Kayleen was the star of DIY
Network’s “Rescue Renovation”
and the 2009 Stud Finder winner.
Kayleen McCabe is a licensed
contractor and found her passion
for remodeling after tackling an
entire kitchen renovation in her
early twenties. Since then, Kayleen
has used her unique combination
of gutsy innovation and expert
trade tricks to take on any home
improvement challenge she can
find, including renovating a massive
duplex that took six months to
complete. This outdoorsy Denver
native is fearless in the face of
demolition, always ready with the
perfect power tool, and willing to
go to any lengths to bring out the
existing charm in a home. On DIY
Network’s “Rescue Renovation,”
Kayleen saved project-challenged
homeowners who are in over their
heads with their renovations. She
pointed out exactly what was wrong
and formulated a seven-day action
plan to turn bad jobs into jawdropping rooms. Today, Kayleen has
her own media production company
and is taking the same resilient
never quit attitude to America’s
young adults and showing them how
a vocational career can be lifelong
and extremely rewarding. She has
partnered up with NARI to take her
message all across the country.
14
Remodel Tampa Bay
Kayleen McCabe
Former DIY Network’s Rescue Renovation Host
showing America’s Students how to survive and
prosper in the trades… With college or not!
I
see it in peoples’ faces when we meet.
Whether we’re shaking hands at a trade
show or they recognize me from TV, their
expression gives it away: They want to find
out how I ended up doing this. This thing that,
based on reactions, is maybe best compared
to a cow going for a swim: Not entirely amusing
or impressive, exactly, but just surprisingly…
surprising.
Why wouldn’t a cow want to go for a dip? No
good answer, right? But somehow you never
imagined the two going hand-in-hand.
That’s the best analogy for what it feels like
to be a woman in the trades: People notice it.
And then they realize it’s a silly thing to notice.
Or isn’t it? No one’s sure. Hey, has this always
happened - have cows always enjoyed the
occasional lap? Should I alert someone that
there’s a cow treading water? Or should I, like,
take a picture and post it online? MAYBE I’LL
ADD A PUNCHLINE AND IT WILL BECOME A
VIRAL MEME, like Grumpy Cat.
Okay, I think it’s time to back up a bit:
My name is Kayleen, and I’m the cow – er,
a general contractor. I build and construct
and remodel for a living, and even had the
good fortune of doing it on television for
awhile - on DIY Network’s Rescue Renovation,
where I swept in and saved doomed home
renovations for several seasons as the show’s
contractor host.
That’s another question I get a lot: “What’s it
like to be on TV?” I tell them the truth – mostly
surreal, always crazy hectic, glamorous about
once every three months. It’s rarely the time and
place to say what I really want to say: Being on
TV was great. Except the part where I partly felt
like a sideshow act.
You see, before ending up on TV, I didn’t
realize the sight of a woman wielding a
sledg