COO Jane Kaplan Peck was spotlighted in Acrisure’s Women in Small Business Month feature, offering thoughts on leadership and the lessons shaping her work at Kaplan Construction.
BUILDING A LEGACY: LESSONS & LEADERSHIP FROM JANE KAPLAN PECK
Kaplan Construction is a family-owned business serving the greater Boston area. Jane Kaplan Peck is a second-generation owner and Chief Operating Officer helping Kaplan Construction clients achieve optimal results in every project while feeling like family.
Jane and the Kaplan Construction team have trusted Acrisure to help them manage construction industry risks, retain talent, and protect their hard work with insurance and business solutions. In this interview, Jane offers insight into leading a family-owned business and shares advice for women with big small business dreams.
What inspired you to join Kaplan Construction?
As the second generation of the Kaplan Construction family, I was immersed in this field from a young age.
Kaplan was founded in 1976 just a few years before I was born, so my childhood evolved alongside the same timeline as the business. Work was a constant topic of family discussions and jobsite visits were as common as school field trips. The constant exposure helped me take an interest in the industry, in particular the organizational side.
My college years and early 20s were a chance for me to explore different opportunities, but my life choices were always strategic and armed with the knowledge that I might eventually work for the family company. In 2006 after gaining four years’ industry experience outside Kaplan (a requirement of my parents), I finally came onboard.
Eight years later, I took over the company with my husband and haven’t looked back since.
How has Kaplan Construction evolved?
When Nate and I took over Kaplan Construction in 2015, our goal was to preserve the close-knit, family-oriented culture that my parents had built over the years. At the same time, we recognized the importance of evolving the company to meet the demands of a changing industry, especially when it came to safety.
From the beginning, we made it a priority to hire a dedicated safety director and strengthen our training programs. That commitment has grown over time and has shaped everything from how we onboard new employees to how we approach risk on job sites.
Safety goes hand-in-hand with responsible business practices like having the right insurance coverage in place—it’s all about protecting what we’ve worked so hard to build for 40+ years.
What are some of your biggest challenges as a small business?
As a small business, our biggest challenges are competing with larger firms for skilled workers and managing the higher cost of benefits due to smaller buying power. We also intentionally operate without a lot of layers, which allows us to stay nimble, responsive, and hands-on.
The challenge with that is managing company growth while upholding Kaplan’s unique hands-on approach.
What advice would you give to women starting a business or entering the business world?
To have the confidence to say, “What I’m saying makes sense.” Don’t question what you’re saying, and don’t apologize for it. It’s also okay to be emotional! Emotions are a reflection of passion.
Read the full feature here.