A Woman Worth Recognizing

Without further ado, Judy Mozen is the 2019 Woman of the Year. 

Mozen, president of Handcrafted Homes in the Atlanta area, received the top prize this year’s Women in Residential Construction conference (WIRC) in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“It is extremely gratifying to honored by this prestigious organization of women,” said Mozen of the award. 

(From left to right) Erika Taylor, director of content for Professional Remodeler, Judy Mozen, president of Handcrafted Homes, and Denise Dersin, editorial director for Professional Builder, pose at this year's WIRC. 

For more than 40 years, Mozen has served the remodeling field, both as a business woman and an industry leader. She founded her company in 1976 and from day one has celebrated quality performance, industry involvement, and inclusive action, particularly regarding women, young adults, and people of color. In her four decades, she’s not only built and grown a successful business, but has along the way collected an impressive array of accolades and titles. 

She has been an active member of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) since 2004, and held several offices at the organization’s national level, including Secretary, Treasurer, President and Board Chair. A NARI Certified Remodeler and Green Certified Professional, she is also an EarthCraft Builder and EarthCraft Remodeler.

And she’s received numerous awards, including this year’s President’s Award from NARI. 

An Award-Worthy Woman 

Mozen has all the bona fides of an award-worthy remodeler, but something that sets her apart, especially in the context of WIRC, is her commitment to bringing more women into the remodeling and building markets.  

“We have a shortage of skilled labor in our industry and women represent an obvious recruiting goal,” Mozen said on the importance of female inclusion in remodeling. “But more importantly, housing will be more functional and better designed through teamwork between women and men.” It’s a simple matter of: more perspectives amounts to better designed homes. “Lastly, it always wise for a company to have diversity on its team, both in sales and design.” 

In the past, Mozen’s served as a mentor to young women through Deloitte’s Women’s Initiative Program. And during her tenure as NARI President, she dedicated considerable attention to the inclusion of women and other under-represented groups. Seeing first-hand how widespread the opportunity is for more inclusion, she’s continued to promote further inclusion in the industry even after her chairmanship was up. 

“This will be a long process,” she said, mentioning specifically that conversations with girls and young women need to clearly articulate “the intellectual and financial rewards of a profession in construction.” Additionally, it’s up to business owners and the industry’s associations to change the perspective of what a remodeler looks like. “The representation of our industry in PR materials often depicts men as the builders and women as the buyers,” she said. “It is essential that our industry’s marketing and PR materials show women in dominant positions. “