How One Woman in a Male-Dominated Field Is Changing The Crux of How Home Improvement Is Being Done!
Welcome to Women in Construction Week! Each year, Women in Construction Week takes place during the first full week in March. WIC week brings awareness, opportunities, and celebrates women who have taken the brave step to enter the construction industry. In honor of Women’s History Month, this week recognizes all the great initiatives and works of women in the industry.
Coastal Windows & Exteriors is a proud woman-owned business. Stephanie Vanderbilt, a former teacher of the hearing impaired, opened the doors for business in 2011, bringing her educational mission to the home improvement company. Let’s learn how Stephanie’s story and mission is changing how the home improvement industry and experience for you as a homeowner should be!
Who is Stephanie Vanderbilt? Story, Awards & Recognitions
Stephanie Vanderbilt is a former teacher of the hearing impaired. With her unique background and perspective, Stephanie brings empathy and passion for service to homeowners in New England. The core purpose of Coastal Windows & Exteriors is to serve and educate.
Building Coastal Windows & Exteriors on this foundation has proven successful beyond measure. The company is a proud recipient of a laundry list of awards, including but not limited to:
–Founder of Roofs for Heros, an initiative that gives free roofs to local veterans in need
–New England’s #1 Women-Led Exterior Remodeling Contractor (INC. 5000)
–2023 BONS (Best of North Shore) Editors’ Choice Award in the Builder Category
–Awarded Family Business of the Year from the Greater Beverly Chamber of Commerce.
–James Hardie® Preferred Elite Contractor & James Hardie® Service Excellence Award
–Qualified Remodeler Top 500 company, ranking 1 in 4 companies in Massachusetts.
-Window & Door Magazine’s Dealer of the Year, which is only given to 8 companies in the USA.
-Qualified Remodeler’s Top Customer Satisfaction Leader, focusing on excellence in customer service and expertise, generating perfect records of achieving satisfied customers year after year.
-Recognized as the only New England remodeling company to win Remodeling Magazine’s List of Top Remodelers, reflecting a testament to our continued passion to educate and serve our communities.
-New England’s only Remodeling Magazine’s Big 50 Company that won in excellence in customer service and leadership goals.
-GAF Master Elite Roofing company honored to be recognized by GAF as a GAF Master Elite President’s Club Award winner, distinguishing us by meeting stringent requirements in the areas of performance, reliability, and service. As a Master Elite/Master Select contractor, we’re committed to offering premier peace of mind with 25 years of labor workmanship and a transferable lifetime warranty on shingles.
-Featured expert on A&E’s Flipping Boston.
–Exclusive window sponsor of Boston Magazine’s Design Home.
–Donated over $200,000 in time and services to our local Habitat For Humanity.
You can see the full list of awards by clicking here.
Stephanie Vanderbilt Attends James Hardie® Summit, Embracing Diversity Roundtable Event
Photo: James Hardie® Embracing Diversity Roundtable Event
In early 2024, Stephanie attended the James Hardie® Summit and their Embracing Diversity Roundtable. This group of powerful and inspirational women represents women in construction not just during Women in Construction week, but every week! They own exterior remodeling companies offering James Hardie® siding along with other exterior remodeling products.
At the Embracing Diversity Roundtable, Stephanie and the other attendees discussed:
“It was a true honor to be included in this group of women and sharing our stories at the James Hardie® Embracing Diversity Roundtable.” -Stephanie Vanderbilt
Photo: James Hardie® Summit / Service Excellence Award
Check out Stephanie’s featured profile on partner James Hardie’s website, crafted in honor of Women in Construction Week! Click here to read it.
Experience Transformation: Bringing Empathy and Education to the Construction Industry
Stephanie had a career as a teacher of the hearing impaired for 12 years. She worked with students to help interpret language such as idioms more easily.
During those 12 years, Stephanie’s husband David worked for home improvement companies. The problem was that those companies were missing important core values, something both David and Stephanie felt strongly about.
The missing values largely included the importance of customer service as well as quality craftsmanship. These are two values that many homeowners find important, especially when it comes to improving their homes.
Putting the ‘Wow’ into Your Exterior Remodeling Experience
After a conversation at the dining room table, it became clear that Stephanie is the ideal owner for an exterior remodeling company. David brought the necessary experience to the table, while Stephanie finishes the puzzle with her educational background and empathetic nature.
Empathy comes easy as a former teacher of the deaf, as she is committed to detecting problems and finding solutions—whether it’s for the hearing impaired or a homeowner with a leaky roof.
However, customer satisfaction isn’t enough to complete the mission at Coastal Windows & Exteriors. It’s a must to actually deliver the kind of value and quality service that we promise. We refuse to be a paid lip service and only want to provide the very best customer experience to every homeowner.
We founded Coastal Windows & Exteriors with the goal of creating a better home improvement company, a company with a customer-first attitude based on educating the community on energy-efficient products. We are committed to giving back and educating the community.
Providing you with Top-Tier Products & Expert Installation
All of our energy-efficient green products meet or exceed Energy Star requirements. We run our core business based on a set of core values that include a passion for service, education, and quality workmanship on every job. And in the end, once a teacher—always a teacher.
Career Opportunities for Women in Construction
In honor of Women in Construction Week, we’re showcasing some of the career opportunities for women to consider in this industry. Coastal has the following career opportunities at this time. Please contact us for more information.
- Project Coordinator
- Marketing Associates
- Educational Sales Consultant
For women considering careers in construction, Stephanie offers the following advice:
- “You must have passion & empathy. I remember as a child, my mom said to me, “You have a gift—a gift of giving.” I feel that you need to do a deep soul search dive and find that passion.
- My day is considered successful if I can do one thing—educate a homeowner on their home improvement problem. It’s not about selling. Have a passion to educate—give that knowledge back and you will receive it 10 fold!
- Educate them on what they need to know; energy efficiency, thermal bridging or realistic time frames in a pandemic—ha! Make it your primary goal to understand their true need is the magic!
- Stemming back from my teacher days, my goals are as much about education and communication as they once were. It’s about building a community where people trust you to help them.
[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
