Meet Carissa Slater | Permit Expediter & Draftsman

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carissa Slater and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carissa, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Starting your own business and working for yourself involves a great deal of risk. You are constantly called to bet on yourself despite whatever odds may be facing you.

At the beginning of Hands-On Permits & Drafting, I was 24 years old, I had no prior experience working in the construction industry and wasn’t even sure I was going to like it; I just liked the idea of having a little more control over my fate and hopefully my income. It was a risky decision, but I wanted to challenge myself to get completely out of my comfort zone and really do this.
Following through with that decision every day brought on an even deeper level of risk. I risked getting “found out” for not knowing what I was talking about on jobs, I risked being rejected by potential clients, I risked feeling totally embarrassed at networking meetings, and I risked financial security more than I expected to.

But the beauty of risk is that there is usually a reward involved. You may risk looking foolish, but you get to realize that you have more confidence under pressure than you knew, you’re usually more capable than you thought you were, and 99.99% of people are supportive and forgiving when you’re giving them your best shot. You may risk feeling afraid about all the uncertainty you’re inviting into your life, but you get to feel completely exhilarated when things works out (and they usually do!).

I have had many days were I am overcome by panic and doubt, and I have had just as many days where I do a touchdown dance in my office because I pulled off the seemingly impossible on a project.

As long as you have integrity, a desire to contribute to your community, and are willing to learn as you go, working for yourself is totally worth the risk!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Hands-On Permits & Drafting was founded in November of 2017. We offer permit expediting and drafting services in the Greater Austin area for residential and small commercial projects. Our clients include architects, homeowners, builders, draftsmen, and other permit expediting companies.

When the company began, we only offered permitting services but I quickly fell in love with all of the plans I was seeing cross my desk; so I got certified as a draftsman through ACC’s AutoCAD trade program, and that formed the structure that the business maintains today. Eventually we will break into design, but for now I am still totally in love with the technical drafting we get to do every day,

I am so proud of our success rate with the City permitting process, especially on projects that we provide the drawings for. Because we offer both permitting and drafting, we have a very effective process that our clients enjoy us taking care of.

On the more personal side, I am very proud of the challenges we’ve overcome while being in business.

The first couple of years, the biggest challenge is just staying afloat and learning as much as you can as fast as possible. There were plenty of nights where I went to sleep for dinner (lol).

The next couple of years were all about capitalizing on the little bit of repeat business I managed to acquire, and reinvesting all of my free time back into the business. Particularly with drafting, I worked extra hard to do everything right no matter how much time it took, and I studied other architect’s plans to see where and how I could improve. This phase of being in business was all about the hustle and grind.

Now I am focused on turning the business into less of a self-employment operation and more of a sustainable company that can have longevity that doesn’t depend on me being in charge. I gain a lot of my inspiration from The Modern Craftsman podcast, which is a podcast led by two builders with different sized businesses that interview other builders, architects, designers, other industry adjacent owner/operators, and business owners alike. I also have a mentor through Score Austin who is currently helping me build an operations manual.
This absolutely takes a village.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Walking Town Lake is absolutely a must! I think it is the prettiest part of our City. I would also recommend swimming at the Green Belt or Barton Springs pool at least once. Then we’d definitely have to go to Asiana for Indian food, get chocolate sprinkled donuts at Wheatsville for dessert or literally anything from Tiny’s Milk & Cookies. Then I would probably drag you to a comedy show at the Creek and the Cave, or if it was Monday I would take you to “F**k this Week” at the Fallout Theater.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Credit is definitely due to my now co-owner/operator, Nick Travis. He gave me the idea to start my business, he helped with financial support in the beginning, and has been my biggest cheerleader for the past 5 years. Nick has great judgement and really cares about other people; so he has been my sounding board, my mentor, and my moral compass in the most challenging times this business has presented me with. We started working together last year and he has helped the business double in growth and serve a greater range of clients.

Website: handsonpermits.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/handsonpermits/

Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/handsonpermits

Image Credits
Nick Travis Photography