In 2020 and 2021, the NKBA became a greater resource than ever, providing its members with new online programming to help them run their businesses during the ‘new normal’ of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Elisa Fernández-Arias

From the launch of the Brave New Business Series less than a month into the lockdowns of 2020 to the First Luxury Kitchen Summit covering emerging pandemic trends in 2021, NKBA quickly connected with its members during this challenging time to touch base and help them to move forward. Responding to the pandemic, NKBA shifted gears to provide the industry and its members with tools, education, information and connection — all through online programming — in the ever-changing economic landscape.

Less than a month into the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns occurring throughout the country, NKBA started the virtual Brave New Business series to connect with and assist its members in running their businesses despite the challenges of an unprecedented time. Since its launch, this program has now become a larger part of the highly-informative and popular programming NKBALive, which continues today as a Thursday feature with news and information and includes the series In Conversation With… Suzie Williford, KBTalks, Design Bites Product Videos and Brave New Business.

The first NKBALive episode was an In Conversation With… during which NKBA’s EVP and CSO, Suzie Willford, interviewed Matthew Quinn, Principal of Design Galleria Kitchen & Bath Studio and Founder of Matthew Quinn Collection. In this series, still ongoing today and part of the larger NKBALive umbrella, Williford interviews industry influencers, up-and-comers, veterans and those with a distinct point of view in a one-on-one interview on their impact in the K&B industry and what makes them successful.

As restrictions began to ease in the summer of 2021, the kitchen and bath industry was already seeing huge changes in what its customers were looking for in their homes in the ‘new normal.’ In response, NKBA offered even more programming with the launch of NKBA’s first virtual summit, the Luxury Kitchen Summit. This was a virtual event based on the results of a proprietary NKBA research study in which top NKBA designers participated. These designers, along with industry experts, explored such topics as defining modern luxury, how to become a luxury designer, how to do business with high net-worth clients and more. Since then, following summits have included The Luxury Bath, Designing the Healthy Kitchen, The Futurist, Kitchen Tech + Design: Insights into the Millennial Client and Luxury Defined summits.