By Donna Heiderstadt

Eric Dillman describes himself as “driven” and confidently wears two separate hats as he charts his career path in the kitchen and bath industry. His day job since late 2023 is Territory Manager in Western Pennsylvania and Columbus, OH for Triax Marketing and Sales, where he represents 11 different manufacturers in the cabinet space: Blum, Rev-A-Shelf, Tresco, Omega National Wood Products, Element Designs, Northern Contours, Amerock, Valley Custom Doors, Tenn-Tex, and Deerwood.

By night, however, he’s a digital creator and podcaster, hosting the “Pro Series with Eric Dillman” podcast, which features interviews with HGTV and Netflix stars, as well as other industry professionals. The podcast has garnered over 100,000 downloads to date and his Instagram feed has more than 28,000 followers, making Eric a sought-after source for companies looking to improve their digital footprint.

Eric, who majored in Interior Design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, began his kitchen-and-bath career in 2017 when he was recruited at his senior portfolio show by a prominent remodeling company in Pittsburgh. He worked for several other companies before finding the perfect corporate/entrepreneurial balance in 2023. “My favorite part about this is networking with professionals from all over the world and gaining connections to help grow my brand and strengthen my day job relationships,” he explains. 

Somehow, 29-year-old Eric has also found time to serve as a council member for NKBA’s Pittsburgh Tri-State Chapter, initially as the Communications Chair in summer 2023, before stepping into the role of President in May 2024. He credits his passion for design to watching his parents custom build a house when he was eight years old. “Going to the design appointments and seeing a house be built from the ground up was eye-opening,” he says. “From that moment I knew I was going to be in the design industry.” The fact that he used to build houses with Legos for hours on end, even drawing floor plans for them, was another clue.

When he’s not immersed in design culture, Eric enjoys attending country music concerts and paling around with his Golden Retriever, Nala. He recently visited Scottsdale, AZ on vacation and was impressed. “I have never traveled somewhere and said, ‘I would live here’ before, until now,” he explains. “It was so beautiful and I loved how the architecture blended into the landscape and all the nature around it.” More travel is on Eric’s must-do list, especially to Europe, where he intends to go on as many architectural tours as possible. “I love to learn about the architects and designers and how the construction process was,” he says, “especially buildings that are centuries old.”