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Local Business
So how did a woman get into such a traditional male profession as construction work? It all started when she met former partner Kelly Gilbert at a wedding "and we got to talking," Bourelle said. Gilbert had worked for a homebuilder in South Carolina and wanted to continue in that line of work after moving to Yuma. Bourelle, meanwhile, had gotten hooked on watching home improvement shows on television. "Dean Johnson (host of the PBS home improvement series Hometime) is my hero," she said. "I wanted to fix my kitchen and couldn't get anyone to help so I decided to do it myself. I ordered the cabinets, picked them up and did the work myself." It was, she said, "very rewarding."
There's been little of that in the seven years Two Girls & A Hammer was started. Gilbert has since moved on. However, while Bourelle is now the sole owner, she's not the only "girl" in the business. Of her six employees, three are women. One is Sabre Hutchinson, a good friend who started helping out while stationed here in the Marine Corps. She moved away for awhile but came back and "is now my No. 1 helper," Bourelle said. "She'll do things others don't want to," like crawl into a crawl space to run a wire. Besides her talent with tools, Bourelle said of Hutchinson, "she's amazing with people. We might go to hang a blind and next thing we're redoing their bathroom because Sabre was on the floor petting their dog." If Hutchinson is Bourelle's righthand "girl," Melissa McCain is her left. A building inspector in Indiana, she joined Two Girls & A Hammer and quickly found her niche taking care of such pesky details as the permitting process, paperwork, billing and making sure people were where they needed to be to get a job done. Bourelle feels just as blessed with her other employees. "I don't pressure them, but at the same time, they're good." They're also like family, she said. "We get together for parties, meet for breakfast ... I tell them how wonderful they are." Customers also often become like family, Bourelle said. "We want to make sure the 80-year-old lady's toilet works." The business isn't listed in the phone book, "but it's not a secret," she said. "We're not just picked from the phone book. I would rather have people who want me." Initially, she said, some might be curious about whether she can handle a job. "I haven't found a job I couldn't do because I'm a woman. There's no way I'll say no. It makes me more determined. Our motto is ‘We'll figure it out’ when we get a job we don't know about." If nothing else, she jokes, that's where the hammer comes in handy. "I tell people I'll beat on it until it moves." Just kidding. Actually, she said, women customers often like dealing with a woman and appreciate her bringing that perspective to a job, whether it's a major remodel or a widowed snowbird's "honey do" list. Two Girls & A Hammer is an installer for Lowe's, whether it's new cabinets, flooring, appliances, doors and windows or blinds. The company also does a lot of work for SMILE, making modifications for the handicapped to be able to live independently. "We've been very blessed," Bourelle said. "We've been fortunate to get customers who like us, and they tell someone else and they tell someone else." Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853. AT A GLANCE NAME: PATTI BOURELLE BUSINESS: OWNER OF TWO Girls & A HAMMER, A HOME REPAIR AND REMODELING COMPANY HOW TO CONTACT HER: CALL 342-9113 QUOTE: "I HAVEN'T FOUND A JOB I COULDN'T DO BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN. THERE'S NO WAY I'LL SAY NO. IT MAKES ME MORE DETERMINED. OUR MOTTO IS ‘WE'LL FIGURE IT OUT’ WHEN WE GET A JOB WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT."  |
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