Four years ago, the R&R team launched the Ladder Award with the goal of recognizing rising young professionals in restoration, who are blazing new trails with innovative leadership, ideas, and technological advancements. Ladder Award nominees can come from any background as long as they have had an impact within their company. Each nominee is to exhibit qualities such as leadership, career progress, community involvement, and a clear passion for the industry. Most importantly, nominees should exhibit evidence of high character, integrity, and care for their colleagues and clients.

Each nomination is carefully scored by a set of industry judges. This year, amongst the restorers nominated for the Ladder Award, one rising young star stood out from this amazing list.

Meet 2024 Ladder Award Winner Eduard Mirzoian

Opening up his own restoration company ‘Restorerz” at the end of 2019 (right before the pandemic) and being able to keep business flowing during that time and to now, Eduard has demonstrated exponential growth, adding two different office locations since then. Eduard has been in the industry for almost 15 years, starting as a field technician then working his way up to project manager, operations manager, and now CEO.

Although Eduard has had “boots on the ground” experience, it wasn’t something that was necessary for his path in the restoration industry given he had some industry knowledge from working with his father at the young age of 15 years old. Nevertheless, given that he wanted to be a thorough leader and understand every aspect of business operations he made sure to start at the most entry-level position to gain first-hand experience.

“I understood that working in other jobs; when you truly know how to do something yourself you know the in’s and out’s and you’re not learning from the experience of others but your own.”

This knowledge aided in his leadership style in helping him understand the processes and procedures of different positions in the restoration industry leading to him forming a formidable workflow and system for his company and employees.

Eduard’s industry certifications and awards include:

• IICRC WRT, ASD, FSRT.
• INC 5000: #717 fastest growing companies in America with astounding growth of 817% in just 3 years.
• He has also been featured on numerous news stations such as; NBC, FOX, CBS, and ABC.
• General Contractor in California and Nevada.

How You do Anything is How You Do Everything

Leadership is Eduard’s passion. Not so he can just say that, he is the boss, but because he truly loves to pour positivity into others and see them be successful in whatever their goals are both personally and professionally.

“Seeing the results of the energy and efforts that I’m putting in, and how it’s influencing everyone around me and their families. That’s the best part of being a leader.”

There has been countless instances where he has paid for employees trips to Disneyland because they were not able to afford it, helped people with down payments on new vehicles so they can safely transport themselves. The point is, Eduard aims to provide everyone with the resources and the tools they need to elevate their lifestyle.

Eduard thrives off continuous growth, when asked how he elevates his own knowledge he let us know that he consistently listens to podcast and reads books. It all started with him having confidence and believing in himself with the mindset that if another human being could do something, he too could do the same thing or better. Studying the habits of those who were and are successful in the plumbing and HVAC industry, Eduard decided to take these practices and implement them into his everyday life.

Eduard thrives off continuous growth, when asked how he elevates his own knowledge he let us know that he consistently listens to podcast and reads books. It all started with him having confidence and believing in himself with the mindset that if another human being could do something, he too could do the same thing or better. Studying the habits of those who were and are successful in the plumbing and HVAC industry, Eduard decided to take these practices and implement them into his everyday life.

He has a cool tactic that he uses which he calls “learning in seasons” because he noticed that many would begin learning, but never apply what they have learned. For three months, he only takes in information, after which he stops listening to everything and spend the next three months applying what he had just learned.

Once Eduard has completed a full cycle of learning and applying. He then has his team follow suit since he has verified that the method is tried and true.

In His Free Time

In Eduard’s free time, he enjoys playing and watching sports with his family and friends, going to the track with his brother who is a car enthusiast, which got him into cars as well. And, spending quality time with his wife and baby boy.

Garret started his career as a Mitigation Technician back in September of 2015, working his way up to Lead Tech, then got promoted to Estimator in Sept of 2018. Sierra Restoration is relatively small (30-40 employees), so Garret has maintained a constant feeling of growth and innovation within the company and is always looking for opportunities to grow and innovate, whether it's additional training for himself, his team, or more innovative ways to get a job done. Garret has helped with training their Mitigation technicians, and also created paperwork/documentation and processes that have helped the company run more smoothly and get jobs paid faster.

Trey's journey in the restoration industry began at a young age, growing up in a family deeply rooted in the business. With his father and uncle as owners of a renowned restoration franchise. Trey immersed himself in every aspect of the field from the ground up. His hands-on experience allowed him to gain comprehensive knowledge and expertise, as he navigated through various roles within the company. Over the years, Trey's commitment to excellence and dedication to customer satisfaction have been evident in his continuous involvement in the community and his strong network of connections. He is passionate about building relationships and always prioritizes the needs of the customers, making him a valuable asset to the restoration industry.

Alex started in an Administrative position with 911 Restoration around 2018. He has risen through the ranks of the company to the position of Director of Operations. He knows the ins and outs of the company like no one else in the company. Alex is the go to guy for both corporate personnel and franchisees for any information relating to operations. He is the contact as new franchisees move from the sales division to preparing to attend new franchise training, which he leads. He is an integral part of the process, and he watches the stat sheets to see how franchises are performing.

Andrew Dobson

Owner/ general manager of SERVPRO of downtown Pittsburgh

2023 Ladder Award winner Andrew Dobson started his career as a technician for SERVPRO of West Mahoning County and quickly rose to the ranks of a crew chief and then on to production manager. After five years at SERVPRO, he and his wife became the owners of SERVPRO of East Mahoning County in 2016.
    Over the past ears, Andrew's ownership group collectively now holds 19 SERVPRO franchises and is regarded as one of the top ten ownership groups in the SERVPRO system.
    Andrew is technologically driven and process oriented. Having developed a hub and spoke model within the SERVPRO system, he is reshaping the model of franchise operations. His level of organization and attention to processes has lowered the barrier to entry for people looking for a career in the restoration industry. 

Benjamin Ricciardi

Founder of Ironclad Restoration Marketing

Benjamin Ricciardi is the founder of Ironclad Restoration Marketing, A digital marketing agency that specializes in the Restoration and Cleaning industry based in South Florida. Benjamin is the author of The No Bulls**t Guide to Internet Marketing for Restoration Contractors, hosts The Ironclad Marketing Minute each month on R&R Magazine and The Restoration Rundown Podcast, a podcast that is focused on everything related to marketing and owning a Restoration and Cleaning Business.