Building Community with BuildHer Collective

Acme: Building a community seems integral to your approach. How do you foster a sense of community amongst women interested in designing, building, and renovating homes?

Rebeka: When a new mother has a baby, they want nothing more than to talk about that baby, how many times they woke, fed and the like. Completely interesting for about 5 minutes if you don’t have a baby of the same age. Building and renovating is the same! The only people who care are women in the thick of it – in the game! And the agony of choosing the right paint colour (now no-longer just the right white paint) is real and can require much discussion. Our community provides a forum to sense check, to get help and to be amongst peers with similar values and who care.

Whilst we are an online course and forum – great for the lifestyles we are all leading now, we provide many opportunities to come together with house tours, industry events and in person workshops.  We have just opened our new event space and studio in Northcote and it is such a pleasure to host events!

Acme: In what ways does BuildHer Collective empower women to take an active role in the traditionally male-dominated fields of real estate, design, and construction?

Rebeka: We have always found women completely invested in their homes, it is the nurturing environment where we raise our families, host our friends and are able to express ourselves and our individuality. You can tell a lot about someone from their home.  It is only natural then, that this space would be well serviced by women who have a vested interest and understanding.

Acme: Could you elaborate on the online courses offered by BuildHer Collective? How do they cater to women looking to enhance their skills in home design and construction?

Rebeka:  We have a few different levels of courses from design-like-a-DesignHer – if you want to do this interior design on your home, build-like-a-BuildHer to manage, build or renovate your dream home and our DevelopHer’s Masterclass which is all about renovating, building and developing property. Recently we have also expanded our DevelopHer’s Inner Circle and community and are loving helping women re-design their lifestyles through property.

Each course focuses on a different outcome and there are different interests of the community within.

We don’t have a set method of working, such as always using an architect. Rather, we have a philosophy of using your values and budget to shape the building process, to maximise your build outcomes

Acme Mag: Building and renovating with value in mind is a key aspect. How does BuildHer Collective guide women to ensure their projects are not only aesthetically pleasing but also financially sound?

Rebeka: You need to understand the principles of building and design, ultimately it comes down to materials and labour, but how these are used and in what capacity is where the value lies.  Sometimes we are so close to our projects that we cannot see the simple path through a clearing off the side, instead we fruitlessly try to force ahead.  By taking a high level view and assessing wants/needs against budgets and outcomes you should have clarity from the beginning.

As a side note, I know many of us complain about the cost of building, and whilst yes it has gone up – so has our expectations. Now instead of a space for a TV unit in a room, we want to build in joinery, which has multiple functions and high end finishes and this is happening in all areas of our home. Sometimes budget and value align and sometimes a simpler solution is required to ensure you can actually afford to build your dream home.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the construction industry. How does BuildHer Collective encourage and guide women to incorporate sustainable practices in their projects?

Sustainability is the only way forward. Our homes are responsible for 24% of energy use across Australia, but there are very simple ways to make small (cost effective) changes which drastically reduce consumption.  The easiest time to make these changes is during the build process – most changes just require an understanding of the performance – which has previously been really difficult to understand. Thankfully this is an area which is progressing fast and there are exciting changes evolving.

Acme: Can you share a success story of a woman who, through BuildHer Collective, achieved remarkable results in her home-building or renovating journey?

Rebeka: How to start here! There are so many incredible stories, and each one is as exciting and important as the next, no matter what the numbers. Just this year we have had:

• Elise sold her renovated home in Ascot Vale for a suburb record.
• Jenn sold both her dual occupancies in the Gold Coast, a suburb record – the plan originally was to keep one and sell one, but as always we need to adjust.
• We set up a Joint Venture to develop a home with 6 DevelopHers.
• Anna made a whopping $800k profit from her development.
• Amy sold one of her dual occupancies off the plan and the other at auction.
• Tylar was featured on Grand Designs which airs this month.

Acme: Lastly, what is the long-term vision for BuildHer Collective? How do you envision the company evolving in the future to further support and empower women in the industry?

Rebeka: Well isn’t that the exciting journey we are on! Right now we are welcoming new members into our DevelopHer’s Inner Circle, a program that typically has been for graduates of the DevelopHers Inner Circle, and we have several publications in the works to help women at all levels through their builds!