Monica Miraglilo, owner of the former Havertown design shop Fill A Pillow is now taking on the male-dominated construction industry with a new online platform, writes Eric Moody for Metro Philadelphia.

She’s created ‘GirlBuild Lab,’ an online platform that offers users the basics of home renovation and how to finance projects.

The site provides the tools for women to build homes, lives and dreams and includes online recorded construction classes.

Miraglilo is a long-time fashion model and was intrigued by the overseas architecture she saw in her travels.

Home renovating started after she learned how to fix up a “money pit” home for her daughter, laying down flooring and tile, hanging cabinets, knocking down walls, and scraping wallpaper. It transformed the property into the places she saw in Italy while there for six months.

Requests for help with other properties started pouring in so she opened Fill A Pillow, allowing customers to build unique household items.

That eventually led to her and her husband starting the construction firm  Miraglilo Properties, which has developed more than 75 homes.

GirlBuild is her latest venture.

 “We are the backbone of building everything. We build families and relationships, so what better way than to build each other up?” Miraglilo added.

Read more about Monica Miraglilo at Metro Philadelphia

Monica Miraglilo talks about her creation of GirlBuild Lab.