The Grit Blueprint

Family Mill To Specialty Powerhouse: Lessons In Leadership And Change with Kelley Scott

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What does it take to lead a team through real change in an industry that prides itself on tradition? We sit down with Kelly Scott, raised on a lumberyard, seasoned through multiple acquisitions, and now running a complex specialty distribution branch, to map the human side of operational excellence and the strategic moves that separate stagnant dealers from standout brands.

Kelly’s story begins with family: a Canadian mill and trim retail operation where product knowledge came from hands-on work and fearless selling. Her mother became a respected presence on major Toronto job sites, proving mastery beats bias when stakes are high. That foundation informs Kelly’s leadership playbook today, hiring for character, building trust that endures hard decisions, and creating a culture where the site runs smoothly even when she’s on the road. We dig into what branch management really looks like across logistics, sales, procurement, finance, and light manufacturing, and how clarity of roles plus strong feedback loops keep service levels sharp.

We widen the lens to the market’s inflection point. Building materials is an old industry, but the pace of change in technology, AI, consolidation, and shifting customer expectations is accelerating. Kelly explains why dealers who embrace change win more often: smarter assortments, reliable logistics, and data-informed decisions that protect margin and improve experience. We explore specialty building products as a strategic edge: millwork, doors, and decking that drive differentiation and higher profitability. The vision is simple and powerful: one truck, one invoice, deeper coverage, so independents can act bigger without losing their local touch. Partnerships with co-ops like Do It Best amplify this, unlocking buying power and access to categories smaller footprints can’t carry alone.


 Topics we cover:
• Growing up in a lumber family and learning on the counter
• Lessons from a trailblazing mother winning respect in sales
• Selling the family business and navigating multiple acquisitions
• Why people, trust and hard decisions define leadership
• How a modern branch runs across sales, logistics and light manufacturing
• The industry’s inflection point and pace of change
• Where AI, consolidation and specialty products create leverage
• One-stop service advantages for independents
• Partnering with co-ops to expand reach and assortments
• Practical upsell

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Stefanie Couch:

The team's the only reason that happens and if you have the wrong one or you have the right one, it makes all the difference.

Kelley Scott:

Absolutely. Being able to create a team or an environment where people trust you and are able to back you during those hard decision times because ultimately they come.

Stefanie Couch:

When you get out of an independent business and then you go see what that side of it looks like and how they operate and how they think, I do think having both sides makes you the best possible entrepreneur. I feel like you're an entrepreneur within their business.

Kelley Scott:

It's an old industry and it's always going to be around, it's always going to be needed. It's changed a lot, but I think right now we're at a particular inflection point. So, you know, dealers that are open to just doing things a little bit differently, being open to the possibilities that, you know, the way we used to do it might not be the way we're gonna do it in the future.

Stefanie Couch:

Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast, the playbook for building unmistakable brands that grow, lead, and last in the built world. I'm Stephanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint, and I'm a lifelong building industry insider. I was raised here, built my career here, and now my team and I help others win here. The truth is, you can be the best option in your space and still lose to someone else who simply shows up better and more consistently. Each week on the Grit Blueprint, I'm going to show you how to stand out, earn trust, and turn your brand into a competitive advantage that lasts. If you're ready to be seen, known, chosen, and become unmistakable, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast. I'm your host, Stephanie Couch, and I'm here today with Kelly Scott. Welcome to the show, Kelly.

Kelley Scott:

Thank you.

Stefanie Couch:

Thank you for having me. I am excited to talk to you because you're a fellow lumber girl from birth. Sure am. I mean, you don't meet a lot of girls that grew up on the lumber yard, right? No, absolutely not. No, it's uh it's rare. Yeah, for sure. So I was pretty excited when you told me that you I thought you just worked there, but then I was like, no, she legit was like born and grew up in the biz. Sure did. I love it. So tell me, you actually work at Alexandria. I do, which is a specialty building products company, and you are in Washington right now, but you actually grew up in Canada. I did. And so I want you to tell me your story. You grew up with a single mom that was a part of a business that owned a molding company and a manufacturing company, and you grew up running around and doing all the things. Tell me about that.

Kelley Scott:

Yeah. So I grew up um, my family, my mom, my aunt, my uncles, they started a hardwood molding manufacturing company and at the same time opened up a retail location on the same property as our mill. Okay. Um, and that retail location was for specialty trim and moldings and and so on. So for local contractors, custom home builders. And um yeah, so I I grew up, my mom, my aunt, the same thing. I mean, they were really my mom always tells a story of she would go and visit customers, go to lumberyards, go to job sites, big job sites in Toronto, and I was in her belly. So I grew up on job sites and in the lumberyard, you know, before I was even born. Yeah. Um, and you know, going there and having a single mom, spent a lot of time there. I the employees were always so gracious. They'd let me, you know, take a sharper sterpie and write the length of the lumber on the end and do all that kind of fun stuff.

Stefanie Couch:

I annoyed a lot of people in my childhood too.

Kelley Scott:

I'm sure I I know they don't say it now. I mean, I I obviously am still close with a lot of them and and speak to a lot of them. But um, yeah, they don't say how annoying I was, but I can only imagine.

Stefanie Couch:

I had one one older man that worked at the counter with my dad. Um, his name was David, and he he was probably the hardest worker I've ever met. And he would let me ring people up, but you could just tell it was like, oh my God, she's here again, you know. Yeah. But that's literally how I learned everything I knew was figuring out, you know, the studs and what is a stud and why is it different than an eight-foot board, and what does that mean, and why do people ask for it? So I love that story. Um, tell me a little bit about your mom and like what what was that like for her?

Kelley Scott:

You know, she was one of the only women in the industry in Canada. I can't speak to the US at that time because I I don't know, but in Canada, she was one of the only women in the industry. Um, she's tough. I bet. Right? She's tough and she, you know, larger than life. She's retired now. So when I say was larger than life, you know, just in her career. And um she was pretty amazing. She um started out, you know, at the mill and and working there, but quickly they realized she should be out on the road and talking to people because she talks a lot. Yeah.

Stefanie Couch:

And I don't I don't identify with that at all.

Kelley Scott:

And uh so, you know, she uh she went out on the road and she was going to big, big high-rise buildings in Toronto and selling lumber. And the reality is, is the men and the contractors and the purchasers, they were they, you know, she'd walk in with her hard hat on and they would dismiss her. Um and as soon as she opened her mouth and started speaking, and they were like, oh, she actually knows what she's talking about. So she made a name for herself pretty quickly. Um, you know, obviously competent, hardworking, um, strong. And uh and it and it worked really, really well. And, you know, as time went on and as we sold our family's company to Alexandria and so on, and and she became our VP of sales, and uh, you know, she just her career is something to be admired.

Stefanie Couch:

That's amazing. I'd love to meet her one day and and talk to her about that. And uh I'd love to hear what she thinks about what you're doing now because I'm sure she's very proud of you. Right. I hope so. Well, speaking of family, you actually have an amazing daughter. So tell me a little bit about her because I was on a call with you the other day and we were prepping for something, and you said that she not only plays hockey and is an amazing goalie, right? Yes, but she plays on the boys' team and rocks their socks. So I want to know all about that. Tell me about her.

Kelley Scott:

Oh lord, that child, love of my life. I honestly like she never ceases to amaze me. She um she's really, really strong and does really hard things. When we moved from Canada to Yakima, so she she always played with girls because in Canada, hockey culture is everything.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah.

Kelley Scott:

Um, and so tons of girls playing hockey, just as many girls as there are boys. And she always played with girls. And when I took this job in in Yakima, Washington, I said, you know, there's no there's no girls' hockey, you have to play with boys. And she was very nervous, she was seven at that time, super nervous, um, wasn't really into it. And then after her first practice, she was like, Oh, I I I got this. That's amazing. No problem. So yeah, this year she um she beat out a bunch of the boys for her spot on this rep team. And I talked to her last night and she uh they had a scrimmage and she rocked it, as in her words.

Stefanie Couch:

Wowed it. Well, you tell her that when she's ready for a job, that she just better call me because she sounds like my type of girl, and I love that. The tenacity that that takes to go out there and get that and just do it. Um, that's pretty cool. So I love it. I'm sure though she gets that from you because you don't just you have to have a role model in your life to see that mirrored, to know that you can do anything. Like even the idea that she could just say, Well, I'll just go trial for the boys' team, that's pretty rare. And so I'm I know that she had to learn that from you.

Kelley Scott:

Yeah, well, me and my husband. I mean, my husband is he's a coach for his for his job. So he, you know, that's what he does, and he's very good with her. And I think between the two of us, we complement each other well as as parents, which is good.

Stefanie Couch:

Well, 2012 was a big year for you and your family. It's it's kind of a weird coincidence. We have a lot of similarities, but it's also the year that my family sold their lumber yard, um, which is really interesting to me. But I think a lot about that time, and I know selling a family business is something that is not done lightly. I mean, it's it's a there's a lot of thoughts and a lot of emotion that go into that. But you guys sold to Alexandria, which then sold to US Lumber, correct? And now is a part of specialty building products. Tell me a little bit about that journey. What was it like? What was great about it, what was hard? Um, and and how has that turned into now 13 years later? What does it look like? You're right.

Kelley Scott:

You know, as a family, as a family, when you decide to sell your business, it's it's heartbreaking as well as exciting. I mean, there's a reason you're doing it. For us, it was just uh honestly, it was a lack of succession. So I was relatively young. Um, I just wasn't ready. I I um hadn't even started a family yet. And my husband and I had just gotten married. We certainly were not in a position to take over. My cousins were in similar positions, and it just was a lack of succession. So that was really the deciding factor. Um, heartbreaking though. I mean, I think I as much as I spent all this time in the lumber yard and in the mill growing up, I went off to try and do my do my own thing and I ran my own contracting business for a few years. Wow. Um just to because I I wanted to prove to my family, to myself, that I could I could do it. I didn't have to, you know, be with the family. Ultimately, I loved being with the family, and so that's what I did. And when they decided to sell, it was pretty heartbreaking for me personally. Yeah. Um entrepreneurial spirit, you would, you know, you would understand that's kind of where I had seen myself. Um, the experience of Alexandria purchasing us was very, very positive. Um positive for the employees, positive for our family. Um, it was it was a really good thing. Um and then by the time US Lumber came around, uh, we had already actually sold to a private equity prior to that. Um so at this point I've been through like four acquisitions and it just feels like old hat. I'm very fortunate though, the experiences have been as positive as that.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah. And well, the companies that have bought you, um, I mean, uh speaking of SBP and those guys, they are have a great mission. They're very culture driven and they have a, I think they have a good ideology of where they want to go and why they're doing it. So there's a real, it seems like the business has a real purpose about it that is powerful, and I think that's always important. I do want to double click on something though, because it resonates so deeply with me. Um I was young when my dad sold his business to, and we had been through 2008, it was really hard. Really hard. Um, I mean, that it really 2008 was hard, but then like 20, 2009, 2010, I mean, it just kept being hard. The rebuild. It was really tough. And I remember a lot of conversations like, is today the day we gotta go get unemployment? Like, are we gonna be able to, you know, pay, pay each other, pay the salaries this week? And we never had that moment, but it was it was scarring for sure. And so when I got to 2012 and my dad was like ready to get out of it, and then I thought, I'm gonna go do something different. I did feel like I needed to see a different side of things. And I also felt that same thing, like I need to prove myself outside of this business. But I do wonder, like I land that a lot and think, like, should I have bought it? But I wasn't ready then. And so I think what I've learned now through I I went and worked at a very large Fortune 500 company for 10 years in two-step distribution as well. And I don't believe I could have done what I'm doing now or any capacity of like the level without seeing what that looks like. When you get out of an independent business and then you go see what that side of it looks like and how they operate and how they think, I do think having both sides makes you the best possible entrepreneur, or or I feel like you're an entrepreneur within their business. You're running your own branch, like it is your business. And there's just some great lessons. What are some of those lessons that you've seen over the last, you know, 13 years that have helped you become a better business leader?

Kelley Scott:

Um it really, it really, everything comes down to people, right? So you're absolutely right. I I was too young, just like you, to take over. And and I mean, could I could I have done it theoretically? Yeah, of course, right? You can do whatever you put your mind to. Yeah. But would I have done it well? I don't know. Yeah. Um, you know, there would have been a lot of hard lessons. And not to say there hasn't been, but um but that would have been a lot more challenging. I think today um the experience I've had in in leading small teams to larger teams has really developed who I am as a leader. And and even being able to make hard decisions that affect people. Um that's the hardest, that's the hardest part of running a business or just being in business, period, or being in a leadership position. And um, you know, being able to create a team or an environment with people where people trust you. Yeah. Um and are able to back you during those hard decision times because ultimately they come. It doesn't matter how good you are, it doesn't matter what you're doing. You have to make hard decisions. Uh so if you have a good team that uh that you've built trust with and a good culture with, that that's really the the lesson I've learned.

Stefanie Couch:

This episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast was sponsored by Do It Best Group. Do It Best Group is the largest co-op in the world, and they help independent hardware and lumber yards all over North America win. Do It Best offers services, products, and people that can help you win long term. They are the champion of independence. I love that. Talent is something I underrated a lot of my career. Uh, now that I have my own business and my last three or four years, we were building greenfield door shops and you're starting from scratch and you're building something huge, and there's a lot of money and a lot of time already spent, like you got to make it go. The team's the only reason that happens, and if you have the wrong one or you have the right one, it makes all the difference. And that's absolutely I can't overvalue that now that I have a team. And like we're here today, you know, there's a lot of things for us to be sitting here that had to happen beforehand, and a lot of people went into doing that, but I'm the one sitting here with you. But that would have never happened. Like the mic wouldn't work, I promise you that. If it was up to me, we'd we'd be just yelling at each other with cameras going off, everything a lot of things happening, it would not be good. Um, the lighting would be horrible. But I think that is just something that I love. How tell me a little bit about your team and like what does your day-to-day look like? Because you're you're a branch manager. Yes. And what does that mean for people that maybe don't know what it's like to be a branch manager at that level?

Kelley Scott:

Yeah. So um at our branch in particular, so we have a distribution facility, we have all of our logistics and trucks and drivers and and everything. We have our whole sales team, procurement team, um, finance. Um, and then we also have a small manufacturing facility as well. So as it as time has gone on, that has been less and less. Um, but we do still do a small amount of manufacturing there. So, you know, there's a lot of moving parts to that site. Yeah. Um and it's you know, and it can be complicated. Up until recently, we were also doing some cross-border sales as well. So lots of back and forth between Canada and the US. Yeah. Obviously, based on um current situation, we've had to change some of that. Just it doesn't work in today's world. Right. Um, but you know, for the last 25 years, we have. So it's it's added some complications. Day to day, the team is every I mean, I'm I'm here. Yeah, I'm in Indianapolis and the team is running the site. Um, and I'm actually gone for two weeks. I have to go to Atlanta next week. So um that team is everything. They um and it took a while to build it. We needed to get the right people and the right seats and you know that old adage. Yeah. Um, and that takes time and gaining trust and and so on. And but uh day to day, they they honestly run it. I I always joke and say, they don't really, I don't think they need me at this point. Well, that's they're so you don't place yourself, right? I mean I mean that's essentially that's essentially it. They don't really, I mean, they they do, and I'm there to support them and do all these, you know, and and probably sign off on the things that they don't want to put their name on. But but the reality is is that place operates because they make it operate. Yeah, it has nothing to do with with myself or whether I'm there or not. They are they are amazing. That's awesome. Yeah.

Stefanie Couch:

Well, hopefully I'll get to come tour your facility one day. I would love to do that. And Washington is one of my favorite places to visit. Well, and it's wine. Uh well, now you mean where you sit, you get to see a lot of dealers out in the market. You're here, and we're gonna be talking to, I think there's gonna be like 9,000 members here or something crazy. Um, what what do you think sets apart the people in the business from the really successful dealers to the ones that do okay or stagnate? What's the differences there that you see?

Kelley Scott:

Biggest difference would be the dealers that are open to change and open to so this industry's old. Yeah, right. I mean, lumber industry is old, building materials, it's it's an old industry and it's always going to be around. It's always going to be needed, but it it's changed a lot. But I think right now we're at a particular inflection point that is gonna change is happening quick. Yeah. And uh, and before you know it, it's gonna look very, very different. So, you know, dealers that are open to just doing things a little bit differently, being open to the possibilities that, you know, the way we used to do it might not be the way we're gonna do it in the future. Yeah. That's I think really what's gonna change. And same thing for vendors. I mean, as a as a distributor, you know, we we often go through those same struggles trying to keep up with what's new and so much new.

Stefanie Couch:

I mean, with AI, it's literally every single day. It's life-changing. It is really every day we wake up and I have some newsletters and stuff that I get, and it's like, oh, it's been a week and Chat GPT has changed everything and now it's a totally different experience. And it's like exponentially easier to do things, but it also can be exponentially easier to think that those things can happen without, you know, certain checks and balances being in place, I guess. How do you see the future of our industry as far as the people? If you could tell people one or two things that you're most expensive about about what you're doing at SPP and all the family of companies, what what excites you the most about the future of our industry?

Kelley Scott:

So consolidation can be a scary thing, but I think it also can be pretty powerful as well. And um for us at SPP, I mean, obviously we've grown exponentially over the last five years, yeah, say, since COVID. Um, and I think our ability to serve our customers on the independent side with not just moldings, not just doors, not just decking, not just, you know, we're able to supply these dealers and these customers with everything that we offer. And that that's the plan. I mean, not every site can do that today. Yeah. But the hope is that we're gonna be this one-stop shop. It's gonna be so much easier. Everything's gonna come on one truck, one bill, one invoice. That is a big advantage. Yeah. And I think, and and I, you know, SPP is different. Specialty building products, it's exactly what we are. Specialty, right? We're not selling two by fours, right? We're not selling drywall. Um, that that's not what we do. We're here to help on the difficult product lines. I love the hard stuff. It's the fun stuff. It is, and it's also the stuff that looks good too, right?

Stefanie Couch:

If no one else wants to mess with it, great. I'll take that challenge. Yeah, let's do it. I love it. Yeah. So we're here at the market and you've been working with do it best. So tell me just one last thing about what it's like to be a vendor partner because you guys are one of their gold sponsors. You've worked with do it best in a lot of capacities. We're collaborating on some panels and some different things. What's the best part for co-op dealers and members that helps them have a competitive advantage by working with people like do it best and like specialty building products?

Kelley Scott:

For the for the dealers, you know, being a part of do it best, it it helps with your buying. It helps it, I mean, and not just specially build specialty building products, we can go to your independent yard, um, but we also work with the RSEs. And that's a big piece as well. I mean, if you don't have a large enough yard in moldings in particular, if you don't have a large enough yard or a large enough footprint in your retail location to carry that, you're able to get it, regardless of whether you have that space or not. And I think being able to partner with um with a company like Do It Best really, I mean, it helps us, gives us a bigger footprint across the whole country. Um, and hopefully, you know, do it best feels that they benefit in partnering with us and able to help their dealers.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining me. I hope you have an amazing market. I'm gonna see you on stage in a few days. We're gonna have another panel together uh teaching upselling and how to use millwork to grow your margin in your business, which I'm pretty pumped about because we're we're both millwork girls. So I love that. Well, I will talk to you hopefully again soon because this is a great episode and I want to come and see your Washington facility pronto. Look forward to it. Well, thank you for joining me on the Grit Blueprint. Thank you for listening to the Grit Blueprint podcast. If this episode helped you think a little differently about how to show up, share it with someone in your building world who needs it. If you're ready to turn visibility into growth, then head to gritblueprint.com to learn more and book a call to talk to us about your growth strategy. Until next time, stay unmistakable.

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Stefanie Couch

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