We recently connected with Ambrea Mikolajczyk and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ambrea, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I had a very successful career as a Pharmaceutical Sales Manager for two of the largest drug manufacturers in the world and it was great. Kevin and I started renovating single family homes shortly after we were married, we loved the entire process of the transformation. We soon realized our true passion lied in restoring abandoned structures. I took a leap of faith and resigned in 2017 to start ARK Restoration & Construction. It’s been amazing to see our impact in the neighborhoods we renovate in, we beautify communities, improve property values, we save buildings and homes from being demolished and create quality residences all can call home. I am so very proud of the work my team does every single day to enhance Toledo’s real estate.

Ambrea, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Ambrea is a creative mother of 4 who wears multiple hats which include being a real estate developer, property manager, owner of ARK Restoration & Construction and TEDx speaker. Ambrea left corporate America after 15 years as a pharmaceutical sales manager to pursue her passion of restoring old architecture. Ambrea with her husband Kevin have renovated several homes and buildings for themselves and clients throughout Toledo and the surrounding areas. Their most recent adaptive reuse project was a former vacant Wonder Bread Factory which they converted into 33 luxury loft apartments. The renovation earned ARK The Best Commercial Rehabilitation Award in a Large Community in the state given by Heritage Ohio in 2022. Ambrea is obsessed with designing and creating something special from “undesirable properties” in neighborhoods that traditionally lack investment — to restore and beautify buildings that have been forgotten about paying close attention to quality and detail.
A Toledo native, Ambrea is committed to the success of her hometown. She attended Start High School and graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences degree where she played Volleyball. Ambrea is immersed in the community and serves on the boards of The Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, Toledo Warehouse District Association, The Metroparks Foundation and the University of Toledo Alumni Association Board of Trustees. In 2019, Ambrea was given the prestigious 20 under 40 leadership award for the ongoing work she does in the community. In 2023 Ambrea was awarded a Milestone Award for business, one of the few awards for women in the state of Ohio presented by the YWCA. She is also a member of many organizations who strive to make Toledo a better place.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Ambrea and her cofounder/ business partner who is her actually her husband Kevin. Ambrea and Kevin met at Finish Line only to find out later they both attended the same high school.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Ambrea, who grew up in west Toledo, attended the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and pursued the sales route. She built a successful career in pharmaceutical sales, but soon after she married her husband, Kevin, in 2005, the pair discussed the possibility of investing in real estate.

So, they showed up at an auction in 2007 and purchased two fixer-uppers, a duplex and a house, both in West Toledo where the pair grew up. The Mikolajczyks had no renovation experience and turned to Google and YouTube to learn about products and techniques from manufacturers, and hired contractors to do work they couldn’t. Kevin and Ambrea’s fathers are handy, and pitched in as well. Their first renovation projects were a success.

By about 2010, the Mikolajczyks had transitioned from single-family homes and duplexes to multi-family homes and apartment buildings with multiple units. Plus, they’d had two children. The business was successful and busy, and they decided that Kevin would quit his job to manage the real estate full time. Ambrea wasn’t ready to quit the job that she loved

“I was still very much solid in my career, I loved everyone I worked with and was climbing the corporate ladder – until we purchased an old factory in 2015 in downtown Toledo, a two-story warehouse, a former tobacco factory. That’s when everything changed.”

In 2017 Ambrea left her pharmaceutical sales career and officially launched ARK Restoration and Construction. The name is a dual meaning, Mikolajczyk says: Ambrea, Kevin and all four of their children’s names start with either the letter A, R or K. The second meaning is biblical.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/ark_restoration/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ark_restoration/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ark-family-companies