Today we’d like to introduce you to Meloni Raney
Hi Meloni, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Originally, I’m from a very small town in Oklahoma and couldn’t wait to get out and head to college. I loved math so I wanted to be a structural engineer but when I got to the University of Oklahoma I walked into the College of Architecture and the studio class was complete chaos and I thought “these are my people”! The further I got into the major I realized it was actually construction management I was drawn to because they are the one putting all the pieces together – so I picked up construction management as a minor. During the summer before my senior year I interned at The Beck Group, a fully integrated design build firm located in Dallas. After graduating I returned to Beck and worked in architecture, construction and business development until 2013. TEXO is the commercial construction association that serves Dallas, Fort Worth and East Texas. They offered me a position to come lead their Member Programs & Services. Through my experience in the AEC world, I knew we were sound technically, but we had some improvements to do in our leadership training. I accepted the position with TEXO and started developing construction specific leadership training. In 2015 I was promoted to President / CEO of TEXO and have held the position ever since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road hasn’t been smooth, but that is where all the growth has come from to me. When I left a construction company and came to work at the trade association, I didn’t realize it was a career shift. Working at a non-profit trade association is very different than a for profit entity. And after being promoted to President / CEO, I was running a small company which comes with quite a few learning opportunities like benefits, payroll, HR responsibilities, marketing etc. There were plenty of areas for growth! The other challenge was being a 34-year-old female architect running a construction trade association. Naturally the members wanted to know who I was and what I was going to do with their association so after getting the promotion I went on a crusade to meet as many members as possible! All while still running a company and building a team at TEXO.
We’ve been impressed with TEXO, The Construction Association, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
TEXO is the commercial construction association that serves all of North Texas. Often times I’ll refer to us as the people association because we are in the business of building up the people who work in our incredible construction industry! We serve the industry through many different capacities including advocacy, safety training, professional development offerings and of course networking and fun events. There is no other trade association in North Texas that serves the entire industry like TEXO and our passion to deliver awesome in everything we do is contagious! We have so much fun getting to know as many companies and people as possible to help determine what the industry needs and how can we help solve their problems. The thing I’m most proud of at TEXO is our heart to serve the construction industry and help push people to be better both personally and professionally – we are all about the people!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
To me, taking calculated risk is what business is about usually. TEXO is a unique entity because we have company members, so our team is able to have multiple conversations with people to vet trends or things happening in our industry. From those conversations we can typically gather what the industry needs or wants – then we can deliver on that service. Being agile is an important part of staying relevant when serving an industry and part of that is being willing to take a risk. Thankfully we have developed a lot of trust with our members, and they are willing to take the risk with us on new adventures!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.texoassociation.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texotheconstructionassociation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEXOAssociation
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/TEXOAssociation
