Starting a remodeling company was not high on the list of career ambitions for mining engineer Seval Dzinic and his wife, Melinda, both originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The remodeling company they created—now well-known in the suburbs north of Dallas—was started to provide jobs for tradesmen arriving as refugees from ethnic conflicts in the region once known as Yugoslavia.

But if the Dzinics didn’t know much about residential renovation when they started, that’s all in the past. Today Melinda, who once made a living as a consultant in dentistry, is a CR, CKBR, and a Universal Design Certified Professional. The Dzinics are active in industry associations including the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), the Dallas Homebuilders Association, and the American Society of Interior Designers. They work as a team. Melinda is an award-winning designer known for building lasting relationships with her clients, while Seval runs the projects she designs.

“We trained,” Melinda says, explaining how a pair of outsiders transformed themselves into the owners of one of the Dallas area’s premier remodeling companies. “Our skills kept growing and growing.”

They took advantage of every kind of educational opportunity that was offered, including classes on furniture finishes and wall finishes. Today Euro Design/Build Remodel is known for its custom kitchens and baths, which can easily move into six figures. The company has a three-month waiting list of projects that are scheduled and people lined up waiting for design work. A number of the Yugoslav tradesmen the company set out to employ now have their own companies and work as trade contractors.
 

Takeaways

  • “Houzz has taken us public,” Melinda Dzinic says. The online source for information on renovation and building has proved a “very good interest driver” for what Euro Design/Build Remodel provides.
  • Euro Design/Build does design consultations by appointment only, charging clients $150 per hour with a two-hour minimum.
  • Besides being active in remodeling organizations—Melinda is the National Association of the Remodeling Industry’s membership director—the couple have involved themselves and their company in area charities such as Rebuilding Together, Habitat for Humanity, and The Hearts Gala.
  • The company uses cloud-based Co-construct, as well as Dropbox, to communicate with subs and clients. “The guys on our crew have all the project notes, specifications, change orders, client approvals, photos of each item, and the renderings that are created for the project that they can pull up to reference while they’re working. It also allows us to track the progress of work daily. We love it,” Melinda says.