Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyla Garcia.
Hi Kyla, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It was Jan of 2019, and my husband had been working his way up the concrete industry ranks for over a decade. We were newly married, and I had our first daughter the year before. I had just returned to UMKC to finish my chemistry degree last semester after taking 1 year off school to have my daughter. My husband came home one day and told me he and many of his co-workers would be laid off. It was the middle of winter, and it would be challenging for him to find another concrete job that time of the year. Someone in his professional circle approached him and said, “If you can form a company, then I could probably throw some work your way.” My husband came home and relayed this conversation to me. From the tone in his voice, I could tell that it didn’t seem like something he would pursue, but as soon as I heard those words, I thought, “I know what to do,” even though I didn’t know what to do at all. I had an idea of how to figure it out.
From there, we contacted the right professionals we would need to begin, such as our accountant and insurance agent, who both walked us through the process. Less than a week later, we had formed a company, and most of the just laid-off guys were on the payroll. While it was always my husband’s dream to own a concrete company one day, we neither expected it to be this abruptly. Neither of us had a strong background in business, and my ambitions were focused on science. I expected to graduate and soon work as a lab chemist. Four and a half years ago, I never would have dreamed of a day when I live, breathe, and dream of concrete. Things took off rapidly, with our first project being a large duplex off the Paseo. We had employees working in the field before I had a payroll system. Our company was owed money before I knew how to send an invoice. Little by little, as each issue arose, I slowly began to develop the company’s infrastructure. We were a small fish in a big pond in every sense of the phrase. At that time, even though the company was in my name, I didn’t expect myself to play a major role in the management of the company. However, after just a couple of weeks, I left school to go to a job site to pick up our weekly check instead of reviewing for my exams. Money was so tight in the beginning I knew if I didn’t get my hands on that check by Wednesday, I wouldn’t be able to make payroll Friday. That situation put me out of my comfort zone. I would have to show up at the commercial job site, which can only be entered with a hard hat and safety glasses, and knock on the little construction trailer. I was greeted by a man who called me honey and whose eyes mocked me behind his smile. It took all my courage every week to secure that check. I knew that if I found a way to get that money, our little company might not survive another week. Moreover, since the industry standard to get paid is longer than a 1 week turnaround time, I had to fight for that check. By some miracle, week after week I did, and we survived.
In the following months, I began taking on more administrative tasks. The Paseo project came to a close, and by that time, we had developed a relationship with a few other contractors who kept us busy with work. Around this time, I decided to try my hand at residential marketing. In the beginning, it was rough. My husband, an expert at his trade, had never worked in a sales or administrative role and could not advise me. While developing the format for our proposals, I had to figure out what information needed to be on the proposals. Even that proved difficult, with all the trade-specific jargon sounding like a foreign language. Sometimes it was a foreign language because my husband’s first language is Spanish, so we had that extra barrier. I had a few proposals sent back with the feedback they needed for more information. I made my corrections, and we ended up getting a few jobs. At this point, we were 6-8 months into our journey as a company. I learned how to get leads. I learned how to send proposals; we learned how to get jobs. We were finally hitting our stride.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This journey has not been a smooth one. I initially faced a lot of discrimination in this industry because I am a woman, and some people think I don’t deserve a seat at the table. I have dealt with issues around insurance claims, contracts, or lack thereof, homeowners, contractors who have refused to pay, and even a contractor who went out of business while we were in the middle of a project and owed money.
To solve some of these issues, I have had to broaden my circle of professionals that my company works with closely. In this industry, it is only a matter of time before you will need a lawyer, so I advise anyone starting a business to develop that relationship ahead of time because when the time arises, you will know who to call. The first time we had a customer not pay us for the work we completed, in hindsight could have been avoided. We did have a contract in place, but on the day we arrived to start the project, the client had some changes he wanted to make. He wanted to negotiate the downpayment. At first, I was hesitant to consider that, but after speaking to the homeowner on the phone, I decided he wasn’t trying to screw us over; he was trying to protect himself. And it made sense that we had fewer references than a new company as we do now. This was the largest residential job that we had sold to date. So I used my judgment and decided to alter the contract terms, a decision which I would regret later. I will not bore you with all the details, but the homeowner declined to pay when it came down to it after we had spent around $20,000 on materials. This was my first experience needing to use a lawyer, though it would not be my last.
From that experience, I learned several lessons, including the importance of a good contract and a good lawyer. The other thing I learned is that even if you can trust your guy 90 % of the time and it’s right, there will always be a time that you get it wrong. I learned from my lawyer that this homeowner had a pattern of doing this to contractors. I may have a good intuition, but it was no match for a professional con artist. This leads me to another thing I learned: be bold and stick to your terms. If a customer wants to go for something other than it, it might not be your customer.
Another struggle, which has become a theme in my journey, has been discrimination that I have faced because I don’t look like the typical person who would fill this role. I was laughed at when I showed up with my blonde hair and tape measure to do my first estimate. In our second year, we went to a meeting to negotiate a contract for the largest commercial project to date. With my husband being privy to the specifics of job details and myself being fairly good with numbers, it was obvious we would both need to be at the meeting. I felt proud of myself in that meeting because I could analyze the numbers quickly and accurately in real time. We got a higher rate than was initially offered when the deal was determined after I signed my name to the contract. The owner of the other company, sitting to my left, reached over to shake my hand, or so I thought, in my naivety, and as I extended my hand, he reached over me to shake my husband’s hand and completely ignored me. I was so embarrassed that I thought he would shake my hand, that he respected me. I walked out of that meeting in a daze, and I said to my husband, “I think he is sexist,” and my husband answered, “he is; yesterday, he asked me why you and his administrator (also a woman) even had to be at the meeting.” Because I am the owner of the company is the obvious answer. I could tell you a dozen stories along those lines. These days, either I notice these situations a little less frequently, or it has begun to bother me less. I have come to learn during my time in this industry that the best way to combat discrimination is with knowledge. Initially, I didn’t know what I was doing, but I have pushed myself to understand more about our trade over the years. I have taken classes, webinars and earned certifications related to this field. While I have spent some time in the area, my approach to learning has been more classroom based. This knowledge has given me the confidence I need to combat discrimination. Even after all that, there will still be those people who treat me unfairly or disrespectfully because I am a woman. My husband experiences the same thing because he is Hispanic. It won’t bother me as much as it used to because I know I am right where I belong.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a KC Local Artisan Concrete Contractor. We specialize in concrete and masonry, including stamped concrete, driveways, patios, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, and more. Our high-end stamped work sets us apart from other concrete contractors. Our employees are all highly skilled, and my husband, Alexander, has been dubbed the Picasso of Concrete by one of our customers. We do all types of concrete projects, big and small, but our sweet spot is the highly decorative stamped work. The thing I am most proud of is that, over the years, we have created a name and a reputation that can be trusted. We did this by applying my dad’s principles to his siding and window business that he ran for 30 years. Those principles are to take pride in workmanship and treat people how you want to be treated. It doesn’t get more simple than that. My dad passed away a decade ago. We have made him proud with what we have built.
Any big plans?
When it comes to construction, the sky is the limit. I see our company growing and scaling over the next decade. With so many directions we could go in, I don’t know where this will take us, but I would like to get my general contractor’s license this year so we can consider taking on larger multi-faceted projects. The dream would be to do new builds from the ground up eventually. We are a long way away from that, though; right now, we are just focusing on being the best at what we already do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kcconceptsconcrete.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kcconceptsconstruction/
- Facebook: facebook.com/kcconceptsconstruction
