{"id":21195,"date":"2023-08-26T03:45:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T10:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/natasha-ferguson-breaking-down-walls\/"},"modified":"2023-08-26T03:45:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T10:45:59","slug":"natasha-ferguson-breaking-down-walls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/natasha-ferguson-breaking-down-walls\/","title":{"rendered":"Natasha Ferguson: Breaking down walls"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ferguson\u2019s trajectory from daycare apprentice to corporate executive was anything but a straight line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Natasha Ferguson got her first taste of the trades long before her first day in elementary school. Her father, she says, used to own a number of houses in Toronto, and would often pick her up from daycare and bring her with him to job sites where he would work on one of his properties, recruiting her assistance, where appropriate.<\/p>\n

Today, Ferguson is the principal and founder of Ethelfox Construct Group, a successful Toronto-based construction company made up of four divisions: Ethelfox Construct (specializing in interior and exterior renovations), Sky Limitless Roofing, Garden Landscaping, and TKO Demolition.<\/p>\n

Ferguson\u2019s trajectory from daycare apprentice to corporate executive was anything but a straight line. In fact, she took quite a detour on her way to running her own construction firm. \u201cI actually never got into the trades right away,\u201d she admits. \u201cAfter school, I went into corporate communications, and that was my life for about 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the stressful world of corporate communications took its toll on Ferguson, and she decided that she needed a change. Her husband at the time, was a roofer and a tradesman, so Ferguson decided to start a roofing company with him. \u201cThat was back in 2012, and that\u2019s when my journey back into the construction industry picked up again,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Ferguson had a decade-and-a-half of corporate communications experience under her tool belt, which she put to good use to get her new roofing business off the ground. \u201cI was well versed in how to start a company,\u201d she says, \u201cand that branding experience paid off. I literally just segued\u2014I took what I had learned in the ad world, and I brought it over to construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her ability to build a brand, and to distinguish her company from others was key to getting the new business off the ground. \u201cThere aren\u2019t a lot of well-branded construction companies,\u201d Ferguson explains. \u201cMost contractors don\u2019t even have a website. I knew that going into the industry, and my knowledge about communications and branding was a big win for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Ferguson wasn\u2019t busy building her brand, she was in the thick of things, working shoulder-to-shoulder with her husband on the roof. \u201cI got up on the roof, and I was really excited about it,\u201d she says. \u201cHe taught me a lot about roofing, and that was my life for about three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, however, Ferguson realized that she would need to expand her business and offer more than roofing services. \u201cSince roofing is very seasonal, every winter we\u2019d be poor,\u201d she says. \u201cThat meant we\u2019d have to take the worst jobs ever, just to make ends meet. I remember one winter shovelling four feet of snow off someone\u2019s roof and thinking to myself, \u2018How did I get myself into this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the reality of the situation was just too much for Ferguson to deal with. \u201cThere were times when I would be sitting in the car to get warmed up, and I would just start crying,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI thought to myself, \u2018Three years ago I was in high heels and suits, and now I\u2019m dirty and on a roof shoveling snow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While that type of pressure would dissuade many and force them quit, Ferguson doubled down and was determined to continue to grow and to persist in her pursuit of success. Eventually, she took over the business, ran it on her own, and she even hired a roofing crew to do the work.<\/p>\n

Landscaping & beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n

That success led her down the path to expanding her business even further. \u201cA few years in, we started getting asked a lot about landscaping,\u201d she recalls. \u201cSo I started to teach myself about horticulture, and by that time I had also gotten into hardscaping, and that\u2019s actually one of my favourite trades. So now, we were doing landscaping and hardscaping, and I couldn\u2019t believe how much people were willing to spend on it. We were thriving.\u201d<\/p>\n

By 2016, Ferguson says her business was doing very well. She would upsell her roofing customers to buy landscaping or hardscaping, and vice versa. With her corporate communications background, she was able to market her businesses effectively, and she was becoming really well known as the go-to person for siding, roofing, landscape architecture and hardscaping needs. In 2018, Ferguson added renovations to her repertoire of available services.<\/p>\n

\"-\"Time to refocus<\/strong><\/p>\n

After coming face-to-face with discrimination and racism, as well as the sense of loss that resulted from the passing of her step-father, and soon thereafter, her mother, Ferguson decided that she needed to refocus and to double-down on her efforts.<\/p>\n

Prior to her passing, Ferguson\u2019s mom told her not to be upset when she faced discrimination. Instead, her mom asked her, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you do something about it?\u201d Those inspiring words rang true in Ferguson\u2019s ears, and in 2020 she rebranded her company, naming it after her mother and daughter.<\/p>\n

Ferguson was also inspired to start a non-profit organization, A Woman\u2019s Work<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s the first all-women\u2019s trade school in Canada,\u201d she says. \u201cWe launched it last year, and we had 300 women enroll.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Ferguson is on a roll, going from success to success. \u201cWe have over 15 different partnerships with Ellis Don, Local 27, the PDSB [Peel District School Board], Milwaukee Tools,\u201d she adds, \u201cIt\u2019s been crazy. We have a training centre running right now in East York, and we are slated to open six more training centres across the GTA [Greater Toronto Area].\u201d<\/p>\n

She also has a show in the works, and she has filmed a TV commercial for a well-known retailer. \u201cI have also been given the opportunity, and built a platform, where I advise the government. I\u2019ve literally become the face of women in the trades, and I\u2019m advocating for women in the trades,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

The bigger picture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ferguson sees the bigger picture and believes that she may be able to offer a solution to some of the challenges facing the construction industry and the trades in general.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all the workers retiring, who is going to fix your toilets or repair your roof?\u201d she asks. \u201cOne of the reasons why there are so few people getting into the trades is because we\u2019re not utilizing women and we\u2019re not utilizing the underserved racialized communities. Discrimination runs deep, from local unions to employers, and I can speak to this because I\u2019ve experienced it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her efforts to teach and empower women are key to helping women pursue opportunities in this industry. \u201cWe\u2019re teaching women that not only can they be a part of this industry, but they can be entrepreneurs in it,\u201d Ferguson explains. \u201cIf I told you that I could teach you how to drywall in eight weeks, and that you can literally go out, patch a few holes, and make $1,200 for the week, that\u2019s empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response, thus far, has been impressive. \u201cWe put together the classes, we ran our pilot program in November, and it was absolutely amazing,\u201d Ferguson says. \u201cI was featured on Global News, a lot of women came out, I had a pregnant woman there, as well as two women who drove from Montreal to take the course. And believe it or not, I have bootstrapped this entire thing and am funding it myself right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walking the walk\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not only is Ferguson teaching women about the trades, but she is walking the walk by employing women in her own construction firm. \u201cSixty per cent of my staff are female,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She has big plans for the future and hopes to expand her training program to other provinces, as well as into the United States. Moreover, Ferguson believes that we need to rebrand the trades, starting in elementary school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have this idea in our heads that trades people are stupid,\u201d she explains. \u201cYou should be in the corporate world, but if you\u2019re dumb, oh, you need to get yourself a trade. But I\u2019ve been in both industries, both corporate, and here, and I can tell you that you need a lot more smarts to do this, because you are problem solving, you\u2019re dealing with clients, and you\u2019re also doing physical work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents also need to be taught the truth about the trades. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re launching a program for kids,\u201d Ferguson adds. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited about it because we want to change the way parents think about blue collar versus white collar. There\u2019s a lot of work to do here, and it\u2019s not going to happen overnight, but one person doing something is better than no people doing anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Ferguson, who was exposed to the wonders of the trades at a very young age, most children today aren\u2019t, and most are taught that the trades are only for those who can\u2019t pursue a corporate job. Moreover, the trades are seldom an option for women, especially women who are discriminated against. Ferguson is hoping to change all that, and if her ability to persist in the face of adversity is any indication, she is likely to succeed in her endeavours.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n