Anita Robertson is a mother, business owner
and ABC of Western Washington member (ABCWW). Anita runs Make Ready Services, a
full-service
post-construction and commercial janitorial service. Anita was in property
management for 10 years before she turned her eyes toward the construction
business industry and shifted gears to start Make Ready Services. Alongside her
entrepreneurship, Anita participates as a member of the ABCWW’s Diversity
Committee.
We recently
caught up with her to see how she’s doing and why she still loves rolling up
her sleeves to get into the nitty-gritty of her work.
What first gave you the idea to
start Make Ready Services?
I saw a need for a one-stop type of vendor
when I worked in property management. When we were converting some of the
properties, we had to call multiple vendors for different services – carpet
cleaning, carpet installing, housecleaning. There wasn't a company that you
could call for all of it. My vision was a company the owner or manager could
hand the keys to, and when they get them back the apartment would be ready –
that's where I got the name, Make Ready Services, because in the industry we
call that ‘make ready and turn.’
How
did you enter into the construction industry?
I was attending a meet and greet for a
project that I was trying to become the final cleaning vendor for and I met
Linda Womack [
Program Director for the Minority
Business Development Agency
] there and told her my story. I wanted to turn Make Ready
Services into a full post-construction and commercial janitorial service
– I had that vision already. So, she recommended I try ABCWW’s
Construction Business School.
How
has ABCWW’s Construction Business School helped you grow your business?
It changed my mindset. Dealing with the construction
industry was really different than dealing with property managers – I
didn’t know the process in construction, the paperwork, or just what was
required.
It’s how
I first got involved with ABCWW two years ago, and since then Wendy has been
really amazing. She's always offered her help and her guidance. ABC has definitely helped me grow. ABCWW
is helping me continue to grow because I’m not where I want to be yet!
What
do you value about the ABCWW environment?
Everybody
at ABCWW is so willing to mentor. If you have questions, you just need to ask.
The networking events are amazing. If you just go and talk to someone, they're
always willing to give you a hand and say, ‘call me when you need me.’ It's
made me comfortable with where I am as a business. They’re trying some amazing
programs. There’s the mentorship program that ABCWW is working on right now and
we're also trying to bring more diversity into construction.
Through
the Diversity Committee, ABCWW is trying to figure out how they can bring more
minority- and women-owned businesses into the industry – and not only bring in,
but help succeed, mentor and help them to grow. They want to know the
challenges they face and how to go about making sure that people know that ABCWW
has the resources to help.
Would you say that ABCWW
membership has been a good investment for your business?
If you
have a group and network where they value you, then they value your growth.
Being a member is like investing in yourself. You're investing in your
education and you're investing in safety – you're putting money into an
organization that's going to give you what you need to make sure you succeed.
If
something happens and you're not prepared for it, not educated on how to handle
such a situation, it's going to be costlier than having a group of people like
ABCWW that you can go to for help. ABCWW will save you a lot of time, a lot of
heartache. They will educate you on how to handle things so that you're both
productive and proactive.
You
must have your hands full with management, but you still work in the field. Why
is rolling up your sleeves and getting into the nitty-gritty important to you?
It keeps
me grounded and I think that I will always want to be in the field. You want to
know what your employees are going through. I was just at a site yesterday,
physically working. I still roll up my sleeves and I clean a couple times
a week.
By being
out in the field, I think of it as building a better work environment. It helps
you have better expectations because at the end of the day, you understanding
what a hard day's work looks like. It really let’s employees know that they are
appreciated and you understand.
What
impression do you want your work to leave?
I want our clients to
feel like they made the right decision when they hired us. We give the
finishing touches so I want these impressions to be when we leave. I want them
to walk into their space, and be really proud and really happy because we're
complementing their hard work when handing off the final result.