For some CEOs, climbing to the top of the corporate ladder means never making a mistake – or at least, rarely getting caught making one. For Bert Lebhar, President and CEO of Atlantic Remodeling, the only thing worse than making a wrong move is to worry about making mistakes.
“I’ve made plenty,” he says. “It’s how I know I’m growing, both personally and in business. As long as I learn from each one, it feels like just part of the process.”
Lebhar’s willingness to learn continuously is paying off. He’s about to receive Smart CEO magazine’s Circle of Excellence Award as CEO of the Year for Marketing Excellence, at a dinner sponsored by the publication at the Walters Art Museum on May 4th.
It’s been a long road for Bert. He’s living proof, though, that with the right kind of drive and thinking, even a hardscrabble upbringing in a neighborhood that’s characterized by high unemployment, high rates of alcoholism and crime doesn’t mean a kid who grew up there has to live that life forever.
“I’ve been on a big learning curve the last few years,” says Bert. “I realize now how important my wife and family are to me, after I went through a period of taking them for granted. I really get that sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones that teach me the most.”
Atlantic Remodeling is one of the fastest growing companies in the region. He runs it with his lifelong friend and business partner Brendan Stackpole. Together, they’re parlaying their “Red Cent Guarantee” into double digit growth that has them expanding into Northern Virginia, Delaware and beyond.
“We think it’s a great branding tool, and customers seem to relate to it, too, Lebhar says. “As a brand promise, it doesn’t get any simpler. The ‘Red Cent Guarantee’ means just means that our customers don’t have to pay us one red cent until each job is complete to their satisfaction.”
Growing up in a tough neighborhood seems to have instilled a competitive edge in Lebhar that comes in handy in business, just as it did when he made it onto the team as a walk-on basketball player for the University of Maryland, College Park. It was also clear last year when he was a finalist as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
With all he’s learned in the past few years about himself and the challenges of running a successful business, Lebhar sums up his newfound attitude toward his wife and family, his work, his business partner and life in general in just two words, these days.
"Extremely grateful", he says. "I am a lucky man."
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