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etc.,” said Lindy. “My brother is 18 months younger than I am, andmy mom often said it was like having twins. We both had high energylevels,” she continued with a chuckle, “and were 'encouraged' to gooutside and burn it off.”Lindy’s most vivid childhood memories are of family get-togethers.“I have a large extended family and we were often together,” shesaid. “Every June, we would drive to Wyoming to visit my dad's sideof the family in a small town (population approximately 350) calledTen Sleep, where we spent a lot of time hiking, fishing and horsebackriding. And every August we attended our annual family reunion—which we call ‘Big August’—at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri.All of my uncles, aunts, andcousins attended. It's stillgoing strong and this yearwill be the 42nd Annual BigAugust Reunion.”A StrongFoundationBesides Big August,one unique thing aboutLindy’s childhood is that shegrew up as the daughter offamed local homebuilderDusty Rhodes, who offeredher and her brother apriceless education in theconstruction industry—andit started when they werekids.“When we were young,my dad would take mybrother and me along tocheck jobsites, so that wecould see firsthand howhouses were constructed,”Lindy recalled. “We weregiven tasks, like cleaningup yards or the insidesof rough-ins, while Dadchecked in with the subcontractorsand the progressof the homes.” Even as ayoung girl, Lindy was conscious of how her father interacted withthose involved in the building process.To echo Burt Bacharach, however, a house is not a home untilsomebody makes it one. (Well, that’s not exactly how the songgoes—but close enough.) As she grew older, Lindy’s father beganintroducing her to homeowners at site meetings. “He always emphasizedthat homebuilding was a collaborative effort,” Lindy said,adding, “I will always remember a homeowner telling me how Dadworked with him on structuring a payment plan that allowed him andhis family to build their new home. ‘Your father is a wonderful humanbeing,’ he said. I still think of that comment often, and it inspires meto have the same client experience with every home that I build.”From the Ground UpLindy grew up in the Shawnee Mission school district and attendedKU, majoring in personnel administration. From there, shejoined the family homebuildingbusiness—butshe didn’t just glide in on asilver forklift; she started atthe bottom. “After college,I began an apprenticeshipprogram in the business,starting as a laborer andeventually working my wayup to a construction superintendentposition,” sherecalled, adding that joiningthe family business was, inmany ways, more challengingfor her than taking ajob in another field. “Somepeople might assume thatit’s easy to be involved in afamily business,” she saidthoughtfully, “but I felt drivento work harder, to have moreattention to detail. If youthink about it,” she continued,“your family is the firstteam that you’re ever on,and everyone wants you tosucceed. I was motivatedto do well, because I didn’twant to let them down.”After many years of superintending,Lindy obtainedher real estate license,which allowed her to seeyet another side of the building business. “I continue to take onlineclasses in both homebuilding and remodeling,” she said, “in order tostay current.”Well, okay, “current” may be a bit of an understatement. Let’snot forget the entrepreneurial California part of Lindy’s personality—thesame part that led Lindy and her brother, along with another38 HERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM