March 2026 Startup Grant Awarded to Linnell Restorations

We’re excited to announce the March $10,000 Startup Grant recipient. Congratulations to Sophie Linnell, founder of Linnell Restorations.

Recently, WomensNet Advisory Board member Jama Hernandez sat down with Sophie for an exclusive interview. You can listen to their conversation and view the transcript below.

Video Transcript

Jama: Hi everyone, my name is Jama Hernandez and I’m with WomensNet. And I’m so excited to introduce our March, 2026 grant recipients. We have with us Sophie, with Linnell Restorations, and she is our start up grant winner. We appreciate the time that you have taken to talk with us today. Tell us a little bit about your business and who or what inspired it. 

Sophie: Hey, everyone, Linnell Restorations started this past summer and it’s a frame to finish design build company that specializes in restoring traditional architecture and we’re based in Boston. So there’s plenty of that to go around. But in terms of what inspired me or who inspired me- I had a mentor of mine who once said, think of how you used to play as a kid and that will guide you as to what you should do with your life or what kind of things you should pursue. I remember when I was six, I begged my parents for a toolbox and it was like twice the size of me, and I still have it actually! My parents were very encouraging just like the wind in my sails to encourage whatever I was passionate about.

I also think of my grandfather as well. He was very handy and had an amazing amount of patience and would be putting down floorboards and would hand me the hammer and have me use both hands so I could be ambidextrous and that kind of thing. I wish he was still alive so that I could share these things with him now. I also studied art and sculpture in college and had that need to be dumpster diving all the time and finding things that people have thrown away

I think that kind of desire as well as the kind of craft and the history that so many of our buildings have are so lovingly made. I’m trying to preserve those stories and give them new life and engage in that dialogue of people who have passed before us. There’s just something really beautiful about that conversation that I have desired to participate in- like tangibly with my hands. And so that’s Linnell restorations.

Jama: Wonderful. Very awesome. Tell us what makes your business and approach unique from others doing restoration work?

Sophie: I think about the time after I graduated from college.  I moved to Italy to work for an art program. And you’re just like in a culture that has complete reverence for its built environment and for its heritage and its history. I was living in like this medieval 13th century renovated convent and next door was, a regular house that had all of these layers of time that you could physically see. So you could see where it was built by the Etruscans, and then you could see where then a different period, the Romans came in and built an arch, and then you can see that its plastered over and now it’s just a plastered arch in the wall and there’s a window next door.

There’s just this story that’s evolving. I feel like the sentiment that I’m kind of used to in my circles in America- it’s fair to say that we’re building for buildings to last like 20, 25 years max. Then it gets knocked down you build a new one and it’s just completely wiped out. And I feel like the thing that separates the work that I’m doing and participating in is its mindset. It’s not like, let’s just build it as fast as we can and get out and get to the next job. It’s really like, how can I build this in a way where it will last for another 300 years so that the next preservation carpenter can come in and see the work that I did and, and go, whoa, look at these layout lines and appreciate it. Then onto the next 300 years and repair it. And you know, these timber frames can last for thousands of years-in other countries they’re still standing. I think that mindset is really what sets it apart. I think people can resonate with that significance and connection to the building and the people who built it.

Jama: Absolutely. One of the things that struck me as you were answering was just how our group of March winners are all preserving environments and structures and relationships and just making the world a more joyful place. And so thank you so much. That’s super cool. Any lessons learned story in your experience doing this restoration work?

Sophie: I am definitely at the start of my journey with this, and so I have a whole amount of time where I will be learning these hard lessons. You know, I still have a lot of time to look back and we’ll probably continue to do that for the rest of my life. One kind of quick illustration of something that I was thinking about was like, you’re opening up these structures and you have no idea what’s on the inside in terms of rot, in terms of pests, things like that. So there was the barn that I’m working on right now. I was opening up a wall and there’s this massive hornet’s nest and so it’s a small illustration of how I wish I had put a line item on my estimate for all of that removal.

There’s so much that’s unexpected; there’s a lot of unknowns. I think lessons learned in terms of digging into my mentors on things like bidding out a project, and how to prepare for the unexpected and do it in a way with integrity and in a way that you’re in conversation with the client. The kind of learning like what costs, what things do I take and just eat, and what things is more of a conversation with the client. So those are things that I think are things that I’m still learning and discovering. 

Jama: Thank you so much for sharing that and for participating in this interview. We know you’re very, very busy and so we appreciate the time that you carved out today to speak with us. And congratulations again.