 As
Chief Operating Officer for Windsor Homes, Kim Brady
admits that she is living a blessed life. The vivacious
thirty-something sits across the table from me, a smile
on her face, maps of several of Windsor’s most recent
developments on the walls behind her and says, “I never
would’ve dreamt six years ago that I’d be in this
position.”But
why dream it when you can live it, right?
Before Kim became known as COO, she was simply a girl
from Biscoe, a small town sixty miles from Greensboro.
Kim was born and raised in Biscoe and it was there that
she had her first exposure to the construction industry.
Her father, a self-employed brick mason, used to take
her and one of her older sisters to work with him on
Saturdays and during school vacations. There the two
girls would romp around, play in dirt, and watch as an
empty lot was converted into a home. Those images stayed
with her, and even today, Kim admits, she has not grown
tired of seeing all the pieces some together to make a
house.
Kim’s parents worked hard and they instilled a strong
work ethic into their daughters. While most teenagers
were looking forward to their 16th birthday and the
chance to drive, Kim longed for her 14th birthday
because that was when she would be able to get a
worker’s permit. Even though her parents made sure that
she and her sisters never went without, Kim had learned
early on that there was no such thing as a “free ride.”
Her parents taught each of their daughters to be
responsible, and, most importantly, they never told them
that they couldn’t do anything. When I pointed out the
fact that construction is typically a male dominated
industry, Kim simply shrugged and explained that her
parents had not raised her to see one profession as
being for women and others as being for men. All they
had told her was to do what made her happy.
 In
school, Kim had shown a strong aptitude for math and
after two years at a community college, she decided
to major in
accounting at UNC. It didn’t take long for her to
realize that there was something missing. She loved the
formulas, she enjoyed working with numbers, but this
wasn’t what she wanted to do with her life. Her parents
convinced her to come home where she began working full
time. Eventually she decided to return to school and
even though she was still working a 40+ hour week, she
enrolled in night classes at UNCG. Kim says that she
wasn’t what one would call a traditional student; by
definition a traditional student is one that takes
classes during the day and finishes his/her degree in
four years. However, for Kim it was being able to see
real life application of the things she was studying
that really made the difference, and in 1999 she
graduated with a B.S. in Business Management.
Kim’s professional career didn’t take her immediately
into home development and construction. Instead, she
worked for various local companies including Black and
Decker and Maitland Smith. Then, while looking for
opportunities to invest in her future, Kim decided to
invest in the building of a “spec” house. It was during
this time that she began to feel a pull towards
construction and development. Even though she doesn’t
see herself as a big risk taker, she found herself
asking, “Why not?” Everything about the process
interested her, and in 1998 she began taking classes
towards earning her general contractor’s license.
“I was so green,” she jokes, and then adds, “I never
felt like I couldn’t do this.” Even though her knowledge
of the industry was pretty limited at the time, she knew
that she had a head for numbers, and that she was
passionate and determined. Kim eventually took a
position as an estimator at a company in Pinehurst. Her
responsibilities there included putting together a
budget for a house and to her it was like putting
together a puzzle, and puzzles had never scared her.
After a year in Pinehurst, Kim moved back to Greensboro
and began working at Fortis Homes where she met Tom
Hall. Today, Tom Hall is president and co-owner of
Windsor Homes, and he is the man that hired Kim as
Windsor’s first estimator.
In 2002, Windsor Homes was still a very small company
and they were just getting off the ground. Now, nearly
six years later, Windsor has grown in size and
reputation, and as it grew, so did Kim. She continued to
learn more and more about the industry and about the
housing market itself.
As a woman, Kim does sometimes find that people are more
likely to test her knowledge of certain things, and
occasionally, they have tried to pull the wool over her
eyes, she tells me without an ounce of hostility. The
fact of the matter is that she can walk the walk, and
talk the talk, and before long, people realize that they
are working with someone that knows the industry. And as
for the homebuyer, Kim is an ideal contact because she
has been on both ends of the process. In addition to a
strong work ethic, Kim’s parents also taught her the
importance of prioritization. These days Kim’s
priorities include spending time with her husband of
seven years, Kevin Brady and their two Dobermans at
their home in Randleman. Her priorities also include
taking time to remain healthy, to keep a positive
outlook on life, and to stop and count her blessings. |
