By All BTN Members

Thank You, Sharon

For more than four decades, Sharon Barlow of Sharon & Sons Flooring & Cabinets has built a business around quality, relationships, family, and service.

For the past several years, she has also given the Building Trades Network North County Chapter something incredibly special:

A home.

As Sharon begins a well-earned retirement and BTN prepares to move its weekly North County meetings to a new location, we want to take a moment to celebrate not only an incredible business owner, but a woman whose generosity has helped shape the culture of BTN.

A Family Business Built Over 40 Years

Sharon’s story in the trades began long before BTN.

In 1984, Sharon and her father, George Brown, founded what was originally known as Sharon’s House of Carpets. What started as a family business grew over the next four decades into Sharon & Sons Flooring & Cabinets, serving Orange County homeowners, landlords, contractors, and businesses.

Sharon combined her father’s extensive flooring knowledge with her own decades of experience, developing a deep understanding of her customers and helping them choose products based not simply on appearance, but on quality, function, durability, and the way they actually live.

Over the years, the company grew, evolved, and became a true multi-generational family business—an accomplishment that reflects Sharon’s determination, work ethic, and commitment to the relationships she built along the way.

Those same qualities would eventually make an enormous impact on BTN.

The Doors That Helped Reopen BTN

When businesses and networking groups began emerging from the COVID shutdowns, everyone was craving connection.

BTN members had gone more than 18 months without being able to gather together the way they once had.

Then Sharon opened her doors.

She graciously offered her showroom on Harbor Boulevard as a place where the North County Chapter could finally meet face-to-face again.

That first gathering meant more than simply returning to a weekly meeting.

We were together again.

And Sharon made it possible.

What began as an incredibly generous offer became years of Tuesday mornings at Sharon & Sons.

Week after week, members walked through those doors to exchange referrals, learn about each other’s trades, celebrate successes, welcome new members, solve problems, collaborate on projects, drink plenty of coffee, and—most importantly—build relationships.

Those meetings helped BTN grow into what it is today.

The Things We Didn’t Always See

Hosting a weekly meeting sounds simple until you consider everything that happens behind the scenes.

Opening a business early.

Preparing the space.

Coffee and supplies.

Utilities.

Cleanup.

Making sure dozens of professionals have somewhere comfortable to gather before the workday begins.

Then doing it again.

And again.

Every Tuesday morning for years.

As BTN Member Chad Compton of Build With DEFI shared:

“Unless you’ve actually hosted something like this yourself, I don’t think you realize the commitment involved—opening early every week, coffee, supplies, utilities, cleanup, and all the little things the rest of us probably took for granted. It was incredibly generous.”

But Chad’s appreciation for Sharon goes beyond having a place to meet.

Sharon has referred business his way, made introductions, supported him professionally, and consistently been someone he could count on.

Even as she moves into retirement, Sharon continues to give her time as a member of the BTN Board.

That is simply who Sharon is.

“Sharon, Thank You for Making Us Feel Like Family.”

BTN President Paul McKelvey of McKelvey Construction has watched Sharon’s impact on BTN extend across many chapters of the organization’s history.

From joining the leadership team that helped open the South Coast Metro Chapter at World of Moulding, to hosting BTN social events at her original Main Street location in Santa Ana, Sharon has continually stepped forward when the organization needed her.

But perhaps her greatest contribution has been helping BTN develop something that can’t be measured in referrals or dollars earned.

Culture.

Paul shared:

“So often we hear new and seasoned members say, ‘BTN is different. BTN feels like family.’ Sharon, thank you for making us feel like family and for helping us develop that culture.”

That may be one of the greatest compliments any BTN member can receive.

Because BTN was never intended to be simply a room full of businesses exchanging leads.

We want to know the people behind the businesses.

We want members to trust one another enough to put their own reputations behind a referral.

We want to celebrate each other’s wins, step forward when someone needs help, give back to our community together, and build relationships that extend far beyond Tuesday morning meetings.

Sharon helped create an environment where those relationships could grow.

Passing the Torch

As Sharon enters retirement, another chapter begins for the business she built.

Her son, Christopher, will carry the family business forward, continuing a legacy that began with Sharon and her father more than 40 years ago.

From a business started by father and daughter in 1984 to the next generation carrying it forward today, there is something incredibly special about seeing the story come full circle.

The entire BTN family wishes Christopher continued success as he takes Sharon & Sons into its next chapter.

And for Sharon?

We hope the next chapter involves a lot less opening the showroom early on Tuesday mornings—and a lot more traveling with her husband, enjoying her grandchildren, spending time with family, and doing all the things that decades of running a business didn’t always leave enough time for.

One Last Tuesday Morning Thank You

Beginning Tuesday, August 25, 2026, our North County Chapter will move up the street and begin meeting at Suzy’s Cafe.

We’ll have a new meeting place.

But we’ll carry a lot of what was built inside Sharon’s showroom with us.

New members joined us there.

Businesses grew there.

Referrals were made there.

Collaborations started there.

Friendships formed there.

And somewhere along the way, a networking group became something that members repeatedly describe as a family.

So while we’re closing one chapter of BTN’s story, we’re doing it with tremendous gratitude.

Sharon, thank you for opening your doors.

Thank you for the early mornings.

Thank you for the coffee.

Thank you for the referrals, introductions, leadership, encouragement, and countless things most of us probably never even realized you were doing.

Thank you for giving BTN North County a place to grow.

Most of all, thank you for helping create a community where people genuinely care about one another.

After more than 40 years of serving your customers, building your business, supporting your family, and giving so much to your professional community, you’ve certainly earned what’s next.

Congratulations on your retirement, Sharon.

From your entire BTN family, we wish you endless adventures, beautiful memories with your family and grandchildren, plenty of travel, and every wonderful thing this next chapter has to offer.

You gave BTN a place to meet.

But what you really helped us build was a place to belong.