Brion Barnhill is the founder and owner of two successful hearth and chimney businesses. Barnhill Chimney Company, which opened in 2000, provides chimney sweeping and maintenance as well as installation of hearth appliances, masonry repair, sheet metal fabrication and installation of grills and outdoor kitchens. Barnhill Chimney Supply, which opened in 2008, supplies chimney caps and chase covers to chimney and roofing companies throughout the United States. For Brion, chimneys have been surprising and full of adventure. For example, in 2015, Animal Planet’s “Treehouse Masters” featured Barnhill Chimney in an episode after asking the company to install a woodstove in one of its magnificent luxury treehouses.Brion fell into chimney work in college when working with his brother at a chimney sweep company. He’s a people person and a tinkerer, so the job naturally suited him. Each day was full of new people to meet and things to fix. Besides, he loved being 50 feet in the air, hanging off the edge of chimney. He couldn’t ask for a better view from his perch. Brion enjoyed chimney work so much he ended up starting his own business – unofficially in 1999 – while still in college. Initially Barnhill Chimney Company provided chimney sweeping and basic maintenance. It soon expanded to include everything to do with hearths, chimneys and outdoor kitchens. When Brion couldn’t find sufficiently high-quality chase covers – the contraptions that cover chimney boxes – he, of course, started tinkering. That’s how Barnhill Chimney Supply was born. At home, Brion enjoys relaxing by a fire with his wife and roasting marshmallows with their two children. There’s just something innately satisfying about a fire, he says. It calms. It centers.