Nicole Matos
Rivet Management
Nicole Matos is a wife, mother of 3, entrepreneur and CEO of Rivet Management. Nicole was obsessed with renovations, building and design since she was young child – often opting for home reno shows over Saturday morning cartoons.
After humble beginnings, Nicole began her career in retail management, working her way up into big box retail. On the side, she diligently saved and bought her first property to renovate and flip at age 19 and by 25 she had flipped 5 homes.
After becoming a mother, Nicole moved into a project management contract position with the government, to allow better hours with her daughter. As her contract came to an end, and now being a single mother, Nicole went door to door until she convinced a local construction company to hire her into her dream project management position. She took night courses at NAIT and loved her job. In 2008, with the downturn of the economy, Nicole and her co-workers were all laid off. Nicole saw this as an opportunity.
In 2009, Nicole started Rivet, a construction company which focused on tenant improvements. Rivet had a record breaking first year but as the economy continued to suffer, Nicole realized she had to approach the market differently than her male competitors. Step one let her fulfill a life-long dream of getting formal design training. She now was able to get clients earlier and provide more value.
Rivet still focuses on tenant improvements and is working to disrupt the entire construction industry. All Rivet project managers are now hired as designers and trained in both modalities. The company is focused on creating more profits for their clients by having this single source offering and by offering superior branded design.