Women in Construction: Chelsea Fanders

Summit Homes is grateful to have several incredibly strong female leaders on our team. In honor of Women's History Month, we wanted to pause and feature a few team members.

Meet Chelsea Fanders, VP of Marketing.  

We sat down to ask Chelsea a few questions about her career, role models and why she chose the new construction industry.

Tell us about a female role model or leader that helped you become the leader you are today? 

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have several strong female leaders to learn from throughout my career. In my first full-time job out of college, I worked for Stephanie. I don’t think I realized it at the time, but he taught me the important role of a leader in helping coach and mentor team members. I always looked forward to our one-on-ones because I knew I’d walk away with new information and feedback on my performance. My first job in the real estate industry was for a company with a female CEO, Caroline. She taught me a lot about building relationships, sharing your point of view and how to bring people together to accomplish big goals. Once I moved to Kansas City, I worked for Linda and Sandy. Both incredibly strong leaders taught me the lesson: hire good people, give them the tools and support they need, and stay out of their way. 

How did you make your way to the construction industry? 

After relocating to Iowa out of college, I found myself interviewing for a customer service job at a real estate company. I knew I liked houses and figured it would be interesting. Little did I know I was getting into the real estate industry about 6 months before the recession hit. Luckily, I was with a company with a solid foundation and awesome leaders and we made it through. I quickly discovered my love for all things real estate and never looked back. I spent about 12 years on the brokerage/real estate side of things before moving to Summit to work in new construction. 

What is a piece of advice you would share with women wanting to work in the construction industry? 

Do it! We need more talent to keep our industry moving in the right direction. But don’t settle for any job. Find the best fit for you. Look for a company that aligns with your goals and one that has strong leadership that will help push you to be the best. Once I saw the leadership at Summit Homes, I knew this was a company I would be proud to be part of.

What’s the best part of your job? 

I have a lot of favorite parts. I love the variety and fast pace of things. We are always creating, thinking, planning and pushing to do things differently. I love seeing the people that buy our homes and how it impacts their life. I love our team – we have the hardest working team around and the passion is contagious. 

What are you currently reading or listening to? 

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan, Power of Moments by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Infinite Game by Simon Sinek, Permission to Screw Up by Kristen Hadeed, The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon