Page 9 - CMA PROfiles Spring 2015

by Jessica Sinnott
s the one-man show behind DK Cabinets of Acton, CA, Derek Kruzner
understands well the expression, “slow and steady wins the race.” With a
A passion for woodworking that reaches back to 1984, Derek has been steadily
building his way to success, one custom job at a time.
The origins of DK Cabinets can be traced back to a personal project. “About 31
years ago, I was fresh out of high school and making my way through a local
junior college when I got an itch to re-organize my own closet,” he remembers.
“With a few sparse tools and a basic knowledge of woodworking, I completed
my first project and was ‘bit’ by the woodworking bug.” Derek began to develop
his skill in his new-found passion, and a few years later, he landed an appren-
ticeship with a small custom cabinet shop. “It was there that I learned the trade
of custom cabinet making,” he explained.

Although the economy required Derek to find a steady source of income outside
of cabinet work in the late 80s, he never lost his passion for it, continuing to do
small cabinet jobs on the side and dreaming of a business of his own. Finally in
2007, Derek got his contractor’s license and started DK Cabinets. “Since then,
my focus has been to build my business and improve my skills as a cabinet
maker until I’m able to retire from my day job and return to cabinet making full
time,” he says.

While the birth of DK Cabinets was the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream,
it wasn’t exactly a stroll in the park. “When I first started, business was pretty
slow,” Derek said frankly. “Also, there was a stiff learning curve trying to bal-
ance all the roles of a business. I was not only the
cabinet maker, but also the salesman, accountant and
even the head sawdust sweeper.” Derek was working
out of his garage when he began, and he says he had
to turn down some jobs because he either didn’t have
the room to build them or wasn’t comfortable in his
skill set yet.
Still he persevered. As his comfort with complex
projects increased, he took on bigger jobs and worked
his way to success. Today, Derek’s 3000 square-foot
shop on his personal property has the capacity for any
size project he chooses to take on, and although he
remains humble, he says that after 31 years, he has
the skill set to build just about any project that comes
through his doors. But even with all his experi-
ence and capacity, Derek has learned the benefit of
moderation. He says, “I still only work on one job at
a time. This allows me to focus on my client’s needs
without feeling the pressure of multiple deadlines.” Photos courtesy of William Sutton
continued on page 10

PROFILES • Volume 15 • Issue 2, 2015 • www.cabinetmakers.org 9