Mrs. Fix-It

When you hear the word 'handyman,' you might immediately conjure up an image of a guy arriving at your door, likely with a hammer in tow. The word 'man,' is in the name, after all. However, more and more females are joining the industry as modern day Rosie the Riveters, proving that handy work is not just a man’s job. Maureen Lamar fell into her career as a HandyPro owner for two reasons. There was a personal connection that drew her to the home modification specialty business because her grandmother detested being in a nursing facility. “Every time we saw her, she said, ‘I want to go home,’” Lamar said. “I couldn’t help my grandma, but I could help others like her.” Also playing into her career change was the fix-it-up attitude that had been instilled in Lamar as a do-it-yourselfer. “Being a home owner, my husband and I just always ended up doing that kind of stuff,” Lamar said. Every house she and her husband purchased was a fixer-upper, so although the handy work started outside of her comfort zone, she began having her brother-in-law show her how something was done, and she would be able to complete the same tasks moving forward. As a female-run handy business, Lamar’s favorite part is meeting the clients. “You get an idea for what they are looking for from a home modification standpoint, and there are things you can share with them,” Lamar said. Having a female in charge with an emotional connection to the work adds in a different level of comfort that can be reassuring for the elderly and their families looking to remain in their homes and find new ways to experience home mobility. Her woman customers love seeing her at the door. “They say, ‘Oh, how refreshing, I’m dealing with a woman instead of a man,’” Lamar said. But the opposite response can come from a man. “There is a little bit of pride [lost], and they’re like, ‘What the heck is she doing here?’” Lamar said. But she proves them wrong time and time again by speaking intelligently, explaining what the issue is and fixing the problem. Prior to joining HandyPro, Lamar was in engineering, so she has always found herself in a male-dominated field and has never experienced a problem. “I’ve just faced the adversary of being a woman when it’s not typical, and I’m out to change their thought process and give them a new perspective,” Lamar said.