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Great-grandmother oversees contractors

By Farnoosh Torabi | Special to amNewYork

July 9, 2006

While some retirement-aged folks sip daiquiris on the beaches of Boca Raton, 77-year-old Julia Nasso is enjoying her golden years pounding the pavement literally.

The great-grandmother launched Big City Development in 2002, a sort-of renovations "watchdog" for homeowners in New York, Long Island and Connecticut. Her consulting business, which includes just a handful of full-time employees, oversees various home improvement projects of all scales, from gut renovations to kitchen remodeling, routine jobs and repairs. On average, she charges clients about 6% of their total cost of construction.

"We are the liaison between the homeowner and the contractor," said Nasso.

"We discuss what has to be done, and how it can be cost-effective. ... There are so many times when, for example, the architect tries to put in things that are elaborate, and it's just not necessary," she added.

Nasso's interest in starting the business stems from her own experience with a contractor who was repairing her bathroom sink about four years ago. He tried to overcharge her by $150.

"It was a small job, but it was still more than I should have had to pay," she recalled. "He thought I knew nothing."

Little did the contractor know, Nasso was no stranger to the construction industry. Big City Developments is actually more like a homecoming of sorts for her, considering Nasso's father and grandfather were both in the construction business on Long Island. "It's something I've loved all my life," she said. Her brother and son also work in the same field. "My dad used to take us on Sundays to different developments," she said.

And while she oversaw her father's books after school as a teen, Nasso was ultimately discouraged when she expressed interest in following in his footsteps.

"My dad didn't think it was a business for a woman," Nasso said.

So, in 1965 and for the next 30 years, Nasso worked at a travel agency, first as an employee and later as her own boss, purchasing in 1986 the very agency that hired her.

She still maintains the agency on the side, but just part-time, as demand for travel agencies slows.

Big City Development has yet to turn a profit. For now, Nasso invests most of what she earns into marketing, networking and advertising the company. She recently became a member of Professional Women in Construction, too.

She is hopeful, though, that her company will not only reap big returns in the next couple of years, but that it will also expand into other states. Which ones? Florida, North Carolina and California, she said, all states that her grandchildren and great-grand children call home.

Farnoosh Torabi is a video correspondent for Thestreet.com. amSmallBusiness@gmail.com.