We recently connected with Nathan Sehl and have shared our conversation below.

Nathan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

So I worked for my dad and my grandfather who started a cabinet company in the late 1970s. Around 2004 I started my own company when Silestone quartz came out, that’s how I derived my name Sehls stone. Everything was going well until January 10, 2008! I was involved in a horrific car accident where I had hit a semi truck Was not off the road all the way and had blown a tire. I was telling about six kitchens on the back of my truck and we got sent to the median. I suffered traumatic brain injury, a broken femur, a punctured lung and some cosmetic damage. I was immediately thrown into a coma. I woke up about a month and a half later in hospital. My wife and daughter, my wife was six months pregnant with my son and I was so glad that I was still alive! Over the next year, nursing injuries and learning to walk again I was trying to build my business back up since I had lost all my clients From no contact. So today, 16 years later. I am now 46 years old doing very well. My business is growing. I have reliable help and still deal with the repercussions of that accident, but it made me a better person overall! This is the cliff notes of that story.

Nathan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As I mentioned in the previous question, my dad and my grandfather started a cabinet company in the late 70s, they retired early in the 2000s, I started my own company in about 2004 and we built custom cabinets, today’s standards really don’t use much custom cabinets. They are all ready to assemble/RTA. But my knowledge on how to build cabinets helps me in this industry because I can Customize cabinets to fit the clients needs. Over the years of being a construction I have learned a lot about remodeling and helping customers with their designs for kitchens and bathrooms. I always give them my cell phones so they always have contact with me instead of just an office or workers , who don’t answer the phone.

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

I went to school to be a commercial artist because I did not want to do construction, and I learned a lot about artistic design. I did my own website, business cards, etc., and that really helped me start out in business. But since then I have joined a group BNI, and that has been the biggest help for getting referrals

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

This is an interesting question at the time of my accident, not being able to walk or lift or carry things I wasn’t able to immediately go back to installing cabinets or countertops, so I put that on the back burner subbing everything out to try to grow my business. In the meantime, I picked up a job doing water, purification changing filters selling water systems residential to pay the bills. I did that for the next, 10 years or so until my business got to the point where I did not have to do that anymore.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sehlstone.com
• Instagram: Sehlstone
• Facebook: Sehlstone
• Yelp: Sehlstone

Image Credits
Silestone of FL Florida Wheel SpecialistS