An Unintended Career Path
For Rachel Goossens, Precise Paving has always been like an older sibling, always there, but existing in a completely different area. The company was started by her father, Bob Goossens, just over 40 years ago and she never saw herself going into the family hardscaping business.
Instead, she studied marketing, event management, and community relations and carved her own path, gaining experience in sports management and with nonprofits.
When her first daughter was born in 2018, followed by her second in 2019, Goossens shifted gears to focus on her family. But the desire to work remained.
Looking for flexibility, she began helping out at Precise Paving, starting with marketing and outreach. It was a natural fit, allowing her to tap into her creativity and connect with architects, engineers, and suppliers to support the design and functionality of hardscaping projects.
“I didn’t intend to be in the business,” Goossens said. “…But there’s so many different roles when it comes to construction. I didn’t realize how many players were involved in it.”
Learning On the Job
As the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a building boom in South Florida, Goossens found herself in a new role.
“I started learning estimating and soon it became my main focus. There were so many bids and plans coming in, and we had to keep up,” Goossens said.
From there, her role expanded even further. When the company’s long-time office manager retired, she stepped in to handle operations, from scheduling and ordering materials to accounting and taxes. She describes her current job as being “wherever I am needed.”
“I did not see myself in this role. Accounting was not my favorite class in college. I had never even logged into QuickBooks,” Goossens laughed.
That is beauty of a small business. Goossens works closely with her brother, Rob Goossens, to ensure the company runs smoothly. Rob handles the day-to-day and she handles everything behind the scenes.
“I like the small business aspect. If something is needed, you just learn,” she said. “I would just YouTube it or I’d Google it. I do trainings. I think it’s just diving in and trying to learn as much as you can.”
Building on the Family Legacy
As Goossens helps carry Precise Paving into its fifth decade, she’s excited to continue building on her family’s legacy.
“My dad is a huge resource,” she said, noting that he helped write the guidelines that serve as today’s industry standards for hardscaping.
“He’s just so knowledgeable about the industry and we can ask questions about anything…There’s a lot to learn when it’s a 40-year-old company. I’m learning things every day, every week, every quarter, and I’m just hoping I can take a step back and come in and be like, ‘We can do this better’ or ‘We’re doing this great. Let’s keep this the same.’”
As she delves into modernizing operations and creating efficient systems, she brings a fresh perspective shaped by her background in marketing and outreach along with her passion for project management. Her approach complements her brother’s leadership, with his mathematical approach to the business.
“We speak different languages and I don’t mean that in a bad way. We come from different angles and I think that can be really a strength,” she said.
Together, the siblings aim to honor and expand their father’s legacy to have an industry-wide impact.
Advice for Aspiring Hardscapers
From Goossen’s perspective, having a blend of different approaches and skill sets is critical to hardscaping success. She encourages people to expand their perception of the industry and to explore all options when considering a career in hardscaping.
“I honestly wish I would have gone into this in college. I wish I would have looked into more of the construction management. My dad was gone early in the morning. He was out on job sites doing hard labor work, and so in my head, that’s what construction was,” Goossens said. “Now seeing all of the background of it and seeing all of the options – it’s management; it’s engineering; it’s the production aspect of it. It’s exploring what colors are trending. It can go in so many different directions and I just wish I would have had education on that.”
She especially encourages women to see how their skill sets could translate to the hardscaping industry.
“It’s organizational. It’s planning. You’re keeping projects on track,” Goossens said. “I think for women we can go in and see that it’s a huge world of opportunity.”
