Building Family

Meet an entrepreneur/ mentor who values exposure, engagement and empowerment.

In 2009, Ariane Kirkpatrick started her construction company, The AKA Team. It’s a family affair — titled with her name and the first initials of her children.

“Ali is the chief strategy officer, my other son Kristopher is the chief financial officer, my sister is the chief operations officer, my nephew Jalen Davis is the chief innovation officer, my husband Danny Couch was our safety director before becoming our evaluator,” Kirkpatrick says. “And my niece Naja Davis does whatever is needed.”

“I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur; I just didn’t know it was called ‘entrepreneur.’ I just knew I wanted to be a business owner.”

Her road to success includes family members, mentors and unforgettable experiences that impacted her worldview — she grew up near 100th and Cedar, surrounded by Blackowned businesses.

At 17, she was a vendor at the Labor Day picnic and sold her poetry book or gave it to customers who made a basketball shot. When computers became fashionable, she opened her first brick-and-mortar print and design business, A Better Kopy. Next she opened Corned Beef Warehouse, a restaurant in Maple Heights. Then she pivoted.

Her first attempt to get into construction was during college prep when she took drafting.

“I liked construction and architecture and always wanted to do something in those areas,” Kirkpatrick says.

It was a gift Kirkpatrick and her sister had, “and I don’t know where we got that from,” she says. “I just remember it looked like a program that I wanted to do, and when I talked to the teacher, he said, ‘You may want to look into it.’”

The AKA Team started out building residential rehab and commercial storefront renovations. It was ready when the opportunity surfaced to work on the Cleveland

Museum of Art’s $385 million renovation around 2009.

“Helen Forbes-Fields, president and chief executive officer of YWCA, was on the museum’s board at the time, and she was very instrumental in ensuring there was diversity and equity on the project,” Kirkpatrick says. “Helen made the difference, because this opened the door for companies such as mine.”

Kirkpatrick considers Vanessa Whiting, owner and president of AES Management, a mentor. And Whiting sees Kirkpatrick as a valuable and accomplished peer.

“You need people you can bounce things off of and share experiences with, because this is a data point that can be used to move forward,” Whiting says.

Phil Kerber, senior vice president of Whiting-Turner, formed a mentor-mentee relationship with Kirkpatrick in 2012 as part of Cleveland Clinic’s mentor-protege.

“Phil is a big reason for growth over the last 10 years,” she says. “They helped with talent acquisition, construction delivery, training and growth of our construction management team.”

Through it all, Kirkpatrick uses a creed she calls the E Thing: exposure, engagement and empowerment. Family, extended and all, have helped make her ventures a success. And she wants to pass that same energy back into the community.

“I love to mentor, and I think it’s important for me to tell my story so that others can see it and learn,” Kirkpatrick says.