When a young Katy Kothmann Abraham visited her father’s office in the Fort Worth Stockyards, she was tasked with things like sharpening pencils and organizing books for his construction cost estimating business. As an adult, she embarked on her own career, working as a buyer for multimillion-dollar retail operations before switching to oil and gas and overseeing more than 50 drilling rigs. But in 2012, her father asked if she would consider buying his company, Construction Cost Management.
She tested the waters first, working both in her previous job and her father’s enterprise. Two years in, though, she took the reins as CEO. In her first few years of ownership, the enterprise grew by an impressive 600 percent. And things have continued to go well. Between 2021 and 2023, sales at Construction Cost Management grew by 67 percent. Last year, it handled about 120 projects.
“Katy has done such a wonderful job—an amazing job,” says her father, Keith Kothmann. He credits her success to the way she leveraged her previous corporate leadership experiences.
For Kothmann Abraham, the ownership opportunity was far more than a business deal.
“When you’re an entrepreneur, and you work so hard at something, like my dad did, building this company, late hours, weekends—if you ask any entrepreneur, it becomes your baby as well,” she says. “In the beginning, I was very intimidated, because I was afraid that the people that my dad had worked with for so long wouldn’t take me seriously because I’m not an estimator. But what that allows me to do is work on the business instead of in it.”
Only about one-third of family businesses make it to the second generation. Young leaders who step in to take the reins have the benefit of a set foundation, but also have the added pressure to not squander the opportunity and mess things up. Women who take over companies in traditionally male-dominated industries like construction have an extra challenge.
When Kelly Smith moved to Dallas in 2013 with her husband, Smith and her father were in the same city for the first time since her high school days. Her father opened a Dallas office for his Ohio-based electrical services business. Soon after Smith relocated, her dad’s financial partner decided to exit the company. On the horizon of change, Smith—who had built a corporate career in business intelligence and data warehousing—and her father began exploring what it would look like for her to step in. They came to terms, and she became his new business partner. “I decided if I didn’t try it, it might be something that I would regret for the rest of my life,” Smith says. “I felt like I was qualified at that point. I had a degree in electrical engineering. I had been in Corporate America, worked for very large corporations, and I just felt like I was probably equipped to try it. And so I bought his partner out.”
Today, Smith serves as managing member and CEO of All Tech Electric. The company, now based in Lewisville, provides electrical work for construction projects across multiple industries. Since Smith took the helm, the company has grown from about 25 employees to 70. It saw nearly 30 percent growth between 2022 and 2023 and handles 20 to 30 electric projects a year with a “sweet spot” in projects that range from $1 million to $8 million. It also performs smaller service and maintenance projects ranging from as small as $250 to $1 million.
Although her father had a wealth of field experience and technical expertise, Smith says she has built her own identity in the industry through networking and building relationships. A pivotal moment for her came when her network of peers and mentors encouraged her to follow her gut and lead from experience. “I think we started working even better together as a team at that point,” Smith says, “because I gained the confidence I needed, and I realized I didn’t need to be my dad to be successful.”
Entrepreneur Carmen Autry did not take over her father’s company, but she does credit him with introducing her to the construction services industry. She grew up in the business, as her dad and uncle were both welders. It was her father who taught her things like how to change a car tire, drive fast cars, speak up, and not be afraid to ask questions. “My dad never said, ‘You can’t’ or ‘You shouldn’t’ or ‘Don’t—that’s not a good idea,’” Autry says. “He always said, ‘Whatever you want to do, kiddo. What do you want to do?’”
That support and encouragement has formed the basis for how Autry approaches her career, from rolling up her sleeves and operating a forklift when needed to launching her own company, NTD Mechanical, in 2001. The Garland-based mechanical contractor generated $500,000 in revenue in its first year and today rakes in about $30 million a year. The company grew by nearly 40 percent between 2022 and 2023 and handled about 40 projects.
When it comes to forging your own way forward in the family industry—no matter what it may be—Autry’s advice is to go for it. “Know who your competition is, know what they do, and know how you’re going to be a little different,” she says. “Make sure your ethics and your quality are very clear upfront. If you start to compromise with some of those things, it’s probably not going to end well. Your word is your honor.
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