Trevor Gross is general manager of Cook's Kitchen & Bath, Inc., a Diamond Certified company. He can be reached at (707) 901-7940 or info@cookskitchenandbath.com.
Trevor Gross: Investing in Himself
By Matt Solis, Editor
Trevor Gross’ path to the remodeling industry began in an unexpected yet fitting setting: his local Home Depot. “I was working there part-time in the early 2000s and they ended up sending me to one of their design schools,” he explains. “I would go into customers’ homes and help them pick out items and coordinate their projects. It was a good way to reeducate myself with the remodeling trade—both of my grandfathers were carpenters, so it runs in the family.”
After college, Trevor left the home improvement industry to pursue other ventures, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought him back to his roots. “The industry I was working in shut down for almost a year during the pandemic, and honestly, I didn’t want to go back,” he reflects. “That’s when I met Dave Cook, the owner of Cook’s Kitchen & Bath. He asked if I had a design background and offered me a position at his company, which I accepted.”
Today, Trevor says his favorite part of his job is seeing how happy customers are with the finished product. “Most of the time, people hold off on remodeling until it’s absolutely necessary, so when we finish a project, it’s often a total transformation. It feels great to know that something we’ve done is making someone’s daily life better.”
A resident of the Bay Area since the early 2000s, Trevor currently lives in Concord, where he appreciates the East Bay’s convenient access to a variety of locales. “The Bay Area is one of those unicorn locations,” he says. “You’re within driving distance of the beach, the Redwoods, the mountains…it’s hard to beat.”
Outside of work, Trevor likes staying active with outdoor hobbies like snowboarding, hiking and mountain biking, but his interests also extend to the creative realm. “The remodeling industry is kind of an intersection between art and design, so I like studying both of those things in my free time,” he says. “I also like watching movies and TV shows to see the cutting edge of art design. They’re spending millions of dollars to design set pieces that you’ll never get to see in real life, which really interests me.”
In terms of a guiding philosophy, Trevor is a firm believer in personal accountability. “I really like the phrase, ‘What one man can do, another can do’—it speaks to the idea that your limitations are a construct of your own self-worth,” he says. “Even if you want to be an Olympian or an astronaut, your success is measured by your willingness to invest in yourself and work hard to reach your goals.”
When asked what his life might look like if he retired tomorrow, Trevor says he would take the next step in a plan that’s already in motion. “I actually co-own a 500-acre tree farm in Oregon, so if I retired tomorrow, I would move up there and just work the land. That’s kind of my dream.”
Ask Me Anything!
Q: What’s your favorite sports team?
A: I’ve been a huge San Francisco Giants fan since I was a kid.
Q: What’s your favorite movie genre?
A: I like dramas that address complex issues and teach you lessons that you may not learn otherwise.
Q: If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future?
A: Definitely the future. I don’t even want to see if we have starships or intergalactic travel—I just want to see if the human race makes it.
Q: If you were a professional athlete, what number would you wear on your jersey?
A: My birthday is April 22 and my favorite baseball player of all time, Will Clark, was number 22, so that would be my pick.
Q: Who’s your favorite superhero?
A: Superman. Some people write him off as not complex or interesting, but I disagree. He’s an alien, so he views the human race from an outside perspective and believes we’re worth fighting for despite our flaws, which I think is a very important lesson.
