What it means to win

Recently

in my column, I’ve discussed a lot of topics: “Brotherhood of great deck building,” “Who do you work for?,” “What do you work for?,” and “Why did you become a Deck Specialist?”

Now that you have dedicated yourself to becoming a Deck Specialist (because you have been following along and making all the right moves), let’s discuss the next rung on the ladder to success—becoming a member of NADRA (North American Deck and Railing Association).

Since the majority of the top deck builders in the world are all fast becoming members, it gives you a direct pipeline of access to the fantastic and mostly selfless individuals and companies. Most of these people willingly pass along the road maps to their accomplishments. I personally have been on the receiving and in turn, the giving end of this beautiful phenomenon seldom found in other industries. Membership also allows you to enter your spectacular projects into the National+ Deck Competition, an annual event that can open a whole new set of doors for you and your family, your company, as well as your team members and their families. It literally opens the door to a whole new world.

This year’s NADRA Summit and National+ Deck Competition was by far and away one of the best ever. The bar has been raised through the roof once again. Trends are changing for the better in some of the most spectacular ways. Companies were showing a tremendous knack for challenging all of your visual senses with the “eye candy” being sweeter than ever.

Dan Pettit of Northern Outdoor Living, Hastings, MN., just blew the entire room away with his “Twin Peaks” and “Tree of Life” projects that incorporated CNC-cut, 3D-looking panels with fiber optic lighting that has forever changed how we look at privacy panels and deck lights. Daniel, a first-time entrant and the subject of previous articles, is now a fivetime NADRA winner.

Other first timers like Lou Lattanzio of Deck Nerds LLC, Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., who does a lot of work along South Carolina’s Grand Strand, and Travis Stuefer of Heartland Red (Lincoln’s Quality Deck Builder), Lincoln, NE., both brought their A-games for their inaugural national awards.

I had both the honor and privilege to receive the award for Lou since he wasn’t in attendance. Lou’s raw emotion just blew me away when I messaged him to let him know—though he was watching live. Lou said, “I am in tears, literally crying, you have no idea what this means to me.” Lou added, “Winning this deck award is an honor to say the least! I joined NADRA earlier this year after you kept encouraging me to do so.”

“The network of deck builders in NADRA are extremely knowledgeable and helpful,” he added. “I appreciate every one of them. Decking has been a passion of mine for a long time and I have followed the work of many talented builders for years.”

“Again, it was an honor to be recognized with some of the best craftsman in the world,” Lou said. My grandfather was an important role model in my life from a very young age and taught me attention to detail, and the importance of quality workmanship and being creative. I hope to use this recognition as a way to showcase my creativity to future clients and attract top talent.”

Lou, I’m pretty sure we all know what this means to you, and I can assure you that I too was in tears with you.

Here’s what Travis Stuefer had to say about his award: “NADRA is a wonderful resource for deck professionals! We joined in 2022 to be a part of a community of like-minded builders. The resources and inspiration that NADRA members provide are invaluable.

“We’ve watched the NADRA awards the last couple of years and were in awe of some of the creations. We decided to take our plunge and enter one of our builds. Although we couldn’t attend, we held a watch party and cheered loudly from Nebraska.

Travis added, “We are already discussing attending next year. We already have a spot in our showroom for this year’s plaque so we can proudly put it on display. Although we are currently patting ourselves on the back, we know we couldn’t have done this without our manufacturers, sponsors and partners. We get to work with some of the best decking products and people in the industry—those relationships make our builds look beautiful.”

In my opinion, everyone who enters is a winner for daring to put their efforts on display in such a large platform. They are winners for attending all of the events at the summit and banquet. They are winners for being in the same room, dining, chatting in the lounge or poolside, oceanfront or down on the beach with the most-heralded group of deck builders in the world.

Winning a NADRA award is an indescribable feeling; it confirms our quality and makes us proud, but also injects humbleness. It’s an amazing feeling to know your business has won a national award.

I have one more story I wish to share because this is very close to home. This letter was written and shared with Margie Beaudry at NADRA in 2019. She has graciously allowed me to share with all of you. It’s a little tongue in cheek, but really sums up what I believe to be the effects of properly leveraging your awards:

“I hope this finds you well. I need to file a complaint and unfortunately it is about NADRA. Not kidding.

It has recently come to my attention that NADRA causes anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation and migraines along with an array of other unfortunate issues.

Ever since we won those awards last year at the annual banquet, we have been forced to raise our credit limit with both our bank and our main supplier. This has created an additional workload for my office.

As of this week (midsummer) we are only four jobs behind the total number of projects we installed all of last year. My dog doesn’t recognize me anymore since I’m never home. He thinks a stranger is trying to take him for a walk. My lumberyard is having a hard time keeping product on hand. My permit office has a daily limit, therefore my trips there have increased. I’ve actually considered asking them to put in a coffee bar so I can get a couple extra cups while I do my paperwork there.

Our local paper ran an article on us prior to the annual Home Show in March and we had a 30-minute-long line of people waiting to talk to us. My feet and back still hurt from standing all day. My chiropractor told me he can’t help. People drove from over an hour away to discuss their projects and ask us for design ideas.

Other local contractors were stopping by for advice, which I freely provided.

We have gone from a respected local company to “The Local Company.”

Even though we aren’t our supplier’s largest volume customer—we are one that they now consult with on new products.

I’m getting up every morning between 4:30 and 5 a.m. I’m on appointments at 7a.m. several days per week. I’m up doing paperwork ‘til 11 p.m. Running on fumes—and it’s all your fault.

NADRA has forced me to become far more efficient with my time, pre-qualifying leads, planning projects and deliveries as well as forcing me to get a new prescription for my eyeglasses. It’s all your fault.

I have to admit, never in all my life did I think I had a shot at winning a national award—nonetheless two of them. Nor did I ever dream what a ripple effect this would have on our business. I can’t tell you how much I really appreciate everything you, the girls, Mike, and all the other members of NADRA have done for me and my family. I overworked myself like a mad man for 38 years, holding the line on sticking with quality and not lowering our standards during the lean economic years. Fought like a guard dog to protect our reputation, and my friends would joke that I was like a starving artist and would never achieve acclaim or recognition. NADRA provided that recognition.

In short, one evening you guys help validate those 12- and 14-hour days, slogging in the rain, snow or 100° temps. Missing family events to meet deadlines. Then when my body wore out, those long nights of paperwork and sales calls.

You guys ROCK! The value created by these awards has been off the charts, I really want to thank you for everything. I can’t say enough.

But do you have anything for my migraine?”

I believe that sums up what a national award can do for a company. This year’s event was NATIONAL+ as people were in attendance from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

The overall winner, Kevin Boyd at Neighbourhood Fence and Deck Inc., Ontario, Canada, brought a project that would make most luxury resorts jealous.

Charles Chadd of Decks Unlimited, Lafayette, IN., dropped a MoistureShield board pattern that has Persian rug weavers scrambling for his design.

Everyone knows winning NADRA awards is the Holy Grail of deck-building recognition. Winning is contagious. Clients want to hire winners. They want to be associated with winners and they want their friends to know they worked with a winner. It validates the value of their projects. So, let’s get our best projects together and start planning to be winners next year, the entire brotherhood is rooting for you.

Go be great today!

With 35+ years experience in construction, Brendan Casey, with his wife Dianna, launched Casey Fence & Deck, Frederick, MD., fulfilling a growing need in the outdoor living market for an innovative, creative, custom builder.