For the first 18 years of his professional life, Kyle Hansen worked for Ben E. Keith in their adult beverage division.

“I had the opportunity to do it all,” Hansen said. “My last eight years there, I was a business development manager over the craft beer portfolio. I managed 150 different breweries with approximately 2,500 different brands.”

While he does have a favorite beer, Hansen said that after all those years working with the folks that produce such great brews, it’s like trying to choose between your children for the favorite. “But if I had to select one, it would be Sierra Nevada Pale Ale,” he said. “It’s just a great beer.” 

Hansen moved on from Ben E. Keith to go to work at Revolver Brewery in Granbury as their sales and marketing director for three years, part of that time working under the new Miller-Coors ownership. He said that he saw the writing on the wall once changes started happening and knew that there would never be a better time to start his own business. Fortunately, an experience at his house a few years prior made him start thinking about getting into the glass business.

“When we moved into our house in Southlake, we had a broken window,” said Hansen. “But we couldn’t find anyone that would fix just one window. The big glass companies would come with quotes to redo the whole house because it wasn’t worth their time to just do one or two.”

Hansen and his brother, Kevin, who was also looking to start a business, began researching glass companies that would fill the niche of doing smaller jobs. They got close with buying one but decided not to pull the trigger. Hansen then researched The Glass Guru franchise and thought it was a great option when he decided to go out on his own after leaving Revolver.

“The Glass Guru really fits that small to medium job niche well,” Hansen said. “The average ticket on our jobs ranges from $1,100-$1,400 and most of our business is repeat customers. We really are the neighborhood glass guys.”

Hansen’s interest in working with glass stems from the fact that it’s such a flexible material. “Glass can be designed into almost any shape, so designers are using it more and more with their interior designs,” said Hansen. In terms of new residential builds, he’s seeing a lot more glass backsplashes and glass cabinet doors. Designers are also getting more expressive when it comes to using glass in showers. Hansen recalled one house where they installed a glass wall in the shower that was just over 47 square feet and ½” thick. It took five workers to transport it from the delivery truck to the installation site because it was so heavy.

Glass is also being used in remodels to bring more natural light into spaces. Hansen recalled one of his most interesting projects was replacing windows in a front entry way with enormous cathedral windows that required massive lifts to maneuver them into place.

But no matter if it’s a new build or a renovation to an older home, one of the most popular installations that Hansen and his team does is in-glass pet doors.

“We have that niche pretty much wrapped up and do them almost every day,” Hansen said. “The doors can go in a glass insert in a door or in almost any window where they will fit. We call them pet doors not dog doors because people get them installed for dogs, cats, even rabbits. We actually made one installation for a pet duck! The doors really make everyone happy from the pets on up the line.”

Hansen grew up in Hereford, Texas. Being in a small west Texas town allowed him a lot of freedom to hunt, fish, and ride four wheelers in the open countryside. He developed his honesty, integrity, and work ethic from his parents—"My parents were the greatest,” he said. “They say you can’t pick your parents, but if I could, I would have picked them.”

Kanakuk Kamps, is a summer, Christian-based athletic camp that Kyle accolades for his foundation in a lot of areas of life. “I went to that camp from the time I was eight until I was 17 years old,” Hansen said. “It gave me the structure I needed to build character.” 

Whether it’s driving to a customer’s house to put the dollar in her mailbox that she overpaid or creating a glass frame so that a grandfather could encapsulate a granddaughter’s favorite poster after she died (and doing so at cost), Hansen credits Kanakuk Kamps with helping to make him the man that he is today. It was also the place where, at 13 years old, he first met our own Lance Dunahoe, who served as a camp counselor.

Hansen knows that he is blessed to be around such wonderful people, both at work and at home. 

“We truly have an awesome team at The Glass Guru. I couldn’t do it without them,” said Hansen. His office manager, Charlotte, has more than 30 years of customer service experience. Hansen said his operation manager, James, kills it every day. He went on to say that the glaziers they work with are all top notch and have taken the company’s culture to heart. Hansen is able show his team his gratitude now and again with Meat U Anywhere BBQ from Grapevine where his brother Kevin is now the CFO.

At home, his wife Stephanie, a speech pathologist in Keller ISD, helped him get the business off the ground. His son Caden, 17, is an exceptional golfer and student. “He is so driven in his quests to be more today than he was yesterday. I have so enjoyed watching him grow up and develop into an outstanding young man,” Hansen said. His daughter Brooklyn, 13, is Hansen’s “mini-me.” “She’s a competitive cheerleader that lights up a room, and she’s sharp as a tack. No feat is too big or challenge too tough.  She takes it all on full force with a smile and laughter that’s contagious.”