Today we’d like to introduce you to Skylor Alexander.
Skylor, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started Stag homes almost 4 years ago because I saw a huge gap in the residential renovation/remodeling industry.
I saw homeowners’ projects being left for days at a time, company owners and project managers not communicating well with homeowners, and corners being cut frequently on projects. Often times homeowners were left frustrated and left in the dark. I knew that we could do better. It’s not widely recognized, but contractors are in the service industry and our service is being performed on the largest investment in your lifetime. Too often remodeling is an unpleasant and disruptive experience for homeowners. I did not want to perpetuate that stigma of contractors, so I knew what I had to do.
I have marketed Stag Homes as more of an “exclusive” type of contractor. We are committed to excellence in every aspect of our business. We uphold a standard of integrity bound by fairness, honesty, and personal responsibility. Our distinction is the quality of service we bring to our customers. Accurate knowledge of our trade combined with ability is what makes us true professionals. Above all, we are watchful of our customer’s interests, and make their concerns the basis of our business. We never leave a project until the homeowner is 100% satisfied with everything.
We Show Up…
We promise that with your project, we will always work to have your project moving forward every day. We hear the horror stories of contractors not showing up for days on end, walking away from jobs, and leaving you with the feeling of being taken advantage of and an unfinished home. We will not do that. You deserve to be handed a project of the highest quality and craftsmanship. Part of that quality is being there and making progress so you can have your home back with a minimal amount of disruption to your life.
We Communicate…
So often, we are in a home to fix problems that others have left behind. The majority of the time this is due to a lack of communication during your project. We will speak every day to be sure you are happy; everything is on track and your vision is being executed exactly the way you want. We believe in collaboration, not the “we know best” attitude. You are trusting us with one of your most valuable and sentimental possessions and we will treat it with as much care and respect as we do our own homes.
We Build…
When it’s quality and care you are looking for, we are your contractor. We pay attention to minute details that others overlook. We pride ourselves on delivering the highest quality craftsmanship in every aspect, including parts of the project you will probably never see. We want to know that we are creating and handing over a true turnkey space that will have no issues.
Deliver Quality…
If we don’t have our word, what do we have? We promise to deliver the highest quality projects. Sometimes the decisions can seem overwhelming, but to deliver the space you deserve, it is necessary. Building codes are a minimum requirement, that is it. We tend to “overbuild” with our projects. We promise to deliver a home or custom space that is strong, safe, and stunning.
We Guarantee…
Stag Homes, LLC will guarantee every aspect of our work. We can do that because we spend a significant amount of time on due diligence and vetting the few sub-contractors and vendors we use. While also spent decades perfecting our skills and craftsmanship so we can deliver the stunning space you deserve where there are no worries once your project is complete.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No road is ever smooth. There are ways hurdles and stress that come with launching a startup. I am a people pleaser and I try to say yes every time, no matter the cost to myself at times. Construction companies always appear to be a dime a dozen, especially in a large city it is hard to set yourself apart sometimes. The market is saturated, so creating a marketing plan and being able to execute it at the highest level was the most difficult. I started from scratch with zero clients and getting my name out there and being able to show homeowners that we could do exactly what we said we could do was quite difficult and time-consuming in the early days. When there are no previous clients that becomes a battle to get the first few on board.
Then 1 year in, COVID hit and that was a whole other beast to tackle. When you work in someone’s home who is now there every day with their families, keeping social distancing requirements and making sure myself or our employees didn’t take the unnecessary risk that put the homeowner in danger was a new battle I never saw coming. We were very concerned and extremely cautious working through COVID because we did not want to be the cause of bringing COVID into a home. We were very fortunate to not have that happen.
Then the supply chain problems hit. That is when planning became the forefront of our business, more than it already was. Supply chain delays and scarcity of products, we began having to be creative with solutions if certain products weren’t available. We ended up hand-making a lot of products in-house like handrails from rough-cut lumber, screen doors, trim and other supplies that were needed. Luckily we love the challenge of creating custom spaces, and COVID gave us that opportunity to shine and showcase what we could do with our hands.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Stag Homes truly shines with all custom bars and kitchens. Those are our favorite projects. We do a large number of high-end bathrooms as well. Our ability to come up with creative solutions and design unique features is an area we thrive in.
I’m most proud of how well we treat our clients. Most of them become like family and we are quite close with them now. We throw a fun Holiday party/client appreciation every December to which all of our clients since the beginning are invited. I’m very proud to say that every client we have had, we still have to this day. I rarely bid against other contractors because of our references from previous clients. Our clients know they will be treated fairly, and will not be taken advantage of financially, but high-quality custom spaces are not cheap either. We will always follow through and deliver turnkey stunning spaces that are exactly what our clients wanted. If you are unhappy through the process or with the outcome of your space, we failed, and that isn’t an option for us.
Our biggest accomplishment is the relationships we gain from these adventures with clients. They are the most important part of me. I truly care about them and their families. We all get enjoyment out of watching each other’s families grow together.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think anyone who knows me or has been a part of my life knows I take huge risks, but do so in a very calculated manner. Anyone starting a business has to be a bit of a risk taker and is a little crazy. We never take risks with our clients, but we have taken risks with design. Most often with custom handrails. Homeowners couldn’t find anything they liked, so we worked together to choose a species of wood they liked and then began drawing out a profile they liked and then would have to actually make it out of wood from scratch. One of the craziest requests was for an African Mahogany screen door down in the Ward Pkwy neighborhood. We knew carpentry well enough to do it, so we jumped right in and made a beautiful door that the clients were in love with!!
We most recently have branched out into buying real estate investing for rehabbing, rental portfolios for ourselves, and clients with single-family homes and apartments. We saw the opportunity to help others and expand our business. So now some of our clients are business partners and those relationships are even more rewarding than they were before.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.staghomeskc.com
- Instagram: @staghomeskc
- Facebook: @StagHomesLLC
