Connecting Women: Moroso Construction's Justine Sears on Opportunities for Growth, Commitment to the Industry, and Shaping a Company
By Julia Gamolina
Justine Sears is President of Moroso Construction in San Francisco. She is highly regarded in the construction and design industries for her skilled leadership of demanding custom projects, and for the clarity and equanimity that she contributes to the building process from decades of experience managing architecturally significant projects.
A mentor and advocate for women in construction, Justine co-founded two highly successful initiatives where women uplift women: an industry networking group, and She Builds SF which connects women-led crews with women-led households to develop skill-building and independence. Justine also serves on the Board of Directors of Rebuilding Together San Francisco. In her interview with Julia Gamolina, Justine talks about learning to shape a company and to lead, advising those just starting their careers to connect with each other, and for women to connect with other women.
JG: Tell me about your foundational years — where did you grow up and what did you like to do as a kid?
JS: My father was a newspaper editor and made his name in the industry by attempting to rescue fledgeling second city papers before he became a television producer and finally an internet content advisor. As a result we moved around a lot; Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York City. My father was a well known and popular figure in journalism — my mother and father entertained constantly and journalists and friends followed them as they moved from city to city. It wasn’t unusual to sit down to dinner with famous journalists, authors, sports casters, political pundits, news anchors, etc.—all sharing ideas and points of view, and listening to mine even though I was young.
My mother worked every day of my life. Thanks to her, as early as I can remember, I always knew I would have a meaningful career. Sho achieved success by earning an MBA, starting a small cable company, becoming a PR executive at Clear Channel, and running a few non-profits along the way. I have always admired her resilience and positive attitude while continually having to reinvent herself.
While I didn’t think moving and adapting to new environments was wonderful at the time, I really do feel lucky to have lived in so many places. I was a shy kid and I had trouble making friends because I was often the new kid and I was temptingly sensitive to class bullies. As a result, I spent a lot of time with myself and my parents' friends who involved me in their activities and discussions, which I loved. When we moved to New York City things changed and got a bit easier for me. I found a wonderful group of friends in elementary school and high school, many of whom I am still friends with today. We had a terrific adolescence and we did all the things city kids do; saw rated R movies, caused scenes in department stores, threw items off of roofs and balconies, went to bars & night clubs when we were way too young, and gained comfort and ease navigating a large city.
Justine Sears (left) meeting with the jobsite Project Manager Terra Berson (right) and Superintendent Eric Baker (center) at a Moroso Construction residential project currently in progress in San Francisco. Photography by Joe Budd Photography.
Custom residential project in San Francisco built by Moroso Construction. Photography by Cesar Rubio Photography.
How did you get your start in working with the built environment? I know you studied art history, so how did you make your way into construction?
I always knew I wanted to be in the custom home industry and at first started on the path to becoming an architect. My dad wouldn’t allow me to go to school for a degree in architecture; only liberal arts. He said, “You go to college to learn how to learn”. In his mind the point of college was to expand your mind, not narrow it. I’m not sure if he’s right, but I’m glad he directed me to liberal arts. I loved Art History as a subject and so I majored in it, but I had no intention of becoming an art historian.
After college I realized that construction was my calling and started by applying to the three construction management firms in the San Francisco yellow pages at the time. One of them hired me...as their receptionist. I was probably the most excited and committed receptionist ever! In fact, after a month or two, a couple of the older women in the office took me aside and gave me a talking to about how if I wanted to make friends in the office I should work a little less hard. Seriously.
How did you then move beyond this role?
An executive at that firm soon saw my commitment to the profession and took a chance on me by bringing me onto their SFO expansion team. Through working with builders on that project I realized that working for a General Contractor building homes is what I wanted to do, and would be the perfect combination of my love of residential architecture and interest in construction.
Then, through a family friend, I met one of the owners of Ryan Associates, Paul Ryan, at that time one of just a few high-end custom home builders in San Francisco. Paul took a chance on me, knowing I had virtually no experience but recognizing that I did have a sincere desire to learn the business. Ryan built significant residences around the Bay Area as well as in Hawaii and Napa, many with notable architects like Robert A.M. Stern and Ricardo Legoretta, so I was especially excited at the opportunity. Paul rightly realized that I needed to learn how buildings went together, so had me start in estimating to gain that knowledge. I learned a tremendous amount as an Estimator, which was the perfect foundation for moving into project management, and still comes in handy every single day in my work as I guide our company in the pricing, negotiating and constructability of projects.
“As our leadership was taking hold we took time to analyze past projects and find common denominators for success: clients that felt supported, projects that were profitable, projects where we successfully delivered on expectations, projects that were set up properly in the beginning.”
How did you come to Moroso?
Moroso was started by Jeff Moroso in 1992, along with my partner Ron Bond. I joined the company in 2008 as a Senior Project Manager, after leaving Ryan Associates and taking a bit of time off with my kids. I wanted to work somewhere small where I could make a difference, help to grow and shape a company, and eventually become an owner.
When I was first introduced to my now business partner, Ron, he asked me what I wanted to do with my career and my answer was “I’d like to become an owner of Moroso”. Not missing a beat Ron said, “Make me not able to live without you.” I knew that with Ron’s construction knowledge and my project management skills, industry relationships, and past experience we were capable of transforming the company from doing remodels to executing large r scale, complex residences and estates.
I was soon promoted to Vice President and for the first five years the business seemed to grow exponentially, moving into our desired market and working with the architects and designers we admired. But it was too fast. We ballooned from fourteen employees to nearly fifty. We were doing twelve projects at a time. It was madness, which made it a huge challenge just to keep track of the projects. Because of that frenzy we didn’t have the time to educate our employees in the new ways we wanted things to run or our heightened standards for quality of product and process for this next-level work. It was a stressful time. Although we have many beautiful projects to show from that era we were not doing our best work as leaders. The work eventually stopped rolling in and we had to lay people off, which gave Ron and I the chance to make the deliberate shifts in our business we needed to make.
Justine Sears leading a project management meeting at Moroso's offices in San Francisco's South-of-Market district, with co-owner Ron Bond. Photography by Joe Budd Photography
Justine Sears (left) on the crew of a SheBuilds project build day with fellow women in construction. Photo by Moroso Construction
What was that shift?
Jeff Moroso retired in 2015, the company’s partnership changed, and I became an owner in 2017. As our leadership was taking hold we took time to analyze past projects and find common denominators for success: clients that felt supported, projects that were profitable, projects where we successfully delivered on expectations, projects that were set up properly in the beginning. It was clear that the most successful projects were also those where we set realistic expectations up front, when we were brought on early and could have a heavy influence in the team, pricing, schedule, means and methods. It made sense all around for us to ensure success by executing fewer larger projects rather than the chaos of many small projects.
With that strategy in place, a core group of very skilled builders working for us, and us at the helm of each project we could set our sights on the largest projects in the region.
Where are you in your career today? What is on your mind most at the moment?
I think a lot about how I can be a better leader, and am always open to learning and expanding my perspective and capabilities. I ask myself questions like, “How can I have a more direct relationship with my clients? How can I leverage my knowledge of building and process to be an even bigger asset to future clients? How can I provide a place of guidance, competence and collaboration for my clients and my employees?” I acutely feel that I am a leader in two very different areas: internally in my company and externally with my projects. Each day brings opportunities for me to grow in both capacities.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you manage through?
I am frequently perceived as just a salesperson—that I’m only there to sell the job, and that I’m not involved in the actual work of managing and building projects. Selling is of course part of my role as a company owner, but that is by far not the sum of what I do, my skill set, or who I am. My partner Ron also interviews for and sells work but is not perceived this way, so it’s clearly a gendered assumption; because I am a woman.
The people who work for me as well as my colleagues in architecture, design, engineering and the trades perceive me as I am—a construction professional who runs projects and oversees our teams, with deep experience in estimating, project management and the myriad other areas of expertise I have accrued in my decades of doing this work. The assumption that contractors, construction experts and company owners are white and male is unfortunately still quite prevalent. I am trying to chip away at it one person at a time. I learned that steering outcomes in an attempt to satisfy what I think people want, instead of trusting my view of the big picture, prevents me from showing up in a strong way in both the leadership of my company and my projects. Experience has shown me that the best outcomes rely on people feeling safe knowing I have a clear set of criteria for the relationship and the process.
“Women need to be connected to one another. They need to see themselves and each other in positions of power and success. They need to see what is possible. Our strength is exponentially greater as a group.”
What are you most excited about right now?
The next twenty years. I’m turning fifty in October, yet I feel more courageous than I ever have. I feel the need to step out of my comfort zone, try things that scare me — like doing this article — in order to expand my experiences and create new opportunities and stories. I would like to find myself in unfamiliar territory in order to develop new skills. I’m not exactly sure where it will all lead, but I feel energized by the possibilities.
Who are you admiring now and why?
I’ve been listening to Brene Brown a lot lately. Her philosophy of being vulnerable, present and focused resonates with me currently. Her podcast Dare to Lead is wonderful—it initiates a lot of great thought for me and helps me set my sights on ways to be a better leader for my team through ways to create a more desirable place to work, ways to foster teamwork, and ways to help create autonomy for a new generation of leaders in my company.
Justine Sears at a Moroso Construction luxury high-rise apartment project in San Francisco, completed summer 2022. Photography by Joe Budd Photography.
What is the impact you’d like to have in the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?
I love this question because eight years ago I wouldn’t have had a clue how to answer this. But, it’s never too late to find a mission! Mine began that day after Trump was elected, when I couldn’t get out of bed. I felt a depth of sadness that surprised me and completely took me off guard. Needless to say it was a pivotal moment for me. I realized that I had been hiding my own femininity. I had been spending my career trying to be more like men to not call attention to myself as different, and thought it was the key to my success. I vowed that day to not only be a woman unapologetically, but that I needed to help other women as well.
Madeline Albright famously said, “There is a special place in hell for women that don’t help other women”. Well, I took that seriously and set out to make an impact in my small way. In the last eight years our office went from no female project managers to seven amazing women in a department of eight. I co-founded and led two women-focused initiatives that foster connectivity in the San Francisco design and building community: a networking group for women in construction, and SheBuilds SF. SheBuilds is a women-led and women-focused, volunteer group that provides hands-on construction services and training for critical repairs of women-headed households and women-focused community spaces. I am currently in my 5th year of leading SheBuilds SF and it is one of the most impactful things I have ever done. Women need to be connected to one another. They need to see themselves and each other in positions of power and success. They need to see what is possible. Our strength is exponentially greater as a group. I am committed to continuing to find ways to lift up women in construction and related fields, by providing opportunities and mentorship and by fostering a community that shares connections and resources.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Find what you love to do and create a way to do it. Don’t listen to all the reasons why you can’t. Be bold, courageous, take risks, and ask a million questions. Trust in your vision of what you want to do and be willing to ask for it. If you don’t proactively pursue opportunities that will lead to achieving your goals, no one else will do it for you.
For women, two things. I can’t urge you strongly enough to get connected to other women in your industry by joining or starting a networking group—or even just asking women you know to invite other women for a casual get-together. And second is to seek out women leaders who can provide mentorship as you determine and navigate your path. You will find and give support and community that is meaningful, and what could possibly be better than that?