Tanya Bilmer, Kitchen Renovator
I started out working in an office from the age of 17 to about 28 and then I went on to start my career in house painting about 20 years ago, when I decided that working in an office was not for me. I learned to paint, firstly doing faux finish techniques and learning through classes etc, then moving onto house painting, the journey began for creating kitchen makeovers with customers constantly asking me to paint their kitchen cabinets.
The first Kitchen I sprayed was in someone’s front yard; Kitchen Makeovers was born. The first two years was a lot of trial and error, figuring out the best way to make the company work, and the job itself to work.
Now its been 15 years and Kitchen Makeovers has grown to 22 full time employees; we hire young woman and men and train them to have a trade. We are a company now of 85% female and growing, we now do 7 to 10 kitchens each week. We change the colors of peoples kitchen cabinets and we get recommended from one family member to the next.
I have since started doing sales and have furthered my education with sales courses and small business courses.
My proudest moments in business were winning customer service awards through HomeStars and Houzz. Two years ago, I was given the award of the best of the best in BC out of all trades in the lower mainland; it was a proud moment in business for me. I have worked hard to grow my business and it was a great recognition to receive this award.
One of our favourite mottos at our company is to “Wow” our customers every step of the way and my employees do this. Every year we try to do at least 3 company events where we take all the employees and do something; so far we have done boating, river rafting, sea doos, spa, scavenger hunts on boats, curling, dinners, Scandinave Spa, barbecue, just to name a few. We believe “work hard and play hard”.
I love what I do. I love customers being so happy with the work we have done for them that they cry tears of joy. Dreams can come true with hard work and determination.
A note about internet safety:
Privacy online is important, please remember to keep your personal information to yourself.
You are encouraged to comment anonymously with your questions below, and the mentor will reply within the thread.