Hidden Gems: Meet Kylie Brewer of Scovell Remodeling

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kylie Brewer.

Hi Kylie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Kansas City watching my dad run a high-end remodeling business in the neighborhoods around us. But at the time, I had my sights set elsewhere. Candidly (and surprisingly!) it never even crossed my mind to pursue anything related to the remodeling business as I was growing up. Instead, after spending a year abroad in Switzerland during high school, I pursued a degree in French Literature and eventually married another Kansas City native, my husband John. His music career took us to New Orleans for a brief chapter, where we welcomed our first daughter.

But then life happened and being near family sounded better than easy access to the best jazz in the world. When we returned to Kansas City, I started helping out at my dad’s remodeling company. My love for design had a subtle – nearly imperctiple – genesis. Without realizing it, my time in Europe and New Orleans had lit a small flame. Joining my dad allowed that flame to really catch fire and it didn’t take long before I became deeply involved in the business. Over time, I went from marketing manager to bookkeeper to salesperson and beyond. Then in 2018 I built out a full-service design department allowing us to produce all of our plans and selections in-house, rather than outsourcing to architects and decorators. That was an enormous milestone and turning point.

While I’m borderline obsessed with good design, I’ve realized I’m more of a curator than a creator. I thrive leading a team of talented creatives and bringing their expertise to the forefront. In 2021, I purchased the company from my dad. I still love working in a visually-driven industry, but these days I find myself most energized by leadership, culture, and the health of the organization. Do I want to look at beautiful cabinetry elevations every day? Yes. Do I want to be the one in CAD drawing them anymore? Not a chance. Especially when my team is signifantly better at it than me!

So that’s the bulk of my story. Along the way, my husband John and I added four sons (to our daughter’s dismay). We’ve renovated a handful of personal homes in Brookside and Mission Hills, though we’ve happily spent the last decade in our current house. John even wrote his Revere Rivers “I Was Born of Water” debut album at the living room piano. Despite the many memories, I sense a change is coming, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we move on to another house project before too long!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been some dicey years! When I think about where I’ve grown the most, it’s not in the easy seasons – it’s been in the trials. So in that respect, I’m grateful for the challenges.

Learning how to be a good leader to a wide variety of personalities: that’s tough. What serves one employee well may not be how another thrives. What motivates one, may drain another. I’ve worked hard to strike a balance: adapting my leadership style to support each individual while holding firm to the core traits that make me who I am.

Probably the bigger struggle has been separating my identity from my role at work. It can be tempting to let success go to your head and failure go to your heart. I love when clients are thrilled, and I could be crushed when client projects hit a roadblock. Extending myself grace and and leaning into the resiliency of relationships and people has been key in my career. And frankly, having a great team that shoulders the failures as much as they link arms and celebrate our wins.

As you know, we’re big fans of Scovell Remodeling. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We work with clients – usually living in older home, but not always – that don’t want to move, but something’s got to change inside. Maybe they’ve run out of space. Maybe they hate the way the kitchen looks. Or maybe the flow of the house is entirely contrary to the flow of their family. Whatever the case, they like their neighborhood enough to figure it out rather than move. But they’re usually projects that are too involved for a handyman. Or projects that are big enough that it’s critical there be some visual representations of the plan before signing off.

During our Design Phase we interview the clients on their frustrations, hopes and fears, returning a few weeks later with a concept and an estimate. If everything checks out, we spend the next several months diving into the details of the selections, elevations and pricing. Oh the pricing! Because who has an unlimited budget? So it’s important for us to nail all this down before we break ground on the construction. Then, we hand the baton to our build team who, quite literally, brings it all to life.

There are quite a few folks doing design-build work out there now. But what I think is so special about us – in addition to our enormous emphasis on organization and communication – is that we value elevated design to our core. We’d put our design work up against just about anyone.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Having the good fortune to buy an already-established remodeling company was only possible as a result of having been Jim’s daughter! I never in a million years would have ventured into this industry on my own without my dad’s nudging to help him with some ‘marketing stuff.’ That feels quite lucky to me!

I’ve also come to believe that hiring is a huge game of luck. Is the right person looking the same week you happen to have a job posting up? When I look around at my strongest employees, the feeling of luck absolutely resonates with me.

I have been lucky, indeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.scovellremodeling.com
• Instagram: scovell_remodeling