We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Maldonado. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

John, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.

In my particular line of business, it’s finding reliable and knowledgeable contractors, not manufacturers or distributors per se. I have found the best by working alongside them on projects to get a feel for the way they do things and also know that they are reliable– that they show up when they say they will, charge and do the work that they promise. I have also found success in treating everyone with respect and making sure to maintain good working relationships with each.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I first got into the carpentry and home remodeling business by working with a good friend of mine. He was not only very knowledgeable in his craft, but a great teacher. He always made sure to show me what he was doing, explain every step and then let me try it. This went on for several years until I felt comfortable going off on my own with another company. Working for a larger company helped me to learn how to manage multiple projects and different clients at once. I mainly learned all about effective project management during these years. I also learned quite a bit about good and bad business practices. This helped me to realize what values were most important to translate over into my own business.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Well, not all leaders or those in a leadership position are ‘good’ leaders. I mean everyone wants to be, right? But it’s really hard to be when you have so many different components and factors. For me, I had leaders who were great visionaries, but not so good in the operations of executing those visions. This is pretty common I think. In the home remodeling industry, you have tight deadlines in which to get projects done or you begin to lose money on a project. This is no different than most other industries, except you are dealing directly with peoples homes and families. I never liked rushing through projects or building anything haphazardly for that matter, so I always struggled with this. Now owning my own business and having the ability and know-how to more effectively estimate how long tasks can take, I try my best not to underestimate project deadlines and similarly overestimate and inflate customer quotes. The larger organization I worked with did this often and they lost many good and loyal clients.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Everyone knows that I am reliable. I think that can be rare in this industry because there are so many moving parts and your entire project can get thrown off, by just one guy not showing up to do his piece of the remodel. If my electrician is a no-show, than it throws off my framers and painters. I have successfully built a reputation for reliability by being consistent.

Contact Info:

• Website: lineageremodel.com
• Instagram: @lineageremodel
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lineageremodel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lineage-remodel/

Image Credits
Ashley Akins Photography