A flair for building. Jane Levy, president and owner of River Forest-based Levy Custom Homes, is also an industry veteran. She once thought she’d become a doctor, but an eye for reading blueprints and a knack for household mechanics soon had her on a different track.
When she launched her company in 1998, her goal was to make the homebuilding process enjoyable for clients. That means absorbing much of the stress herself. She’s often awake at nights, walking through construction sites in her mind.
At 5 feet 4 inches, Levy grew up a tomboy, playing hockey and football with the neighborhood boys. Today, though, she brings distinctly female touches to her construction sites: tables loaded with snacks and indoor toilets for crews, for example.
But these thoughtful gestures don’t substitute for industry know-how — and a thick skin. At an industry show she once attended, a male builder quizzed her about specifications for building part of the foundation.
“I said, ‘The standard is 10 inches, but I like to do 12,'” she said. “It wasn’t even a hard question.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
