I sit down with Dori Shoshan, head of Innovation and Business Development at Panda Windows & Doors, inside the Las Vegas showroom of one of the most respected custom luxury windows and doors manufacturers in North America. Dori is a working radiologist and the son of Panda's founders, Avi and Tiranit Shoshan, who started the family business in 1991 in Israel, where his father chose to start with the hardest product in the category, radius curve multi-slide doors, and built his own bending machine to do it.

Dori walks through how a family-owned window manufacturer is rebuilding the engine room of the company. He breaks down the multi-year rollout of Paradigm’s building industry software, including how it has cut quote turnaround from several days to about one hour and turned a one-week shop drawing process into a one-click output. He explains why he chose Paradigm over European systems, how it now runs configure price quote, cut optimization, packing slips, and CNC manufacturing instructions on one seamless platform, and how it will give dealers self-serve quoting of Panda’s products for the first time.

Dori and I also dig into AI in the building industry, why slim profile multi-slide and lift and slide doors are taking over the high-end market, and why Panda is considering a broader go-to-market strategy. You’ll learn the story behind the Panda name, how the team protects the founder's standards as they scale, and what he hopes the next ten years look like for the family. If you build, sell, or specify windows and doors, this conversation is a clear look at how to modernize your processes without losing the human element.

This podcast was produced alongside an episode of our Behind The Build series, where we toured Panda's factory floor with Dori's sister, Noya Shoshan. Watch the full tour and see why Panda doors are showing up in casinos, hotels, and dream homes across the country:
https://youtu.be/BoecyLZwhD4

Thank you to Panda Window & Doors for hosting us.
See more of their cutting-edge luxury products:
https://www.panda-windows.com/

This episode was sponsored by Paradigm.
Paradigm’s software solutions help organizations throughout the building industry supply chain to boost sales, reduce costs, and become more competitive.
Learn more: https://myparadigm.com/

Chapter Markers
00:00 Why The Building Industry Is Behind On AI Software
01:07 Inside The Panda Windows & Doors Showroom In Las Vegas
03:56 How Avi Shoshan Started With Radius Curve Multi-Slide Doors
05:58 Lessons From Growing Up Around A Custom Door Innovator
06:50 How Panda Protects Premium Pricing With Custom Luxury Windows And Doors
08:12 Why Slim Profile Doors Are Taking Over The High End Market
09:15 How To Pass Down Knowledge In A Family-Run Business
10:30 Why Avi Is Still On The Production Floor After 34 Years
12:12 The Role Of Innovation And Technology At Panda
13:34 How Paradigm Software Is Changing Window And Door Sales
14:39 Cut Window Quote Times From Days To One Hour
16:09 Why Panda Picked Paradigm Software
18:08 What A Full Paradigm Rollout Will Change On The Plant Floor
20:23 Advice For Manufacturers Thinking About New Software
21:19 How Automation Helps With The Skilled Labor Shortage
21:48 How Panda Windows & Doors Goes To Market
23:12 Why Showrooms Excel At Selling Custom Luxury Windows And Doors
23:40 The Story Behind The Panda Name
24:42 Panda Windows & Doors In The Next Ten Years
25:50 Lightning Round
25:53 The Tool That Changed Panda The Most
26:17 Dori's Favorite Panda Product
27:06 Why Lift And Slide Doors Are Panda's Flagship
27:15 The Tech Trend Outside The Window Industry To Watch
27:49 How Dori Explains Panda Windows & Doors To New Buyers
28:51 Closing Thoughts And Where To Find Panda

Ready to turn visibility into growth? Head to gritblueprint.com to learn more and book a call to talk about your growth strategy.

🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Episodes
Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch

📧 Join the Newsletter
Real talk, strategies, and tools from Stefanie: https://stefaniecouch.kit.com/ae221e2ce6

📅 Book a Strategy Call
Ready to grow your brand or business? Let’s talk:
https://calendly.com/stefaniecouch/grit-blueprint-strategy-call

🚀 About Stefanie Couch & Grit Blueprint
I'm Stefanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint. I grew up in a third-generation building supply business. I've worked inside dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. I built Grit Blueprint to solve problems I saw in our industry.

Grit Blueprint is a visibility, media, and growth partner for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and leaders in the building industry.

We help you get seen, build trust, and become unmistakable.

We help you build authority, reputation, and relationships that drive revenue.

🔗 Learn more: GritBlueprint.com
Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial
LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

Most lumber yards stay invisible in their own market. They sell millions of dollars of product a year and the people next door still do not know their name. Ashley Guest is changing that at Harbin Lumber, a fourth generation, century-old building materials dealer in Lavonia, Georgia. She walked in four years ago with a marketing degree and zero industry experience. There was no playbook. There was no team. There was a blank canvas and a paintbrush.

We break down exactly how she built a brand from scratch. You will hear her four C's of marketing, the framework she uses to balance community, culture, customers, and consistency when she is the entire marketing department.

Ashley shares the moves that worked. The branded employee swag store that turns staff into walking ads.The breast cancer awareness reel that went viral inside a male-dominated industry.

You will also hear what to do when you are told no, how to choose where to spend your marketing time, and why hats are still one of the smartest twenty-dollar marketing buys an independent dealer can make.

If you run an independent lumber yard, hardware store, or building supply company, this is a real conversation about how to get seen and get chosen in your local market.

What you'll take away today:
- The four C's of marketing give a one-person marketing team a simple way to balance community, culture, customers, and consistency without dropping a bucket.
- Marketing for building materials dealers is built on relationships and brand, not one-size-fits-all tactics, and Ashley shows how to make every campaign feel local.
- An employee swag store with a twice-yearly credit turns staff into walking ads and is one of the highest-return moves an independent lumber dealer can make.
- Independent lumber dealer branding starts with knowing your story, which is why Ashley read Harbin's century-old history book front to back before she posted anything.
- A fourth generation lumber company can still grow on social if you stay consistent on the platforms your customers actually use

Chapter Markers
00:00 Why Marketing in a Lumber Yard Is Built on Relationships
01:01 Welcome to the Grit Blueprint Podcast
01:24 Introducing Ashley Guest of Harbin Lumber
02:44 How a Marketing Manager Landed in the Lumber Industry
04:03 Inside Harbin Lumber: A Fourth Generation Family Business
04:42 From B2B Insurance to a Blank Canvas in Lumber Marketing
05:50 How the Balloon Lady Built a Brand From Scratch
06:40 Making Employees Feel Seen Inside a Lumber Yard
08:38 How National Holidays Build Customer Loyalty for Dealers
09:39 Why Saying No Doesn't Mean Stop in Lumber Marketing
10:25 Breast Cancer Awareness Reel That Went Viral
12:24 The Four Cs of Marketing in a Lumber Yard
13:38 How a One-Person Marketing Team Stays Tailored
14:49 Building Internal Culture With a Branded Swag Store
17:43 The Principal, the Hoodie, and Organic Brand Reach
18:37 Why Hats Are the Best Marketing Spend for Lumber Dealers
19:27 How to Choose Where to Spend Marketing Time and Money
20:12 Picking the Right Social Media Platforms for Lumber
20:54 Advice to a New Lumber Industry Marketing Manager
21:50 Lightning Round: Worst Marketing Advice and Best Tools
23:32 What Grit Means to Ashley Guest
23:42 Where to Follow Ashley Guest and Harbin Lumber

Ready to turn visibility into growth? Head to gritblueprint.com to learn more and book a call to talk about your growth strategy.

🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Episodes
Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch

📧 Join the Newsletter
Real talk, strategies, and tools from Stefanie: https://stefaniecouch.kit.com/ae221e2ce6

📅 Book a Strategy Call
Ready to grow your brand or business? Let’s talk:
https://calendly.com/stefaniecouch/grit-blueprint-strategy-call

🚀 About Stefanie Couch & Grit Blueprint
I'm Stefanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint. I grew up in a third-generation building supply business. I've worked inside dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. I built Grit Blueprint to solve problems I saw in our industry.

Grit Blueprint is a visibility, media, and growth partner for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and leaders in the building industry.

We help you get seen, build trust, and become unmistakable.

We help you build authority, reputation, and relationships that drive revenue.

🔗 Learn more: GritBlueprint.com
Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial
LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch

Sharona Eiserer bought a struggling 60-year-old lumber yard at six months pregnant and grew it into six Wood Shed Lumber and Hardware locations across rural Missouri. In this episode of the Grit Blueprint Podcast, she shares how she saved a dying small-town retail business, why the Do it Best co-op model beat her franchise experience, and the exact social media and radio playbook she uses to win against bigger competitors. If you own an independent hardware store, run a rural lumberyard, or are thinking about buying a family hardware business, this conversation gives you a real plan. You will hear how to handle ownership transitions, how to get your team on TikTok without making it weird, and how to build a brand people choose.

What you'll take away today:

- The independent hardware store plan Sharona used to turn one struggling yard into six profitable locations across rural Missouri.

- How the Do it Best co-op model gives small dealers buying power, retail design help, and training that franchises never offered her.

- Why rural lumberyard owners must run radio, TikTok, and Facebook at the same time so customers hear one voice everywhere they look.

- A practical plan for small town retail marketing that works without a big budget, big team, or a picture-perfect camera setup.

- The mindset shift that lets women in hardware and next-generation leaders step into family hardware business ownership and grow it faster than it has ever grown before.

Ready to turn visibility into growth? Head to gritblueprint.com to learn more and book a call to talk about your growth strategy.

Chapter Markers:
00:00 Why Rural Hardware Stores Are Dying
00:48 Welcome To The Grit Blueprint Podcast
01:24 Meet Sharona Eiserer Of Wood Shed Lumber
02:34 From 17 Pizza Hut Franchises To Hardware
04:23 Buying A Struggling Rural Lumber Yard While Pregnant
05:49 Why The Do it Best Co-op Became Home
06:09 How To Handle Employee Turnover In A Buyout
07:12 Surviving The First Year Of A Family Hardware Business
08:41 Co-op Versus Franchise For Independent Hardware Stores
10:19 Growing From One Store To Six Locations
11:55 What To Do When You Buy Another Hardware Store
13:33 Finding A Business Partner Who Balances You Out
14:15 Live Radio Marketing For Small Town Hardware Stores
15:05 Why Penny The Puppy Drives Brand Awareness
15:58 Building A Household Name On A Small Budget
17:49 How To Build A Local Brand People Actually Choose
19:32 Why Google Reviews Hurt And What To Do About Them
21:25 Teaching Younger Employees With Customer Conversations
22:54 How AI Search Is Changing Local Retail
24:07 How Much Time To Spend On Marketing As An Owner
25:28 Getting The Next Generation On TikTok For Your Business
25:49 How Sharona Got Her Team Past Camera Fear
27:12 Why Going Live In Your Hardware Store Still Works
28:21 Getting Comfortable Filming Real Boring Everyday Work
29:01 Using Meta Glasses To Film Without Being On Camera
30:41 Lightning Round Starts Here
31:14 Pineapple On Pizza Verdict From A Pizza Hut Owner
31:25 Penny The Store Dog Chief Happiness Officer
31:50 If She Were Not Running Six Hardware Stores
32:59 What Grit Means To A Rural Hardware Owner
33:29 One Thing You Can Do Tomorrow To Start A Business
33:54 Say Yes To The Opportunity

🎥 Watch More Grit Blueprint Episodes
Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@stefaniecouch

📧 Join the Newsletter
Real talk, strategies, and tools from Stefanie: https://stefaniecouch.kit.com/ae221e2ce6

📅 Book a Strategy Call
Ready to grow your brand or business? Let’s talk:
https://calendly.com/stefaniecouch/grit-blueprint-strategy-call

🚀 About Stefanie Couch & Grit Blueprint
I'm Stefanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint. I grew up in a third-generation building supply business. I've worked inside dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. I built Grit Blueprint to solve problems I saw in our industry.

Grit Blueprint is a visibility, media, and growth partner for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, service providers, and leaders in the building industry.

We help you get seen, build trust, and become unmistakable.

We help you build authority, reputation, and relationships that drive revenue.

🔗 Learn more: GritBlueprint.com
Instagram: @StefanieCouchOfficial
LinkedIn: Stefanie Couch