Jessica Deyong has heard it all.

Princess. Buttercup. Sweetheart. Honey. Dear.

All of those pet names used against her in conversations at previous jobs — the last of which included working at and managing a Hamilton-based construction company.

“I wasn’t treated the way I should have been treated,” said Deyong. “So I said, ‘Enough is enough.’”

Deyong quit that job in April 2020 and immediately launched her own business, dollHOUSE Design + Build, a women-led contracting and design firm located on Myrtle Avenue in the central city.

Her goal? To create a safe space where women could feel supported as they work to build their careers in trades and construction and combat the barriers that prevent women from doing so.

“Some of the things I saw enraged me and made me realize how important it is to be supportive of the women that want to show up,” said Deyong. “If this is something that they want to do, they should have a space to do it, without being called princess.”

Fast-forward to nearly two years later, and dollHOUSE has seen an “explosion” of growth since its start at the beginning of the pandemic, she noted.

What launched as a crew of four has since swelled to a team of more than a dozen workers and counting — a majority of which are women.

Keep reading in The Hamilton Spectator

• 
•