RCIE Spotlight Speaker Series: Adam Kaliner
Shortly after graduating from the University of Maryland in 1992, Adam Kaliner founded Power Home Remodeling with his cousin, Jeff. With a clear appreciation for the customer experience and a pioneering focus on energy efficient products initiated early on by Kaliner, Power stood out amongst its competition from the start. Kaliner valued the ideals of grit, innovation, and integrity, and with these traits he oversaw Power’s successful growth from a window and siding company operating out of an apartment to a full-service home remodeler. Today, Power Home Remodeling is the nation’s fourth largest home remodeling company servicing 21 states across the country with more than 900 employees and $135 million in sales.
Rowan students Erin DeBiasse, sophomore majoring in Marketing and Supply Chain Logistics, and Nicholas Marcucci, senior majoring in Management and Entrepreneurship, sat down with Kaliner as part of the RCIE Spotlight Speaker Series with nearly 60 students in attendance.
Question: We all know sales is a critical role for any startup. But many students find the process of cold calling and prospecting very unnatural and intimidating. What advice would you have for a young entrepreneur or new graduate on how to think about and approach the sales process?
Sales are natural for some and unnatural for others. I have never been a natural salesman; it always came hard to me. To be a good sales person you have to be so stupid that you are smart. Basically, try to turn off your brain and ignore whatever signs the person you’re selling to may be giving you. Life is sales. Everything we do is either selling something or selling ourselves. Confidence is key along with lots of practice.
“Our value system, work ethic, and discipline are what made me and my team successful.”
Question: Both you and Power have received serious recognition. You received the Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award and named CFO of the Year by the Philadelphia Business Journal
In 2018, Qualified Remodeler listed Power the third largest home remodeling firm in the United States. Power has ranked consecutively as one of the Top Workplaces by Fortune Magazine, the Washington Post, Glassdoor, Great Places to Work, and Computerworld - just to name a few. What are two or three things that has most contributed to your success?
Our value system, work ethic, and discipline are what made me and my team successful. It was the first time in my life I disciplined myself to do something. Me and my partner were competitive as to who could outwork the other, and this help to put the business where it needed to be. Also, we felt obligated to the people that have been with us from the beginning to make sure our organization developed. We didn’t want to let them down and we wanted our entire team to be successful.
Question: Can you tell us more about how you give back to the community?
Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a foundation based on trying to cure cancer with whom we personally aligned ourselves with. Instead of us just writing a check, we got all of our people involved in personally raising money for the cause so it would mean something. We raised $1,000,000 in one month for Alex’s Lemonade Stand and not one penny came from our company’s revenue. It felt good that each member of our staff personally worked to raise that money.
Question: If you were writing a letter to your former self as you were sitting in your apartment thinking about the idea for starting Power, what would you say?
I have actually done this exercise before and it was a very enlightening experience and I strongly recommend everyone do it. I wrote a letter telling myself to say goodbye to my father before his passing when I was 12 years old. I was never able to give him a formal goodbye, however, I feel as if this tragedy led to personal changes and self-growth at a very young age. Honestly, I don’t know where my company, or I would be today if this had never happened to me.
“It is our job to make this an inclusive environment where you feel safe, no matter your race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.”
Question: Next week, Rowan and universities around the world are celebrating Women Entrepreneurship Week (10/21–10/25). What does Power do to embrace and support diversity in the company?
We’ve had women working for us here and there but it was very hard to recruit women to a home remodeling business. We came to the realization 4–5 years ago that we are suffering in diversity because we were not recruiting 50% of the population (women). So we [asked our female employees] how we could make this a better workplace for them. Four years ago, we started the Women’s initiative and since then we have about four times as many women in our organization. It is our job to make this an inclusive environment where you feel safe, no matter your race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Question: What excites you the most about the next 5 years?
I’m excited to see my workplace evolve and grow. More specifically, to see our employees grow. Right now, we have 2,700 employees and within 5 years that should double. Seeing the technology that we will be able to provide within the next 5 years really excites me because it will help us make our customers happier with even better results then we ever thought we could have provided.
Question: In the beginning stages of your company, what was one of the biggest roadblocks you came across and what did you do to solve the problem?
When you want to own a business, you never talk about the things that are going right. Every part of the beginning stages of a business is usually problematic because you must learn as you go along. These mistakes are part of the reason we are so successful today.
“For me, success is defined as: How often do you have a smile on your face? If you are happy, then you are successful.”
Question: Do you think there is one defining moment in your life that defined your success?
It was more of a slow, gradual process. We had many mistakes and roadblocks we had to learn from but those are all major components that we can credit to our success today. Many people think success is defined by how much money you have, but in reality, that is not the case. For me, success is defined as: How often do you have a smile on your face? If you are happy, then you are successful.
Question: What is the one thing that keeps you up at night regarding your company?
Us not living up to our standards or just not being good enough. When Power is facing a problem, I feel as if it is all on me because I am one of the founding partners. I’m always trying to solve our problems and figure out new and better ways to be successful. Also not being able to keep a promise to homeowners. Our main mission is to make our customers happy.
Question: What qualities do you look for when hiring?
The definition of a “Power Player” is someone who is optimistic, a team-player, hard-working, and has good morals. We want people who have the ambition to be better and who want to learn and better themselves as an individual.
Question: As a business owner, have you thought about how you plan to retire?
I have not thought about retirement. Your mind does not age as much as your body. This is the only thing I’m good at — what the heck would I do? I can’t be half in. There’s no such thing as work-life balance. If you make the decision to own something, that is going to take all of you. We encourage our people to take advantage of work-life harmony, but I don’t have [that]. There’s no purpose in me being half in, I’m not helpful that way.
More about Adam Kaliner: Today, Kaliner is involved in crafting the company’s remodeling products, shaping the design of Power’s expansion strategy and ever-growing facilities portfolio, and driving strategic initiatives. Named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, Kaliner is a nationally recognized industry leader and speaker. Kaliner holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.
