Building a High-Performance Business Culture: Lessons from a Successful Cabinet Manufacturer

What separates thriving businesses from those that merely survive? According to Adam, founder of Prestige Woodworks in St. George, Utah, it comes down to consistent habits, intentional learning, and creating a culture focused on development. On a recent episode of my podcast, Adam shared his journey building a successful cabinet manufacturing business that prioritizes both personal growth and operational excellence.

After 11 years in business, facing significant challenges including nearly going bankrupt during COVID, Adam has developed a business model that not only delivers beautiful custom cabinets but also nurtures his team members' growth and potential. His approach offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs at any stage of their journey.

Defining High Performance Through Consistent Action

For Adam, high performance isn't about extraordinary talent or revolutionary ideas—it's about consistency.

"Honestly, high performance is just sticking to it. Getting those simple habits in place that keep you moving because life's just an uphill battle. If you stop, you start to slide back down a little bit, but if you just keep moving, you make it."

As a first-generation entrepreneur with no family business background, Adam built his company through persistent forward movement. When he and his high school friend Danny Burks started their cabinet shop 11 years ago, they had to learn everything through trial and error. This "stick-to-it" mentality became the foundation of their success.

What makes this perspective particularly valuable is its accessibility. While not everyone can be a visionary genius, anyone can develop consistent habits. This democratizes high performance, making it available to any entrepreneur willing to put in persistent effort rather than waiting for inspiration or innate talent.

The Power of a Learning-Focused Culture

The transformation of Prestige Woodworks began when a hardware salesman dropped off two books: Two Second Lean by Paul Akers and The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. These books introduced Adam to lean manufacturing principles and the theory of constraints, fundamentally changing how he viewed his business operations.

After reading these books, Adam had such an intense reaction that he:

"Spent the whole next week staying up all night making spreadsheets, something I had never tinkered with in the past, trying to figure out like, 'Man, we could almost predict when we could get done with a house, we could almost predict how many cabinets we could build a day.'"

This epiphany—though it temporarily landed him in the "nut house" after a week without sleep—launched a complete transformation of his business. Adam implemented daily morning meetings focused on personal development and dedicated 30 minutes each day for his team to improve their skills.

This culture of continuous improvement helped the company survive significant challenges, including:

• His business partner leaving during a personal crisis
• Nearly going bankrupt during COVID when they had to cut half their crew
• Having to cancel contracts and return deposits when supply chain issues prevented them from completing projects

Despite these challenges, the learning-focused culture Adam created has allowed the company to not only survive but emerge stronger and more systematized than before.

The Art of Letting Go: From Doer to Leader

One of Adam's most significant lessons came from learning to delegate responsibilities—a challenge many entrepreneurs face. As he puts it:

"Over the last just year, I have been letting go more and more of the tactical portions of the work. I have extremely capable people, like super capable, and I always had my head, my hands in on the work, and it's because I care so much. But in all reality, I wasn't enabling those people to do the work as well as they could."

Adam credits books like Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell and Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz with helping him systematically remove himself from day-to-day operations. Following Michalowicz's advice, he even planned a full month off in 2025, working backward to create transition periods where he could test the business's ability to function without him.

The process hasn't been without pushback. As Adam recalls, one employee told him, "Dude, you're always putting your meaty fingers in everything. Just stop. Let me do my job." This candid feedback highlighted how his micromanagement, though well-intentioned, was actually limiting his team's potential.

Adam's journey illustrates the critical transition every successful entrepreneur must make—from doing the work to leading others who do the work. His experience offers a practical roadmap for business owners struggling to let go of control:

1. Start with a clear intention to delegate specific responsibilities
2. Work backward from a concrete goal (like taking time off)
3. Accept and learn from pushback from your team
4. Trust in your team's capabilities, even when they might approach tasks differently than you would

Creating a Business with Higher Purpose

Beyond operational excellence, Adam attributes much of his success to connecting his business to a purpose beyond profit. When asked for his final words of wisdom, he emphasized:

"Having a higher purpose, something that connects you spiritually to God or whoever you believe in, is something that will actually make you tick. It's something that will actually get you to success. If you don't have that, it will end up just being a business and a job at some point."

This purpose-driven approach manifests in how Adam structures his workday and his company culture. He implements practices like the Miracle Morning routine, waking up early to ensure his "glass is full" through exercise, reading, silence, affirmations, visualization, and journaling before the workday begins.

His commitment to continuous learning also reflects this higher purpose. Adam describes how one mentor connection led to another in a "spiral of events," from Paul Akers to Tom Hughes to Dan Martell. This chain of mentorship embodies Napoleon Hill's principle that "every man is your superior in some way, and of this, learn of him."

Conclusion: The Recipe for Sustainable Business Success

Adam's journey offers a blueprint for entrepreneurs looking to build businesses that thrive over the long term. His experience demonstrates that sustainable success comes from:

1. Consistent habits that keep you moving forward even when motivation wanes
2. A learning-focused culture that turns every team member into an agent of improvement
3. The ability to systematically delegate responsibilities as the business grows
4. Connecting work to a higher purpose that transcends profit

Perhaps most importantly, Adam's story shows that high performance isn't about doing extraordinary things—it's about doing ordinary things consistently, learning continuously, and staying connected to a purpose that gives meaning to the work.

As entrepreneurs navigate their own business journeys, Adam's advice serves as a reminder that success comes not from sporadic brilliance but from building sustainable systems, nurturing capable teams, and maintaining personal practices that keep you grounded in your purpose.