Kim Kenzevich is the Sales Support Specialist for weatherstrip and balances in the Eastern U.S. and Eastern Canada at AmesburyTruth. She has been in the industry for three decades, so we spoke with her to hear what she’s learned in that time.

What products does your company manufacture?

We make window and door hardware for the residential and commercial market, as well as pile weatherstrip, foam weatherseals and custom extrusion accessory parts.

What is your professional background, and how did you become involved in the industry?

In 1987, I was the receptionist for a German company that manufactured ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE). The owner of this company started a new business in the United States that specialized in bending various vinyl window extrusions to create custom window shapes. He offered me the customer service/sales position. I was the fifth employee hired at Ventana Plastics, as it was known in 1989, and was the National Sales Manager when I left there in 2001 to join Amesbury Group as the Product Specification Manager. I was promoted to two additional Sales Management positions at Amesbury before our parent company Tyman, PLC acquired Truth Hardware in 2013. We are now AmesburyTruth.

What accomplishment are you most proud of regarding your work as an AAMA member?

I’m proud to be a contributor to the most respected association in the window and door industry, and to participate at this level with so many respected individuals in the industry.

Where do you see the fenestration industry in the next 10 years?

I believe we’ll continue to see innovation in smart technology, as well as continued emphasis to increase thermal performance and more glass – opening the house to the outdoors. I also expect bigger doors and windows.

What advice do you wish someone would have given you as you began your career?

Don’t confuse having a career with having a life.

What is the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?

Many years ago, someone that I had a great deal of respect for got so angry with my frustration, and he said to me, “Kim, you are your own worst enemy.” I know that is cliché, but it’s what he said next that hit home for me: “Believe in yourself - know your product - and believe in that, too!” I took his advice. Danny Terrell has since passed away, but I will always remember how he believed in me and encouraged me early on in my career as a single mother working full-time, traveling and managing a 30 unit apartment complex so I could save to buy a house.