When you ask Coleen Gray-Turner to describe her day, she takes a pause. She mentions permitting, monitoring new subdivisions and even keeping up office morale before landing on her final answer. 

“I’m making sure everything behind the scenes runs smoothly so we get our houses out to production on time,” Coleen says. “But I’ve touched a little bit of everything with this company.”

And she has proved invaluable in that role for Riverside Homebuilders, earning a promotion to Starts Department Director in December. Even more impressive is the fact that she is defining it as she goes, steering a growing department in the company’s biggest year yet.

Although that may be intimidating for some, it is familiar territory for the self-starter and mother of four. 

Back in 2013, Coleen answered an ad in the paper for a finance position with LongTide Housing Group. She had a background in finance and experience with another builder, but she was looking for something different. A place where she could work passionately without having to sacrifice time with her kids. 

And although she was not hired for the job that day, LongTide looked at her resume and decided to create a new position for Coleen. There, she would help establish the construction department working a sort of hybrid role with starts. Coleen held that position for eight years until her recent promotion. 

What made the journey even better for her is that two of her kids now work for Riverside Homebuilders - a son in construction and daughter in starts. For Coleen, it is just another reminder of how she made the right choice joining this family-owned business.

“I’m an empty-nester now, but I wasn’t,” Coleen says. “It was nice to have my career and still be able to go to my kids’ games, go to dance recitals and things like that.”

With a laugh, Coleen admits she has made up for any lost time in the office now with the new position keeping her busy. Riverside Homebuilders sold a record 462 homes in 2019 and earned a spot on the prestigious Builder 100 list. They broke the record again last year with 624 homes, and are sure to move up the list when it is released this spring.

Her role, and that of her department, is vital to the process, pushing projects along to ensure Dallas-Fort Worth homebuyers are moving in on schedule.

“When someone buys a house all they see is an empty lot and they just want to get it going,” Coleen says. “We promise that there is stuff happening so I try to get it out of our department as fast as we can and into the field.”

That is why her goal for the year is to stay organized and continue to streamline the processes in place for Riverside Homebuilders’ new construction projects. Then, in turn, she has more time for cookouts, games, and karaoke with her family on Sundays.

“Giving my position away that I’ve held so dear means that I have to trust the team 100 percent and I do,” Coleen says. “Everyone has a great attitude and I’m excited about it. We’ve got a lot of homes to sell.”  

If you are in the market for a new home in DFW, call (817) 601-6230, text (254) 735-3033 or contact us online.