The Grit Blueprint

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132

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Aug 2026

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About the show

The Playbook for Building Unmistakable Brands in the Built World. You can be the best in your market and still get passed over by a competitor who simply shows up better and more consistently where their customers are looking. The Grit Blueprint Podcast is where visibility, media, customer experience, and creative brand strategy turn trust into growth in the built world. Hosted by Stefanie Couch, a lifelong building industry expert born and raised in the business, this show explores how companies in building materials, construction, manufacturing, and distribution position themselves to win before the first conversation even starts. You’ll hear from executives, operators, and decision-makers who are rethinking how they show up in the market. You’ll also hear from Stefanie and the Grit Blueprint team as they share the systems, strategy, and content that make good brands impossible to ignore. Every episode turns insight into action. Because in this space, great work alone isn’t enough. You have to be seen, be known, be chosen, and ultimately, become unmistakable. Produced by Grit Media. Powered by Grit Blueprint.

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September 11, 202620 min

Lasting Lessons From Three Decades in Construction | Greg Rowland, Owner of 3 Atlanta Companies

Most contractors lose market share slowly enough that they don't notice. Greg Rowland noticed. When the suppliers in his market started installing siding themselves, the scope he had built a company around started shrinking. He didn't fight it on price. Instead, he added the services his customers needed. Roofing, then windows and doors, and turned GR Exteriors into a turnkey business that covers the full exterior. Along the way, he also started a manufacturing company because he got tired of waiting on gable vents. Greg is the owner of three companies in the Atlanta market: GR Exteriors, SAM LLC (Synergistic Architectural Manufacturing), and co-owner of HarLand Windows & Doors along with Jonathan Harvey. We talk about the five minute conversation he had in 2005 that carried his company through the Great Recession, why diversification between multifamily and single family work is a survival strategy and not a growth strategy, the one rule he uses across all three businesses to build trust, and the moment he realized that spending $345 a year on marketing was the same as complaining you never win a lottery you never entered. What's inside: ✅ Why turnkey is where construction is going ✅ The Warren Buffett rule Greg leans on in a downturn: be fearful when everyone else is brave, and brave when everyone else is fearful ✅ How waiting on gable vents, brackets, and columns turned into SAM LLC and a customer list that includes Builders FirstSource ✅ What ACRE is: a stainable synthetic wood product made from rice hulls, and why builders want the benefit of PVC with the option to stain ✅ Why Atlanta moved away from vinyl siding to fiber cement even though vinyl still leads nationally ✅ Why Greg treats service as a quality issue instead of a department ✅ Why this industry still hires personality and job site judgment over degrees ✅ Marketing for contractors: why a man who never chased business and never turned it away finally decided to buy the ticket ✅ How reputation building has changed, and what old school service plus digital visibility looks like together Featuring: Greg Rowland, Owner and General Manager, GR Exteriors, SAM LLC and Co-owner of HarLand Windows & Doors Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

September 4, 202613 min

How Windows Are Made: Glass, Vinyl, PVC, and Wood | Behind The Build at Tucker Door & Trim, Part 2

A window that is off by a quarter of an inch does not tell you on install day. It tells you three winters later when water is leaking in. In this episode of Behind The Build, I'm in Monroe, Georgia with Tucker Door & Trim, a two-step distributor that manufactures windows and doors inside a 290,000 square foot facility. Chris Kotlowski walks us through the entire process of how windows are made at Tucker, from cutting the glass to staging for delivery. Chris shows us the differences in manufacturing processes between their vinyl, PVC, and wood windows. You’ll also see the Billco, GED, and Greller machines that automate tedious tasks and speed up window production. We start by following one custom trapezoid window from the Tucker facility to Reeves Building Supply in Clayton, and on to a job site in Cleveland, Georgia, where Wilkinson Construction Management installs it. What's inside: ✅ Why there is no standard size to pull off a shelf, and why every Tucker window is built custom per order ✅ Inside the green room: glass washed through three tanks, dried with an air knife, and sealed with Duraseal ✅ How the Billco Glass Cutter yields the most pieces out of a single sheet of glass ✅ Why curved radius glass will not always be run through the machine and still gets cut freehand by a person ✅ Argon versus air between two panes, and what a heavier gas actually buys the homeowner ✅ Wood sash assembly by hand: the rubber boot seal, pre-drilling, tilt pins, and weather stripping ✅ PVC parts getting milled on the shapers and getting assembled into a sash before the glass ever drops in ✅ The automatic glazer that meters silicone so there is no squeeze out ✅ Vinyl sash welding and the corner cleaner that takes the slag off the weld with GED and Greller machines ✅ LeeAnn Gilbert on running the Tucker 3300 line and seeing a product go start to finish ✅ Barry Williams on designing every window Tucker builds: "it's kinda like my kids out there" ✅ Why a mistake on a one-of-a-kind order is a remake, not a swap out, and remakes take weeks Featuring: Chris Kotlowski, Window Production Manager, Tucker Door & Trim Barry Williams, Window Division Manager, Tucker Door & Trim LeeAnn Gilbert, Team Lead, 3300 Line, Tucker Door & Trim Reeves Building Supply, Clayton, Georgia Wilkinson Construction Management, Cleveland, Georgia Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

September 1, 202630 min

How Great Companies Turn Mistakes Into Customer Loyalty | Jonathan Harvey, HarLand Windows & Doors

Building industry companies don’t lose customers because their people stopped caring. They lose them because growth added more approvals between the person taking the order and the one installing it, and their people don’t feel empowered to fix the problem if a job goes sideways. In this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast, I sit down with Jonathan Harvey, co-owner of HarLand Windows & Doors in Atlanta, who I first met back in 2012 when he was one of my first accounts and I was the one writing up his door POs. He grew up in a three-generation family moving business, came up through inside sales at a one-step distributor, and now runs a turnkey company built so that the product side and the install side sit under one name. We get into the jobs that went sideways, what it costs a business when nobody owns the outcome, and how you keep a growing team close to the customer. What’s inside: ✅ The $2 million custom home where fifty-some windows landed on site with every opening wrong, and what happened next ✅ Why nearly every expensive mistake Jonathan saw in his career traced back to bad communication, not bad product ✅ What good communication actually means to a contractor ✅ Where the phrase "opening possibilities" came from, and how Jonathan uses it to push decisions down to whoever is talking to the customer ✅ Why layers of checks and approvals are the bane of a large corporation, and what decentralized command looks like inside a growing company ✅ What homeowners are asking for when a window and door package runs two to three hundred thousand dollars, and why HarLand built a design studio for that conversation ✅ Where AI is already helping building industry businesses with product knowledge, design, proposals, and presentations ✅ A surprise vocal performance! Featuring: Jonathan Harvey, Co-Owner, HarLand Windows & Doors, Atlanta, Georgia Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

August 18, 202610 min

Inside a 290,000 Square Foot Custom Door Shop | Behind The Build with Tucker Door & Trim

Most people never see the building where their doors get made. This one is 290,000 square feet, and they are adding another 100,000. In this episode of Behind The Build, I’m at Tucker Door & Trim in Monroe, Georgia, with Jason Gert, Production Manager, who has been there 28 years, walking the full floor from the custom millwork shop to the exterior and interior door lines. We see SDL bars applied by hand, a CNC table that runs straight off an AutoCAD file, a machine that sets four door hinges at once, and why some of these jobs take a decade to learn. What’s inside: ✅ Inside the custom millwork shop: transoms, standalone radiuses, decorative glass drops, and high-end wood species like mahogany sapele ✅ Bryan Broadnax on starting at Tucker in 1999, running a Kval Commander, and working his way into custom millwork over 27 years ✅ The CNC table with two eight-foot vacuum tables, swappable head tooling, and a 90-degree tool for edge work, all driven from an AutoCAD drawing ✅ What SDL means: simulated divided lite explained, wood bars versus PVC bars, and four-lite, six-lite, and eighteen-lite configurations ✅ Albert Davis on why SDL is not a race and what patience has to do with product quality ✅ How Tucker went from Tucker, Georgia to Stone Mountain to Monroe in 2000, and what goes in the new 100,000 square feet ✅ The four exterior lines: molded steel and fiberglass singles, a custom cut-down line for Dutch doors and attic access, the Commander Line for wood singles and wood twins, and fiberglass and steel twins with sidelites and transoms ✅ Why double doors take an increased skill set and how entry personnel move from interior to exterior ✅ Interior production numbers: 250 slabs per line and up to 800 slabs a day on the high-capacity line ✅ The machine that sets four hinges at one time, plus primary and quick dump secondary screw hoppers ✅ Why satin brass is in style and decorative glass is not, and how door shops stock for the shift Featuring: Jason Gert, Production Manager, 28 years with Tucker Door & Trim Bryan Broadnax, Custom Millwork, 27 years with Tucker Door & Trim Tommy Ball, CNC Machine Operator, 13 years with Tucker Door & Trim Albert Davis, SDL Department, 19 years with Tucker Door & Trim Behind The Build takes you inside the companies that supply, build, and deliver America’s finest homes. Subscribe for more from the building materials industry. Connect with Stefanie Couch: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefaniecouch/ Website: gritblueprint.com YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvzJlThK3A5qiky1ATQEQ4A Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

July 28, 202616 min

The 101-Year-Old Company Behind Atlanta's Finest Luxury Homes | Lummus Supply Co

Most businesses die in 5 years. Lummus Supply Co just turned 101. In this episode of Behind The Build, I'm in Acworth, Georgia with CEO Will Lummus and his team to see how a fifth-generation building materials and millwork business supplies some of the finest luxury homes in Atlanta. We're talking a 29,000 square foot house, million-dollar window and door packages, and a machine that drills 1,200 holes in a single I-joist package. What's inside: ✅ The 29,000 sq ft Georgia home and how Lummus specs its engineered wood with full 3D modeling, roof to foundation ✅ The Boise Cascade SawTek that cuts an entire house package and drills 1,200 holes in a two-day production run ✅ Why luxury homeowners want floor to ceiling windows, thinner sight lines, and more glass, and how Sierra Pacific Windows now builds operable casements up to 8 feet tall ✅ Multi-slide and pocketing door systems, including a 12-foot opening Lummus turned into an 18-foot disappearing wall with Western Window Systems ✅ The window lines they carry and how they match brands to budgets: Sierra Pacific Windows, Quaker Windows and Doors, Western Window Systems, Andersen Windows, Pella Windows, Lincoln Windows, and Windsor Windows ✅ Inside two custom homes in the Alpharetta and Milton area by E-Craft Homes and Crown Line Homes ✅ The showroom strategy that helps builders close: Trex and TimberTech decks, James Hardie siding, and tiny homes clients can walk through ✅ Will Lummus on culture: "Every driver is the CEO of their truck" Featuring: Will Lummus, CEO, Lummus Supply Reid Lummus, Lummus Supply Todd Gwinn, Lummus Supply Kevin Scussel, VP of Sales, Lummus Supply Jennifer Holle, E-Craft Homes Robert King, Crown Line Homes Behind The Build takes you inside the companies that supply, build, and deliver America's finest homes. Subscribe for more from the building materials industry. Connect with Stefanie Couch: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefaniecouch/ Website: gritblueprint.com Podcast Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-grit-blueprint/id1739088553 #BuildingMaterials #LuxuryHomes #CustomHomes #WindowsAndDoors #SierraPacificWindows #Millwork #LBM #BehindTheBuild #Atlanta #FamilyBusiness Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

July 24, 202618 min

The Designer Behind Trilith and Serenbe Is Rethinking Modular Homes | Behind The Build

Lew Oliver helped design Trilith, Serenbe, and Vickery, some of the most sought-after walkable communities in Georgia. His next act might surprise you: modular homes. In this episode of Behind The Build, I'm in Clarkesville, Georgia near Lake Burton with renowned town planner and designer Lew Oliver. We talk about the Lew Oliver MOD collection, modular homes designed with the same classical detail as his custom work, built to make walkable neighborhoods attainable for people who have been priced out of them. We also walk the Burton community, tour his newly renovated office, and get into his new millwork collection with Magbee Contractors Supply, including a wall that exists nowhere else in the world. What's inside: ✅ The MOD collection: why modular construction is not a commodity, and how Lew is designing modular homes with high-end finishes and solid construction ✅ How modular homes can cut construction cost and cycle time so communities like Trilith and Serenbe aren't only for the affluent ✅ Traditional neighborhood development and new urbanism: 100 houses on 15 acres instead of 100, preserving forests while building real community ✅ The one-of-a-kind poplar tongue and groove wall from the Lew Oliver Millwork Collection ✅ Cavetto crown molding with Egyptian origins and baseboards modeled after column bases ✅ Why Lew designs windows with the golden rectangle, the same proportion used on the Parthenon, and why Pella Windows is his top pick ✅ A custom 42-inch by 9-foot thermally modified ash door by Magbee, kiln-cooked at 850 degrees with zero chemicals ✅ Thermally modified pine floors, Portola Roman clay finishes, Emtek Hardware, and exposed original brick ✅ Roofscaping: the community design detail most people never notice ✅ A shou sugi ban table finished on a barbecue grill by Deadwood Tables Featuring: Lew Oliver, Lew Oliver Inc. Liz Treadwell, Lew Oliver Inc. Austin Treadwell, Builder Magbee Contractors Supply Craig Decker, Deadwood Tables Explore the Lew Oliver Millwork Collection at https://magbeeluxury.com/the-lew-oliver-collection/ Behind The Build takes you inside the companies that supply, build, and deliver America's finest homes. Subscribe for more from the building materials industry. Connect with Stefanie Couch: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefaniecouch/ Website: gritblueprint.com Podcast Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-grit-blueprint/id1739088553 #ModularHomes #WalkableNeighborhoods #Trilith #Serenbe #NewUrbanism #Millwork #BuildingMaterials #CustomHomes #LewOliver #BehindTheBuild Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

July 24, 20266 min

How to Install an Exterior Double Door (Full Outswing Door Installation Start to Finish)

Watch us install a brand new Plastpro Nova 90 fiberglass double door at Grit Studios, our in-person podcast studio, start to finish. Michael Tull of Tull Sales walks through the full process of replacing an old steel door with a new outswing double door, including the mistakes that cause warranty claims and how to avoid them. The new front door completely changes the look of the studio where we film The Grit Blueprint Podcast. It's a 3/4 lite over panel with rain glass and Low-E coating, built by Harris Door & Millwork and donated by Plastpro. What you'll learn in this video: ✅ Tools you need for an exterior door installation ✅ How to remove an old door, frame, and sill ✅ Checking your sill and opening for level (and what to do if it's not) ✅ When to use a sill pan and why it matters ✅ The hidden screws and shipping hardware you MUST remove before installing ✅ How to adjust a rough opening for a replacement door ✅ Setting, plumbing, shimming, and securing the frame ✅ Drilling for head and foot bolts on a double door with a t-astragal Door provided by Plastpro in partnership with Harris Door & Millwork. Installation by Michael and Melanie Tull, Tull Sales. Subscribe for more building materials industry content, product installs, and pro tips from Grit Blueprint. Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

July 17, 20266 min

Renovating Our Studio And Trying To Stay Married: Behind The Scenes & Bloopers | Building Grit E2

I'm Stefanie Couch, and this is Building Grit, the behind the scenes story of how we're building Grit Blueprint into a category of one in the building industry. This episode is the most hands-on chapter yet. We're building our podcast studio from the ground up at Grit Studios in Clayton, Georgia, and I'm taking you through all of it. We start at the front door. Michael Tull of Tull Sales walks me through a full front door install as we pull out the old half-lite steel door and replace it with a Plastpro Nova-90 fiberglass door with rain glass. It was donated by Plastpro and built by Harris Door and Millwork, and it changed the entire feel of the building. Then Ben and I take on our first Trusscore PVC slat wall install. It's going to hold our tripods and camera gear, and it tested our skills and our marriage. Heidi Pearl, our golden retriever, was on site for quality control. I also walk you through the full vision for the space: my office with built-in film sets, the war room for strategy days, the Grit lounge, the podcast stage with acoustic slat walls and blue velvet curtains, a photography studio, and the Grit glam room. We're renting this building and doing the work ourselves, one project at a time. This is what it actually takes to build a business and the space it lives in. Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

July 10, 202621 min

She Opened a Hardware Store in the Worst Neighborhood. Now It's Worth $55M | Gina Schaefer

When I first met Gina Schaefer, I knew she was one of the more interesting people in our industry, and this conversation proves exactly why. Gina is the founder of A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and she built a $55 million independent hardware store business after getting laid off three times in four years. She walked into a rundown Washington, D.C., neighborhood that no one believed in, opened her first store in 2003 with zero hardware experience, and turned it into 14 locations across DC, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia, with the fifteenth on the way. In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to start a hardware store and keep growing it when the timing, the building, and the neighborhood are all imperfect. Gina shares how she made tiny urban spaces work, why she thinks of her business as a general store more than a hardware store, and how retail product sourcing turned pottery and SodaStream refills into millions of dollars in annual sales. She also opens up about being a woman in the hardware industry, how she handled being underestimated, and why she never backed down. Some of my favorite moments come from Gina's story of culture. She built a team of more than 300 people, many from the recovery community, and that second chance hiring became the heart of her book, Recovery Hardware. A few years ago, she sold the company to her employees through an ESOP, and today 130 of them are owners. If you are building something in the building industry and want proof that resilience, community, and the right systems can win, this one is for you. What you'll take away today: Starting a hardware store with no experience is possible when you solve a real need in your community and refuse to back down. Employee ownership through an ESOP can turn your team into invested owners who protect and grow the business. Second chance hiring can build a remarkable, loyal culture when you level the playing field and lead by shared values. Retail product sourcing is where independents win, so chase the unique items your specific customers actually want. Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

July 2, 202626 min

The Relationship Rule That Changes Everything in Sales: Sarah Krey, Merchandise Manager, Do it Best

Sales is not about pressure. It is about people. In this Grit Blueprint Podcast conversation, recorded on the floor of the Do it Best True Value Spring Market in Denver, I sit down with Sarah Krey of Do it Best Corp to talk about the human side of winning in the hardware industry. With 25 years in home improvement and a shelf full of honors, Sarah brings a rare mix of competitiveness and warmth that makes people want to work with her. We start with building trust with customers, and Sarah’s simple rule: never lie, and never bash your competitors, because every time you say a competitor’s name you are advertising them. From there we get tactical on building relationships in sales, thriving in high-pressure market seasons through planning, and why she credits her college basketball years for teaching her to know her role and show up every day. If you have ever wanted to know how to handle rejection in sales, Sarah’s mindset will stick with you: a “no” is rarely permanent, so you follow up, stay connected, and keep helping. We also spotlight women in the hardware industry, mentorship across generations, and her boss’s advice to “make yourself big” without ever bragging. Along the way you will collect sales career advice you can use tomorrow: take initiative, stay curious about AI and new products, and be gracious with yourself when you make a mistake. Whether you grow with the Do it Best co-op or run your own shop, this episode will help you stop being the best-kept secret. What you'll take away today: Building relationships in sales starts with honesty and heart, not pressure. Sarah has never lied to a customer, and that trust is exactly why people want to work with her year after year. How to handle rejection in sales gets easier when you treat every “no” as a “not now.” Follow up, stay connected, and keep leading with “how can I help you?” instead of a pitch. Building trust with customers means staying in your own lane and never bashing competitors, because every time you say their name, you are giving them free advertising. Women in the hardware industry are rising fast, and mentorship is the multiplier. Sarah refuses to shrink her personality, and shows how to “make yourself big” without ever bragging. Sales career advice that lasts: take initiative, stay curious about new products and AI, and be gracious with yourself, because almost every business decision is reversible. Build Authority. Gain Visibility. Drive Growth. You do great work. The right people should know it. Grit Blueprint helps building industry companies and leaders build authority, increase visibility, earn trust, and turn that trust into revenue. 📅 Book a Strategy Call Ready to become more visible, more trusted, and easier to choose? https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/stefanie-couch 📧 Join the Newsletter Get practical strategies and tools to build your authority, grow your visibility, and strengthen your business. https://421r60.share-na2.hsforms.com/2RMwQMXe2QLyk3sl9dv2gXQ 🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Subscribe for honest conversations and growth strategies for the building industry. https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch 🚀 About Stefanie Couch Stefanie Couch is the founder of Grit Blueprint and a third-generation building industry professional. Grit Blueprint helps manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and industry leaders build authority, grow visibility, and become unmistakable in their market. 🔗Learn more: https://gritblueprint.com Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch