Faith, Grit & Construction: How Ann McNeill Built Businesses, Changed Lives & Cemented Her Legacy (Inspirational)

What happens when you mix unwavering faith, unstoppable grit, and a dream too bold for the world to believe?

In this powerful inspirational episode, Reginald D sits down with Ann McNeill, the trailblazing CEO of MCO Construction and Florida’s first Black woman in the construction industry. From humble beginnings selling vegetables on the back of a field truck to building a multimillion-dollar business empire and launching multiple nonprofits, Ann reveals how faith, vision, and purpose built her legacy from the ground up.

She shares how reading Think and Grow Rich, trusting God through every trial, and never quitting—even when she bid #6 and still won—laid the foundation for empowering others, especially women and people of color, in business, construction, and life.

Whether you're feeling stuck, starting small, or ready to step into your own calling, this episode is a masterclass in turning faith into forward motion.

If you’ve ever doubted whether your dream was too late, too impossible, or too hard to build—Ann’s story will remind you: You are never too behind to build a legacy. From real estate with no credit to five companies and national influence, this episode gives listeners a real-world blueprint on faith-fueled entrepreneurship, resilience, and servant leadership.

What You Will Gain:

• Learn how to build your dream—brick by brick—even with no blueprint but faith
• Discover the secret to balancing purpose, passion, and profit while staying rooted in God
• Hear how to turn rejection, doubt, and adversity into divine redirection and generational impact

Press play now and be inspired by the woman who didn’t just break barriers—she built bridges for others to walk through.

Ann's Contact Info:

Website: https://www.annmcneill.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annmcneillmasterbuilder
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AnnMcNeill
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorannmcneill
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annmcneill

Podcast: Think and Grow Rich Mastermind Live -https://internationalmasterminders.com/tgrlive

Black woman in construction, faith and entrepreneurship, Think and Grow Rich, purpose-driven leadership, women in business, legacy building, faith-based motivation, overcoming a

Transcript

Welcome to Real Talk with Reginald D. I'm your host, Reginald D. On today's episode, I have Ann McNeill. Ann is a trailblazing businesswoman, speaker, podcast host, and the owner of MCO Construction. She's the first black female in the construction industry in the state of Florida and also owns four other businesses and two nonprofits. Welcome to the show, Ann. : Thank you. : Yeah, I am honored to have you. Honored to have you today and hear your story and hear about your success and all the good things that God has done in your life. : Thank you. Thank you. I'm excited to share. : Absolutely. So, Ann, can you tell us about where you grew up and what your younger life was like? : Oh, absolutely. Grew up in the city of Riviera Beach, Florida, Palm Beach County. And mother was a maid, father was a field hand turned gardener turned entrepreneur by going to Georgia every summer getting fruit and vegetables and making us stand on the back of a field truck and sell vegetables as a young person. So, you know, that was a really good way to build character as a young person, but it was a really good experience to learn how to persist when people said no. So that was the beginning of, I think, my entrepreneurial spirit. My mom was a holiness minister and that was the beginning of my faith walk with God in terms of understanding the Word. And later on in life, when I read the book Thinking grow Rich, I began to learn how to live the word that I was learning. So those are some early beginnings. I went to school here in Riviera beach, was involved in Tennessee Golf, High school queen. Same thing in college. So everywhere an opportunity opened its door. I was there to walk through that door. So those are just some thoughts about how I started early in my young person's life and had the opportunity to be in the presence of an African American female who was married to African American male that owned a landscaping business and a paving business. And that was the first time I ever saw a black woman in construction with her husband speaking truth to power. And I think that that was the beginning of what I am now experiencing in this industry. So those are just some thoughts to start. : Yes, absolutely, man. So you were the first black woman in Florida to own and operate a construction company. What was the original dream? Because I'm going to say this to you, when you think about construction, it's basically a male dominant industry. And I'm always fascinated when I see a woman, especially a black woman, that owns a construction company. So what was the original dream that sparked MCO Construction? : Well, actually, my husband and I, we Graduated from the same university, Florida Memorial University, here in Miami. And we bought our home in West Palm Beach. And we were very young, worked in corporate, same company, really did not know what was going on in the community. So the house across the street went up for sale. And we called the people for sale by owner and said, hi, can we buy this house? We're young, we don't have any credit, but can we just pay you monthly? And they said, yes. The house down the street, same street. And before we knew it, we had made offers on three or four homes, and nobody ever asked us to fill out anything. No application, nothing. And we had four or five houses on the same street, same street. And so one day we started going to the library, learning how to make these repairs ourselves. Now, my husband graduated valedictorian. I graduated, thank you, Lordy. And some people get that on the way home. : Yeah, me too. : But I came home from work one day and I'm walking in the door, and my husband says to me, he calls me baby, said, babe, if I had to do all over again, I would not go to college. I was shocked. You know, he's very smart for Philadelphia, graduate from Temple, all of that. And I said, why? What would you do? He said, think about it. These guys, they come in and give us these estimates to do these repairs. And many of them didn't even finish high school, let alone didn't go to college. And so, you know, he said, they started a construction business. And I did the math. What they're charging us for these repairs in one hour, they make in an hour more than you make in a day on that corporate job. I could not. I could not process the math. I just couldn't. I kept saying, excuse me, excuse me. Say, yeah, think about it. He said, they make in an hour more than you make in a whole day on that corporate job. And I said to him, still standing right there in the door of the house, walking in, I'm standing there with my pocketbook on my arm, and I said, so what would you do? He said, I'll start a construction company. I said, a construction company? Why would you want to do that? And then he said it again. And I said, but what would be the first thing you would do? He said, I'll go to trade school. I said, I'm going to go to trade school. He started laughing. He said, you're kidding me. I say, no. I said, I believe in you, and if you believe that, that's the route. He said, but you got a corporate job. You got Family and working on your master's degree in finance and traveling and, you know, to school. And I said, I'll go to trade school. I'll make it work. And that's what I did. And the rest is this story we're telling right now today. : Man, that's magnificent. Because the crazy part about it is that y' all ended up getting all these houses on the same street with the credit where would need to be and things like that. You know, God is. You know, God is real. He had to be in the middle of the whole thing and the whole dream that you had. : Absolutely and without a doubt. I'm thoroughly convinced at this part in my journey. I can see the hand of God, you know, but it has been said, you know, you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect the dots looking back. And when I reflect over my life in this industry, I know I can see the hand of God now clearer than I could before. : Yeah. So let me ask you this. So in the earlier days, getting into the construction business, woman in construction, especially as a black woman, did you have any pushback and others told you it couldn't be done? : Absolutely, absolutely. But because I love to read. And again, I give a lot of credit to the Bible proverbs, but I also give a lot of credit to the Think and Grow Rich book, which I created five businesses from one page of the book, certified with the foundation. And I do a podcast every single week for 15 years on the principles. And I created two not for profits, to promote for other people to understand that you can, too. So I received lots of, you can't do it. I was talking to a guy actually today who was one of the people who did not believe that I could do it. And I bid a job. There were 12 bidders. I went, got a white partner, and this job that I bid was $20 million. Me and our white partner, and we came in number six out of 12 on a hard bid. And most people that knew about construction, you don't win at number six. You don't win at number three, four, or five. Definitely not number six. And so people didn't bid to me, and God was in the plan. And we won that bid. That was 20 years ago. And this guy actually talked to him just today, and he was saying, you know, you should write a book. Nobody wins at number six on a hard bid, but you did. And we didn't bid to you because everybody said, you don't win on a heart. You don't win number six. And so those are some of the situations where people said I could not do it. And God showed up and God showed out. And we did. Yes, and we did. : That's favor. That's that favor. : Yes. : So how did faith play and lay the foundation, everything you built? : Well, everything that I did, I had to do by faith. I mean, there was. I had to do by faith because there was no other way but by faith. Yeah. And what that looks like for me is the fact that I prayed like it all depended upon me. And I had faith like it all depended upon God. And I literally would ride around with God in the passenger seat of my car talking to him about decisions that I needed to make every single day, especially when times were so hard and I did not have payroll, especially when things did not go the way I thought, especially when, you know, my partner walked out. I mean, I could go on and on and on, and I just persisted and with a spirit of excellence. And I never thought about quitting. Never, never thought about quitting. And so that's how faith worked for me. I had to work the faith. And I tell especially men that go to the gym and they work out, you know, you lift weights and, you know you're going to tear the muscles, but you know you're going to get stronger. To me, that's how faith is. If you don't go through anything and you run every time you have a challenge and a problem and you don't look to God and go within to grow, how are you going to grow your faith? How are you going to strengthen your faith? It's not going to happen. : No, it's not. You're right about that. : It's not. : And the biggest thing that most people do is they do not achieve their goals, their dreams, because of one thing they do. And you said quit. You know, they quit. You know, when everything's good, they're fine, but when the rubber hit the road and things get rough, they quit. And then they never achieved what they set out to do. : Absolutely. Oh, I keep going back to the book Think and Grow Rich because I read story after story after story after story of people who quit too soon. And because of that, they could not have the success. And that's one of the other reasons why I knew quitting was not an option, because I'd already seen what happened to people that quit too soon. You think about Edison. Edison tried 10,000 tries before he came up with the filler for the light bulb. And now people, years later, talk about 10,000. You know, 10,000 hours or 10,000, whatever. That came from Edison, from the book, thinking, grow rich. And so for me, again, I just continue to persist in everything I do. And my daughter added years later with the spirit of excellence. And I know it's going to turn. I know it's going to turn. I've seen. I've been number 11 out of 12 bidders before and won. You don't win at number 11 out of 12. I won. And I clear that God is using that and using me to create jobs and opportunities for individuals who look like me. I'm thoroughly convinced. I'm thoroughly convinced of that. And that's why I created an organization called the national association of Black Women in Construction. We're in about 15, 16 cities now across the US and I let everybody know God is first in it, and I tell them my story of what he's done. And I cannot even begin to share with you the number of instances he has showed up and showed out to confirm he's in this. Let me ask you this question. Think about this. Where can a woman go that look like me? She's on welfare. She got five or six or seven children. Where can she go not have to wait for her baby daddy and make 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, $25 an hour without a high school degree or diploma? Where can she go and do that? : That'd be tough. I don't know where she gonna go. : Well, she can go into construction. A laborer gets paid 20, $25 an hour. So imagine if that laborer is a black female who then begins to. When you work with me, you gotta read, you gotta grow, and slowly grows into an entrepreneur. See, that's. That's what I create, entrepreneurs. But they come in, many of them, from the ground. Coming from the ground, black, white, male, female. So I. I'm just excited to be a servant. I mean, yes, we do get paid because I promise to tithe big tithes. I can't do that when I'm broke. But helping other people to also be able to do the same, that's the driver for me and my faith. : Yeah. And to think about it, you're walking in your purpose. So that's when God does what he does with you. He doesn't do it with every leader. You know, he uses the ones that knows how to create opportunities for everybody else in what they do and what he's giving you. : Right? I believe that. I believe that strongly. Yes. I believe that. : So, Ann, your motto is, you must have a dream, to have a dream come true. Why Would you think so many people stop dreaming as they get older? : Life beats us down. That's the title of my latest book published in January, I believe. Life Beats us down and it strips away the dream. Yes, life. It's called life. It has a way of beating us. : Down and it makes us complacent. : Absolutely. And especially when you have no proof really that it's working. Really the only proof you have is that it's working on you and in you. But you can't see that when you quit. You can't see that when you quit, right? Nope, cannot see that when you quit. : Right. And the thing I always tell people, what motivates you will compensate you one way or another? : Oh, I like, like that. What motivates you will compensate you? Yes, absolutely. : One way or another. Now it could be bad, but well, using what motivation? : Absolutely. When you do get back what you put in too. : Exactly. : Yeah, exactly. : So how do you balance passion, purpose and profit? Especially across five companies and two non profits? : First, I keep the main thing, the main thing. To be honest, I keep the main thing, the main thing. And I have a written plan for my life that goes out to where I'm 92 and the closer I get to 92, I feel like the need to move it past 100. But I, I keep the main thing, the main thing. And that is I work like it all depends on me and I pray and have faith like it all depends on God. And so with that being said, I have a really good team in every single one of these groups that started out just with me, by myself. I did not inherit any of this. I didn't inherit any, any money or anything like that. So we built everything from the ground up. From the ground up. We built it. And so with that being said, that allows us to, to be able to prioritize it all. And yes, and they all connect to each other. They all connect to each other. They all connect to each other. For example, the International Mastermind association was the first company and it is about reading the book and having a life plan. The constructive speaking is about speaking to drive traffic to all of the other companies. The construction company is about hiring people and creating entrepreneurs. I have a consulting company that does consulting for my clients. And so each one of those connect to the others. And then the national association of Black Women in Construction allows me to take the 40 plus years of experiences that I've had and share those with other women to not have to go through some of the things that I've gone through. But Then go through some of the things that have worked well and so they all connect to each other. : Got it. You also have a podcast. Tell us about your podcast. : Well, I have a couple. One, my daughter and I many years ago started a podcast called My Investing Story, and that came out of an experience I had of investing some money that I never saw again, which is a blessing in disguise because it forced me to learn how to analyze stocks, not invest, but to become an investor and a volunteer. The main podcast that I do on Saturdays at 8am and streaming live on YouTube every Saturday, every Saturday at 8am Eastern time, we walk through the principles of the book, thinking we're rich, starting with the first principle in January, which is desire. And then in February, we go into the principle of faith, and then March we go into the principle of auto suggestion, and so on up until the end of the year. And then the next year, we just start all over again. We invite guests who've read the book and they come on and share their experience with that principal. And I've been doing it now. Started out with Blog Talk when it was just a conference call line and have been doing that now for over 15 years, every single Saturday. 2Co hosts that I picked up along the way. And. And we've been together now, I think about five or six years. : Okay. Okay. So all the things you've done. One. One thing comes to my mind is legacy. What does legacy mean to you personally? And how can others begin building their legacy today, even if they're starting small? : To be honest with you, first part of that is my relationship with salvation and Christ. I think that would be number one. The second would be mindset. Yes, mindset and how we train and teach to think differently about who we are and whose we are. Because money will come and go. And I think one of my favorite books says that it may not endure to many generations. And that happens because oftentimes we don't necessarily teach how to manage that. One of my other favorite books now in the last couple of years has been a book called what Would the Rockefellers Do? It talks about the family office and the family business and how to document that legacy while living a life of significance. And so that's what it would look like for me. Those two areas are salvation and then mindset. : That's on point, too. That's on point. So, Ann, tell us about Constructively Speaking Incorporated. What inspired this platform and how does it condense to your mission? : Well, constructively Speaking was born out of the fact that my youngest daughter at age 12, started speaking and I would take her wherever she had to go. At one point, her coach, Dr. Tina Dupree, shared with me and her that she should attend the National Speakers association conference that was going to be in Orlando. So I decided to go and go to Disney with my grandson and his friend. But coming back through that, I stopped and purchased all of the CDs going back to a long time ago CDs and listened to the audio recordings. Every single one of them took me a year about. And I realized that all of the free speaking that I had been doing, people asked me to speak. I needed to create a brand. I need to create brand and create a business so I could better serve my clients. My friend Les Brown says, and people don't respect what they don't pay for. The more they pay, the more they pay attention. And that was the beginning of the constructive speaking brand. Because I spoke often about who I am and what I do and how I do it, but I never saw it as a separate brand that would allow me to create a business around that. And that's how that particular brand started. But I helped elevate small businesses in the construction industry to go to the next level. And that's what I do. In taking my 40 plus years of experience and teaching people how to do that, I do two retreats a year. One is called Niche to be Rich and the other one is called Life and Legacy. And those details are on my website@annmcnell.com but that's what that organization does. And of course I do keynote seminars, workshops. : Okay, just speak to high level leaders and everyday dreamers. What's one message you wish every listener could hear? : Oh, wow. You must have a dream to have a dream come true. It's simple. But oftentimes many people have never really thought about how do you want your spiritual life to be five, ten years from now? Your family life, five, ten? It's never perfect. But what is it that you look for it to be? Your finances, you know, are you maxing out every conceivable retirement account? Are you saving? Are you investing? What does it look like at retirement? What about your health? You have a dream about what your health would look like 5, 10, 40 years from now? You know, what about your education in terms of reading and studying? And I can go through all of the 10 categories that we focus on that oftentimes we often take for granted as if somebody's going to do it for us. So those are some of the areas that we focus on in that regards. : And I'm glad you said that, because what you just said is giving people purpose and making them look at their destiny or where they're going. One thing that kind of irks me sometimes when you talk to people and you ask them a question, you know, what's going on? How's everything? I'm just trying to make it. Well, man, you just going to do this every day? You just trying to make it every day. You know how much toll that's going to be on your mind, your body, and everything else. And don't have a goal to push to, you know, then have to be the biggest goal. You know, if you say, I got a thousand dollars in the bank and I want $10,000 in the bank in the next 12 months, well, that's a goal. It's something to work towards, you know, but people get complacent when they don't have vision, you know, they don't have purpose. : That is so true. So true. : Yeah. Because at the end of the day, it's like, you know, I always tell people, you know, what do you want? What do you want? Now you can sit here and complain about this. You can, you know, talk about this, but at the end of the day, what do you want? You figure out what you want. Then you got to work the process in the steps to go get what you really want. : Absolutely, absolutely. But again, they must have a dream. And what I'm learning, you cannot give somebody a dream who's dreamless. : Yes, yes, absolutely. Because, you know, look at you. I mean, look at you and your husband. Y' all came together, and that story is amazing. Like, hey, we gonna do this, and I'm gonna sacrifice this, and you gonna do this, and we gonna do this. And then y' all came together. Then look at you today. That is, like, great. You know, usually I say crazy to me. Cause the story, it really is crazy. Because when it don't make sense, you know, you know, it's gone, Right? : Absolutely. Absolutely. : Then you built your company, and then you're bringing people up behind you that want to be there and want to learn more and want to be more, not just making all the money. And that's what true leadership is about. : Absolutely. Duplicating it. : Yes. So, Ann, for anyone listening right now who feels like their dream is too big, too late, or too impossible, what would you say to them? : Start very small. Start with something very small. It can be as small as. Pay off a small debt. Something very small. Take a walk around the block. Something very small. Read a proverb a day. Something very small, no carbs, something very small, 8 ounces of water. I mean, something very small. And have an accountability group. When I formed the International Mastermind association, it was for the purpose of accountability. Showing that, you know, if you have somebody holding you accountable and then somebody's holding a group accountable, that was the main glue. If you were to ask me what was one of the main things that helped us stay on track, I would say accountability of a mastermind group that we met every single week for years. Every single week for years. And as a result of that, we've had great success. We helped thousands of individuals. And that website is called International Masterminders. But we help people create a mastermind group. And a lot of people don't realize they're mastermind groups that are fee based. And then there are mastermind groups that are free based. And so I focus on both the fee ones I focus on. For my constructive speaking business, I have mastermind groups that I'm coaching them. And then I have, through my nonprofit, I've written three books. One called how to Start and Run a Successful Mastermind Group. I. I've also written a workbook on that and also a journal. Because there's a process and there's a framework, and oftentimes people may not have a lot of money to pay a coach to teach them, but they can read a book. So that accountability is critical. Accountability is critical. : Yeah. And I love the part that you give everybody different avenues to take. You know, like you said, some people don't have the money to do those kind of things, but they can't pick up the book and read it and things like that. Absolutely. So lastly, and can you tell my listeners how to follow you, how to reach you and purchase your books and get on your podcast and things like that? : Absolutely. Thanks so very much for asking. You can reach me through LinkedIn. That's Ann McNeil on LinkedIn. A n n M C N E I L L. You can also text the number 59925. That number is 59925. That's a text me number. And just put the word and in the chat. A N n in the chat. And that's a really good way for me you'll get information back immediately. But it's a really good way for me to follow up if you're interested in having a dialogue about masterminding or coaching or any of that. And then finally, my website, annmcneal.com is a really good place to learn a little bit more about who we are and what we do also. : There you have it. Ann McNeill. Ann, thank you so much. I'll tell you what, I am so honored and thank God for your faith, your courage and your endurance, because you are someone who's not only doing what you're called to do, but you are changing lives and helping people change their lives. And we need more people in the world like you. : Well, thank you so very much for this opportunity, and I look forward to staying connected. : Absolutely. We'll definitely do. : Thank you. : All right. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in. Real Talk with Reginald D.. If you enjoy listening to Real Talk with Reginald D, please rate and review on Apple Podcast. See you next time