Eric O’Grey knows how to spot an opportunity and create a positive ripple effect. The Northern California sales representative for True-Caliber has been in the appliance industry for more than 30 years. He remembers the post-market crash of 2008, when independent appliance dealerships started going out of business. Up until then, people usually shopped for their own appliances, and designers or contractors would work around these selections. Then, everything flipped.
Above photo: Eric O’Grey and Nureed Saeed of the NKBA Northern California Chapter together with Donalyn Heller of Ferguson Home; Photo credit: Eric O’Grey, courtesy of NKBA
“People stopped coming through the doors,” said O’Grey. “Suddenly designers and contractors became much more influential. And the surviving dealers were forming partnerships with contractors and designers.”
It made sense. He relates that it takes about five years to really develop a technical understanding of appliances. So rather than designers and builders having to become appliance experts, the savvy dealers formed mutually beneficial relationships with them.
“The kitchen designer is the most important person for the appliance salesperson,” said O’Grey. “I asked myself how I could reach out to these designers to let them know I could be a trusted partner.”
A Collaboration Revelation
Looking back over his career, he realized that NKBA was the linchpin for cementing these partnerships. And it hit him that he was going to contact his local NKBA branch and make himself useful to them. The Northern California Chapter is where O’Grey met interior designer Nureed Saeed. She had become involved in Make It Home, a Bay Area nonprofit that helps foster families and those aging out of foster care by providing surplus home furnishings. At first, O’Grey contributed his woodworking skills to fix furniture, explaining that he was the guy who showed up with the power tools. When Saeed asked him to become the philanthropy coordinator for the chapter’s Community Cares initiative, he realized that his connections with appliance dealers could really benefit these foster families.
“I thought, let’s find a dealer willing to donate appliances to families in need so that when an appliance goes out, we can replace it without a whole lot of bureaucracy and paperwork,” said O’Grey.
That’s when he connected with Donalyn Heller of Ferguson Home, who has been integral to the program serving foster families in Marin County through Community Cares. Community Cares is made possible through a NKBA grant, which O’Grey authored. The chapter has also received a grant to help young men aging out of foster care to enter a career in the construction industry.
“We’re just a collection of people within the chapter using whatever our superpower is to uplift and help the foster care effort within the Bay Area of California,” he said.
