The beginning of April 2022 is upon us, which means it is Women in Restoration Award winner reveal season. In conjunction with our seventh annual campaign celebrating leading women in this male-dominated industry, we asked all six of the past winners, from 2016 through 2021, to answer one question: To what do you attribute your success? (Check back in next week for an interview with the winner of the 2022 Women in Restoration Award!)

Kustom US, a privately held restoration and remediation company headquartered in Florida, has grown exponentially since 2000 by streamlining operations, acquiring new businesses and embracing a people-centered strategy. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Andrew Zavodney, chairman of the board and CEO, talks about Kustom’s investment in company culture, employee value proposition, corporate governance, M&A due diligence, transparency, accountability and scaling without private equity. He also discusses his role as vice president of the Restoration Industry Association and consolidation as a key industry trend.

In honor of Women’s History Month and Women in Construction Week, we are re-airing our Real Stories in Restoration interview with Jennifer Todd, president of remediation company LMS General Contractors. She discusses her experience as a Black, woman contractor-owner in a white-, male-dominated field. She also highlights the importance of viewing the labor shortage and diversity as one conversation. Todd has been recognized as a 2020 Top Newsmaker by R&R’s sister publication Engineering News Record (ENR), a 2020 Outstanding Women in Construction finalist by Construction Business Owner Magazine, a 2021 ENR 20 Under 40 Construction Professional, and a 2021 ENR Southeast Top Young Professional.

On its surface, restoration doesn’t seem synonymous with “soft.” It is a hard industry that operates in physically and emotionally tough working environments. Restoring a property to pre-loss condition requires a particular set of hard (job-specific) skills and tools. But there is a soft side that R&R Editor Valerie King discusses in her latest editor’s note. She argues that it carries more weight than tools and technical training.

Xactly byGTE finds and places talent with restoration companies across the U.S. and Canada – from startups to businesses earning more than $1 billion annually. Their team recruits for all roles, from field technicians to estimators to sales representatives to executives. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Gregg Taylor, managing member of Xactly byGTE, speaks to the unmet expectations of restoration candidates during the hiring process. Taylor shares best practices, helpful tools, top trends and more related to finding, recruiting and keeping top-notch team members. A few of the many concepts he covers include the power of passive candidates, the cost of a vacant position and the importance of first impressions.

The 2022 Experience Conference & Exhibition is taking place April 6-8 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Larry Cooper, executive director of Experience Events, offers a sneak peek of the upcoming cleaning and restoration event. Highlights include a two-pronged keynote on bioterrorism and microbial warfare; four educational tracks on cleaning, restoration, marketing and business management, and other topics; hands-on demonstrations; full-day pre- and post-conference courses; plus tickets to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game.

ATI Restoration, the largest family operated restoration firm in the U.S., acquired ProCare Solutions in November 2021. A month later ATI acquired Lang Restoration & Construction. Both acquisitions are part of ATI’s accelerated growth strategy launched in 2020, which also included acquisitions of Mark 1 Restoration, QFB Property Restoration and J&M Keystone. In this episode of Ask the Expert, ATI Restoration President Jeff Moore, ProCare Solutions Co-Founder Gus Timbers and Lang Restoration & Construction Founder Lawrence Nelson share first-hand accounts of the hot topic that is M&A. They revisit two unique acquisition stories and lessons learned through the lens of the buyer and the seller.

Scott Harding is provincial manager of S.A.H Disaster Restoration Services, Vancouver Trauma Cleaning, and BC Trauma Cleaning Group, serving British Columbia. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Harding talks about the grind behind his company’s growth, including the long hours and wearing of many hats. He shares his journey from laborer to leader and his approach to keeping up with the times, from expanding service offerings to partnering with one of British Columbia’s largest healthcare providers to embracing innovative technology to investing in safety and training.

Aramsco is hosting its NeXus 2022 conference and trade show March 28-29 at The Mirage in Las Vegas. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Richard Michaelson, marketing project manager at Aramsco, shares what attendees can expect including a first-time keynote address; three educational tracks on restoration, professional cleaning, and business and marketing; and an expo featuring more than 60 vendors, plus hands-on demonstrations. Use code NeXusR&R2022 when registering to receive a discount for the all-access pass!

Julie and Tony Roberts’ SERVPRO franchise in Henderson, Ky., is directly involved with CAT restoration work following the devastating tornadoes that touched down in December 2021, including one of the largest projects in the town of Mayfield, Ky. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Julie and Tony discuss the devastation witnessed, restoration efforts including a large church, challenges overcome, the benefits of a dedicated storm response unit, lessons learned over numerous CAT projects and the work yet to be done.