So how does it happen that someone finds his or her passion working for the building industry? For me the “ah hah” moment came while reading Jim Collins' book Good to Great. Collins introduces us to the Hedgehog concept which states that for a business to be the best it must give up doing what it can’t be the best at.

At the time, I was advising a broad client base of companies: telecommunications, healthcare, technology, retail, landscape design and builders. My strength was helping clients discover the sweet spot between what the market needed and their core capability to provide it. To do that I had to possess a deep knowledge and follow trends about my clients' industries. A 21st century marketing strategy relies on moving quickly with the market trends. Collins made me realize I needed to narrow my focus so I could develop industry knowledge and help my clients even more effectively.

It was then that I realized my passion is squarely for the building industry. This wasn’t at all surprising to folks who know me well because a year didn’t pass when I wasn’t involved in a construction project.

My mother had a true passion for creating beautiful homes. I regret that I don’t have a before and after picture of the house I grew up in, but I can assure you it looked nothing like this. Mom, who is a Real Estate Broker, outgrew that house and built her dream home on the coast.

When I moved to Chicago with Apple Computer I bought a flat in the DePaul district – very hip. Little did I know, being from California, that this old brick building was a sieve. The temperature inside was the same as outside. I didn't have the clout or money to tuck-point the building but that's where my interest in HVAC systems began. We rebuilt the porch to maintain our insurance.

This was my dollhouse that I left behind in California to move to Chicago. We added about 300 square-feet to the house to make it a whopping 1200 square-foot space. With the exception of the new kitchen expansion this was my D-I-Y house where I cut my teeth.

Our downtown condominium in Chicago was a bit small and as a Californian I longed for more nature around me. The house we built in Michigan was quite an extraordinary project for us. The main room was two stories with a cathedral ceiling and glass on two sides of the room. The tradesmen spent so much time in that room or quit because of it that we called it the Bermuda Triangle.

We built this home when we moved out of the city. There wasn't much for me to do once it was finished so I focused on landscape design and gardening. I spent the next summer working for a Landscape Designer who creates beautiful English gardens around Lake Forest.

It was a dream of mine to renovate this 1928 English country home and my poor husband was dragged along for the ride. After renovating every inch of it and landscaping the side yard I earned my 'PhD' in construction. You may think you know a lot, but you don’t know what you don’t know until you tackle a 1928 beauty and bring back her original shine.

This was the beginning of my foray into the building industry. I’m hooked and deeply committed to sharing all of my marketing know-how with all of the fine people I’ve met and come to respect along the way. Builders, masons, window manufacturers and dealers, electricians, plumbers, architects, engineers, lighting dealers, lumber companies, roofers, alarm companies, granite companies and their installers, tile outlets, paint stores, hardware, realtors, pavers, landscape and nurseries comprise only a partial list of the people I’ve worked with on these projects.

In 2008, I decided to change the focus of Beyond Ideas to only serving the building industry and show them how to build a marketing strategy and plan that will allow them to stay relevant in the 21st century.

My old clients suggest that I may have picked a bad time to serve the Building Industry. I respond, for what I do for clients, I couldn’t have picked a better time.