For Alaina Money-Garman, co-founder and CEO of Garman Homes, in Morrisville, N.C., success isn’t measured by homes built but by connections made. Many business owners may tout similar claims, but Money-Garman walks the talk, a big reason why she was honored as the 2024 Woman of the Year at
the annual Women in Residential + Commercial Construction Conference co-hosted by Pro Builder.
Since its inception in 2007, the production builder has delivered nearly 400 homes in the Raleigh, N.C., area, and the proceeds from each new home built helps grow Garman Homes' Give It Back fund for charitable projects and donations including Operation Coming Home, which builds and donates homes to severely wounded combat veterans and their families, Habitat for Humanity, and The Farm at Penny Lane, a community of 15 tiny homes that house residents facing mental health challenges. “The projects you say ‘yes’ to will reflect the values you hold most sacred,” Money-Garman says.
PRO BUILDER: What’s your message to the industry?
Alaina Money-Garman: That it’s OK to be different and build your company around that. Different is not wrong; different is how we stay authentic to who we want to be instead of taking precedent as gospel.
PB: Tell us more about the Farm at Penny Lane.
AMG: It’s a collaboration between XDS [Cross Disability Services], whose mission is to support and provide equal opportunities for individuals living with severe mental illness, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work and its School of Medicine.
Penny Lane is an actual working farm with chickens and bunnies, dog therapy, horse therapy, and medical personnel on site.
Thava Mahadevan, XDS’ executive director, who is a refugee from Sri Lanka and experienced being unhoused, had the idea to build 15 homes to complete his vision for the Farm at Penny Lane.
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We built the tiny homes on a production schedule inspired by our experience with Habitat for Humanity Blitz builds, where you build a home in six days from foundation to finish.
We created a production line so trades could work on four tiny homes in one day.
PB: Why take on this project, and others like it, that don’t financially benefit your company?
AMG: We often say ‘yes’ to projects that aren’t fully covered by our Give It Back fund because it’s important to us that we invest in causes that push housing and home building forward. My husband calls it my ‘irrational yes.’ I will say yes to things that aren’t obvious projects that move the company forward, but they move us forward exponentially. I always say it’s like those little cars we play with as kids; you have to pull them back before they go fast forward.
The Farm at Penny Lane was absorbed into our operation and we invited our trade partners into that common ground. We all share or know someone who has suffered from serious mental illness.
By presenting it as, ‘a project we get to do because of our success’ as a home builder in this area, we had trade partners lined up and ready to put their best foot forward to help us achieve it. They know the cost of entry to working with Garman Homes.
We learn so much from these projects. It’s one of those very rich experiences that leaves us feeling professionally motivated and personally fulfilled, which is a high bar for a workplace.
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PB: When it comes to affordable and accessible housing, many look only to builders. Can you share your perspective?
AMG: I think it’s everybody’s responsibility. It’s each of our responsibilities to show up to the puzzle, ready to solve it with whatever skills, talents, and time we have. Affordable housing is a problem that was created by more industries than just home building, so you need people from all stakeholder groups.
I certainly consider Garman Homes responsible for part of that, and I hold our stakeholders and our partners to that same responsibility. I think that’s how projects like this get done. Everybody’s showing up saying yes.
Image Summary (Optional)
Money-Garman serves as a role model in her leadership, dedication to the home building industry, and passion for the betterment of her community. She was named 2024 Woman of the Year Award at the annual Women in Residential + Commercial Construction Conference, co-hosted by Pro Builder.
Image Credit
Photo: Endeavor Business Media
PB: What has been your reaction to receiving the Woman of the Year award?
AMG: I was conflicted, actually. On one hand, I was in such shock and disbelief. And on the other hand, I thought, ‘Wow I guess I did that!’ I know that sounds terribly arrogant, but I promise you it came from knowing just how special the work we get to do at Garman really is.
And then it was just retrospective, like in a movie. All the nights I’d lain awake not knowing how we’d make things work; the moments when we were close to the edge—close enough to peer over the edge. And how we always figured out a way to keep going.
It was overwhelming gratitude and not a small amount of relief to feel like I’ve been a good leader for our company. No matter how many homes we build or how much money we make, I’m always going to want to know if we are being the people and the company we said we wanted to be.
And I think we are. And this award feels like I’ve been the person I always wanted to be, too. It is tremendously fulfilling and validating.
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