Constructing a Career

Lance Friddle, VP of Construction at Ideal Homes and Neighborhoods began his career at the company in 2005 while attending the University of Oklahoma. He never imagined that Ideal would be his long-term career path after majoring in criminology with dreams to be an investigator. Yet, working for Ideal part-time as a painter while in college, he fell in love with the company and work. He was soon promoted to full-time assistant builder and continued along that path until 2019 when he was named VP of Construction.

Learning about construction and best practices, innovation, and teamwork has presented a revolving door of opportunities to develop his own leadership style. According to Lance, leadership is about identifying those who have innate talents and building a team around those talents, which in turn generates momentum and success. He’s always been a problem solver, but his style changed as he learned to take calculated risks. “We become leaders when we are willing to embrace risk and learn from our successes and mistakes; we get better every day.”

After Lance completed his degree in criminology at OU, he went on to earn an M.B.A. in finance at Oklahoma Christian University. He and his wife, Emily, bought their first Ideal home together as they were planning their wedding and now live in their third Ideal home. 

Lance is a firm believer that balancing work and life is critical to overall success. He focuses on personal relationships because home life influences work. He also plans each week to ensure he has time to pray & exercise. “Even with a busy work schedule, our family takes dinner seriously. We cook and eat together almost every evening. We turn work off and talk about our days, risks we took and what we learned,” said Lance.

Lance and Emily have three sons and enjoy traveling, outdoor adventures, and sporting events. 

“Ideal Homes and Neighborhoods is a tremendous team,” says Lance, “and that teamwork is what makes it a great place to work. We have fun doing what we love and in turn enjoy the blessing of providing people a place to call home.”