“My Grandad and his brother started the business after World War II,” said Adam Burleson, who leads the business as owner and CEO with support from his semi-retired father, Kenny. “They built homes and did all the trades—plumbing, heat, electrical.” 

Over time, the business narrowed its focus to plumbing and heating before eventually expanding again in a different direction. Today, Burleson Plumbing & Heating operates plumbing, HVAC, and electrical divisions while also supplying products to contractors throughout the region.

“We sell products to most of our competition in the area,” Burleson said. “So I always tell people we don’t really have competition at our heart because a lot of our people that do plumbing, heating, electrical in the area buy products from us.”

That unusual combination of service and supply has helped the company carve out a unique place in the market. Today, the company employs 43 people across its major divisions and serves customers throughout Mitchell County, Yancey County, much of Avery County, and portions of Burke and McDowell counties.

Burleson officially became part owner after graduating from Appalachian State University in 2009 with a business degree, but his path into the family business was anything but predetermined.

“My dad never pushed at all for us to join the family business,” Burleson said.  

It was a professor in his sophomore year who changed Burleson’s mind about the family business. Over the course of the semester, he repeatedly challenged him on why he wasn’t planning to return home and become part of the company.

“He spent that whole semester convincing me,” Burleson said with a laugh.

By the middle of the semester, Burleson had started imagining what his role in the business could look like. Suddenly, the lessons from his business courses had a practical application—he used class projects to design things for Burleson Plumbing, like a new brand and an employee handbook. 

That desire to modernize systems and processes would eventually become one of the defining dynamics between father and son.

“Dad has been very good at letting me try things for a long time,” Burleson said. “He likes details. He likes to zoom in and look at things, and I like to zoom out.” 

As a relatively young owner and CEO, Burleson prioritizes a healthy relationship between work and personal life for both himself and for employees.

“I told my dad when I moved here from App State: you have to be okay with me not staying late every night,” Burleson said. “It won’t be my identity. I just want to be way more balanced and have my identity in my faith and in my family. Work is in there, in the mix, but it’s not at the top.”

That philosophy has directly shaped the company culture. Burleson said one of the company’s five core values is being family-oriented.

“I want you to go home, and I want you to make your family important,” Burleson said. “I don’t want your kids or your wife to say that Burleson Plumbing and Heating is a reason that your family was strained.”

The company no longer stays open on weekends and generally avoids after-hours work unless customers are facing serious emergencies.

“For a lot of the new generation, I think we are an attractive place to work because they know they’re protected from [being overworked],” Burleson said.

That same people-first approach has influenced hiring practices as well. Burleson said the company shifted away from hiring solely based on technical skill and instead began prioritizing character and cultural fit. 

“I developed an interview process that was more a conversation about who they are,” he said. “I’ve seen how cancerous it can be if one person isn't trying to do what everybody else is trying to do.”

Over the years, the company has also expanded benefits, retirement offerings, paid time off, and health insurance support in an effort to improve retention and make the trades more sustainable careers.

Burleson has young daughters who he’d welcome into the business if it’s what they want, but he’s taking the same approach as his father before him: his children will walk their own path. As he looks toward the future, his goal is not simply to preserve the business, but to build something that can continue thriving long after his own tenure.  

“The ideal situation would be you build it up into a very attractive company, which runs better for you while you’re in it and is way more sellable when—and if—the time comes,” Burleson says.