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WAPDCA is the Washington State Painting and Decorating Contractors of America, is the voice of the Professional Painting Contractor, the only association that represents the Painting Industry. PDCA members are licensed, bonded, contractors, who are dedicated to improving their business through the unique networking, education, and training opportunities offered through PDCA.

Mel DePaoli, owner of Omicle: Contractors Doing it Right, author, and successful construction marketing specialist gave att…

Diversity is not a just a touchy-feely, feel good thing. It is the key to your business’s success in tomorrow’s business environment. It is also the key indicator that will determine if your company thrives. It is about attitudes, and perceptions.

When you understand what diversity really is, you’ll then be able to understand how your and your employee's attitudes affect your company’s bottom-line results. But where do we start?

Let’s take a moment to think back to when you were a kid—ya know, jus…

Diversity is not just about differences. It is also about similarities—the things that people have in common. Leveraging similarities can be an asset in solving business issues and is often underutilized or abused with little in-between. 

Assuming that diversity means differences and similarities let me share with you where many companies go wrong with diversity. They miss the element of difference and only focus on similar or what is familiar. Familiar is safe, reduces immediate risk, and puts…

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) announced Mel DePaoli, President of Omicle: Contractors Doing it Right has been selected to present at their 93rd Annual Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mel DePaoli, internationally recognized author, national speaker and successful construction culture and marketing specialist gave attendees strategies for putting together a diversity program that produces results, is measurable and will build their brand within minority communities and the fed…

“Oh that happens daily!” Karen Say says laughing.

Somehow along the way, our society has decided that certain types of people or certain genders know or do certain things. That is the reality women in construction have to face daily, the judgment that just because they are a woman, they couldn’t possibly know anything about construction, the process, the tools, the technique, or speak the lingo.

When a woman walks into a room, “you start at a negative three. Men are taken at face-value and just be…

What is the value of diversity in your organization? How much does that project mean to you and your company? Seriously, assign a number to it.

Would you be surprised to learn that on average, when diversity is implemented as a process of change it has a one to three hundred percent ROI! (Honest it does!)

It also typically has a higher ROI than other company training initiatives, decreases employee turnover, increases customer loyalty, and can help you land more jobs. . . just to name a few.

By the…

It is no secret that equal pay does not consistently exist in our country. To this day, women still earn less than an equal male counterpart regardless of the industry! On average women earn 77 percent of a man’s pay, according to Census statistics released in September 2011. To put this in perspective, fifty years ago, women earned 61 percent of what men earned. While it is not equal, it is progress!

To break it out further, in 2010, African American women were at 67 percent of all men's earning…

I have lost count of all of the different “types” of customer service and sayings about what customer service should be. Oh, and we can also add the different words for customer service and the actual customer! In the end, they all say the same thing, be nice to the people or companies that give you money.

When I was in Hawai’i, Oahu to be exact—and just so you know, there is no ‘w’ in O’ahu. I was there for a speaking gig and then magically it into a vacation. It was my first time there and wh…

Diversity simply addresses differences. It doesn’t specify what is different, how it’s different, or why it matters that it is different, it just simply is different. These differences can come in the form of religion, sexual orientation, language, age, race, communications styles, gender identification, social class, mental abilities, or even looks.

Senior leadership and a company’s employees bring these qualities and characteristics to work every day—whether you want them to or not. These are…

This has become a “chick” question.

The female stereotype is that we obsess over this question every day and every time we need to change our outfit. But in reality, it is a question that we all ask ourselves every time we get ready to leave the house. Men tend to ask it subconsciously; women give it more conscious thought. Working in a male-dominated industry makes this question even more stressful!

As a minority, you are constantly under a microscope for things that are relevant and irreleva…