Top of Their Game

The following eight people in key employee positions are not necessarily the best of the best — there's no way to judge that — but they are at the top of their game. They've worked in their positions long enough to surpass benchmarks, satisfy clients and co-workers, and feel confident and happy with their work; in other words, they have thrived in their jobs and set standards that others might wish to follow.

Yet, in every case, it's evident that their success comes from “without” as well as from within: Each of these employees has been given a certain amount of autonomy by the company owner; each has backup and support from colleagues; each has had training and experience in his or her field, which can be passed on to others; and each buys into the company's culture and vision.

Laura Lurcott
Hudson Valley Preservation
Sherman, Conn.

If you see a remodeling project as starting with a phone call, you might want to have Laura Lurcott on the receiving end of the phone line. Bright, warm, and upbeat, Lurcott has been with HVP for nearly eight years, four of them in the gatekeeper role, which she developed for the company with consultant Joe Dellanno of My Design/Build Coach in Boston.

Laura Lurcott

“Laura's the kind of person who makes you feel good when you talk to her on the phone,” company owner Mason Lord says, adding that a gatekeeper must be engaging, but also tough. “Laura asks a lot of questions. Not all of them are comfortable. She is able to talk about money and to find out the real problems. The gatekeeper needs to have some guts.”

He adds that Lurcott “goes above and beyond what her role is.” She works closely with other members of the team and has been accompanying Lord on sales calls, helping clients with selections and financial decisions. Lurcott is also a mentor, teaching the gatekeeping role to others from around the country through Dellanno's My Design/Build Coach courses. Lord admits that the next step would be for Lurcott to move into sales and have someone else do the gatekeeping, but HVP is not quite ready for that.

Debby Allmon
Schloegel Design Remodel
Kansas City, Mo.

To be a good salesperson, Debby Allmon says, you have to be “creative and a designer and a numbers person, and a detailoriented person as well. You can't be abstract.” To hear owner Jake Schloegel, Allmon is all these and more. She wears three hats — sales manager, salesperson, and vice president. She's also in charge of marketing. She holds a CR designation, is vice president of the local NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry) chapter, and answers remodeling questions for a column in The Kansas City Star.

Debby Allmon

“When I hired Debby 10 years ago, it was for an office manager position, figuring she'd work in that role for maybe 2 years. She had interior design experience from working with a home builder and tested well for sales aptitude. That, along with her personality, communications skills, and confidence … I knew she'd be successful.”

Schloegel's educated guess was right on. Allmon learned sales by working closely with Schloegel; she also had two years of Sandler Sales Institute sales training and help from Remodelers Advantage Roundtables. As sales manager, Allmon has five people answering to her. Sales team morale is good, Schloegel says, and “Debby's better at holding people accountable than I am.”

Responsible for 25% of the company's sales, Allmon consistently sells about $1 million of its high-end residential design/build business each year. “I believe in the product and services we sell and have 100% confidence in what I can deliver,” says Allmon, who sees her role as helping make the remodeling experience “a less painful thing for people to buy.” She likes the client interaction and enjoys building relationships with people, and she says that what makes her good at sales is a “really strong desire to give clients what they want and not what I want to see in their houses. I spend a lot of time learning about how they live and what would make their lives better in their homes.”

Sue Ladd
Excel Interior Concepts & Construction
Lemoyne, Pa.

Everyone loved the steadfast, warm, and humorous Radar O'Reilly character from the TV show MASH. His ability to know what Colonel Potter wanted was as uncanny as it was essential to his success at his job. That would be an apt description of Sue Ladd. “She helps me make things happen, and a lot of the time she anticipates my needs before I ask her,” says Excel president Jim Mirando Jr., who sees Ladd as a key participant in making strategic decisions for the company. “I really rely on her a lot. I run most decisions by her to get her opinion.”

Sue Ladd

Ladd began as office manager nearly 10 year ago, but the job was a pared down version of what she does now. “It became apparent that she was capable and able to be much more,” Mirando says. Ladd, who worked for 20 years in the construction industry before coming to Excel, is now responsible for all the administration of running the business — human resources, the bookkeeping and accounting, employee benefits, as well as some marketing, advertising, and budgeting. She coordinates all company meetings and anything to do with office maintenance, computers, and supplies. She believes communication is key: “I need to understand what everyone needs to get their jobs done. That's done by speaking with them and listening to what they have to say.”

Mirando says that she makes the office a warm and inviting place while maintaining high standards and expectations: “Given a problem, she'll design a system to address it, communicate it to staff, sell it, implement it, and hold people accountable over time to make sure they continue to follow it.”

Ladd believes she's good at what she does because of the organizational and communications skills she learned while working in the construction industry for 20 years before coming to Excel. At one point she worked for a drywaller who mentored her and showed her how to run an office. She also learned how to communicate with everyone from a carpenter to a production manager, owner, or designer. “I need to understand what they need to get their jobs done. That's done by speaking with them and listening to what they have to say.”

Jim Yingling
Mark IV Builders
Bethesda, Md.

While some remodeling companies call the position Jim Yingling holds “lead carpenter,” his employer, Mark IV Builders, calls it “senior superintendent.”

On a basic level, says Tim Faller, head of Field Training Services in Westerly, R.I., a lead carpenter is a craftsperson who manages a jobsite. As with every job, however, there are many more aspects to the role: The lead carpenter is one of the frontline personnel on the jobsite, so he or she must know how to work with clients, manage other employees, as well as deal with subcontractors, vendors, and building inspectors. Lead carpenters must be good leaders in order to get people to work well. They have to manage physical resources or materials and have the ability to think ahead, accurately assess a situation, and adjust budgets. And they must have technical skills, yet make peace with paperwork.

After more than 30 years in construction, Jim Yingling can juggle all these efforts and consistently meet his goals. “He owns the job; he takes complete control,” says Mark IV production manager Andy Hannan, who adds, “I don't pay supers to put their tools on. I pay them to manage the job.”

Jim Yingling

The company empowers its superintendents to take charge. “Working for Mark IV is almost like being in business for yourself without the headaches,” says Yingling, who has been with the company four years and has previous experience in his own business. His background enables him to feel confident in any situation. “There's not much I can't talk to a sub or supplier about and basically get what I want.”

Yingling has certified lead carpenter training and now teaches CLC classes to others. He judges his own success by how well he works with subcontractors, responses to customer satisfaction surveys, and whether a job is on time and on budget. Last year he did about $1 million worth of business. “A jovial attitude keeps you going,” he says. “You've got to have a sense of humor to keep up the momentum, keep morale up.”

Steve Walton
Marrokal Construction
San Diego

The word that comes up again and again when talking about Steve Walton with Gary Marrokal, founder and president of high-end design-build company Marrokal Construction, is “passion,” as in, “Steve is exceptional at what he does and in the passion he has. People feel that. When clients feel that, they trust you. And when they trust you, they come onboard.” A lot of clients come onboard. Walton sells as well as designs — typically around $5 million worth of business.

Walton came to Marrokal 8½ years ago after dissolving a design business he owned with architect Jean Paul Bourdier, one of Walton's professors at University of California, Berkeley. He met Marrokal when they were in the same Business Networks peer group.

With a degree in architecture, a minor in structural engineering, and hands-on experience building from a young age, Walton's solid design sense is augmented by his creative vision and listening skills. Says Marrokal, “Most designers want to design it their way. Steve is talented at taking [a client's] style —of their home and life — and making it a grand slam when it's done.” He describes a Walton-designed family-room and kitchen that were situated at the back of a home. “Steve did enhancements on the home that invited you through the house,” engaging a visitor along the way to the project, Marrokal says. He's detail-oriented and “has that type of vision.”

Steve Walton

Walton's success in sales, he believes, comes directly from his architectural vocabulary and his ability to come at a sale from a design angle. “I don't come on as a strong salesperson. I'm working with clients as the designer preparing developed concept drawings, plans, project estimates, and, finally, writing the contractual agreement.”

Marrokal is quick to point out that his six other design consultants, as well as the entire staff, support Walton's success. “A great quarterback, unless he's surrounded by a great team, is nothing,” he says. “The company's culture helps take him to his potential.”

Clint Whitman
Plaskoff Construction
Tarzana, Calif.

Company owner and president Matt Plaskoff didn't think he'd ever find a good estimator. “It's the most difficult position to fill in a construction company. No question,” he says. A great estimator melds “a big-picture, result-oriented, production-type mentality with a narrow-focused, task-oriented individual.” During the past 18 years, Plaskoff has tried “training people without experience, training people with sales experience, training bean counters. Nothing worked.” But 2 years ago, he found Clint Whitman, whom he calls “as close to the perfect candidate” as he could find.

After 20 years in the industry, Whitman has wide experience ranging from construction to sales and estimating. “I've seen everything,” the enthusiastic Whitman says. “When people look at drywall, they see paint. I look through it and see the foundation under the wall. I have a good sense of visualization and can walk through a house and understand it.”

That knowledge makes its way to a 790-line-item template and then to a detailed estimate of 20 to 30 pages. Yet Whitman never gets too caught up in figuring that he “can't close the deal,” Plaskoff says. “He balances quality with speed.” Whitman is also able to communicate his findings to everyone from vendors and carpenters to the company owner and clients.

Clint Whitman

Just as Plaskoff had hoped, Whitman's hands-on experience and business acumen give him great success at hitting the numbers: About 90% of the time, Whitman is within 5% of his preliminary budget.

To keep everything organized and under control, he says a mentor taught him to see a project “like a pygmy eating an elephant —one bite at a time.”

Kary Ewalt
Anthony Wilder Design/Build
Cabin John, Md.

After 25 years as an interior designer, 11 of them on her own, Kary Ewalt felt the need to be around more people and have more variety. So she answered an ad in an ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) newsletter and hit it off immediately with Anthony and Liz Wilder, owners of a high-end residential design/build company in the Washington, D.C., metro market.

Kary Ewalt

Ewalt brings years of experience, extensive product knowledge, great multi-tasking skills, and a lot of patience to her work. Her job requires that she is be diplomatic with clients and respects their wishes, while gently guiding them toward timeless — “not trendy,” she says — design that is within their budget. “It's important to do up-front interviews,” says Ewalt, who takes copious notes on every job.. “Everyone wants it to work out well and to have fun with it.”

Anthony Wilder Design/Build projects average $700,000 to $800,000. There may be a 500-item list for a $4 million project, Anthony Wilder says. Ewalt strives to get every detail — including interior finishes for floors, walls, and cabinetry, as well as plumbing, lighting, and electrical fixtures —selected before construction begins. She, along with two assistants — one design, one administrative — works simultaneously on 30 projects in various stages.

Although Ewalt is not responsible for selling, her selections work almost inevitably leads to interior design consultations on everything from sofa fabrics to draperies to artwork. A good listener who can clearly convey her clients' needs to others in the company, Ewalt is grateful for the support of the team and recognizes that everyone is always under deadline pressure.

“If someone at a jobsite shouts at me over the phone,” she says, “I have to take care of it right away because he's probably up on a ladder trying to figure something out.”

Mike Mackison
D.G. Liu Contractor
Dickerson, Md.

If company owner Jerry Liu had anything negative to say about Mike Mackison, it would be that Mackison worries more about projects than he does. “I have to protect Mike from Mike,” Liu says, “to ensure he doesn't let projects interfere with his personal life.”

Mackison agrees with his boss, but he loves his job and believes it's up to him to “manage the crews and make things easier for them so they enjoy work more,” which leads to a better, more profitable company for all.

Mackison came to Liu as a carpenter's helper 15 years ago while still in college. When he graduated, with a degree in biology and environmental management, he wanted a job right away and liked working with his hands. “I like the feel of a project coming from nothing to a structure,” Mackison says.

Mike Mackison

He eventually became a carpenter, then a lead carpenter, and, once Liu dropped that system, he saw Mackison as a natural project manager.

Although Mackison misses hands-on carpentry, he likes the daily challenges of being a project manager. When he doesn't know something, he researches it. He's forthcoming with suggestions for improvements and will stand up to Liu on things he's passionate about. “We don't hold [Mike's] hand for a blessed thing,” Liu says. “He's meticulous.”

Mackison is the main contact with clients, negotiating change orders and collecting payments. He is in charge of the siding, trim, and framing specialty crews. His organizational skills and detail-oriented nature help him handle four or five jobs at the same time. In terms of leadership, his hands-on construction knowledge gives him street cred, and the crews know him as easygoing yet demanding. Liu says, “A nonperforming trade contractor has every reason to fear Mike.”