In 1984, at 25 years old, I decided to chase my lifelong dream of being a builder. As an architecture college dropout who still had the “bug” for design and construction, I decided to make my own path. Starting a company, however, turned out to be a much bigger challenge than I had reckoned. Practically overnight, I had to find an office at 462 Summit Ave. in Robertson, Missouri, set up a phone line (314-731-8181), create a name—Clayco (Cla for Clark)—and even submit a winning bid to Monsanto Corporation on our very first day.

A lucky break came when my friend Kathy Wood connected me with Sverdrup Corporation, which needed interior finish work. I didn’t even know what that was at the time, but it turned out to be simple—carpet, drywall, paint, and basic electric—perfect for us. Still, that first year was rough: working out of trailers, building out our office while wires hung from the ceilings, and painting yellow lines on the floor to mark where “offices” would be.

That first year was brutal. But 14 months later, we had a $10 million backlog of work. We were still not profitable or cash-flow positive, and I was still going home without a paycheck. Right then, a luckier break came. My close friend Mike Nowak called and gave me a tip that his coworker at a machine tooling company was being laid off, and he recommended I give her a try. I had fleeting introductions to Nancy Yerick, but did not know her well, and we needed a receptionist and all-around help in the office. I offered her about a thousand dollars a month and mediocre health insurance, so she also kept her nighttime waitressing job at Denny’s.

From day one, Nancy made a difference. Professional, lights on, the best dressed person in the office, perfect posture, a killer smile, and a can-do attitude that has never wavered to this day. Neither of us would have guessed then that she would become one of the most critical parts of Clayco’s success and have stickability—40 years’ worth!

We were in a scrappy startup mode. As the “receptionist,” the job was anything and everything that needed doing. Without hesitation or questions, Nancy did it—whether it was keeping the coffee pot full, helping accounting make payroll, or staying until 9 p.m. to help us finish proposals. As the movie title says, she was “everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Even though we were both starting families, “the job was the boss” and getting-shit-done as fast as possible with a quiet sense of urgency mattered most. Early on, the office “adopted” a child from the neighborhood, Todd Weaver. In addition to all her responsibilities at the office, Nancy found time to tutor Todd and impart her solid, no-nonsense personality, common sense, and ethical behavior onto him—and to all of us at the same time.

Nancy didn’t stay at the front desk long. Our first CFO, Mike Madden, saw her potential and moved her into accounting, where she helped set the pace for paying our bills on time and getting the payroll out. Even when the day should have been over, she’d stay to help with proposals late into the night.

The business was growing fast, and we were getting our game on. The pace was overwhelming, so after about a year, I walked over to accounting, told Nancy to pack her stuff, and moved her into my office as my assistant, over Mike’s loud protests. From then on, it felt like we were all working for Nancy.

The construction business is hard. We were in startup mode, with no education and no construction experience; every single thing we did was a learning curve. There were also lots of “do or die” decisions that had to be made. The business is adversarial, with many close calls as to what is right and wrong. Although I always had a strong north star, it’s also true that as a business leader, you come to depend on the people you work with closest to make the best decisions through the fog. I always said Nancy was the good angel on my right shoulder, forcefully poking me in the temple whenever I started looking like I was getting off the beaten path.

To help keep us on the right path, we hired some game changers during the very early days at our office on Summit Avenue. As our second CFO, Paul Dickie was a wizard at all things accounting and a master of the IBM 3600. He could be abrasive sometimes, but never with Nancy…at least never twice! Another of our best and brightest was Paul Hansen, who brought discipline and project management skills, spearheaded our first computer network, and lobbied for Nancy to get a word-processor. Recently, former team member and long-time Clayco friend Rich Striler and I recalled an early big win—the Pepsi Bottling facility in St. Louis City. This success was mainly due to the late night Nancy spent putting the proposal together while battling a severe cold, only for Rich to make changes and (fearfully) ask Nancy to tear the proposal books apart and start over again. As usual, Nancy didn’t complain; she just got the job done. Rich also accompanied me to force the return of Nancy’s stolen car phone from some bad neighbors…and I found him hiding on the car floorboards.

In those formative years, Nancy became our “Girl Friday.” She was the trusted go-to person for handling multiple responsibilities, including scheduling, research, and general problem-solving. She also took on critical responsibilities for marketing, advertising, and some of the critical culture building that has gone the distance: Teamwork, Adaptability, Mentorship, Grit, Results, Urgency, Leadership, Creativity, and COURAGE.

As the company expanded, we added some strong talent to the organization. Dave Moses and Kirk Warden became early partners and were critical to our success. Kirk remembers finding out who the real “boss” was when he had an early conflict with Nancy over marketing presentation issues. They became close friends and admired each other as Kirk realized her capability to manage the fire! Nancy helped create many of our company traditions and social events and was always quietly “in charge,” especially for the baseball tickets.

As Nancy embodied the definition of a work wife, later made famous on shows like The Office, including the type of collaboration, bickering, and sometimes loud arguments, a bond was forged, all in the interest of making Clayco not just a “get it done” builder but also a world-class company. Clashing with Nancy did not usually end well for the clasher, and when Mike Murphy replaced Paul as CFO, it was Nancy who coached me that we can have amazing, competent people who are good, all-around nice people. Clayco’s “No Asshole Rule” went into effect. Nancy and I became a lot nicer, too, or at least we stopped arguing out loud—for the most part.

When former EVP Dave Moses started, Nancy was there to motivate him to close his maiden deal after being told he came in second. Dave flew to the client’s office the night before and waited in the parking lot for the decision makers to state his case—the decision was reversed, and the job was awarded! Nancy was his biggest fan and advocate.

As the company became more engaged in charitable and political action—creating an impact “Beyond the Walls” on our jobs—so did Nancy. Nancy passionately supported St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Mathew Dickies Boys and Girls Club. In the late 90s, Nancy packed her stuff and moved with me to the Central Institute for the Deaf for the 18 months I was Executive Director. In 40 years, there has never been a dull moment. We have worked on political campaigns, with countless charities, and decades of involvement with YPO—especially during my year as Education Chair.

Watching Nancy grow into the company’s matriarch over the last 40 years has been a great pleasure. As one of my most important advisors, she has been critical in the recruiting process, the selection and deselection of people with the right stuff, guardian to many, and keeper of the keys to many of the doors opened along the way as we built one of the most important real estate development and building companies in North America. Nancy has served as a de facto member of the Clark family, seeing us through some of our most exciting and happy times and then alongside us through some of our most difficult and tragic periods. Clayco has been an incredible story built on the backs of thousands of team members who have shown selfless dedication to the art and science of building and the mission of building beyond these walls. I would not have wanted or been able to do my part without my right hand—Nancy Russell.