Reliable Repairs Lives Up To Its Name

Posted

By Ellen Kinsella

When Jo Ellen Soesbee founded Reliable Repairs, Inc. in 2004, she knew exactly what to do with her business plan. While studying Business Leadership at the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University, she designed a plan for a handyman company as part of her curriculum. When her husband Russel got laid off in 2002, she knew it was time to activate that plan.

Russell, who is a design engineer, had always done handyman work for friends and family members. Combining these skills with his professional training, Reliable Repairs, Inc., hit the ground running, with Jo Ellen as CEO and Russel as VP. The location was an easy choice. “I’m from ‘The Dena,’ and The Dena rocks,” exclaimed Jo Ellen, “so that’s where the business will be.”

Reliable Repairs offers handyman services, home repairs, facility maintenance, commercial repairs, real estate repairs, maintenan

ce, property management, Do-It-Yourself projects, home improvement, finish carpentry, punch-out work, subcontracting, construction, women’s Do-It-Yourself, training and education, and much more.

All Reliable Repairs’ work is backed by a 100-percent satisfaction guarantee. A licensed and insured company, it has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and has been given a 2009 Top-100 MBE/DBE business award in the mid-Atlantic region.

Reliable Repairs offers woman-to-woman contracting, with all work performed by professionals, with licensing specific to the contractor home improvement areas.

Jo Ellen looks forward to the future, admitting, “My small business is surviving because I have been able to do things differently.”

For example, Reliable Repairs collaborates with competitors and job-shares. “When I have a project that requires more hands than I have available, I call in some of the other contractors I know and we do the job together. I love to support other small businesses, as well as my friends and neighbors,” she states.

Jo Ellen shares her workers, tools, and projects, but her real passion is in sharing her knowledge by teaching women how to do basic home repairs. She teaches in some senior centers in Baltimore, as well as at some local shelters. “I love the look of accomplishment when a woman sees she can do something on her own,” she explains.

And if all this doesn’t keep her busy enough, the young entrepreneur also teaches at AACC.

There are some challenges with being a woman-owned business. “I am a woman in a man’s world, but I have managed to carry on,” she declares. “Some make fun of my pink steel-toed work boots and pink hard hat, and then there are some who simply won’t shake my hand or take my business card.”

Jo Ellen has a vision for the future that includes lots of growth for small business, and she proudly points out, “Women in business are now outranking men. We are strong and we are thriving!”

Reliable Repairs, Inc. is located at 7729 Woodlawn Avenue in Pasadena and can be reached at 410-439-4334 or www.toolboxtomgirl.com.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here