Rebecca Tole, '07: Millwork Industry Magnet
By Lia Kizilbash Gillet
Rebecca Tole, '07, connects skilled carpenters with millwork projects as owner of Division Six Details.
(Photo: Maria Ponce Photography)
Rebecca Tole, '07, is living her dream as a mother and wife. Still, her faith in God and entrepreneurial spirit led her to open her own business in the construction industry without any prior experience or training.
Located in Barrington, Illinois, but serving clients nationwide, Division Six Details is a trusted service partner to commercial clients with complex millwork projects. Its model bridges the gap between skilled carpenters and the companies looking to hire them while managing projects from start to finish. Tole and her team bid out jobs and coordinate and communicate every detail. In 2022, its first year of operation, Division Six Details saw more than $1.2M in revenue.
The business idea originated from a comment from one of Tole’s family members in the construction industry. To begin, Tole and her husband, Brandon, '07, analyzed the numbers of potential projects and contacted installers they knew could deliver. They started with one initial investment to augment a single project and quickly added several others. Today, they remain as the company’s sole investors.
“As time progressed, I felt even more confident Division Six Details is where I was supposed to be putting my energy,” said Tole. “There are many facets to the construction industry, and every project or company we work for does things just a little differently, which keeps me continuously engaged and learning.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in child development from NIU (where she also met met Brandon), Tole spent a year teaching family, consumer, and nutrition sciences in high school and then almost two years teaching preschool before leaving education to stay home with their first daughter. Later, she owned and operated Bronzed Spray Tanning in Mundelein, Illinois. With Brandon in the Marine Corps, many moves were inevitable. While stationed in Germany for three years, Tole created a blog and website, "Family Values Travel." Upon returning to the United States, the couple settled in Barrington, Illinois, and are now a family of five with three daughters.
“I prayed to God to make evident an opportunity for me to work from our new home,” said Tole. “I sought a few sales job opportunities, but there was not a good, clear fit until a family member shared with me the need to find skilled carpenters for large-scale projects.”
Tole is most proud of her success in getting Division Six Details up and running quickly. She built a website, grew social media, taught herself QuickBooks, became a Certified Women Business Enterprise, and learned the basics of commercial millwork installation.
“Everything was happening very fast, but with the help and support of my husband and some mentors in the field, I was able to stay a small step ahead of what needed to be done,” she said.
With relationship building at the core of the business, Tole spends much of her time meeting with carpenters, booking travel and accommodations, and getting to know everyone involved in the project. She can do this all remotely to remain a present mom to her daughters.
“I have to remain flexible to be successful,” said Tole. “From adjusting my schedule to checking emails with a sleeping child on my lap, I work around both my family and business needs and move things around on the fly.”
She tries to embrace challenges and changes and accept things when they don’t turn out as she anticipated.
“Fair seas don’t make a good sailor,” Tole said. “Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What is the worst that can happen?’ and if my husband and I agree that said storm would be worth weathering, we go for it.”
(Photo: Brandon Tole)
Tole grew up near Manhattan, Illinois. Her dad was a Marine infantryman in Vietnam, who, after his service, became an electrician. Her mom worked in a school. Growing up, watching her father's faith, Tole developed a strong relationship with God and a desire for community. In addition to her faith, she credits her parents’ support for her entrepreneurial confidence.
“In elementary school, I gathered, painted, and sold rocks door-to-door in my subdivision,” recalled Tole. “I also hand-wrote a quarterly neighborhood newsletter and distributed photocopies to paid subscribers for a quarter. The simple fact that my parents allowed me to see my small business ideas through gave me the confidence to organize projects, plan events and start businesses in adulthood. My parents always told me they would support my decision to pursue any education and career path.”
Tole came to NIU for the former Family, Consumer, and Nutrition Sciences Program (now School of Family and Consumer Sciences), specifically for the opportunity to observe and teach as a student in the Child Development and Family Center. She wanted a degree that would allow her to teach the high school child development class that she fell in love with as a student.
“I remember my course in human development or ‘womb to tomb’ as my professor called it,” Tole said. “There is not an area of my life where I have not applied some knowledge of human development or education, so I still have the textbook and my notes. Emily Reily was also a great role model when I was teaching at the Child Development and Family Center. I valued her supervision and instruction. Although I am no longer employed in education, I am grateful for my NIU experiences and degree."