Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2017 - 36

ORLANDO
JANUARY 10-12
2017

Connect with Three of the ThirtyUnder30
This grouping of the industry's next generation of experts includes a marathon runner, a CAD expert
and a group sports enthusiast. The 2018 ThirtyUnder30 winners will make their debut on the NKBA
Presents KBISNeXT Stage sponsored by HomeAdvisor at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 9.

ZECH JOHNSON

EILEEN BYRNE

EJ SILVER

Zech is a junior project manager and designer
with his company, which he helped launch when
he was right out of high school. He is responsible
for producing measured CAD drawings for estimating and construction and is adept with several
other software programs as well.

Eileen joined her company in 2014 as an interior
designer and has since completed more than 70
projects. She is also a dancer and a musician and
volunteers with various local remodeling projects,
including the Peninsula Remodeler's Council's
Remodel Blitz.

EJ works for his family's company, which is a
division of Logan Square Aluminum Supply
Inc. He has developed a branch dedicated to
wholesale/multi-unit projects, where he works
on project management for many premier highrises in Chicago.

How did you learn the design programs so quickly?

How has your experience with dance and music benefited your career?

How have you increased your company's sales by
300 percent?

Southern Home
Improvement, Dalton, Ga.

Hatchett Design/Remodel,
Newport News, Va.

As far as CAD programs in general, it helps to
have a father who - as a 35-year civil engineer -
wrote standards and training programs for AutoCAD. Through the use of tutorials together with
the tutelage of my father, I have become adept at
producing - especially the base plans for all our
new designs.

Kitchen and bath design is like dance and music
where you are always working with the same basic
tools. My experience with choreography and music gives me a little bit of a step up when it comes
to the challenge of creating new ways to use those
basic elements.

Studio41 Design
Showroom, Chicago

I have always been involved in competitive sports
and have learned a great deal of discipline and
dedication. Most importantly, I have learned how
to attain success as a group. I use these lessons today as my duties not only entail my own personal
sales but also the sales of my company. I lead by
example and push my colleagues by accepting no
less than the best from myself. I have worked hard
to develop relationships with the biggest developers, designers and builders in the Chicago area,
which is what has propelled my personal growth
in this business. Without those types of relationships, there are simply very few paths to succeed at
the level we have seen these past few years.

What was it like completing your first marathon?
In which kinds of community activities is your
company involved?

We have participated in cancer and Alzheimer's
walks, career fairs and neighborhood cleanups.
This year we are looking at how we can accomplish two goals: one is to donate our time and talent to the Miracle League, an organization that
promotes softball for the physically and mentally
challenged folks of all ages, and we want to sponsor a sports team to give people a chance to play
ball. We regularly take on projects like walk-in
showers and tubs, handicap ramps, grab bars and
handrails - often for cost or with the help of private donations for no cost to the homeowner. We
know we will never get rich doing it, but seeing
the smiles and heart-felt expressions of gratitude
has its own rewards.

Training was a very long road, as I had never been
a runner. Both of my parents are runners, but as a
kid I refused to take any part in the sport. About
two years ago my mom decided to run one last
marathon (her sixth) to celebrate her retirement,
and I decided to run it with her. I started from zero
and had to train just to get in shape to train. The
hardest part was when I did long runs during the
summer; by that point I had started to get tired
of training, so it became a mental and physical
challenge. It was difficult, but the kind of difficult
you strangely find yourself enjoying. During the
race itself, we were running into winds and rain
so strong birds were flying backward, but it wasn't
bad enough to deter me from running another
one. I plan on running the Marine Corps Marathon in 2018.

What are your tips for success?

I learned very early on that the only way to succeed
and differentiate myself from my competitors
was to go the extra mile for my clients. I needed
to be smarter and faster than my competition,
but I needed to ultimately be someone my clients
wanted to work with more than the next guy. The
reality is that there is a lot of competition in the
space in which we work. I strive every day to give
my clients the necessary confidence to allow me
to earn their business.

Kitchen & Bath Business / NOV.-DEC. 2017 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of KBIS (KBIS.com)

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Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2017

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