Throughout 2023, WBENC is recognizing and celebrating WBEs who have demonstrated remarkable resilience and capacity to reinvent themselves. The 2023 WBE Stars are being honored for perseverance and excellence through reinvention and innovation, despite the unprecedented challenges of recent years.
Meet Vicki Gray, Founder and CEO of New Chapter HI Services, with the Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE) Regional Partner Organization. To meet and work with Vicki is to experience her light. She is the powerful, dynamic leader of a growing Greater Boston area company delivering high quality, competitively priced painting and property maintenance services to a range of clients (Commercial, Government & Residential).
Get inspired by Vicki and stay tuned for our 2023 WBENC Stars article series throughout 2023!
Each WBENC WBE Star has been selected by one of 14 Regional Partner Organizations (RPOs), who lead the world-class WBENC Certification of women-owned businesses throughout the country. The 2023 WBE Stars were honored during the 2023 WBENC National conference, a gathering of more than 3000 entrepreneurs and business leaders taking place March 20-23, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee, and throughout the year. WBENC will be featuring the 2023 WBE Stars in many ways, including this article series and in WE USA Magazine feature articles this summer.
New Chapter HI Services was formed in April 2013, funded with about $2300, now providing an ever growing range of clients including homeowners, property managers, real estate brokers, city and local governments across Massachusetts, and contracts with the U.S. Federal Government, with highly ethical, excellent quality and competitively priced painting and/or property maintenance options. Vicki realized that there a need for better home improvement services that customers could trust.
As founder and CEO, Vicki has grown the business and embodies the spirit of resiliency and perseverance. Vicki also has a passion and commitment to advance and empower young women. She practices resiliency by focusing on self-care, wellness, healing and empowering herself from within which positively impacts her business decisions.
What does resiliency mean to you? How do you practice resiliency as a woman leading a business?
“Resiliency to me is having the ability to see past my current situations and challenges and know that there is a bigger purpose. My purpose is to shape the way young girls and women see themselves as leaders. It is my passion and commitment to advance and empower young women by supporting them in finding fulfillment & purpose in what they do by showing them their thoughts matter, by asking their opinions and listening when they speak, showing them the possibilities of their potential and allowing them to play as they wish and letting them know that there is no wrong or right way to be a GIRL!
When and how was your business started?
The company was formed in April 2013 to provide potential commercial & residential clients with a highly ethical,
excellent quality and competitively priced painting and/or property maintenance option. Our goal was and is to stand out as the exception in an industry known for unkept promises and poor quality. The company was initially started and funded with about $2300 from the owner’s savings.
What does resiliency mean to you? How do you practice resiliency as a woman leading a business?
Resiliency to me is having the ability to see past my current situations and challenges and know that there is a bigger purpose. My purpose is to shape the way young girls and women see themselves as leaders. It is my passion and commitment to advance and empower young women by supporting them in finding fulfillment & purpose in what they do by showing them their thoughts matter, by asking their opinions and listening when they speak, showing them the possibilities of their potential and allowing them to play as they wish and letting them know that there is no wrong or right way to be a GIRL!
I practice resiliency by focusing on my self care, wellness, healing and empowering myself from within and that this will make a difference in my business decisions. Resilience is also a movement in resistance.
What is a challenge or opportunity your business faced because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and how did you face it?
One of the biggest challenges we are facing in the wake of Covid-19 was finding labor. This issue held us back. It limited
the number and size of projects we could take on. As a small business, we have always had the challenge of bigger companies in our industry being able to offer more consistent work for laborers. However, we have had the success of retaining some of our previous workers with financial incentives and increasing their pay rates. With a reliable staff in place, we were able to take on enough projects to retain staff now that the worst of the pandemic is over.
Provide an example of how innovation helped you overcome a challenge, pivot, or adapt to a crisis.
Innovation helped us overcome our challenges, pivot, and adapt to the crisis by:
- Moving to remote work environments
- Switching from in-person estimates to virtual online estimates no contact
- Recovery scenario planning
- Focused on exterior project no contact
- Secured a 3 month contract with the federal government
- Access to resources PPP Loans and Grants
- Offered employees bonus and incentives to work
What have you learned about yourself as a leader from mentoring or coaching others?
What I have learned about myself as a leader from my business coach is that I can sometimes be a stubborn person. Although my stubbornness may project strength and power it is just a facade because stubbornness is often a sign of fear and a way to hold on tight and not let go. I try to micromanage every area of the business. This is caused by the fear of letting go of my own ideas, convictions, and decisions. My coach has taught me to compromise more when necessary.
What do you view as benefits of being part of the WBENC network? How has your company grown and changed since its inception and since becoming certified?
One of the benefits of being part of the WBENC network is building and finding valuable long-term business relationships and friendships , receiving support and hearing advice from peers and experts, sharing knowledge and experiences, all with an emphasis on making connections and collaboration.
What guiding words would you like to share with a newly certified WBE who is looking to get involved in the WBENC community?
Get involved with the WBENC community ASAP! Everyone in the community is eager and willing to help other women accomplish their specific goals. They are there to help others be successful by offering their experience, connections and support. I absolutely love this community.
What areas of innovation do you foresee for women entrepreneurs over the next few years?
The areas of innovation I foresee for women entrepreneurs over the next few years are:
- Product & Product Performance Innovation
- Technology Innovation
- Business Model Innovation
- Micro-businesses Innovation
- Funding opportunities Innovation
New Chapter HI Services delivers high quality, competitively priced painting and property maintenance services to a range of clients (Commercial, Government & Residential) in the Greater Boston area. We are committed to partnering well with our clients to complete each job on schedule with a minimum of disruption.
Our Mission statement is to provide clients with competitively priced, high quality painting and property maintenance services reliably and ethically.
The Painting and Property Maintenance businesses have companies providing less than optimal service due to greed, poor workmanship, etc.
NCHI focuses on professionalism, craftsmanship, convenience, and competitive pricing. Their projects are completed on time and correctly with real attention to detail. Problems are eliminated at the root cause. Jobs are completed to the client’s satisfaction – on time and at a fair price.
