Meet Kim Spanier, Owner of Everything Under the Roof

Kim Spanier and her husband are making a name for themselves on Connecticut's coast as one of the most vied after teams to help make your house a home without breaking the bank. Booked until June, Everything Under the Roof caters to families throughout Southern Connecticut who are looking for someone who understand the hassle of home renovations with little ones running around. 

North Branford Patch caught up with Kim to figure out what makes  (EUTR) stand out from the rest. 

North Branford Patch: How did you get into the construction business?

Kim Spanier: Well, my husband and I owned businesses in Washington DC where we lived for years. I owned a marketing company and I was always the one doing the networking, just by meeting people I would feed my husband all this business. When we moved to Connecticut, we decided we would do a construction company that would focus only on residential homes. We focus on single women and families with small children. It's always the women who end up dealing with everything and I can get in there and help them out. 

North Branford Patch: What makes EUTR family-oriented?

Spanier: There's certain things people expect – they expect you to be late, they expect you to be obnoxious, they expect you to be condescending and over the budget. I make it my business not to be that. With families with small children, we try to identify all the hidden costs that they're going to incur. You have to eat out three times a day, seven days a week with a family of four, for six weeks while we're doing your kitchen. We'll actually build them a workspace with what they've got to have a kitchen elsewhere in their home. We're very budget conscious. That's one of the reasons people go over budget because they're spending money on things they haven't planned.

Another thing we do is we talk to the kids. We cannot reasonably take all of the tools off the site every night. It's just not reasonable to take everything out of the house, but then that's a liability. Everything is locked away, but we'll just sit them down together as a family to tell them what's going to happen so if their child is curious, he can ask us to show him what tools we use and he doesn't get hurt. I can scare their kid a bit better than they can. This is a dangerous place we're working on. Because of that, it's easier for the parents.

North Branford Patch: What brought you to North Branford?

Spanier: We came here in November of 2005. We just picked a spot on the map and moved here. We came here, bought a small little lake house and then formed it into our home in June 2006. We've pretty much been booked the whole time. I went to a networking group and we picked up a couple clients on the first day by handing out a couple cards. The rest is history. It's complete chaos with the kids, but it's great.

North Branford Patch: What sets you apart from other businesses?

Spanier: Another thing I do is all the shopping. We don't charge for that. I am not a designer, but most people know what they want. We sit down and scrapbook their ideas and I do all the legwork. I know what their budget is and what they want and I help them shop for it. I tell them where it is so they don't waste their time. I narrow it down so they can check it out and be done quickly.

A lot of clients are repeat clients and they just tell me to do it and it's done. They don't see the expensive stuff they can't afford, which is generally what gets them in trouble. If I show them all the options they can't afford, they go over budget. We gave $800 in credit back and then $6 another day. Every penny that can be spared goes back to them. We're very budget conscious. People aren't made of money, but we can make it happen on their budget. 

North Branford Patch: Why is it so important to have more female CEOs in the industry?

Spanier: The trade in general is obviously male-dominated, but then on the flip side, the customers are men, but it's always the women dealing with them for whatever reason. The wife stays home to deal with it. I've experienced it myself and there needs to be someone out there looking out for the other women. We deserve a little respect here. We have hired and fired and done away with contractors that did not respect that I am the owner. If you talk to my client in a way that I feel is improper, you're done, you're out. I'm here to help, not take advantage of anyone. It'll create a better business.

We do no advertising. Zero. I belong to one local networking group and it has produced enough work to keep us going, but around 60 percent is repeat business. We have clients who have us do their kitchen, then their master bedroom and then the basement. It builds client loyalty, which is not very big in this business.

North Branford Patch: How do you balance work and family?

Spanier: We try to run a business where we work 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. I'll be straight up, the weekends are for family, so we're going to have to bring the kids. Most clients know the kids and have been to our house; we're very close with all our clients now, but it's our time on the weekend. We'd be happy to accommodate, but you'll have to accommodate as well. We joke that the kids are our design consultants.