Finding success in yourself

By Emma Peterson. 

Follow Michelle Boykin’s story to learn how she joined the industry and found success.  

Meet Michelle Boykin, the chief operating officer at Rackley Roofing Company. She’s been in the industry for over 15 years and has served as the chair of National Women in Roofing and is currently the president of the Commercial Real Estate Women of Nashville. Coffee Shop crew member Megan Ellsworth got the chance to interview Michelle for an episode of the Stories from the Roof podcast. During the conversation, they spoke about finding their own path and place in a male-dominated industry. 

Michelle graduated with a degree in accounting and found her way to roofing in 2008. She explained, “There was this ad for an office manager, and that's what I was at the time in property management office.” That was her first step into the roofing industry, and she hasn’t looked back since. Michelle summed up her journey, “I've done everything from receptionist to running our service division to now running our leadership team basically. So lots of stuff.” 

But even as she was falling in love with the industry, Michelle encountered her fair share of challenges. She explained, “For probably the first four to five years that I was in roofing, I never stepped foot on a roof. I didn't know that was an option.” She said that things changed for her when her mindset changed. She elaborated, “Heidi Ellsworth was very instrumental in my roofing leadership skills. She really pushed me to start a council in National Women in Roofing and really know my worth and know my value and all of that.”  

When reflecting on those challenges and the power that comes from understanding her value and skills, Michelle said that understanding herself was one of the most important things to her success. Through her career, she’s realized that knowing herself has been crucial to building her career and working with others. She closed, “But really the journey here, I don't think that I would change a single thing.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast to learn more about Michelle’s story.