Women In Construction

▲龍寶建設董事長張麗莉從家庭主婦晉身台中豪宅一姊，證明女人也能蓋房子！（圖／龍寶建設提供）

“Can A Woman Build Your House?” This is Lung Po Construction Chairman Lili Chang, more than 30 years ago to join the construction industry, the most commonly heard words, she from the housewife, construction, design layman, by chance to start a business as a developer, creating a lot of legends, and selling house without advertising,in more than 95% of the person in charge of the construction industry are men to establish a firm footing, is the first female President of Taiwan's architectural industry; but also traveled to 20 countries in the international breakthrough “China Taiwan” this term. She has also traveled to 20 countries and broken the term “China-Taiwan” in the international arena, and participated in the FIABCI in the name of Taiwan, so that the world can see Taiwan's architecture.

As the President of Treasure Dragon Corp, MJ Construction Corp and Galerie Pierre Art Center, Lily Chang always wears appropriate suits with noble hairstyles, exuding a sleek and artistic aura. It's hard to imagine that her hobby is swimming, and she swims extremely well, she was the record holder for the breaststroke and the freestyle at the National Collegiate Games for four years in college.

▲龍寶建設董事長張麗莉，在95%以上負責人都是男性的建築產業裡站穩腳跟。（圖／龍寶建設提供）

Born in 1954, Lily Chang grew up in a well-off family in Taipei. Her father was a civil servant, her mother a housewife, and she was the only daughter in the family and the oldest, so she was especially favored at home. Being the only daughter in the family and the oldest, she was especially favored by her family. Being a gifted student since she was a child, she was admitted to the evening department of the Bei Yi Girls' High School Joint Entrance Examination, but thinking that a woman needs to learn a skill, she was admitted to the Ming Chuan University of Commerce, a business administration department, which is famous for its “strict control and diligent teaching” and is the most favored department among her parents.

After entering Ming Chuan University of Commerce, she was immediately recruited to join the varsity swimming team and even became the team captain. She once suffered from a severe cold and went into the water to compete after getting an IV drip, winning two championship trophies for the school, which showed her “persevering” and unconquerable character at that time.

After graduation, Lily Chang's first job was in the American company as a switchboard, in order to take the water lifeguard, and the shoe industry, Peter Li , became acquainted with the marriage in 1979, moved with her husband's family to the United States, Boston, they bought real estate as an investment, and she also took courses related to interior design, obtained an MBA degree from Lowell University, Boston, and has a professional license as an interior designer, the opportunity for her to enter the construction industry in Taiwan was brewing.

In 1984, they returned to Taiwan and settled in Taichung, where they purchased a luxury home, but found that the quality of the construction was low, which inspired her “How about build and sell my own house.” In 1989, she gave up her life as a housewife and became the owner of a construction company, and put herself in the shoes of a housewife by designing a home with an automated drip irrigation system that watered the flowers on a regular basis, and a back balcony that had an automatic elevating and lifting drying rack, She has also designed cabinets for easy storage in the recesses between columns and walls, and even used a “green fence” at the construction site for the sake of neighborliness.

She said, “Start from your own needs, what kind of home you want to live in, build that kind of house”, the most important thing is to build a house with a “conscience”, which is easy to say, but behind the scenes the cost is very high, I am most thankful to my husband for being a strong and powerful behind-the-scenes “benefactor.”, because of my own hairy head, the cost of the first few cases was added continuously, and even though the project was completed and sold, the loss was more than the profit, and I once borrowed money from my husband for the year-end bonus. 

She exclaims, “Without my husband support , Treasure Dragon would not have been able to come this far, thanks to him for making my life possible”.