‘The Universe Is Setting Me Up’

Jacqueline Laramee didn’t realize it at the time, but the course of her life and career trajectory shifted when—while still in high school—she met Melissa Sheffy. “When I met her, I didn’t know that I was meeting my future boss, my future business partner, my future best friend,” Laramee, now president of Plainville-based NDC Commercial Construction, told the CBIA BizCast. “It was just kind of like, the universe is setting me up.” Larmaee and Sheffy, then president of Network Interiors and Network Framing Solutions, first met as members of a local YMCA board—Laramee as a high school representative. Sheffy said she saw something special in Laramee almost immediately, recalling a conversation about where she planned to go to college. “’It doesn’t matter where I graduate from,’” Sheffy recalled Laramee saying. “’My college isn’t going to make me successful. I will make me successful.’ “That stuck with me, because I was like, ‘this one is different.’ “I’ve had a lot of young people over the years, and I tell people, ‘I’m going to hire you, and I’ll create an opportunity, but you have to run through the holes that I create on the field.’ “She was the first to really kind of break the mold.” Sheffy started Network Interiors—a commercial metal framing and drywall company—about 34 years ago. At the time, it was one of the few 100% women-owned companies in a male-dominated industry. “It was different than it is now,” Sheffy said. “There still are not enough women, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s become a lot more professional.” During the 2008-2012 economic downturn, Sheffy saw the need to diversify, eventually launching Network Design and Construction and later branching off NDC Commercial Construction in 2016. Laramee joined Network Design and Construction in 2008 while still in high school. “I just said, ‘I want a job that I can work with people’,” Laramee recalled. “I want a job that I could do anywhere, and I want a job that I can learn something new every day.” That’s when the mentor-mentee relationship began. During that period, Laramee worked multiple jobs while going to school full-time. “I’m not the smartest person,” Laramee said. “But I will work and work and work. “There’s no shortcut, no hack. You can’t replace hard work.” Over the years, Laramee and Sheffy became closer as they spent more time together. “Melissa helped raise me,” Laramee said. “We spent a lot of time driving to job sites, just bonding and being there for each other.” Laramee continued to grow with the company, becoming president of NDC Construction in 2024. “It was a true mentor-mentee situation,” Sheffy said. “I trusted her. “She always had my and the company’s best interest at heart, and her level of honesty and integrity is very similar to mine.” Laramee, who was elected to CBIA’s board of directors last year, said one of the biggest lessons she learned from Sheffy was to engage with people at every level. “I love that connectivity,” Sheffy said. “We’re building buildings, but we’re building relationships. “So people matter to me, and I think that’s different.” As their relationship has grown, both women said they’ve helped each other step outside their comfort zones to develop as business leaders. “I’ve converted her to systems and processes,” Laramee said. “She has converted me into being a hugger and being open.” Sheffy said their relationship has now come full circle—where she is learning from Laramee. “The sign of a good teacher is that the student surpasses the teacher,” Sheffy said. “That’s what’s happening here, and that’s exciting.” “I get to work with some of the most amazing, talented people,” Laramee said. “I love learning from them, and I think that that’s what keeps life interesting—we get to learn every day if we want to.” Related Links: Melissa Sheffy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasheffy/ Jacqueline Laramee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-laramee-1aa02544/

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