General Contractor/Designer & Inventor/Roboticist/Engineer Innovating Creative Solutions That Make Houses Home, with Ati Williams & Jessica Banks
11/01/23 • 86 min
Ati Williams and Jessica Banks are multi-talented and multi-passionate women in the trades and STEM...and also 2 of 4 cohosts of "Hack My Home" on Netflix.. They show us why it's important to NOT be defined by the "lower third," which in TV terms means the lower part of the screen where they include your title or job description. We can be multi-faceted and multi-talented women, which is exactly what they are.
Ati Williams is a licensed general contractor and renowned design-builder, owner of Honeycomb – a renovation and design business, real estate developer, TV personality, speaker, and philanthropist.
Jessica Banks is an inventor, roboticist, systems engineer, designer, entrepreneur, owner of kinetic furniture company RockPaperRobot (RPR), and TV personality.
In this episode, we talk about:
- their winding career paths (dream jobs were astronaut & nonprofit hero)
- the importance of creating more opportunities for women by transparently sharing your experiences, salary, and more
- why approaching new situations with curiosity can lead to opportunities
- why being a woman in male-dominated field gives you an advantage
With over two decades in real estate and construction, Ati has revitalized numerous spaces, tackling everything from subtle makeovers to extensive rehabs. As one of the few black women in the construction realm, she's passionate about inspiring the next generation of female builders and entrepreneurs. Ati was born and raised in Kenya and later ventured to Canada, attending York University in Toronto, followed by pursuing her MBA at McGill University. She now resides in the United States.
Jess also consults as a strategic and technical advisor to agencies, corporations, and designers and as a space optimizer to individual clients. Jess is a vocal proponent of female representation in STEM. She speaks publicly on topics ranging from science to entrepreneurship to manufacturing and has degrees in both Engineering (MIT) and Physics (UofM).
Contact Info:
Ati Williams - Guest
Jessica Banks - Guest
Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)
Julie Berman's LinkedIn Profile
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.
If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman
Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3
Ati Williams and Jessica Banks are multi-talented and multi-passionate women in the trades and STEM...and also 2 of 4 cohosts of "Hack My Home" on Netflix.. They show us why it's important to NOT be defined by the "lower third," which in TV terms means the lower part of the screen where they include your title or job description. We can be multi-faceted and multi-talented women, which is exactly what they are.
Ati Williams is a licensed general contractor and renowned design-builder, owner of Honeycomb – a renovation and design business, real estate developer, TV personality, speaker, and philanthropist.
Jessica Banks is an inventor, roboticist, systems engineer, designer, entrepreneur, owner of kinetic furniture company RockPaperRobot (RPR), and TV personality.
In this episode, we talk about:
- their winding career paths (dream jobs were astronaut & nonprofit hero)
- the importance of creating more opportunities for women by transparently sharing your experiences, salary, and more
- why approaching new situations with curiosity can lead to opportunities
- why being a woman in male-dominated field gives you an advantage
With over two decades in real estate and construction, Ati has revitalized numerous spaces, tackling everything from subtle makeovers to extensive rehabs. As one of the few black women in the construction realm, she's passionate about inspiring the next generation of female builders and entrepreneurs. Ati was born and raised in Kenya and later ventured to Canada, attending York University in Toronto, followed by pursuing her MBA at McGill University. She now resides in the United States.
Jess also consults as a strategic and technical advisor to agencies, corporations, and designers and as a space optimizer to individual clients. Jess is a vocal proponent of female representation in STEM. She speaks publicly on topics ranging from science to entrepreneurship to manufacturing and has degrees in both Engineering (MIT) and Physics (UofM).
Contact Info:
Ati Williams - Guest
Jessica Banks - Guest
Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)
Julie Berman's LinkedIn Profile
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.
If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman
Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3
Previous Episode
National Security Expert Creates Nonprofit to Get More Girls & Women Into Field, with Lauren Buitta, CEO of Girl Security
The representation of women has remained stagnant in the National Security field at about 20% across the board.
Lauren Buitta, a national security expert, is on a mission to get more women into this field. She is the founder and CEO of Girl Security – the only organization dedicated to advancing girls, women, and gender minorities in national security through supportive pathways.
There's a lot more to protecting America's interests at home than just considering intelligence and the military. There's the federal government, think tanks, and even the private sector that all play a part and make up over 160 million people in the national security industry.
Her goal is to bring more diversity into the national security workforce. This will also help shift ideological constructs to include a broader and more inclusive understanding of the factors that affect our safety and well-being in this country.
Lauren began her career in national security in Chicago, IL, in 2003 as a policy analyst with the National Strategy Forum, a nonpartisan national security think tank. In 2009 while attending law school, Lauren launched her consulting firm, Stele Consulting, which provided support to clients on local policy issues, including exclusionary land use policies and racial segregation in Chicago.
When she considered what was needed in 2016 (and what was the beginning of Girl Security), Lauren recognized both the continued underrepresentation of women in national security and the need for a more intersectional approach to security.
Resources
Contact Info:
Lauren Bean Buitta - Guest
Lauren Bean Buitta's LinkedIn Profile
[email protected] (Email)
Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)
Julie Berman's LinkedIn Profile
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.
If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman
Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3
Next Episode
Costumer Designer Bringing TV and Film Characters to Life, with Cynthia Summers
Emmy® Award winner Cynthia Summers is a costume designer who brings characters to life on TV and film through artfully and skillfully creating their costumes and accessories. With more than 60 credits (a.k.a projects) to Cynthia's name that range from fantasy to modern day and fashion-driven, her cool job allows her to take a concept or dream and make it a reality on the screen.
While helping create the characters and building the worlds they live in, she collaborates and works with many different people on each project, including the actors, producers, set design team, and many more.
Her most recent work is on the scary new series “Goosebumps” that’s inspired by R.L. Stine’s bestselling books and is now available on Disney+ and Hulu. When working on projects that are based on existing books, games, or other creative works (such as the “Goosebumps” series), she goes back to the source and does a lot of research to stay true to the core of the work and what connects it with the audience . When it's something that hasn’t existed before, she follows her intuition, experience, leans into research, and also is highly collaborative with other key stakeholders.
We talk about:
- The realities of balancing budget, time constraints, weather and filming conditions, and differing visions/expectations
- The exciting details of her cool job,
- How she approaches costume design for diverse characters
Some of her incredible awards and achievements include:
- Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Costume Design category for her work on the first season of “The Baby-Sitters Club.”
- 5 CAFTCAD Awards for the second and third seasons of the Emmy Award-nominated “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” starring Neil Patrick Harris,
- Won and nominated for 2019 and 2020 Costume Designers Guild Awards,
- 2 Primetime Emmy Awards (2018 and 2019) in the Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes category.
- Nominated for a 2021 Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Television for season one of “Snowpiercer,” starring Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs
Contact Info:
Cynthia Summers - Guest
Cynthia's Instagram account
Cynthia's website
Goosebumps trailer
Julie Berman - Host
www.womenwithcooljobs.com
@womencooljobs (Instagram)
Julie Berman's LinkedIn Profile
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I absolutely LOVE being the host and producer of "Women with Cool Jobs", where I interview women who have unique, trailblazing, and innovative careers. It has been such a blessing to share stories of incredible, inspiring women since I started in 2020.
If you have benefitted from this work, or simply appreciate that I do it, please consider buying me a $5 coffee. ☕️
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/julieberman
Thank you so much for supporting me -- whether by sharing an episode with a friend, attending a LIVE WWCJ event in Phoenix, connecting with me on Instagram @womencooljobs or LinkedIn, sending me a note on my website (www.womenwithcooljobs.com), or by buying me a coffee! It all means so much. <3
Women with Cool Jobs - General Contractor/Designer & Inventor/Roboticist/Engineer Innovating Creative Solutions That Make Houses Home, with Ati Williams & Jessica Banks
Transcript
A lot of the process is like asking questions that really like the client hasn't even thought about, like, they're there. They're just like, Yeah, you know, you guys like kind of make things like, really optimal, but it's not just about, like making a pretty space. It's like about like, for all intents and purposes, hacking time and hacking the space and hacking like just like figuring out like, what is the best way to live
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