Episode 36: Grit Leads to Greatness with Jenny & Chris
In this episode:
Christi and Angela interview Jenny Kerr Schroen and Chris Eccleston from Delmarva Veteran Builders. Jenny and Chris are in the final stages of releasing a children's book about construction and trade skills. The book leads kids on an epic journey through a fantasy world with various creatures that have certain skills which help guide the children on their quest to save their dilapidated city. The book teaches how to deal with failure and success as well as the vital impact that construction trades have on the world. This was a fun podcast to make while sharing a great message. Check it out!
Supported by: Favor Upstate & Skilled Trades Alliance
About Jenny & Chris:
Jenny Kerr Schroen grew up the middle child of three sisters in a creative, close-knit family in Northern Kentucky near Cincinnati, Ohio. She first attended the University of Kentucky and later transferred to pursue Graphic Design at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. She spent the next 15 years exploring the world, practicing design and travel blogging with her sisters. She won a short-story writing contest with Condé Nast Traveler Magazine that whisked her away on a jet-setting blogging tour of Argentina and Uruguay. Deciding life wasn’t wild enough, she reconnected with and married a widowed college friend with four young children. Jenny moved cross-country from California to reside in Salisbury, Maryland with her new family, buying and renovating her dream mid-century home featured on HGTV’s House Hunters “Fresh Start For Six in Salisbury”. In 2019, Chris Eccleston hired her as the Creative Developer for Delmarva Veteran Builders (DVB), a commercial construction firm. In 2020, she won a MarCom Award, an international creative competition, for developing DVB’s ad campaign and new tagline “Grit Leads to Greatness”. Extensive research regarding the power of Grit and her first-hand view of the workforce shortage inspired Jenny to co-write the dystopian children’s book, "Grit Leads to Greatness" -a nod to her own kids for persevering through tough times while demonstrating to all people the vital impact construction trades have on the world.
Chris Eccleston is the President and founder of Delmarva Veteran Builders (DVB) located in his hometown of Salisbury, Maryland. He is a Navy veteran who served for six years as a nuclear machinist mate on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The ship was involved in three different tours for both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Chris received a construction management degree from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and earned his MBA from Salisbury University. He has been in the construction industry since 2007 managing over $150 million in commercial construction projects. Chris continues to reside in Salisbury with his wife and two children. In addition to DVB, he formed Trashforce, which offers roll-off and residential trash services. Chris has been awarded “40 under 40” from Building Design + Construction magazine and Entrepreneur of the Year by Maryland Capital Enterprises among other accolades. As DVB grew, the company gained recognition for its strong company culture, next-level design, and professional development for its workforce. Chris has always been intrigued by the art and marketing world and possessed a long-time vision to write a children's book about construction. Teaming up with his creative developer, Jenny Schroen, they devised a fantastical world of trade characters combined with epic adventure for their first children's book, "Grit Leads to Greatness".
