Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 16, 1991 TAG: 9102160075
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARIANNA FILLMORE/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
And, by the way, she holds a master's degree in theology, speaks Spanish fluently, communicates comfortably in Vietnamese and sign language, reads Greek and Hebrew, has taught driver education in the Philippines and elementary school in Peru and sings with the Wilderness Road Sweet Adelines.
Yon's interest and ability in construction are natural. Her father was, she said, "a carpenter, among other things." Her parents built their first house. Her mother built cabinets and taught her daughter how to hang wallpaper.
When she was 15, Yon and her brother helped their father on a sheet rock job in Roanoke. She had to get a special work permit because of her age and the distance to the job sites.
"I am 35, and people laugh when I say I have 20 years experience doing drywall work," she said, "because at 35 most people don't have 20 years experience at doing anything!"
Yon believes there is a real need and market for odd-jobs construction work. "Major contractors don't want to come take half a day to patch a hole in your wall, so I specialize in doing small things," she said. "No job is too small. I will go out to Blacksburg to replace one faucet washer if that's what you need."
She does not seek out major jobs, although she would not turn one down if she thought she could handle it. She does not advertise.
"A satisfied customer is the best advertisement in the world," she said. "I'm building a reputation for myself in my business."
There's only one problem with building a good reputation, she added: You have to live up to it.
"But that's good. It keeps me on my toes," she said. "It makes me go back and take a second look at what I do and make sure I've got it right before I quit."
Yon has never had negative reactions when potential customers discover that she's a woman. Except for tasks that require brute strength, a woman can do construction as well as a man, she said - and perhaps better. "Women pay more attention to detail."
She admits, however, that it has taken her awhile to be taken seriously at the hardware or building supply store. Many women don't really know what they're looking for, she said, and men tend to look down on them.
She now has contractor accounts, though, and people take her seriously. "I don't get the `dumb broad' reaction anymore."
She thinks stereotypes gradually are disappearing. Not too long ago she did some work for "a man who runs a beauty parlor, and he never flinched a bit. He said, `I do hair, but I don't do carpentry.' And I said, `That's fine. I do nails, but I don't do hair.'"
In the beginning, Yon worked for Gary Dunn, a contractor in Christiansburg. He gave her work that people were going to see: painting, staining window and baseboard trim, and hanging doors.
More than a year ago, Yon decided to strike out on her own. "So far I've not gone hungry, and all my bills have been paid on time, and that's really all I ask."
Yon was born in Norfolk and lived in Chesapeake until her family moved to Hillsville when she was 14. She received a degree in health and physical education from Radford University in 1978.
While in college she was in the Baptist Student Union. After she graduated, she went to Peru as a missionary journeyman with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and taught elementary pupils for two years.
Yon said the Peruvians expected her to know as much theology as any career missionary. Because she believed there was a good chance that she would be abroad again, she thought she should learn theology to be prepared. She received a master's degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., in December 1984.
In March 1986, she left for the Philippines, where she worked with Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian refugees for two years. In addition to teaching them how to drive, she worked with the Vietnamese church, preaching, teaching Sunday school and directing the choir.
Back in Virginia, she joined her mother, who had moved to Radford. "I felt like I had come home again, so I stayed," she said.
She attends First Baptist Church in Radford where she sings with the choir and, until recently, taught the college-level Sunday school class.
Besides singing in her church choir, she has been a member of the Wilderness Road Sweet Adelines for two years. A women's chorus that sings four-part barbershop harmony, the group entertains at both private engagements and community service functions.
Yon does not plan to stay in construction and repair work for the rest of her life, yet she is not sure where she'll be "10 years down the road."
"This is a stage. It is a step to something. I'm making a lot of contacts, and I'm meeting a lot of people."
For the present, though, it doesn't matter to Yon how big or small the job is. What is important is that the customer be satisfied when she finishes.
"I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of what I do," she said. "There's nothing like stepping back at the end of the day, looking at what you did and being able to see that you have done something valuable."
by CNB