How Today’s Young Remodelers Are Planning for the Future

In the March/April 2025 issue of Pro Remodeler, the future of the remodeling industry was honored in the 14th annual Forty Under 40 awards. This list celebrates rising stars in remodeling and home improvement, and three NAHB members were recognized. These individuals show a commitment to innovation, leadership, and problem solving, showing up-and-comers are ready to grow and lead the industry.

Meet the NAHB members featured in the Forty Under 40 and see how they're envisioning the future.

Nicholas Donlin, 33

This Iowan has always had an entrepreneurial mindset. Donlin, along with his brother, first entered the business world making and selling lamps in middle school. Then they flipped cars before deciding to flip a house after high school. They made a few thousand dollars and Donlin knew he had to continue to explore working on homes.

Four years after graduating from college with an engineering degree, he founded his company, Zenith Design + Build, which grew quickly in annual revenues from $500,000 to $7.2 million in less than three years. His biggest challenge was the team management that comes with expanding a company.

“When you’re a solopreneur, you can be so adaptable…once there’s a team of people, the mindset and methodology is completely different,” he said. “It’s about leading through others and having systems in place.”

Zenith is now cohesively operating as a 16-person team and his 10-year goal is to make that team “the best design-build company in the Midwest.” That goal is not just a pipedream: Donlin has metrics to drive his decision making, including but not limited to revenue targets, company and staff recognition, and customer service goals.

Katie Darval, 38

Darval joined Beyond Kitchens in 2008 as a project coordinator and design assistant and grew into larger roles that came with more and more responsibility. When the owner of Beyond Kitchens retired, Darval was asked if she would be interested in purchasing the company. She decided to buy, not wanting to pass up the opportunity. Darval now has a wildly successful remodeling company that has tripled in revenue since she took it over in 2022.

Darval moved the studio to a better location, updated the office’s look and feel, and redesigned the logo and website. Now, Beyond Kitchen’s backlog to start new projects is more than 12 months.

Darval is determined to open another location with a larger showroom space for more displays and being more involved in helping the local community. Growth is a goal but she doesn’t want the company to lose its sense of intimacy.

“I am perfectly content and don’t want to get too big and lose the personal touch with clients,” she said. “I would miss the parts that make me love what I do.”

James Cregger, 38

Cregger has been a business owner since his mid-twenties. At the time, he had nothing but a pickup truck. Now, he oversees a team of 14 across two offices. That growth came after he acquired Blue Ribbon Residential Construction from a fellow NAHB Remodelers Council member. The company was already well-established and the acquisition led to Cregger doubling his revenue and gaining more perspective.

“The company we acquired was very process driven, and...we had the opportunity to come in and acquire those processes overnight,” Cregger said. Both companies are fully integrated now which has led to decreased design and production timelines and growth in efficiency.

Cregger’s ten-year goals is to be able to step away from day-to-day operations and focus more on strategy and business acquisition. He seemingly doesn’t have to wait ten years for that goal to be realized given the strides he and the company are making. He has a team already overseeing operations and constructions and a sales and design consultant who handles half of the sales side.