things that I thought I wanted do, archaeology and paleontology….well, let’s just say they’re still on my list, but I haven’t done them….yet!
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I’m fairly new at managing a team. It’s taken me a long time to get to a place that I felt like I could “afford” to have a team. The truth is, I should have found a way to have a team in place years ago. Everyone on your team has to be in the “right seat”–by the right seat, I mean their role or seat has fit their skill set. It’s frustrating, ineffective, and can potentially be dangerous financially and mentally!) if someone is in the wrong seat. They can be the greatest person in the world, but if they aren’t in the right seat in your company, it’s not going to work out or turn out well. Being in the correct seat plays into high company morale. When your people are in the right seat and are feeling good about the support their receiving, the work they’re doing, and are getting the positive feedback from clients, it’s a wonderous thing! They want to do more! They want to receive more ‘warm fuzzy’ feelings. Have you ever “gone the extra mile” for someone and your effort went unnoticed? It’s a deflating feeling. I am always on the lookout for the extra things my team does to give out that ‘warm fuzzy feeling’, whether it’s within the office walls or it extends to our clients. I find something positive each of them did or said each week, and let them know how grateful I am for their words or actions. Once a month, I treat everyone to a relaxed lunch where we try to leave work behind and talk about family or other interests/hobbies. It shows that we are invested in each other beyond what we can do for the company.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn quickly regarded the improvement of the properties we flipped. I LOVE transforming spaces. I mean really and truly, I LOVE to design and transform spaces! I’m always trying to improve the flow, functionality, and look of a space-it doesn’t matter whether it’s one room or the whole house. However, in flipping there is a point where one can ‘over improve’, which can actually be detrimental to the profit margin.
One of the houses we flipped had amazing architectural details! We went to great lengths to preserve the character and bring those details back to life. We spent a lot of time, effort and money, to install “higher end” finishes because we thought it would help sell the house better. We added extra touches like under cabinet lighting, fancy vent covers, higher end bath accessories, etc. After the fact, we realized and understood that it wasn’t necessary to do those things. We just needed to really deep clean some things and put some fresh, new things in, that were consistent with the value of the home overall. We made the rookie mistake of over improving and didn’t see the gain in the profit at the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.reddoorrenovationsmn.com
- Instagram: @reddoorrenovationsllc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/FixitFlipit
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-wong-stegner-822b17191/
