The Black Family That Built America: A 5-Generation Construction Dynasty

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All right, So we have Cheryl mckizick Daniel and we actually interviewed Cheryl probably like two years ago for earning a Leisia. She's been invest Fest twice recently. She was an invest Fest this year and just has a new book that came out. Congratulations, congrats, congrats first and foremost.

The Black Family who Built America. Hey, that's a great title.

Yeah, yeah, So if you're not if you're not familiar, So Cheryl is the CEO and president of mckiswick and McKissick, and it's the oldest black owned and women owned construction firm in the United States. Six generations.

You're calling that into uh existence, in existence, because there is a sixth generation that.

I'm working on.

So five generations.

Yeah, I'm fifth, yes, so five five.

Five generations, And they kind of give you some perspective of some some of the work that she's done. John F. Kennedy into the National Airport Terminal one, the new Terminal one JFK Beautiful Beautiful, Barclay Center, and Atlantic Yards, Pacific Park including Long Island Railroad, Vanderbilt Yard relocation, Faulton Fish Market, Mega Evers College, Harlem Hospitals, new Patient Pavilion, Coney Island Hospital Campus renovation.

Uh, I mean, very very impressive residmes. I don't know too many resumes that sound like that for sure.

I mean most people frequent these places, they don't really think that's part of their portfolios.

So, you know, we're going to talk about your book. We definitely have to talk about you know, construction today's economy challenges, different ways to get in. But first, for the people that may not be totally familiar, can you give us the history of your family in construction dating back I believe it started even during slavery, right right.

We go back two hundred and thirty years to seventeen ninety when the first descendant of our family came to this country.

His name was Moses mckizwick the.

First, and he was taught the trade of making bricks. He was in North Carolina as a slave. His son, Moses mckiswick the second, was a master carpenter and a master builder, and he also was in North Carolina until the slave master gave him away as a wedding gift to the Maxwell family who lived in spring Hill, Tennessee.

It was William D.

Berry mcizick, another architect, and when he became ill, my mother took over and now I run the company.

So I am fifth generation in this company. And I have to say after.

It was over two hundred years and Moses mcizock the first laid his first brick, and here we are two hundred years later, an unshakable pillar in a country that is dealing with questions that we've answered already around equality, equity, opportunity. And I feel that the mcisic and I write about this in my book. We stand as a.

Mirror for America and a beacon.

A mirror is saying, you know, black professionals, we've been around for so.

Many years, but yet we've been ignored. You just said, who built this? Well, we did, and.

We're a beacon because we are exactly what happens when perseverance meets purpose.

And so all of this.

Is in my book the Black family who built America, And so that's our tagline. We proudly say, who built this, We did, because Black Americans really are like the hidden figures in this country who have contributed so much. I mean, we actually did build America.

And then talk about just follow up on that, because that's how are you able to scale the company from starting during slavery to doing JFK Airport. Like that's important too, Like talk about that scale as one thing to have a generational business, but it's another thing to have a generational business that's actually growing over the course of time.

Yes, So you know, when I think about it, how we were able to sustain slavery, Jim Crow prejudice in the deep deep South, and to be able to do that over a span of two hundred years. I think about the fact that number one, ownership was important to our family. So just being able to have ownership, And that's what I love about what you guys are doing at in best best, I meet so many people who.

Want to be owners in their own.

Lane of something, and I think that's paramount when you're trying to create a legacy. Also, I think we adapted, but we didn't lose our identity.

We always made sure we provided.

Excellent work and in the perspective and in the area that we were supposed to. But at the same time, we came home to our black community and took care of our black community. We built black churches, we built colleges and universities, and so these are some of the tenants that I think that are extremely important. You know, as you grow in business, you also have to lift others up with you.

If you stand by yourself, then that's a problem. You're easy to knock off.

But if you bring in a strong foundation, which is what we try to do other contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, then we have a base from which we can draw up on and each other. We can all work together as a network as opposed to an individual.

I think that is extremely important. And education, education is key.

With each generation of the Mecisics, the education and the knowledge grew and that was also a sustaining factor for our business.

Dude, this is incredible. I want to get this right.

So you credit your family success with the five piece right perseverance, preparedness, persistence, productivity and prayer. Talk about how those show themselves throughout generation to generation and how you're implementing it to I mean, the evaluation is probably starting with to be at this point, how has that prepared you and got you to this point?

Well, the projects are at a b okay, that's for sure. You know.

Perseverance is getting up every day in the face of adversity.

Period.

I can't tell you the number of rooms I've walked into as the only female and definitely the only black female. And I talk about this all the time. The first time I ever went to the New York Building Congress, a sea of white men in suits five hundred and you know, I don't.

Think they thought I had anything to contribute. They were like, who is this lady. I mean, I don't even think they noticed me. And I thought to him, I said, well, how am I.

Gonna make it in New York City If this is these are the people.

That I have to generate revenue from.

And so persistence is getting up every day saying I am going to live my dream and I'm not gonna let anything stop me.

And I think the Mcusics have done that in every generation. Productivity means just that you have actually produced value, and we have done that.

I feel that we have documented the black experience in this country through our bid, through the universities that we built, the hospitals, the schools, and so that's to me, it's productivity. The other one is preparedness. We talked about education, drawing up on your own experiences and becoming a better professional with every day, you know, professional development. And you guys deal a lot in all of this with invest best and it's all true. And the other I forgot, what's the fourth one?

Well, we got prayer still and we got.

Preparedness, idea, preparedness, productivity, perseverance, persistence, and I switched that one out a lot and say purpose because now I say, you know, if you wake up every day with a purpose on your mind, of God given purpose, then you will achieve it. Now, prayer is the one I added because some days that's exactly what I need.

Prayer.

I'm in constant contact saying, you know, Lord, let the words of my mouth or the meditations of my heart be acceptable unto you, not to anyone else, but to you.

And if I do that, then I know.

I've accomplished what I've needed to accomplish for the day. And so those are the five p's and they have shown up everywhere in the Mechisic legacy.

And with each.

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