Sonja Rheaume
Executive Leadership & Business Coach
President, Christenson Electric
$100M+ Electrical Contractor on the West Coast
“I had 140% return on my margin last year.
I dedicate a lot of that to coaching with Sonja.”
Grow Your Construction Business
(even if you’re the only woman in the boardroom)
Owners | Founders | CEOs | C-Suite | Directors | Managers
I’d love to show you how executive coaching can help you build your construction business with confidence.
But before we get into the nitty-gritty… how about a construction joke?
How do women leaders get to the next level in construction?
⚡️⚡️Answer: They ask for directions!⚡️⚡️
(Maybe that’s why they hire coaches 😉
… but in all seriousness…)
I teach women leaders how to play the game of construction.
As far as I know, no one's written the official playbook called,
“How to Run a Construction Company.”
It’s very nuanced, even more so if you’re a woman.
You need someone to show you the rules of the game, so you can play to win.
GET THE FREE EMAIL MINI-SERIES
5 Common “Sticky Situations” in Construction & How to Navigate Them as a Woman Leader
How to give constructive feedback to a disgruntled employee
How to handle a customer who’s angry that a job is late
How to negotiate a better deal with a supplier
How to ask for the work without looking desperate
How to communicate a big company change to the staff
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So what’s a coach & what do they do?
All the best leaders in every field have coaches. Think of athletes, executives, and performers.
Coaches help you achieve your goals by:
Using their EXPERIENCE to help you win
✔️ Helping you see your blind spots
✔️ Sharing business acumen
✔️ Avoiding common roadblocks
✔️ Filling in knowledge gaps
Giving their INSIGHTS to help you lead
✔️ Reframing problems into opportunities
✔️ Directing your team members wisely
✔️ Designing your company’s culture
✔️ Helping you have tough conversations
Getting you FOCUSED to help you grow
✔️ Clarifying your challenges + goals
✔️ Working more efficiently + profitably
✔️ Achieving work-life balance
✔️ Making industry connections + introductions
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
Coaches don’t tell you what to do.
We ask great questions, provide helpful frameworks, offer insights + feedback, and ultimately illuminate the best path forward.
Connect with Sonja to Explore Coaching
“Sonja helps me be the best leader I can be.
I was always taught to hire the best coach you can afford. You’ll never reach your full potential without a coach. Sonja helps me be the best leader I can be, and she helps me with mindset, accountability, and achieving the big stuff.”
Meet Sonja Rheaume
Fourth Generation Contractor
President of a $100M+ Business, Employing 400+
Executive Coach for Women in Construction
I’m Sonja Rheaume, and I’m a fourth-generation contractor. Growing up, my family would go to church every Sunday and then talk business around the breakfast table.
All of our family trips were a mix of business and pleasure. I’d listen to the guys talk shop but the women were rarely involved. If they were, they held secretarial roles filing paperwork. Despite being the oldest grandchild, I never really thought a role in my grandfather’s company was an option. It’s just not a place where many women worked.
Fast forward to today, and I’m the proud owner and President of Christenson Electric, a $100M company with over 400 employees serving the Pacific Northwest. I love coaching women leaders in construction and sharing the lessons and strategies that have helped me grow the largest electrical contractor on the west coast. I would love to connect with you.
You can have it all but only if you build it on purpose.
One reason I went into coaching was that, too often, I saw women working really hard and burning themselves out, trying to overcompensate for a lack of confidence.
In construction, the theory goes that if you’re a woman, you have to:
✔️ Have a thick skin
✔️ Always be overprepared
✔️ Work twice as hard
✔️ Act tougher than you are
✔️ Be an ‘ice queen’
✔️ Dress like the guys
✔️ Dominate or be a doormat
How to Be a Woman Leader in Construction Without the Burnout
As with all things, there’s some fact and some fiction in the list above. There’s no one right way to lead in construction, no matter your gender identity. You need to be knowledgeable, confident, collaborative, and strategic but you can still be yourself. In fact, there’s no better way to be successful than to give yourself permission to be you.
When it comes to working hard, I love the adrenaline of work. There’s a fast-paced flow to construction that I find exhilarating. However, I learned the hard way that overworking and neglecting my personal life, family, and self-care left me unfulfilled.
That’s why I give women in construction the strategies they need to really have it all: personal and professional fulfillment, health, wealth, and happiness.
“If you’re going to win in this industry, find a Sonja.
Find somebody you can reach out to and talk through things. Sonja is well-respected because she’s earned her title. She’s good. And when she does something or says something, it’s very anchored and grounded. It’s meaningful. She’s proof that you don’t have to dress like a dude to get respect. There’s incredible white space for women in this industry. You just have to have a good attitude and a great work ethic.”
The Four Keys to Building a Successful Construction Business
I’ve found there are four things you need to know
about construction to be really successful & sustainable:
1
Finding the work
You need a strategy for finding great work in the right market segment for you.
2
Pricing the work
You need to have systems for accurately pricing the work, so you make money.
3
Executing the work
You need to be able to efficiently deliver the work with a high rate of customer satisfaction.
4
Managing the cash flow
You need to be able to close out the jobs and bring in the dollars, so your company thrives.
We will focus on all of these during our coaching sessions.
While other coaches may strictly focus on mindset, my coaching style is a heavy mix of business strategy, skill-building, leadership development, and finding personal fulfillment.
When you hire an executive coach, your professional development may also include:
✔️ Learning to build industry relationships
✔️ Expanding your impact with philanthropy
✔️ Developing your vision
✔️ Building technical knowledge
✔️ Managing growth
✔️ Becoming a strong communicator
✔️ Getting involved in the community
Are you in the weeds?
That’s where growth stops.
Coaching pulls you out.
Being in the weeds, buried in the daily chores of your business and too busy to take a breath, ensures that your business will stall.
My first goal is to help you draw a path to what freedom would look like for you:
✨Being able to pick up your kids from school
✨Attending family events
✨Taking holidays off
✨Doing more traveling
✨Pursuing personal hobbies or interests
✨Investing in your health & wellness
✨Participating in charitable causes
✨Giving back to the community
We have to get you to be the leader, instead of doing all the work. That’s the fastest way to grow your business and regain your sanity.
“You can’t do it alone.
Coaching is expensive but you have to look at how you’re growing as a leader. You can’t do it alone. When Sonja and I started working together, the first thing I did was hire an estimator with electrical experience. Then, I replaced three customer service team members who didn’t really want to grow. Then, I hired an executive assistant and a general manager. Now that I’ve lined up the team where it needs to be, we’re running so much more efficiently.”
MY VISION
To build a force of women in construction, change the culture, and transform the industry
A career in construction offers so much to women:
✖️Flexible schedules
✖️Great benefits
✖️Upward mobility
✖️Variety in day-to-day activities
✖️Building projects you can be proud of
✖️Educational opportunities
You don’t have to rack up college debt, only to end up stuck behind a desk with a job you don’t love. The construction industry is a great alternative, and I hope to inspire more women to enter the industry, lead companies, and become C-suite executives.
Inspiring Early Builders
You belong here. I love sharing the industry with kids and young adults. I often speak to high schools and colleges about the field of construction and all the opportunities that are available. It would be a pleasure to speak at your organization, non-profit, or industry event.
Invite Sonja to Speak
Complete this short form to meet with Sonja and discuss your event.
Here are a few ways women sometimes struggle with leadership in construction.
✔️Striving for perfection
✔️Asking permission
✔️Tolerating inappropriate behavior
✔️Advising male colleagues
✔️Addressing union issues
✔️Doing the work of others
✔️Being treated like a secretary
✔️Avoiding politics
✔️Leading by consensus
✔️Putting work ahead of personal life
✔️Being too modest
✔️Giving away their ideas
✔️Ignoring feedback
THERE ARE MANY TOUGH SITUATIONS & CONVERSATIONS TO BE HAD
Coaching can help you field those discussions and concerns ahead of time, or take a retrospective look at the actions that could have brought about more favorable outcomes.
At the end of the day, every woman leader in construction wants to know the same things:
How do we do our best work?
How do we all work together?
How do we continue growing?
How do I disconnect at the end of the day to be truly present with our families?
Succeeding in life and work is easier with an executive coach.
Ways to Work with Me
There are a variety of ways to work with me:
🌟 Private Coaching
🌟 Group Masterminds
🌟 Corporate Coaching
🌟 Seminars & Workshops
🌟 Keynote Talks
🌟 Retreats
The first step is to simply book a connect call with me to see if working together is a good fit!
After you select a time for us to connect, you’ll be asked to answer a few questions, and we’ll be in touch soon.
GET THE FREE EMAIL MINI-SERIES
5 Common “Sticky Situations” in Construction & How to Navigate Them as a Woman Leader
How to give constructive feedback to a disgruntled employee
How to handle a customer who’s angry that a job is late
How to negotiate a better deal with a supplier
How to ask for the work without looking desperate
How to communicate a big company change to the staff
Enter your name and email to get this free resource.
This also adds you to my email list. You can unsubscribe anytime. Privacy Policy.
The 3 Parts of My Coaching Framework
One. Thoughts & Beliefs
Thoughts and beliefs are either fact or fiction. The facts are rarely the issue. It’s our interpretation of the facts that causes us stress and slows us down. My work shows you how to decide which fictional thoughts and beliefs aren’t serving you and how to change them (but only if you want to!)
Two. Strategies & Execution
The business of growing a construction company is like a game, and you have to know the rules. As a seasoned mentor who’s been in your shoes, I can be invaluable in helping you to decide the right next step to take and how to turn strategy into effective, efficient action that achieves your intended outcome.
Three. Accountability & Support
Sometimes, you just need a neutral 3rd party to help you clarify your goals, check in on your progress, remind you of your commitments, and help keep you focused. Knowing what to work on next is often half the battle. I can help you gain clarity and maintain elite levels of focus.
Imagine having a seasoned construction executive (one with experience coaching women just like you) in your back pocket for an entire year.
What impact do you think that would have on your business & personal life?
Connect with Sonja About 1:1 Coaching
If you know you’re ready to make some big moves and build your construction business like never before, let’s connect! We’ll get there together.
“Sonja’s given me the confidence to be true to who I am.
I’m from the South where we beat around the bush and just kinda hope you get the message. Well, I found that style of communication didn’t work too well in construction. Sonja is teaching me about radical candor, how to be compassionate and authentic while still being direct, and it’s given me the confidence to be true to who I am, even when people challenge me.”
Ready to build your construction company to great heights
Let’s raise the bar!
