KBB - November/December 2014 - 40

KBIS SPECIAL SECTION

Jessica Petrino, Yale Appliance and
Lighting, Boston
Jessica Petrino uses her passion for writing,
which began at a young age, to develop a client
network through inbound marketing. During the last
year, she has published 39 blogs to educate clients
about which appliances will best ﬁt their needs.
"My career in the appliance industry began with my interest in
inbound marketing, the process of purchasing key words on major
search engines to direct customers to a company's website," she said.
"Unlike traditional interruption marketing strategies, inbound marketing
targets customers who want to be targeted."
Petrino originally started writing blogs for her company's website
as a training tool to gain product knowledge - she and her customers
were learning together.
"My objectivity was admired because my likes, dislikes and concerns
were similar to those of customers who were also new to the industry,"
she added. "My perspective was not biased or jaded, which can
happen sometimes after many years of experience in the industry."
One of the ﬁrst lessons she learned from blog writing is to start
every article as if her reader knows nothing about appliances. And
this approach has also helped her sales career.
"I start every appointment going over the basics of any product
category and break some of the most technical information down into
plain English so that my appointments are educational, thorough and
professional," she said.
On a daily basis, Petrino receives phone calls from designers,
builders, architects and homeowners worldwide looking for her
opinion on which appliances they should buy.
It is incredible for me to see how big of an impact my blogs have
on the appliance purchasing market and how much people value
my opinion," she added."Of the 424 kitchen projects I worked on in the
past nine months, 96.9 percent of these customers were subscribers to
my blog posts."
As part of the 30 Under 30 program, Petrino is looking forward to
collaborating with other professionals in the kitchen and bath industry
as an appliance specialist, to share her passion for educating others
about the options available and to learn more about other aspects
of the industry.
"The nature of what I do on a daily basis extends well beyond
the duties of a salesperson in the traditional sense," she added. "I

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would really like to develop a broader knowledge of the processes,
terminology and codes that the builders, developers, designers and
architects use with my clients."

Kara Feinberg, Allied Kitchen and Bath, Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.
Kara Feinberg loves being a part of her
family business. What started out as a part-time
job blossomed into a career when she started
listening to the designers and began to watch the
relationships being built. Feinberg - both father
and daughter - believes its about more than just selling products; it's
also about making clients' dreams a reality and paying it forward.
"I watch my dad and other family members interact with clients
and host charity events in our showroom, and I admire his passion
and the camaraderie within our entire team," she added. "It inspires
me and pushes me to do more, get involved and become a better
person."
Feinberg is also actively involved in charity work - whether it's
installing shingles on the roof of a Habitat for Humanity home or
walking for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For the past couple
of years during the holidays, several Allied colleagues have gotten
together and created Christmas stockings to give to Kids in Distress, a
community-supported agency caring for abused children. Allied also
helped build an interactive room for the Broward Children's Center for
special needs kids.
"Even though I didn't physically help build this or install the
cabinets, I was able to assist with the design, and it was an incredible
experience to see the impact it had on the children, the lives of their
families and how appreciative the entire community was," she added.
"If I can just make the tiniest difference in another person's life, then
I'm fulﬁlled."
Feinberg hopes the 30 Under 30 program will help her learn, grow
and get involved with the National Kitchen & Bath Association. She
also looks forward to sharing Allied's philosophy of paying it forward.
"I want to bring a young, new approach to the industry that
intertwines fashion and design while exploring new technology that is
utilized on the showroom ﬂoor on a day-to-day basis," she added. "But
most importantly, I want to be able to share with other ﬁrms like ours
how we work within the community to build strong relationships and
create a business model that others can also follow."

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KBB - November/December 2014

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