Meet The Concrete Queen team at upcoming ribbon-cutting in Youngstown
If you’re traveling in and around Youngstown, a hot pink sign that reads ‘The Concrete Queen’ might’ve captured your attention.
When Melanie Raymond first started working in the concrete and masonry field, that’s the nickname that stuck. That nickname would also help her establish a memorable brand as a woman-owned business in the Mahoning Valley region.
“I worked a union concrete finishing job, and when I walked out, the guys would say, “Oh, the Queen’s here,’” Raymond said. “I turned that name into a brand, and it was actually my daughter. We were sitting at the kitchen table one night eating dinner, and I couldn’t figure out what to call it. My daughter pitched Queen of Concrete, and I liked it, but we switched it to be Concrete Queen and I incorporated the pink.”
In 2021, Raymond started her own concrete masonry business named The Concrete Queen, a family-owned and operated full-service concrete and masonry specialist serving the Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio areas.
“I decided to go out on my own after my dad got really sick and passed away of small-cell lung cancer,” Raymond said. “My dad worked for my grandfather, who owned his own business; my dad later started his own business, doing excavation. My sons were about to graduate high school, and my dad had just passed away. I thought, ‘I’m going to go out on my own.’”
Orignially, Raymond is from western Pennsylvania and relocated to the Austintown area.
“I had a ton of clientele already. I was doing concrete for such a long time, and people knew my work. My name was getting out there, slowly but surely. I started with just myself in a pickup truck, hand shoveling everything, hand loading and unloading concrete,” she said. “It all started with just a dream and a pickup truck.”
Thanks to support from the community, her business has continued to grow; she’s now employing a full team to lay down concrete at different residences around the area.
“I’m very artsy. That’s what got me into concrete masonry in the beginning, and I liked it so much,” Raymond said. “I never knew I would like it until I did it for the first time. The design aspect of everything, I absolutely love. When I go to a client’s house, sometimes they say they know they want a patio, but don’t know what they want it to look like. I’m like, ‘Let me give you some ideas.’ When we walk into their backyard, I can envision it all in my head.”
She’s hosting a ribbon-cutting for The Concrete Queen’s brick-and-mortar location at 10 a.m. on April 20 at 2530 Hubbard Road in building C in Youngstown.
She leases the shop on Hubbard Road from Integra Excavating LLC, who have become great friends, according to Raymond.
“I did everything out of my garage at my house,” Raymond said. “When I pull into my shop every morning, I see the big pink sign, and it makes me feel so good. All this work that I put in is finally getting somewhere.”
During the ribbon-cutting at her new shop, community members will have the chance to tour her new facility, meet the team and learn more about available services.
“I love empowering women to get out there and try, not just in concrete but anything they want to put their minds to,” Raymond said. “Is it gonna take time? Yes, and it’ll take work, but you can’t give up. Never give up and you will make it in the end. If you put in the work, you’re gonna get there. It’s just a matter of putting yourself out there, meeting people, getting your name out there and doing good work.”
The Concrete Queen was one of four Women in Business honorees selected by Pittsburgh Magazine.
“It was super exciting to be in the magazine and then get the award,” she said. “It was amazing to meet the other women that got awarded this year. It was just so cool to hear their stories and great to see what women can do when they really put their mind to it.”
