Celebrating Women In Construction: JaRee Stambeck, Chief Financial Officer and Co-Owner

Formula for Success: Trust, Confidence, and Faith.

Imagine landing your dream job right out of college and not having any idea that’s what it would turn out to be. JaRee Stambeck did just that at Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods 30 years ago. When she graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 1994 she was planning to move to Dallas where she would start her career with one of the Big Six accounting firms. While waiting for her new job in Dallas to begin, she took a part-time job with Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods, a small company of four in Norman, Oklahoma.

She never left. Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods turned out to be Stambeck’s dream job and she quickly turned down her job offer in Dallas to come on full-time with the company and start her incredible career.

Since that time, the company has grown to more than 145 people and Stambeck realized very quickly that this company felt like home. In her incredible career at Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods, she has led the company through significant growth as CFO, vice president, and now as co-owner along with her husband, Bryan.

“This company’s priority has always been to do what’s right – treat people with kindness and respect, and to resolve issues when they arise. To be a company that stands behind and is proud of every home it builds, that’s exactly the kind of company I am honored to be a part of,” says Stambeck.

She has always been passionate about making memories, in both her personal life and at work. She has lived in five Ideal homes and fondly remembers bringing her babies home to those houses. She is immensely proud of the family environment that Ideal fosters in its neighborhoods that help create new memories for other families. She wants to be part of creating a community rather than just building homes, leading Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods to be place-makers, not just home builders.

This small-town Guthrie girl never dreamed her life would turn out the way it has with an incredible career, a loving husband and business partner, and two wonderful children who have a front-row seat to the limitless possibilities for their own futures.

As a female leader in a predominantly male-oriented industry, JaRee encourages all women to set their goals high and work harder than anyone else to reach them. She believes strength, dignity, and respect are values that will carry a person far in life and tells those who seek her advice not to sell themselves short and to believe in what seems unattainable.

JaRee often shares with her daughter one of her favorite bible verses that helps her stay strong and faithful: Proverbs 31:25. “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.