In this day and age, women-owned businesses proliferate the economic landscape with few exceptions.  Construction related businesses are still one of those exceptions. Few women have ventured there. Marla Jakovljevic did.

Marla Jakovljevic

In the mid 1990’s, Marla Tagorda Ferrer Jakovljevic was restless in her executive marketing position at a national jewelry chain. Early in life she followed the path set by family to study accounting, but yearned for a creative channel in her life. A Filipino native, she immigrated to the States in the late ‘80s. A chance meeting threw Jakovljevic and the owner of a local hardwood flooring business together. Marla says “I learned from the old wood master” referring to Benjamin MacAdoo of Benjamin’s Hardwood Floors and furthered her knowledge through the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), currently holding a “Master Craftsman” certification from that organization. In wood flooring, she discovered an outlet for her lifelong interest in architecture, design and homes… and her creativity. So she started Pasadena Wood Floors.

Throughout the years Jakovljevic always differentiated herself. Not only as one of only a handful of female wood specialists in the country, but as a highly respected leader and teacher in the global wood flooring industry. You’ll see her donating her time to teach at the NWFA schools throughout the country, Pasadena Community College’s construction school and at FIDM, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and Woodbury University at Burbank.

“No matter how tired or busy I am,” she comments, “I always wake up looking forward to the challenges and creativity of each new flooring project. I love to solve the difficult flooring problems with an elegant or unusual solution, particularly one that the architect or designer did not consider. A beautiful, completed flooring job is my personal signature.”  Often her flooring projects receive awards and recognition from the NWFA.

She stresses that the right flooring creates the proper foundation, upon which the interior design is built. And it needs to complement the architecture. “I’m honored to have had so many local museums, libraries and significant buildings like the Huntington Library, Pacific Asian Museum Norton Simon Museum and the Valley Hunt Club entrust their flooring to me.”

Jakovljevic makes a point to give back to the community. Recently married, husband Alek Jakovljevic, a civil engineer, has now joined her at Pasadena Wood Floors. Together, they are active in local Chambers of Commerce in Arcadia and Pasadena, Arcadia Host Lions Club, Pasadena Women’s City Club and others.

As an industry partner of Pasadena’s ASID, American Society of Interior Designers and Affiliate Member of AIA, the American Institute of Architects, Jakovljevic often works with high profile designers and architects on large projects for their clients. Pasadena Wood Floors also contributes to ASID charitable projects, such as the upcoming refurbishing of the century old Blinn House in Pasadena, owned by the Women’s City Club.

With all these irons in the fire, Jakovljevic’s financial background actually helps coordinate the myriad of business details, but the reason she wakes up in the morning is her eagerness to put that long latent creativity to work to deliver a floor her clients will love for years.