Fix It Females renovate homes and attitudes
Annastacia Plaskos’s company encourages girls to progress in male-dominated fields
RICK MCGINNIS FOR THE TORONTO STAR“I thought, wouldn’t it be great to create a really comfortable working environment for women, amongst themselves, in this industry?” ANNASTACIA PLASKOS FIX IT FEMALES CEO
“But you won’t be doing the work, right? Men will come and do the work?”
Not only was this potential client — looking to renovate two bathrooms in her home — calling a company called Fix It Females and speaking to its boss, a woman, but a previous satisfied client had referred this possible client to the company. And yet, under all these circumstances, she still assumed men would be tackling her project.
Annastacia Plaskos, founder and CEO of Fix It Females, explained that, yes, women would be performing almost all of the work. The client said that was impossible for her reno. Plaskos politely declined the job. The story behind Fix It Females starts in Plaskos’s childhood; her mother and grandparents owned a flooring company, and her father was a contractor who sometimes had to babysit.
“He used to take me on job sites when I was little,” Plaskos says. “I didn’t really want to go with him because I was young, but I didn’t really have a choice — he was looking after me. I remember laying tiles when I was 7.”
Years ago, she had another contracting business, but she also spent a lot of time travelling the world, taking breaks between work projects. She launched Fix It Females in the summer of 2014, and Plaskos says her parents were excited she was making a commitment for a longer stretch.
“They were both very proud, and happy that I finally landed something that would keep me home long enough,” she says with a laugh.
In her previous contracting work, nothing in the company’s name indicated Plaskos was a woman, and she describes the “shock value” of speaking with or meeting some of her potential clients. Now, the name Fix It Females is a way of saying, up front: We’re different, and we’re proud of that.
Plaskos says her light-bulb moment for the company came from Instagram — her heading, underneath her name, was “Fix It Female.”
“I had this crazy epiphany . . . imagine an all-female team called Fix It Females,” Plaskos says. “When I realized the niche market that would be available to us, I thought it would be a great idea.
“Then I realized how women are made to feel inadequate by other men on their team, and I thought, wouldn’t it be great to create a really comfortable working environment for women, amongst themselves, in this industry? So I think that was the majority of my drive to create this company.”
Business has been brisk for Plaskos’ crew — as an aside, she adds, she does have a man on her staff — and she recently opened a storefront on the Danforth in the east end. She’s proud of the work she does; seeing her clients’ reactions to her team’s handiwork ranks among the top reasons why she loves the business.
And, as a bonus, she enjoys one unique perk: being a role model. Plaskos has hosted Girl Guides workshops for captivated, adoring crowds.
“The feeling when we walked out of that place was euphoric,” she says. “It was unbelievable — we had parents lined up outside, dying to talk to us.
“I think that it’s so important — which is why I do the Girl Guides workshops — to make sure women feel empowered, especially our young women. I want to convey the message to young girls that it is possible for them to progress in a maledominated industry; you can be- come successful when people tell you that you can’t.”
Leigh Mitchell, founder and president of Women in Biz Network (WIBN), which supports and mentors female entrepreneurs and professionals in Canada, says women can bring “tremendous value” to male-dominated industries.
She points to studies that show advantages in emotional intelligence, leadership styles and decision-making, and cites anecdotal evidence from positive customer feedback. Among WIBN’s professional network of 35,000 women, Mitchell says her contractor members report happy clients.
“I’ve spoken with entrepreneurs that do renovation-based projects and the feedback they get is that they’re very thorough and they’re more reliable,” she says.
Being a woman in a traditionally male industry might actually give entrepreneurs an edge, potentially attracting a specific customer base — other women.
Mitchell mentions a neighbour who hired a female carpenter because she wanted to work with a woman, and describes one WIBN member who went to school to become a mechanic and open her own shop — simply because she didn’t enjoy her experience of having her car serviced at male-dominated businesses.
Mitchell adds she recently found herself pleasantly surprised in a car dealership, where she noticed a large female sales team, including the manager.
“There’s something to be said for knowing someone isn’t going to be mansplaining me,” she says and laughs.
With almost 1 million self-employed Canadian women — a 2012 figure that is growing — it seems inevitable that women will gain a foothold in every field. And, hopefully, they’ll mentor others on their way up.
“I think there’s a movement of solidarity with the current political tone out there,” Mitchell says, “so we’re doing whatever we can to support women being champions in maledominated industries.”
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