How I Made It: Stephanie Y. Drake on Her Fateful Journey

Why did you want to establish yourself as an independent owner rather than working for an already known construction corporation?

Coming from a grass roots, hardworking family, I take ownership of everything I do. My mom is very hands on and I’m very hands on – I am truly my mother’s child. That’s just my make up, and that is how I approached working in corporate America. I was always the one that had to figure it out, and eventually I did. I never was one to ask someone to do it for me. Even with basic things such as writing letters.

I remember when I first started my corporate career and I had how-to reference books on how to write letters. That level of detail and understanding has always been my nature. I’m trying to work smarter but the only reason I can work smarter and have evolved into a creative thinker is because of the fact that I get into the minutiae, and it actually has paid off.  Don’t get me wrong I am a better business person because of my past experiences in corporate America.

Last year we maintained a little over five-million dollars in revenues, and could have been a 30-million dollar company had I opted to make different business decisions.   And one day we will be, I feel good about that. But I must say it’s never been about money for me. I prefer to grow smart, with the right alliances, sustaining for the long-term in order to keep focused on my underlying vision for Drake which is ‘impact’. It’s not just about the almighty dollar but choosing wisely to ensure long-term (vs. short-lived) prosperity.

That part of me is what my business coach describes as my personal responsibility.  Drake is that vehicle for me. So since I am clear on what I am about, the question is where  can I best accomplish my goals, my passion: In my own company where I am accountable for the actions and decisions, or as an employee of another organization that has its own, albeit noble, agenda?  I guess my answer is evident.

You mentioned you have a business coach. What is a business coach and how did you find one?

I was having that occasional feeling of burn out. I prayed about it,  because I was overwhelmed and had too much on my plate to prioritize. I got this strange call. I get a ton of messages a day, but this message was different. So I called him back. It didn’t take but five minutes and there was an instant connection like he was reading my mind. It was like the help I needed was here, he just showed up.  He actually was calling on behalf of an international organization that he’s affiliated with. He was simply doing his round of monthly outreach calls that they do for small businesses to see about setting up a one-time complimentary two-hour session, to offer free advice to business owners on topics such as business challenges. He offered to meet with me at no fee on regular basis and since I saw the value of working together, I have eventually engaged him as my coach, a very hands-on coach I might add.  I think a good business advisor is able to sit on the other side and really hear your vision and your mission; learn about your journey, where you are today and be able to assist you with getting closer to your mission and vision. And keeping you accountable because so many things will become a distraction and take you off course, because that’s one of the many challenges in running a business  — we all fall victim to that.

The good thing about having an effective business advisor is that they’re capable of exploring that passion, that vision and that calling with you. They can meet you where you are and [they’re] able to help you hear yourself,  provide constructive advisement, and help you to prioritize.

You said you don’t measure success by financial gain but by impact. How do you measure impact and, in turn, success?

As I touched on earlier, to me success is not only dollars and cents. You do have an obligation to run your business responsibly and want to see financial returns, and to me, my business is really a vehicle to fulfill my calling, my passion. If you can do what you are passionate about and make money doing it, that’s a great thing. I’d say my stretch board is how do I empower and give opportunities to others to grow and fulfill their dreams.  That’s the core of what Drake is all about.  That’s why we take being in a HUBZone seriously, that’s why growing the number of people we can employ is important to me, that’s why we are serious about employee personal and professional development.  I am crafting Drake after the same values with which I grew up.  We haven’t set a future date for success. These are the kind of goals we should be successful at everyday not at an imaginary date in the future.

How does that translate in terms of the projects that you work on?

I envisioned at the beginning having renowned organizations like the Smithsonian and NIH as clients, not just because of their names but their missions, their visions. To have them as clients was one of my initial goals and it actually coming to pass.   You can try telling your customers about where you’re trying to go, but at the end of the day, their primary goal is to get their job done.  So on their construction projects, I plant that seed everytime  we provide good quality work and get things done on-time and within budget.   Being in construction, it often carries a negative connotation with it. Some think construction means change orders, contractor ripping you off, among other things. That is where I think Drake differentiates itself and why we are blessed to be amongst Smithsonian’s preferred short list of small business contractors.

We do a lot of interior work for them and have had the privilege of working in most all the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC, including the National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, Hirshhorn.  So going back to your question, when we are able to expand our relationship with such a reputable organization beyond a project, and cement a long-term relationship, as we have done, that’s how our projects translate into success.

How does Drake maintain its niche’ as a small business?

Though major contributors to the GNP, it is a known fact that small businesses, due primarily to a lack of infrastructure, find it difficult to compete in the marketplace. Understanding that very vulnerability, and because of my understanding of finance, I continue to work religiously to build Drake’s infrastructure for purposes of both sustainability and competitive advantage.  That coupled with providing top service and doing quality work,we are able to advocate that small business is good business.

Drake has extensive interior renovation experience; we’ve done playgrounds, design, build projects, and we’re doing energy efficiency retro fits, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing projects.  We’re a general contractor doing whatever our clients need us to do.  There are certain agencies that make the most sense for us and that’s how we’re better able to define niche’ products and/or services. We get a lot of repeat business because of that.

How has Drake Incorporated managed to weather the storm of the recession?

Like everyone else, we have been affected by the recession particularly in the last year.  I go back to my initial statement, I am well versed on the financial side, but with our decline in revenues this year I made the difficult decision not to lay off and to weather the storm.  This truly was about faith for me. This was the same faith that I had during 9-11 when I left corporate America, and hadn’t started my business yet. Even with all the reports about where the economy stood, I trusted and believed, and figured worse case I could go back to corporate America.   I hear where the economy is and to be quite honest, the last seven to eight months has probably been the most challenging for us in a while. Though we received a number of awards throughout the year, a large number of projects hadn’t started. Of course, if you can’t start, you can’t bill against it. Nonetheless, we still had to pay our monthly overhead expenses. So clearly we have had some challenges financially, but the good news is, we are on the upswing because projects are starting.

I’m an open book and they appreciated that.  Letting them know, asking that they trust my judgement, and giving them a growing pipeline report to prove it all helped. So as a result they’re still standing with us, we didn’t lose our lines of credit or any financial resources that would affect our ability to perform. Moreover, our existing and new clients are showing up at the right time. In the last two months, we’ve seen a healthy increase. We’re back to turning a profit again. We’ve made it to short lists for a number of projects. Our approach is to be very creative and strategic centering on who will be our target audience in the short- and the long-term. Including prospecting for new IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quality) contracts. For example,we have a past, positive track record in labs so we pursued and was recently short-listed for an IDIQ at a University medical center.  That’s one of our niches.  The goal is to employ more people.  That excites me. This supports what [President] Obama says which is that small business creates the most new jobs. For a $3 million project, [Drake] and others like us, will likely create three to four jobs. So that’s a good thing, and those are the types of standards which are in line with our vision.

How large is your staff?

We currently have 13 people, and we’re looking to immediately hire about another four because of our recent  five-year contract with the Social Security Administration in Baltimore. We won’t stop there. However, I still see “small” in our future eventually growing to 25 to 30 person staff and our growth being supplemented by teaming.

What does the future hold for Drake Inc. and for you Stephanie?

Obviously we have our financial goals to ensure a healthy growth,  but I also want to be very ‘conscious’ of our purpose. Drake will be a vehicle for job creation, and giving back, leaving a legacy.  For the strong values and work ethics that the unsung heroes of my life instilled in me, I want to ensure that those ethics, commitment to community, employee growth and personal development, remain strong foundations of this company, including providing a legacy vehicle for the people who have and will contribute into this company.  It is my goal to pursue my calling at a global level and explore opportunities where we can partner with local governments and other organizations to meet the specific construction, infrastructure needs including housing, education, and workforce development. I foresee Drake, Inc. playing an integral role at that level.  But that is a work in progress for now.