I didn’t stumble into the trades by accident. I grew up around this work. I spent time in plumbing, roofing, pool renovation, and eventually painting. I saw my family and people in my community work incredibly hard, and I respected that. But I also saw how many of them were stuck in survival mode, trading time for money with no real path to freedom.
A lot of people I grew up with went the traditional route: college, internships, corporate jobs. Nothing wrong with that, but it wasn’t for me. I liked working with my hands. I liked seeing the results of my effort at the end of the day. I liked the straightforward nature of the trades: you do good work, people notice, and they call you back.
What I didn’t like was the chaos. I didn’t like watching talented people burn out because they were trying to do everything themselves. I didn’t like seeing companies with incredible craftsmanship but terrible customer service or no systems for growth. I realized that the problem wasn’t the work itself. The problem was how the business side was being handled.
So I made a choice: stay in the trades, but run the business differently. I treated Davis Painting like a serious company from day one. That meant branding, systems, training, and a focus on customer experience. I wanted to prove that you could build something scalable and valuable in a blue-collar industry without abandoning the work that made it real.
Now, years later, I’m glad I made that choice. I get to do work that matters, lead a team I’m proud of, and build something that will outlast me. That’s more satisfying than any desk job I can imagine.