Stan O'Brien is the owner of Paradime Construction, Inc., a general contracting company located in Columbia, South Carolina. He specializes in residential home design and construction. He has degrees in architecture and construction science, and, straight out of school, became a Junior Home Designer for a large home builder. After five years spent quickly moving up the ranks within that company, he decided to start his own business, with the mentorship of his old boss. Mr. O'brien has always been passionate about building and design and is very grateul to have the opportunity to do what he loves on a daily basis. Mr. O'Brien has recently partnered with a green home contractor and plans to continue to expand the quality and breadth of his designs and contracting work in the future.

What do you do, and why did you decide to pursue this career field?
I own a general contracting company that specializes in residential design and construction. I was raised in two cities that had very interesting architecture, and, as a child, I was always interested in manipulating space to play/live in. I have always known that I wanted to design and build homes.

What type of preparation did you do to get into this field, such as educational experience and work experience?
In high school, I took drafting classes to learn the mechanics of drawing. I got into architecture school in college, and mid-way through my sophomore year I felt I was not learning enough about the structure behind buildings and how they stood up. So, I decided to pursue two degrees – one in architecture and one in construction science. During summers, I would work for construction companies and construction detail companies to gain "real world" experience.

If your education was directly related to your career, what types of classes and projects did you have to do?
It would be difficult to list the vast amount of classes I took. I had quite a bit of coursework in art, architecture design, structures, surveying, estimating, scheduling, architecture lighting, materials, soils, computer science, and computer-aided design.

How did your education help you in your career?
The education I received helped me hone my natural ability and allowed me to experience the vast amount of knowledge that experts before me were able to put into the texts and lectures. I must also explain, though, that education can be a bubble and disconnected with the real world. It is very important to supplement your book knowledge with boots-on-the-ground knowledge.

What was your career path like in this field? For example, did you begin in one position and advance through others to reach where you are now?
After school, I was offered a job for a large home builder as their Junior Home Designer. This position got me acclimated to real-world job experience, and I learned more detail about home design than education could teach. I had a wonderful experience in that my boss allowed me to use as much knowledge from my education experience as possible in order to enhance the company. Soon, I was the head designer and estimator. I had the opportunity to bring in a new accounting system and streamline tasks from paperwork to a computer system. Before long, I was in charge of all the superintendants and tracking their timelines and quality. I was in a very unique position to work very hard and gain a vast amount of knowledge, and all of this happened in 5 years. After the 5 years were complete, I moved to another city and began my own company. My old boss was my mentor, and he guided my initial business plan and is a major factor in why I am successful today.

What types of skills is someone required to have to work in your position?
This list could go on forever, and would be different than someone else running the same type of company, but I will try and give the tip of the iceberg. Great people skills (which, I admit, I struggle with every day) are one of the most important elements to what I do. You also have to have exceptional computer skills (everything is done with computers these days, and they have helped me be proficient in this field), accounting skills (I took one accounting course in school and I got a C. I wish I could go back in time and learn more from experts. I have had to pick it up on the fly and become an expert. This is the single most important skill that keeps a contractor in business.), organizational skills (building a home is like conducting a symphony), sales (you sell yourself every day and your bottom line depends on how good you are at it), and incredible self control (Being your own boss has it perks but you will work harder than anyone else in the real world. You have to be able to say no to fun and work when you don’t want to.).

What do you do on a typical work day?
I typically get up early and do paperwork before meeting contractors at the first jobsite. I travel to each jobsite to meet subcontractors, inspect construction quality, meet clients, and make sure each job is safe and a good sales tool. Then, I get back to the office to finish up paperwork, such as estimations, bills, mail, accounting, communication with clients, and home design.

Do you plan to advance to another position within your career field? If so, to what position and why?
I am exactly where I want to be as a custom home builder. I have ventured out and partnered with an earthworks company. I would probably start another company that I would co-own in the future. The next level of advancement for me would be to build more homes. I would only want to do this if all the systems were in place to give my clients better satisfaction.

What type of person do you think is best suited for a job in your field?
You need to be self-driven, a perfectionist, out-going, and have the ability to get people to work together who don’t necessarily want to work together.

Do you have any advice for those who are looking to launch a career in your field?
This probably goes for any field – work very hard (it will show to the right people). Never stop learning – everything changes in our world today, and you need to make sure that you are the best and have the most knowledge. If you ever plan on starting your own company, have double the capital you think you need to start. Cash is king, and you need way more than you think. Don’t get fooled by banks or investors who what to give you money to play with – it takes more than that to be successful.