Incorporated in May 2003, Ellergodt Design began as a team of two: my wife Carol and I. As the company grew, we watched the years roll by—5, 10, and 20 and joked, we better celebrate this, maybe the CRA will give us some kind of tax deduction.
But in all seriousness, it’s been a privilege to be a part of something this significant—to meet so many amazing people, to be able to bring our clients’ visions to life, and to make long-lasting relationships with talented builders, developers, and so many more.
Over the past 21 years, we’ve had our fair share of challenges, successes, and lessons. There’s been plenty of change but also much that’s remained the same, like our vision.
Today, I feel fortunate to say we’ve built a team that shares that vision: Our clients are at the heart of all that we do.
We invite you to read along as we break down our journey of building a residential design firm over 21 amazing years, including key milestones, pivotal projects, challenges, triumphs, and everything in between.
Getting Started
About 7 years before Ellergodt Design was incorporated, it became my goal to have my own company. Talking it through with Carol, we weighed the pros and cons and began making changes, slowly moving in the direction of working on our own.
I’d always worked for quality residential design companies and builders, and that’s something I’ll always be thankful for. The opportunity to work with experts helped me find my place in the industry. When it came time to start my own company, I could take my experience, lessons, and favourite bits and pieces and be seen for my successes and responsible for my failures.
This is one thing I remember thinking before founding Ellergodt Design: I want to be able to succeed and fail on my own. And that’s the beauty of having your own company. Fast forward 21 years, and I’m proud to say it’s now about our team’s collective successes, finding ways around failures together, and providing great products to clients.
Vision & Philosophy
When starting out, I’ll admit my vision was simple. It wasn’t how big do I want to grow, but more so, how do I meet the needs of my family? Now, our sights are set on what services we provide, if we’re happy with the work we’re producing, and most importantly, if clients are happy with it.
While numerous things have changed over the last 21 years, my philosophy has always remained the same: Everything revolves around the client. As residential designers, we can offer advice and direction, but at no point should we ever tell our clients what their homes should look like.
I’ve been fortunate enough to attract a talented staff that shares the same client-centered vision. Even more so, I’m excited to have grown the company to the size where I can afford quality people who love to work with our clients and produce designs they love.
Our Collaborative Design Process
People always want to know what our design process is like. Getting started can be scary, and many clients don’t know where to begin. Finding the right home designer is a vulnerable process that should be serious and take a fair amount of time.
We do our best to establish relationships so everyone feels comfortable—clients feeling afraid to ask questions is the last thing we want!
Our design questionnaire encourages them to get real about their wants and needs for their new home—as do the conversations we have in client meetings. Our main goal is to design homes that respond to their needs, wants, and direction.
We can assist with our expertise and knowledge, sure, sometimes helping them discover needs and wants they weren’t aware of…but we love it when our clients feel very involved in their final design. After all, they’re an important part of the team—none of this would happen without them.
Challenges & Triumphs as a Residential Designer in Calgary
Only 25% of businesses make it to 15+ years. Sitting at more than two decades of business and going strong, this is certainly our greatest triumph. But there have been plenty of others along the way—not to mention the inevitable challenges we’ve faced as well.
As with most businesses in Calgary, economic downturns have been a challenge. Canada has experienced two recessions in the last 21 years, and with Alberta’s boom years ending in 2014, it took the province years to recover.
We’ve been very fortunate we never had to downsize our staff, but we did see changes in the volume of projects we received. The type of projects changed as well, reducing in custom home design but increasing in renovation design. Thanks to our reputation and experience, we managed to find opportunities despite these challenges.
This past year we accomplished a sales goal, which is a huge triumph to get that level of volume. However, that’s really only the cherry on top of the opportunity to meet such great clients and the projects we were able to take on.
Key Milestones & Pivotal Projects
Building a company takes time, effort, and support. From 2003 to 2006, it was just Carol and I. She did the bookkeeping, accounting, and website while I was the face of the company, taking the meetings, and doing the designs.
Expanding Our Team
We hired our first draftsperson in 2006 and our team grew to 3. In 2014, we hired our third employee, and then 3 more in 2019.
At one point, our team reached 10, but we’ve found our sweet spot sits around 6 for the volume and types of projects, and the clients we work with—and truthfully, I couldn’t be happier with the number and quality of our team members.
Changing Focus
When we first started, we focused on renovation and custom homes. But with time, we’ve expanded into East Kootenays and Columbia Valley doing more vacation homes.
Multifamily design development has also been a big milestone for us—it’s something we believe is needed in the City of Calgary as the need for densification grows.
In 2004, we were approached by a local gentleman who needed help designing a 30-unit condo project in Sicamous, BC. At the time, this felt completely over my head, but in a year, we got the development permit and the contractor proceeded to construction.
Pivotal Projects
About 5 years ago, I designed a showhome in Silverhorn for West Ridge Fine Homes. It still stands out as one of the best houses I’ve ever designed. Part of that was the client’s desire for an outstanding showhome, clear communication style, and the beautiful acreage it sat on.
Not every project that stands out to me is the shiniest one. Many are those that are the most challenging, which also happen to be the most rewarding. Others are those that bring great relationships with clients. The more I think about it, the more I realize that all projects are pivotal in their own way.
Integrating Interior Design
We added interior design to our list of services in 2023. We’ve worked with many talented interior designers over the years, and this milestone meant we were finally able to have an in-house team to become a full-service residential design company.
Awards & Recognition
My favourite award I’ve been given is the ‘Best Dad in the World’ ribbon my son gave me when he was around 5 years old. Having a family will always be my greatest accomplishment.
Ellergodt Design has also been the winner and finalist of awards like the 2018 International Property Awards and the 2020 National Awards of Housing Excellence.
You can find a full list of our awards here.
Looking Forward
Sometimes looking forward means we must first look back, and in doing so, I’ve come to some profound realizations.
Reflections that Propel Us
- 21 years is pretty incredible—especially since about 20% of businesses fail in their first year.
- Our reputation precedes us. It took a while to build but a client-first approach certainly helped. Take a look at our reviews on Google and Houzz.
- We provide great value for what we charge. This has allowed us to stay in business through multiple recessions.
- We’ve seen continued company improvement, through excellent staff that reflect our vision of client-centred design.
The growth of Ellergodt Design has been a team effort. I strive to be interdependent rather than independent and like to brainstorm with people to accomplish excellent results. While I recognize this isn’t how everyone works best, it’s been an asset to me and has produced work I’m proud to be a part of.
Technology’s Role
Technology is constantly changing, and so far, advancements in tech have transformed the way we work.
Very soon after we started the company, we incorporated Revit 3D design software into our process. Everything we do is now designed in Revit. Before this, only 2D designs were possible—and these just don’t give clients a true feel of their new home.
A huge component of presenting a design is being able to say: you showed me what you wanted, and I was able to incorporate that into the design. Without software like Revit, this isn’t possible.
Other tech advancements include AI, which helps us produce quick mockups. The technology isn’t far enough along to change our processes drastically, but it comes in handy now and then.
Future Goals & Projects
We’re all about the customer experience, and that’s something we want to continually improve. Part of this is receiving positive feedback from clients, but we also want to make sure that while our staff is busy making clients happy, they’re also getting what they need to thrive.
Other goals include growing our staff to meet the demands of the industry and honing our residential interior design collaboration. Both of these will help us continue to be a full-service residential design firm and deliver products we’re proud of.
One Last Thing
The best piece of advice I ever took was from an article in a business magazine. The CEO of a large conglomerate said that the secret to his success was surrounding himself with people who were better than him.
I took that to heart, and it’s been my approach ever since. I rely heavily on my staff to run a successful company. If you’re looking to start your own company, I’ll leave you with this: Be confident enough to look externally for talent and you’re sure to find success.