East Bay Native Seanery Donaville, Sr.’s Company Continues Family Legacy of Ethics and Excellence
A Strong Foundation
Seanery (Sean) Donaville Sr., owner of Oakland-based Depth Concrete, Inc., is an East Bay native who grew up in Oakland and Richmond. “Our back yard was El Cerrito and our front yard was Richmond.”
Sean was introduced to the trades by his father, who worked until retirement as a bus driver for AC Transit, but always had side jobs as a handyman. “He was my best friend and I was always with him, I loved working with him.”
Originally from Louisiana, both of his parents had a strong faith, work ethic, and sense of community and passed these values along to their children. The congregation to which Sean’s family belonged pooled their resources to be able to build a new church in Richmond, which young Sean and his dad helped build.
The church members also purchased a 320-acre ranch, where in addition to collaboratively building a bunk house and hosting religious retreats, rodeos, and other events, they communally cared for cattle, horses, ponies, goats, chickens, pheasants, peacocks and even several penguins. “This family and community environment kept us far away from the streets – all of us kids spent a lot of time together on the ranch and grew up feeling like cousins, even though we weren’t blood cousins, but because our mothers were sisters in the church,” he recalls. “I learned a lot of building skills from church members while working on projects at the ranch.” As the older members passed away, the church members of Sean’s generation inherited the ranch, and, as he notes, “we’ve been using it and maintaining it for the past 50 years.”
He’s forever grateful for his blessed upbringing and the close relationship he had with his father, who was beloved by everyone who knew him. He notes with pride that both of his younger sisters also learned building skills from their father, adding that both of their husbands love and admire how knowledgeable and self-sufficient they are.
An Early Start
Sean’s experience with concrete started when he was just 17 years old. “An older cousin of mine, who was in the concrete trade in Southern California, had come to the East Bay to do a project in North Oakland for my grandmother,” says Sean. “I was on site, helping him. After observing my work, my cousin asked my dad to let me learn the concrete trade, so my dad put $1,500 in my pocket and packed me up to go live with my cousin in Los Angeles. I remember him telling my cousin, who was more like an uncle to me, to not go easy on me just because I was family.”
Sean credits his cousin for getting him into the concrete trade. “He was a great finisher, taught me well, and showed me how to excel.” He and his cousin, who is now in his late eighties, still remain in regular contact by phone and often talk about their shared trade.
Overcoming Challenges
Sean stayed in Los Angeles for 10 years working as a union concrete mason, but when his father became seriously ill shortly after retiring, Sean returned to the East Bay to help his mother take care of his dad. Having learned resilience and determination from his family and community, he managed to balance his concrete masonry work and caregiving, but was devastated when his dad, who was only in his early sixties, died. A few years later, Sean suffered a severe rotator cuff injury – made worse by years of ignoring a prior rotator cuff injury. “When I was young, I didn’t realize how serious my shoulder injury was, so I just pushed through and kept working without seeking any medical care,” he admits. “For years, I’d had trouble sleeping because it was so painful. In the end, I had to get the entire rotator cuff replaced and my doctor said I would be permanently disabled.”
On disability in 2019 while recovering from this major surgery, Sean finally decided to take his cousin’s advice and get his contractor’s license in order to go into business for himself. Despite the immense emotional and physical pain he was dealing with, Sean successfully completed the licensing exam and launched Depth Concrete in 2021. Around that time, he also lost his mother, leaving him feeling very alone.
Without his dad there, starting his business was a bittersweet moment. “If my dad had been there, he would have been the first person to invest in my business – he was always there for me financially, emotionally and spiritually – so, it was a struggle to just keep going, but that’s another thing my parents taught me – when times are hard, don’t give up – just keep putting one foot in front of the other.”
Moving His Business Forward
Sean connected to the Contractor Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) through a City of Oakland event and has high praise for Jennifer Elmore and the rest of the staff. “It’s been a wonderful experience – they’ve helped me enormously.” The CTAP assisted Sean with business certifications, creating a company capability statement, networking with primes, and meeting prequalification requirements. “The paperwork alone can be brutal,” he explains. “Everything has to be accurate or the system will reject it. Jennifer is incredibly knowledgeable and is always there to help – my business wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her.”
With Depth Concrete having recently been awarded a City of Oakland sidewalk contract, Sean is eager to showcase his experience and outstanding workmanship in the public works arena. “We can handle any type of concrete project – from sidewalks, driveways, walkways and ADA ramps to slab-on-grade foundations, retaining walls, sewer lines, custom stampwork, and more.”
Depth Concrete recently completed construction of a 140-foot wide, 8-foot tall retaining wall, and the company’s commitment to providing excellence and keeping customers happy is consistently reflected in its 5-star ratings and word-of-mouth growth.
Reflecting on What Matters
From Sean’s perspective, faith, ethics, quality, community, dignity and self-sufficiency are just some of the many important aspects of his family’s legacy that he is continuing. “ I still have the tools and clothes that my dad willed to me,” he says. “We did everything together and I feel his presence with me every day.”
Not surprisingly, Sean’s favorite and most memorable projects are those he worked on with or for his father. “The first was after my dad inherited his mother’s house. He was directed to sell it and divide the proceeds with his siblings, so he and I worked together to really fix it up before the sale.”
The second project that Sean mentions as especially close to his heart was work he did on his father’s house. “I was fresh from being a journeyman. I took the skills I’d learned from my cousin and applied them to doing a complete remodel and relandscaping of the front of my dad’s house.”