Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheryl Osborn.
Cheryl, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I was supposed to be a boy. I was born before ultrasounds and the doctor assured my parents that I was the boy that they desperately wanted. When I was born, needless to say, I was not a boy. My mother and father chose to raise me without gender bias so I grew up loving makeup and shoes, but I also knew how to change my own oil, tile my own floor and rebuild a carburetor. I always say I can swing a hammer with the best of them, but I am always worried about breaking a nail.
Construction is in my blood, so naturally I gravitated towards it and became one woman in a slew of 300 men graduating from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in Construction Management. I started CASCO when I was pregnant with my second child as a way to work “part time” to be with my family and I never imagined it would grow to be what it is today. I started with one employee in 2001 and now have 70 employees. We have built almost half a billion dollars in tenant improvement in Southern California, are ranked #6 in largest TI contractors, and are the 9th largest woman-owned business in Orange County. Our clients are very diverse, and we pride ourselves on having 90% repeat clients. We are committed to finishing our projects with the utmost quality, on time, and within budget. We take a tremendous amount of pride in what we do and are invested in growing the business to new levels.
As I will expand on later, another major piece of my story is my involvement in the nonprofit industry. I am a proud supporter of Girls Inc. or Orange County and have been for the past nine years. I love supporting young girls and women in our community and make it a priority both in my personal and professional life.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The construction industry by nature is riddled with problems – it’s what we do, we solve problems for our customers. We deal with logistics issues, manpower issues, and market issues. COVID has been incredibly difficult because peoples’ use of commercial office space has dissipated and many are working from home, so there is little focus on building new office buildings.
In addition, finding great talent has always been a struggle for me so when I find it, I hire them regardless of if we have the work.
Casco Contractors – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
CASCO is a full service, tenant improvement general contractor that specializes in building commercial office space, retail space, manufacturing, labs, and exterior ADA accessibility. We are the only general contractor who has an in-house architectural and design group – CASCO Design Studio. With this, we have the ability to design projects with our staff of 10 in addition to build them.
I am most proud of winning the award for Most Emerging Charitable Company in 2019. I have always been charity-minded as the CEO, but over the last five years, I have really been encouraging my employees to get involved with our community. This has brought a tenfold increase in resources, donations, and charitable work. It makes me incredibly proud of my team that they feel giving back to their community is important and I will continue to encourage and support these efforts.
As I mentioned, I am extremely passionate about giving back to the community in my personal life too. I am a dedicated supporter of Girls Inc. of Orange County, a nonprofit organization based in Santa Ana that provides girls throughout Orange County with the tools and resources needed to be strong, smart, and bold. I have been on Girls Inc.’s Board of Directors since 2013 and am an active member in multiple capacities of the organization, from program engagement and investments to committee involvement and special projects.
One of my passions is Girls Inc.’s Smart-Ups Program. The Smart-Ups program introduces girls ages 8-11 to the basic fundamentals of business skills, leadership, entrepreneurship, economic literacy, and government. The program culminates in pretend girl-created, girl-run businesses. For the past five years, I have supported the Smart-Ups program as an Investor. I also took the lead as GIOC’s Awards Ceremony emcee in 2019 and this summer in 2020 as a “Shark” via the Shark Tank Business Showcase, which highlighted the business savvy girls and all that they learned through the program.
In addition to GIOC, I am involved in other charitable efforts throughout our community including serving on the board of Laura’s House for the eradication of domestic violence, supporting Make a Wish every year, giving to Katarina’s Kitchen (the feeding of homeless children at schools and boys and girls clubs), and contributing to the McKenna Claire fund (pediatric brain tumor research and searching for the cure).
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success for me is true satisfaction in the accomplishments that my team and I provide to our clients and the community. It means successfully building spaces for people to do great things – labs that can cure cancer, nonprofit headquarters that service their communities, law offices that fight for justice. We may not do these noble things ourselves, but we create the perfect space where that magic can happen.
Success for me is also knowing that I have given everything 110% – my family, my work, my employees. I will never stop trying to continuously improve and provide better service to all areas of my life.
Contact Info:
- Address: 9850 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, CA 92618
- Website: http://www.cascocontractors.com/
- Phone: 949-679-6880
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cascocontractorsllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cascocontractorsllc
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