Young designers often tell Karen Hockley, CMKBD, CAPS, owner, Kitchens by Karen, in Enola, MI, that they would like to be able to download her knowledge of the kitchen and bath industry. With her writing, blogging and courses, her goal is to do just that.
Hockley is the moderator of three Facebook kitchen and bath design groups, where her goal is to help designers reach whatever pinnacle they can to achieve their dreams. In recent years, she has spent time creating material and writing, including a course on kitchen ventilation basics, which she then turned into a blog, Exciting Range Hood Options for Gas Ranges and the course, Selling for Designers.
There are so many pitfalls for new designers, Hockley notes, adding that designers today need mentors more than ever to guide them and give them a firm grasp of kitchen design and construction.
Hockley recounts that she gained her knowledge of the kitchen and bath industry by going to every in-person NKBA course available. She took classes from industry icon Ellen Cheever, as well. Many of the companies she worked for had extensive knowledge-base training for cabinetry, countertops, faucets and bath products, and she absorbed it all.