Knock down

Admitted introvert Mary Forristall would likely cringe if the word trailblazer dotted her biography.

But it certainly fits.

Forristall is an executive, after all, who is the first woman board member in the 62-year history of the Lakewood Ranch-based Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, a 450-member lobbying organization and industry trade group. Forristall is also a woman who built a $3 million business in the niche construction sector of site demolition — the epitome of what's traditionally been a man's world.

Then there's this pioneering path: Forristall quit high school on her 16th birthday in 1976 to start working. She earned a GED the next year, then she didn't go back to school until her late 20s, when she took night classes toward an associate's degree. More night classes awaited Forristall in her 30s, when she earned bachelor's and master's degrees.

“I have banged my head against the glass ceiling a couple of times,” says Forristall, chair-elect of the Builders Exchange. “But being the hard-headed Italian I am, I just kept knocking.”

Forristall, 53, is president of Palmetto-based Forristall Enterprises. Sales increased about 15% last year, says Forristall, from $2.9 million in 2012 to $3.3 million, part of an ongoing rebound from the recession. The company has 39 employees, up from 30 a few years ago and recently hired an estimator to grab more market share. Forristall says the firm's headquarters, a 1,700-square-foot building near Port Manatee in north Manatee County, is currently out of space. She seeks to add at least another 900 square feet.

The key to success in a man's working world, says Forristall, is to make certain every interaction with a customer or peer is of the utmost professionalism. Then it's about performance, not gender.

That ideal was so important to Forristall that when she started in the business, especially when she met with clients, she reverted to the name Mary. That's her legal name, but growing up she was always Bambi, to friends, family, teachers and everyone else. The switch to Mary, she thought, would eliminate one possible way for people to look down on her. “I was the first person people would see on the job site,” says Forristall. “I didn't want to come off as overly sexy or flirty.”

Forristall says her family, especially her three children and husband, Stephen, vice president at Forristall Enterprises, has been a bedrock of support during her career. That's helped, but so too has an inner drive that propels Forristall to always find a way to do it better. That motor explains how she earned three college degrees while she ran a business and raised three children.

“I was focused on getting it done,” Forristall says. “I look back on it, and I don't know how the hell I did it. I guess I didn't sleep much.”

Tips
Palmetto-based Forristall Enterprises President Mary Forristall has been in site demolition for more than 25 years. Here are tips for young professional women in construction.

Get schooled.

A focus on education, Forristall says, is paramount. “Construction can be a great career for women, especially now that things are picking up,” says Forristall. “I would advise them to attend one of the construction schools.”

Stay ahead.

Forristall says a competitive advantage in construction, past personal education, is to have a company that outshines competitors in its capabilities. Says Forristall: “We wanted to get every licensure and certification we could get.”