Be Authentic

“She’ll cut right to the chase, but in a loving way. She’s one of those people who tells you if you have spinach in your teeth, but she also tells you how beautiful the rest of your teeth are. She’s tough but uplifting.” —Michael McCutcheon, McCutcheon Construction

Harrell’s rare combination of blunt honesty and warmth encourages conversations that strengthen outcomes and relationships. “She pushes people; she doesn’t allow them to get away with anything,” Downing says.

“Honesty is always the best policy if presented in a loving way,” Harrell wrote, years ago, as one of her “10 business commandments.” She has always been open about her relationship with Benson, for instance, and while some people may never accept lesbians and gay men, her openness more commonly puts people at ease, and engenders trust and respect.

Another area in which Harrell’s honesty is an asset, perhaps ironically, is sales. Behind her charisma is a terrific capacity to listen and understand and never simply parrot what people think they want to hear. “She’s really good at assessing clients’ pain without coming out and asking about it directly,” Paul says. Thus, in presenting her recommendations, always in a way that makes people comfortable, Harrell might say, “I hear you, but I’m not sure that’s right.”

“Iris will draw a line; she expects the best from people,” Giammona says. “I think she sometimes has more confidence in people than they have in themselves.”

Likewise, her honesty extends to sharing information about her own business with other remodelers. “She is so forthright, so willing to share the good, the bad, and the ugly about her business — how they got to where they are and what’s helped her,” Downing says. “It gives her so much credibility so fast.”

Behave Famously

“Iris is a natural schmoozer. She’s modeling for the rest of us.” —Ciro Giammona, HRI general manager

Iris Harrell the person has long been synonymous with HRI the company and even its logo, an outline of an iris inside a purple H. She is well known in the South Bay area thanks to the company’s longevity and community outreach, which the media find irresistible.

Yes, HRI is a perennial winner of design and construction competitions (a forthcoming documentary even focuses on The Forever Home, the universal design concept embodied in Harrell’s and Benson’s home), and Harrell herself has won many high-profile awards for women business owners.

The company was also years ahead of the industry in holding homeowner workshops that let homeowners meet the HRI team. And who better to conceive of the wildly popular “Ms. Fix-It” home improvement workshops for Girl Scouts?

“She is the icon and the brand,” Babot says. But with Harrell’s eventual retirement, the goal is to transfer HRI’s ownership — and its public identity — to the rest of the team, and in particular to general manager Giammona.

“We’re entrenching ourselves in the community,” Babot says. A new ad campaign focuses on employee ownership, for instance. In addition, many HRI staff are on the boards of community and business groups; they are active in disease research and prevention organizations; they sponsor local music and arts events; they reach out to past clients and generally strive to put a positive public face on the company.

“We’re thinking long-term, and we are planting seeds,” Babot says.

Harrell approves. “Good businesses are built on awareness,” she says. “It’s all about emotional intelligence.”

—Leah Thayer, senior editor, REMODELING.