Kitchen & Bath Business September/October 2022 - 19

bath industry, getting into it isn't always a direct
path. Despite his NKBA pedigree - mom
Maria, CMKBD, was NKBA's national president
in 2015 - Stapperfenne never thought
he'd be in this business. He was working in
audio/video in the early 2010s, occasionally
helping NKBA's Northern New Jersey Chapter
with technical services. In 2014, a member
company recruited him as a sales rep and he
joined the association, thus starting his kitchen
and bath journey.
" Absolutely. The diners, the delis, being close to Philly and NYC, my
family, access to snowboarding up north and just the high-speed energy
of everyone you meet, " he said. " I will say, however, my access to barbecue
and not having to pay to go on the beach down here has not left me disappointed! "
Green
Forest Cabinetry: https: greenforestcabinetry.com
Mark Stapperfenne on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mark-s-3a232654
" Like my mom, I wanted to forge my own
path, " he said. " Growing within the kitchen
and bath industry was not what I had originally
planned, but with all the opportunity available,
it became my main option very fast. "
Stapperfenne served on the executive board
and as communications chair of the NNJ Chapter
and was inducted into the Thirty Under 30
Class of 2020.
" It's OK to be wrong. What
matters is that we are right
when it's showtime. "
- MARK STAPPERFENNE
" I call, text and DM my Thirty Under 30
friends ALL. THE. TIME, " he said. " Their
unique views on business and customer interaction
have pushed me to do better. "
He joined GFC in 2018 and was promoted
to his current position after a year. His three
main takeaways: " First, always get the facts.
If you don't know, give yourself time, and ask
someone who does, " he noted. " Second, there
are two characteristics of a good customer:
They pay their bills on time, and they allow
you to make money. And third, it's OK to be
wrong. What matters is that we are right when
it's showtime. "
Positivity plays a daily role for Stapperfenne.
" My one piece of life advice is to wake up and
high-five yourself every day, " he added. " Even
on the bad days, especially the ones where you
make mistakes and think 'that could have gone
way better if I had done,' if you believe you are
awesome, awesome things happen. "
In his downtime, the self-professed Trekkie
loves skateboarding and longboarding. Does the
native New Jerseyan miss his home state?
NATALIA PIERCE, AKBD
DETAIL BY DESIGN, OTTAWA, ONTARIO
OTTAWA CHAPTER PRESIDENT (2022-2023)
Author and designer Natalia Pierce, AKBD, believes that stress in renovation
is preventable. Pierce, who founded Detail by Design in Ottawa,
Ontario, and holds WELL AP, CLIPP and Staging and Organization
Professional certifications as well, wrote " Inside Renovations: Complete
Guide to Kitchens, Bathrooms and Home Improvements " to alleviate
that stress.
" It's amazing how much less of an impact a situation has when you know
what to expect, " said Pierce, who served on the NKBA National Board in
2015, on the Chapter Leadership Committee through 2017 and was a
founding member of the Ottawa Chapter, where she's currently president.
" It occurred to me that if only they had a realistic guide that ultimately
prepares them for what really happens during a renovation - not the TV
version - that maybe in some way their stress could be reduced. " Inside
Renovations " is the solution. "
She started on a degree as an architectural technologist, realizing her
passion fell between the technical and decorative side of design. After
taking a few years off to start a family, she returned to school to complete
her education, which she said proved more difficult than expected.
" I went back to study design and décor and got a job with a local building
center, where they were looking for someone to run their kitchen department, "
said Pierce. " Not knowing a lot about kitchens, I immediately found
the NKBA. I started studying the resource library and signed up to take
my AKBD. "
Pierce calls the role K&B plays in influencing clients' health and
well-being the " most exciting development in the business " in the past
few years. " Health and wellness have become a major spotlight, yet the
influence we have as designers has only recently started to be understood, "
she observed. " Great design can actually make the lives of our clients
better. That is a huge impact. "
In her off time, Pierce is a self-professed Halloween junkie - " It's the one
night a year when you get to be anything else other than yourself at any age
... underneath our clothes and makeup and skin we are all the exact same:
skulls and bones. " She loves writing, sewing, hitting the gym, traveling and
cavorting with her dogs, cats and grandchildren. " I don't do bored very well,
so I'm always keeping busy! "
Detail by Design: detailbydesign.ca
Natalia Pierce on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nataliadetailbydesign
By Dianne Pagoda, a writer for NKBA, nkba.org
KBBONLINE.COM
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19
http://www.greenforestcabinetry.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-s-3a232654 http://www.detailbydesign.ca http://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliadetailbydesign http://www.nkba.org http://www.KBBONLINE.COM
Kitchen & Bath Business September/October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business September/October 2022
