Family-first ethos guides business structure at Complete Windows
A unique business structure at Complete Windows in Parksville reflects the lives of the people who own and run it.
Eric Johnson, a former football player, and Katy Johnson, once a synchronized swimmer, understand the rigours of sports parenting, and they have created a work structure that enables them to put their family first—while still running a successful business.
This means life doesn’t stop when the business closes: it merely shifts from work to family. So, for example, when Complete Windows shuts its doors on the weekend, Katy and Eric hit the road, travelling all over Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland as they divvy up the tournaments, performances and practices of their three kids—aged eight, 10 and 13—who, between them, dance, sew and play hockey, lacrosse and softball.
“We wake up in the same bed, but we wind up in different cities pretty much every weekend,” the two chuckle, describing their kid- and sports-focused lives. “We have the same birthday in June, and for the last three years, on our birthday, we’ve been in separate cities.
Closing Complete Windows on weekends works because the Johnsons focus on flexibility, not fixed hours.
“We may not be open,” Eric explains, “but we realize that our customers are also busy people, and so if they need to come in after hours or on a weekend, we’re not stringent on ‘these are our hours and this is when we operate.’ We are very much like, ‘What do you need? We’ll make that happen.’”
The Johnsons extend this flexibility and family-first ethos to their staff, who are allowed to bring their kids to work if the need arises.
“We also allow pets—although we draw the line at birds,” Eric jokes.
Their approach has created a wealth of staff loyalty. For example, one crew leader has been with the business for close to 20 years—and now his sons are also employees, working in his crew, alongside him.
Founded in 1992 by Eric’s mother and stepfather, Complete Windows began as a family-run business serving the Vancouver Island market. Eric spent years living in Calgary after leaving BC at 16 to attend sports school. He later built a professional life as an entrepreneur in Alberta, and worked several years as a counsellor for adolescents. Although he spent summers on the island, he did not become directly involved in the family window business until his parents began eying retirement.
By this time, Eric and his future partner, Katy—who grew up in Calgary—had relocated independently to Vancouver Island. And despite having lived just two blocks apart for years in Calgary, they only met after the move.
“We dated for a little bit and then went on a vacation for three weeks together and didn’t want to kill each other when we came back,” Katy laughs. “So, we were like, this is going to work!”
As their personal paths aligned, their professional ideals merged, and they began mapping out the future of the business.
Eric’s parents weren’t in a financial position to just hand over the business, he says: “We needed to pay market value, which meant we had to create value first.”
This meant they needed to grow the company.
“We’re really lucky we inherited some great staff,” Eric recalls. “And it was kind of like heads down and bottoms up—we just started working hard to grow the business by asking the builders and the architects what they saw as gaps in the industry. And then we started to try to fill those gaps.”
The biggest gap was in upper-end new construction, where the product offerings were just not there, Eric says: “A lot of people start their dream of building a high-end or even a more regular house by seeing something in a magazine or on TV—like Million Dollar Listing. And those high-end products were not readily available on the island. So, I literally got on a plane and started going to those manufacturers and getting exclusive rights for Vancouver Island.”
The other gap in the local window scene was around installation services, so Complete Windows doubled down on installation quality. The company now works with four full- time, in-house installation crews, rather than relying exclusively on subcontractors. And it offers full project management services, taking window installation all the way from concept to completion.
The jobs range from small to surprisingly large: Eric says the business is currently doing a house where the installation is expected to take eight and a half months.
While new construction has become a big part of the business, retrofit work remains its core.
“That’s what keeps the lights on. It’s how Complete Windows started,” Eric says, adding that while the retrofit market is less regulated and often inconsistent, “I like to build trust and be an open book about what the customer is getting.”
To this end, Complete Windows has positioned itself as an education-first operation, emphasizing transparency over sales pressure. Clients are encouraged to look beyond the bottom line and understand what sits behind a quote—engineering reports, architectural details and energy data that explain why certain solutions make sense in a specific home.
This approach fits the business’s family-focused structure and the understanding of how work and home life intersect. It serves as a framework for Eric and Katy, whether they are in the showroom or on the road with their kids.