Cheryl Osborn is the Founder and CEO of Casco Contractors and Casco Design Studio. Cheryl founded the company 22 years ago with nothing more than a laptop sitting on her kitchen table, supplies in the garage, a new baby and a toddler. She wanted to change the way construction was being executed and hoped to completely disrupt the low customer service and poor communication expectations of clients in the construction industry.
About Casco Contractors and Casco Design Studio
Casco Contractors and Casco Design Studio is a full-service general contractor and design-build studio that serves all of Southern California. Casco provides pre-construction, construction, interior design & architectural services for corporate offices, retail, lab, medical office, redevelopment projects, exterior revitalization, ADA accessibility work, EV Charging stations and co-working spaces.
The company has a team of elite designers, project managers, superintendents, and field staff who take a project from start to finish, focusing on quality, schedule, and budget.
The Starting Line
Cheryl Osborn obtained her bachelor’s degrees in Interior Design and Engineering, Construction Management and set out to find her distinct passion in those fields. After working for several design and construction companies on both small and large projects, she realized she wanted to make a bigger impact on the market and start her own company. “When you’re young, you can take more risks and be more malleable until you find out what clicks,” she said. “I was fairly successful at a young age so keeping my reputation at the highest level was imperative. Once I found what I loved, I made sure to keep branding myself as a woman in construction and an expert in tenant improvement and client services, specializing in what I do best.”
Customer-Centric to the Core
Casco Contractors’ clients are generally tenants, developers, landlords, or brokers with repeat business. The company constantly seeks to exceed client expectations and maintain great relationships while innovating the way construction is performed. “We’re only as good as our last project, unfortunately. That is what keeps me going.”
Casco Contractors’ is known for its impeccable problem-solving approach. Before a client can identify an issue, the company is ready with comprehensive solutions. Every client at Casco is made top priority. Cheryl Osborn is a woman of her word, who will move mountains to finish a project on time or solve a seemingly unsolvable problem. Driven by the highest level of customer satisfaction and customer-centric outlook, clients trust Casco because they know the team cares deeply about them.
Cheryl’s Support System
Cheryl Osborn is quick to attribute her success to the many people who have helped her along the way. “I could not have done this without my mentors, my fellow women business advisors, all the men in the industry who have been in construction forever and were excited to see women get into the industry. My parents. My children. And the many successful trailblazing women and their stories”.
To More a Balanced and Equal Industry
Cheryl Osborn hopes companies reach out to a more diverse background of people -especially in industries like construction and engineering, where there are proportionally fewer women. She speaks frequently to young girls about math and science, and she is on the board of Advisors for California State University Long Beach School of Engineering to recruit more women into the industry.
She also thinks companies need to reach out to women with diverse backgrounds at a much younger age. Building a sense of confidence in young girls and breaking down barriers and fears of math and engineering can be a key contributor for them to step into non-traditional industries.
A Day in the Life of Cheryl Osborn
Cheryl’s daily routine is exciting and frenetic. From golfing with clients, raising 90k being dunked in a dunk tank for her favorite charities, to racing to San Diego putting on her makeup in the rear view mirror while closing a couple of deals and catching up with her daughter in Italy, she multi tasks constantly so she can be present for everything. She keeps a notepad by her bed so her insomnia does not keep her from documenting all her crazy ideas for innovation. She is now an empty nester so she is enjoying the next chapter of her life living in Laguna Beach and is on a spree to round out this chapter with what makes her happy, personally and professionally. She loves to meditate in the morning to open up space in her mind and to enjoy the little things – living life with no fear. And of course, she loves to cook so she always ends the day with friends and family, a fabulous meal, and a glass of wine.
Favorite Books
Cheryl Osborn is an avid reader. She reads a lot and has many favorites from her never-ending reading list. To name a few are:
Good to Great, Jim Collins, I learned about not just having the right people on the bus but having them in the right seats on the bus.
The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber, taught me to develop processes or die – literally. It teaches you everything you think is so easy as an entrepreneur but extremely difficult if you cannot delegate.
5 Habits of Highly Effective Teams, Patrick Lencioni. This teaches you how to leverage people’s strengths on a team that delegates and highlights those strengths.
Aced the Appraisals
Cheryl Osborn has won many awards and recognitions for her outstanding performance. Listed below are a few of them:
- 2014 Businesswoman of the year, Office Depot
- Best Places to Work – 2018-2021
- 5th largest Tenant Improvement contractor in OC
- 11th largest woman-owned business in OC
- 20 women to Watch
- Entrepreneur of the year, 2016 for Orange County
- Businesswoman of the year, OC 2018
- Companies That Care 2020 and 2021
- 2022 Women of Influence, Irvine
Valuable Advice to Budding Female Entrepreneurs
Cheryl Osborn offers a piece of valuable advice to female entrepreneurs from her experience and knowledge of working in the entrepreneurial field for years. “Ask lots of questions. Procure mentors in every aspect of what you do -men and women. Reach out to people and let them know you want to learn from them. Don’t act like you know everything – people love to teach people things and feel valued. Pay attention! And take great notes and have lots of people on speed dial.”
An Exciting Future
In the last few years, Casco has become a pioneer in the EV Charging industry. Casco Contractors is also expanding heavily into the San Diego, LA and Central Coast markets with a desire to go national. Cheryl Osborn wants to keep doing what she is doing and associate herself with good people and good clients forever. She loves her life’s work and works tirelessly to elevate women in the industry and constantly improve herself and her company, while forever striving to make a positive impact on the community She often revisits her favorite quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”