February 14, 2024 • 37 mins
Meet Laura and Matt Garratt, owners of Painterbros Ft. Lauderdale Franchise. It took a move from Brooklyn to Florida to find their entrepreneurial calling. Laura, an ex-beauty executive, and Matt, a pharma account executive, were ready to become a couple of entrepreneurs. With three kids and living in a new world, they decided it was time to be their own bosses. So, after massive research, they fell in love with the Painterbros franchise, and bought the Ft. Lauderdale area territory. And, as Laura says, being a veteran from the beauty business, they're simply transforming skills - going from beautifying faces to beautifying places. And, loving it. Need a paint job? Visit: painterbros.com/fort-lauderdale.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi, I'm Tony Parente.
(00:10):
And I'm Mickey Pogano Parente.
We're owners of branding shorts, creative content agency.
And we're a couple of entrepreneurs.
We started this podcast because there are so many couples in business, just like us.
Because who took risks, some even spent their life savings to build a successful business.
(00:30):
Together, without ending their relationships.
In this podcast, you'll hear their inspiring stories.
Get tips, advice, and the secret to success for any entrepreneurial journey.
Welcome to our podcast, A Couple of Entrepreneurs.
An account manager, a beauty expert, and a move from Brooklyn to Florida that took them
(00:52):
from beautifying faces to beautifying spaces.
Meet Laura and Matt Garrett, owners of Painter Bros. Fort Lauderdale Franchise.
Welcome to the show.
So Laura and Matt, welcome to the show.
No, thank you guys for making time to join us today.
(01:15):
So, that is beer.
So tell us a little bit about who you are and what your business is.
So we're Laura and Matt Garrett.
Our business is Painter Bros. of Fort Lauderdale.
It's a painting, residential and commercial painting franchise.
In over 50 states, we happen to be down in Fort Lauderdale and we love the concept.
(01:39):
And so we are owners of the Fort Lauderdale territory, all of Broward County.
Why this business together?
Well this is something that it's new for both of us.
Laura coming from the cosmetics industry, where what did we say it was creating beauty
from faces to spaces.
Genius branding, wonderful.
(02:01):
Exactly.
It just came out of that and my background is sales and pharmaceuticals.
So we're trying to play off of both of those.
While I kept my full-time job in the pharmaceutical space, Laura is basically running the company
and I'm more of an assistant at this point.
But the two of us, we are working together, you know, trying to, well we are making the
(02:23):
goal of this.
There's no plan B.
So we do interiors, exteriors, spaces, commercial.
So you know, working with big names, like you know, storage facilities, big box stores,
you know, you name it.
So I think from that perspective, it's a challenge, it's an opportunity.
(02:46):
And I think for us, you know, we're originally from New York.
You know, again we have two different backgrounds.
I've been in the beauty industry all my life and Matt's been in pharmaceutical sales.
So you know, we're down here in Florida for about two years now and looking at this opportunity
(03:06):
and looked at working together as a new start, if you will, to do something together and
kind of take this next chapter in our lives and in our relationship.
The pandemic basically gave us a jump start on this though.
And a push.
And a push.
You know, we were both basically locked in the house with the kids, you know, holding
(03:28):
on to respective careers.
So we knew that we could share a space.
We knew that we could work together because we really didn't have a choice back in, you
know, 21 and part of 2021 and even part of 22.
So now that we have a little bit more space, having moved to having relocated to Florida,
this was definitely something that we figured we could manage together and create something
(03:54):
else.
So we're not beholden to a corporate thumb.
And the other thing is that being down in Florida, you know, usually around the nation,
people experience seasons, right?
So this is winter for most of the nation.
But down in Florida, we have a different kind of winter.
So we actually have more months to work down here and to work outside, inside and outside.
(04:17):
When you're working with paint, you know, you think about paint and you think about color,
color is such a moon enhancer and you can create such beauty in just, you know, the change
of the change of your color.
So I think, you know, what we were thinking is, all right, we love, we both love home
(04:38):
decorating, home color, home, you know, anything that has to do with the, even though we're
not handy, we enjoy it.
We enjoy it.
We like picking things.
But I think from that perspective, where, you know, it's one of these things where you
look at the opportunity and, you know, we know that this is a new journey.
It's been a new journey for us and think that this is really more so about us putting our
(05:03):
best efforts in from, you know, what we've learned in our careers and bringing it together
as, as like a couple and as a unit to make it happen.
Building teams together, you know, working through different challenges because, gosh,
there's so many challenges.
You know, we're in the beginning, we just kicked off really end of 2023.
(05:24):
So this is where one of your newer couples, if you will, right, newer in really taking
this next step together.
But we took the opportunity of moving, being in a new space, a new area, looking at what
the opportunities, what we could do, what we could enjoy doing together and really took
(05:44):
those, those blocks of information.
And we said, all right, let's, let's figure this out.
And then we thought, hey, painting is it.
Yeah.
So there's different ways to start a business, right?
You can start a business.
Say, hey, I have this idea to start this business or you could say I could, I'd love to be a
franchise owner.
Why did you guys go to the franchise route?
I think the franchise route offered us the best support from a business standpoint.
(06:09):
It's nice to have a national accounts team that let's say we're trying to get a bid on,
let's say, for instance, like a Walmart or another big box store.
There's a national accounts team out there that's already done a lot of the legwork for
us.
And the learning curve, while it's steep, it would be a lot steeper if we didn't even
(06:29):
know how to contact people, how to, what's the formula for, you know, measuring a wall
and getting a price on a space.
All of that work has basically been laid out for us.
So it cut down on the learning curve.
It's not to say we didn't, we looked at a lot, Laurel looked at a lot of other franchises,
a lot of other opportunities, whether it be gyms or restaurants or even food trucks or
(06:54):
educational, like a, like a magnesium, for instance.
And this one seemed to be the most scalable, something that we wouldn't have, we weren't
kind of be, we weren't beholden to one location and then having to buy another location if
we wanted to increase sales and profitability.
This is something where we're working within a confined area, let's say Broward County,
(07:19):
down in Florida, but the amount of business we have is basically unlimited.
There's no, there's no one saying, oh, well, you can't have another restaurant.
You can't do another home.
It's just, and again, having that national accounts team behind us to really cut through
some of the red tape, to even just ask questions, you know, how do you apply for a permit?
(07:40):
That's a lot of great benefits that you guys have just outlined.
What were some of the challenges, like the bigger challenges when you guys started this
up?
Well, I think for us, because it is, it's a new industry.
My dad is a painting contractor, so I can say, all right, I've been around it.
I've been around a family that has been in construction all my life as well.
So I felt a little bit connected to that.
(08:05):
But I think the challenges, you know, Matt hit on them.
It's really the learning of the industry.
You know, you can do all the research and you know the numbers and you can see what
the opportunities are.
And then when pedal hits the metal and you've got action, you know, and you've got, it's
like action and you get out there and you're like, wow, I have so much more to learn.
(08:27):
And so through the challenges of learning, it's been really important for us to make
like partnerships, connections.
We joined the Chamber of Commerce, you know, really just put ourselves out there.
We're in an HOA, part of the, you know, architectural committee.
Like we're really putting ourselves out there as part of helping the community, being part
(08:51):
of that community.
And then also using that as a resource, you know, as contacts and to show what we can
do.
So it's really more about eyeballs.
The challenge is, is really getting homeowners trust us, having commercial businesses trust
us, like because people, people will work with who they like or who they know will do
(09:14):
a good job.
And, and it's word of mouth.
Look at Google, look at Alexa and look at your friend network.
You know what I mean?
And you usually look at those three buckets.
I was talking with someone yesterday because you were like talking about Google analytics
and we were saying, but wow, the Google is wonderful and you'll get, you know, your ads,
(09:36):
you can get placement on there, but it's the people that are going to be the ones that
work with MedU.
I have, you know what, I work with this great company.
They did such great work.
I'm going to give you their names.
That is, that goes so, that is like more, that's priceless when you look at that compared
to like a lead, a lead generation, you know, where you, you have, where you've got to kind
(09:58):
of prove yourself versus, hey, this person knows this person.
So how does it work?
Is it an online business?
Do you need a storefront?
Do you need to hire employees?
I mean, how does it work?
We don't need a storefront, which is a big advantage.
So we're not paying rent.
We did purchase a vehicle that's in the process of being wrapped with our logo on it.
(10:20):
So that's another form of advertising.
We did join Thumbtack and what's- Yeah, home advisor Thumbtack and we're on Google and
we're, we're, we're building all of our digital presence.
We've got our website as well.
So we've got, you know, organic leads just, just through our, our website and word of
(10:43):
mouth.
So I think our, our big, our big hurdle now is to, you know, bring in our, you know, create
the relationships, create the connections.
You know, we've been going on estimates, landing some jobs.
We've got a great job down in Coral Gables that we're excited about where we're starting
(11:04):
in a couple of weeks.
It's commercial account.
It's a storage facility and it's all art deco.
So it's kind of cool because there's, it's, it's complicated, but cool, you know, from
an aesthetic standpoint, it's pretty, it's pretty.
But you know, so I think for us, it's eventually depending on whether we need a storefront,
(11:27):
I think it would be more about vehicles.
We have three territories, so it would be hiring estimators for both residential and
then our commercial accounts.
The trajectory is to build this, you know, build this so that it is bustling, if you will.
And it's more owned rather than owner operated.
Yeah.
(11:48):
How do you have like the painters, the people that actually paint on the projects, how do
you hire them?
They're subcontractors for us.
We have connections through Sherwin Williams, a PPG, a Ben Moore.
We meet with the regional managers and we have like appointed a sales, a sales rep for
us.
So that's a relationship in itself too.
(12:09):
You know, I was on the phone this morning and there's a lot of opportunity.
This woman is sending me like a list of opportunities for this big box store that's coming down.
And that's where it starts.
So you get connected with subcontractors through your paint store because that's where they
go in to buy the paint.
(12:30):
And they're doing jobs for other people.
So they're coming, much like us, we're coming recommended from other clients.
They're coming.
They're coming recommended from the paint supply stores.
So they know that they're in every day, that they're reliable, that they're following up,
that their accounts are paid in full.
They'll recommend them to us knowing that they're basically in good standing because
they're putting their name with this potential subcontractor.
(12:53):
So then we'll hire them to do a job for us.
So it's all, it's really, it's really, you know, I got a guy, I got a gal.
That's who we want.
We want, I got a guy, I got a gal, paint a bros like that's what we call it.
I was going to say, how does it work with the franchise?
Are you like with the paint stores?
Can you select whatever paint stores you want to work with because it's a franchise?
Are you told?
(13:13):
Is it a guideline?
You can only work with these?
No, I mean, there's an actual town.
So the way that it works is that the corporate teams have national accounts with all the
major paint stores.
So it's not like you can only use one.
It's not like they have their own.
So we're working with Benjamin Moore, Sharon Williams, PPG, Stowe.
(13:37):
Like you think about all of the types of paints that are out there.
So it's not like we're beholden to one brand, not at all.
That's great because being in a franchise, they have those relationships already that
you guys can then work with, which is great.
Right.
And we also get the national price.
So whereas if you were to walk into a Ben Moore, the price per gallon for you is a different
(13:58):
price than it would be for us coming from a national account standpoint.
That's great.
So how much creative input do you get to have?
How much creative control do you have?
So for our territory, I think for our, it's, it's, we have creative control when it comes
to our marketing.
So for example, we want to do a billboard on one of the big road.
(14:22):
So we want to do a billboard ad just to try that out and see how that works for eyeballs.
So I was told, set it up, you know, and then show us what it is.
We'll prove it and you go.
So it's not like anybody saying use this.
So it's really up to us in order to, you know, we have the resources, but we can have the
(14:46):
ability to create ads or ways to create, um, homos or things like that.
It's our business.
So I think for us, what's nice is that whereas with some franchises, they may be more rigorous
on, um, staying in your lane.
I know that with painter Rose, we're able to, uh, again, we have the support, we have
(15:11):
the guidelines, but when it comes to our territory, it's us, you know, it's our business.
Like, you know, there are lines that we're supposed to stay within, but those lines are
dotted.
You understand it.
You know, we can view it out and view it left and view it right where it can.
And again, it helps to have a national counts manager or someone that we could say, Hey,
(15:32):
what do you think of this?
I say, well, it didn't work here, you know, in another state, if you want to try it, you
can go ahead, but these are the expected outcomes, but we're not going to tell you,
no, but you're kind of going into a gray area at that point.
But so it's nice to have someone to kind of push you back on course.
If we're thinking too far outside the box at one particular time to kind of realize
(15:54):
back in, if anything, I think what, what we liked about when, why we landed with, with
this model, if you will, is because it gave us the opportunity to get the guidance, but
also have that agility to be able to create the relationships and make, make a name in
(16:15):
our community and be part of our, be part of the community as the couple that, you know,
can come and do, we can paint and we can probably do more than that too.
But it's just, we're using paint as our, as our door opener.
Yeah.
As our door opener.
Exactly.
So you guys had mentioned a little about this before.
(16:35):
So how important is it to kind of get ingrained in the community, like when you open a new
business like this?
Oh, I think it's really important because it's trust.
I think as human beings, we need to trust one another.
And when you have a familiar face, when you know of someone that, you know, aside from
what you do for a living, it's like, oh, you know what?
(16:55):
This person came here and volunteer.
This person's here to help Laura and Matt came in and helped us with handing waters
out to kids after school.
Whatever.
Something as simple as that.
What helps is that we bought three territories within the town, basically in the surrounding
areas that we live.
So we are constantly out doing things on our own with the kids.
(17:18):
I'm still working full time, you know, outside of this.
So I'm, whether or not I think I am, I'm flying under the radar.
I'm really not flying under the radar when I walk into the same public supermarket or,
you know, when we go to the gym or whatever the case may be, I'm a familiar face.
Laura's a familiar face with, you know, and other groups and other areas that we live in.
(17:40):
So when they find out that we own a page, oh really?
I didn't know you wanted to paint different.
Oh, really?
Let me.
Oh, I have a garage.
Oh, I've got a floor.
I've got my, my trims that need.
We're like, okay, all right, we're here.
Like, evidence really needs to be, all right.
I got a guy and I got a guy.
Yeah.
How do you guys make decisions together?
I mean, that's one of the things that we, having our own business, obviously that's
(18:02):
always, or can be a challenge about which way to go, whether it's roles, decisions.
Okay.
So I think this is a testament of our relationship.
You know, Matt and I have always been, you know, we're, yes, we're married, we're friends
and we respect each other's thoughts.
We may not agree all the time, but, you know, Matt will state his case, I'll state my case,
(18:27):
and then we'll come to some sort of con, we'll come to a conclusion.
So in this relationship, it's not like one puts their foot down and says, that's it.
That doesn't happen here.
We talk it out and we'll, we'll get to some, Matt definitely will take his time to, to
really work through a situation.
(18:49):
I am deaf.
I'll feel it.
I'm like, I got it.
Let's move.
So I think for me, I've also learned to take a step back and, you know, especially when
working with, you know, you think about it, you work with so many different types of people
in life.
So for Matt and I, it's also, he's my husband, he's my friend, he's my colleague.
(19:10):
So it's figuring out also how to work with his personality type and decision making skill
and to work with mine.
So it definitely is, we're still growing.
That's for sure.
You know, sometimes we have to think and say, all right, well, if we were in an office situation,
would you speak to a coworker like that?
Would you say that to a coworker?
(19:30):
And I have to remind myself of that, you know, all the time.
I'm like, no, I wouldn't yell at a coworker.
So, yeah.
Well, the interesting thing too, we, I don't know if you guys feel this or we'll feel this
as you grow the business is like, we sometimes we've got couples and they go, you know what,
they can, you know, the, the, the one partner can say something to the other partner to
push them more than anything would ever happen in a corporate environment.
Can you push each other because you're, you know, you're more, right?
(19:53):
Oh yeah.
I think for sure we can push each other and I'm, I push the heck out of here.
I'm always pushing.
I'm like, she's pushing and I'm a lot of times the voice of reason or I'm like, well, I don't
want to knee jerk this situation.
Let's like Laura said, let me think about it.
Let me do a little bit of research, whether that be Googling or just pulling up a few
(20:17):
files and say, all right, you're right.
Speaking to someone.
Right.
So I would rather take, take a beat and Laura would sometimes rather knee jerk and often
time she's right, but I, I'm, I'm the one that's more conservative and all right, let's
do a little bit of homework, but that's again, that's playing off each other.
That's learning from over 25 years of marriage and being together.
(20:39):
So you know, if we got married last year and started this business, this would be a completely
different kind of thing.
Oh yeah.
It sounds like you guys have roles.
I think so.
Some of them are unspoken, unwritten just in terms of household and, you know, between
the business and my job and, you know, the little one she's, you know, in school, it
(21:02):
has activities.
There are certain roles and responsibilities that we've each taken on that weren't, we didn't
actively say, well, I'll do this and you do that.
It's just kind of the way it just kind of how it flowed into the everyday and it just
became a working side of your kids.
If you like, hey, mom and dad are going to work together on a business.
Is there any feedback from the kids?
(21:23):
I mean, they know you as parents.
We did.
We asked that even before when we were looking into, you know, purchasing and doing, you
know, building this building a business.
And so the little one really didn't have much to say because she's little and she's like,
she just sees mom and dad, but when we, you know, we spoke with our 16 year old and now
(21:46):
our 21 year old today, crazy.
And we spoke to both of them and we said, what do you think?
And I think they were both, they both came at it pretty objectively and said, you know
what, if anyone could do it, you guys can do it because look, you know, you, you built
your marriage, you built this family, you know, you, you definitely, you make it work.
(22:11):
Are we, you know, sitting on a bed of roses and like, you know, drinking Bellini's all
day?
Absolutely not.
So, you know, we definitely, we disagree on things, you know, the kids have seen like
certain things like where we agree, we agree.
Where we disagree, we disagree, but there's always like a solution.
So I think from their perspective, they're like, you guys got this, you can do it.
(22:36):
I think they actually enjoy the fact that mom is home more now when we were up in New
York and Laura was working for corporate, she would work long hours.
Sometimes she would leave, you know, seven 30 in the morning to catch a train.
And sometimes if she was working late, she would take a car home at 930, 10 o'clock
at night.
And this was before Rafaela when Roman was little, he didn't see mom, but for, you know,
(22:58):
five minutes before he went to school in the morning.
And that's part of the weekends and the weekends.
So that's where I would, my role picked up because my schedule was a little bit more
flexible.
But now mom is working from home.
Dad comes home from work like he always did, you know, you know, early in the afternoon
and they're working together on certain things.
If Laura has to run out for an estimate, I'm home.
(23:20):
And if we could both go Roman, well, you know, our middle one will watch the little one.
It's so different.
It really is.
I think it was COVID.
I think it was Rafael, you know, our third child.
It's changed our trajectory.
You think for however long it is, you're on this career path.
You've got, you know, you've got your life kind of set.
(23:43):
If you were to ask us a couple of years back, you guys are going to, you know, own a painting
franchise in, you know, Laura, you're going to go in Florida and you're going to be doing
Laura, you'll do beauty on the side.
And, you know, as a consultant and you're going to be working on this, you're going to
totally be the entrepreneur and, you know, Matt's going to be your partner in this journey.
(24:03):
I'd say, you know, it's kind of a cool idea.
Let's see if it works.
But you never dreamed of that, right?
Yeah.
Like you dream about this.
I say that all the time, Mickey.
Like I say, I've always wanted to own my time.
So and by owning your time, yeah, this is the good, the bad, the ugly, of course there
(24:24):
is.
It's not going to be that, but it's your time versus being on someone else's clock.
You're always going to be working with someone, for someone, but it's just the perspective
of it and how kind of turning that so that, you know, control that narrative.
Do you have a work life balance or do you feel it's a little challenging now?
(24:45):
I would say that would probably be one of the biggest challenges working, not just together,
but out of the house.
Because again, when you went to work in the morning, you had a corporate job, you come
home, you take your shoes off at the end of the day and that was kind of it.
Unless you were to follow up on some emails.
Now where does work stop?
Where I remember, it must have been 20, over 20 years ago, my friend left his hedge fund
(25:09):
job and he started an eBay business.
This is how long ago this goes.
And I said, what's the biggest challenge?
He said, I don't know when to stop working.
He said it could be nine o'clock and I'm looking to fill an order.
It's, you know, 9.30.
And I realized that there's an email that I didn't send out and right now we're trying
to manage that portion of our lives.
(25:29):
If we're laying in bed, trying, you know, getting ready to go to bed and you hear Ding
on the phone, it might be a very valuable lead that's come in.
That someone, someone's hamster was on their wheel and they were like, you know what, I'm
going to look for a painting contractor right now.
And they put out, you know, the search for it and our phone, Laura's phone will ding
(25:50):
and I'm like, are you kidding me?
But if you don't answer that call someone else gets the job.
So I think what I've done is I silenced it.
After 11, I'm like, off.
You put your hamster to sleep.
I put the hamster to sleep because we need to, we got to recharge.
We have to recharge.
Well, we hear a lot of people, the couples, they talk about not necessarily work life
(26:10):
balance, but work life integration.
Like how do they just make it work to get what you guys are talking about very, very
And we totally hear you.
We've been working together since 2008.
So we totally hear that.
Being in Florida, what we're also seeing is that a lot of people have homes that don't
live here or they're either going to relocate or they need somebody or they got, they need,
(26:30):
yeah, they need, you know, they've got to get their house ready because they're coming
down because they're coming down and they, they want to get it refreshed before they
get down or they're renting it.
You know, there's a lot of different scenarios.
So and with that said, I think for us, it's always about making sure we find time to, because
(26:52):
we like our downtime together wherever we can find it.
So like if a date night can't happen on a traditional Saturday night, we'll jump in
the car on a Sunday afternoon and, and just go for a walk and that's our date.
Like we'll have to, we'll, we figure out time points to either, if it's not dinner, we'll
(27:12):
go for lunch.
We'll meet each other and we'll go for lunch and take that time as our date.
We just recently, we wanted to do activities together.
So that's another way to kind of, you know, de-stress from life, you know, and responsibilities.
And so we're playing pickleball together.
So I love it.
That's great.
No, just little things where we can just find time to be Laura and Matt, the couple, you
(27:38):
know, and the best friends that we are.
I love that.
And so if you were to give advice to any couples thinking about working together, what would
you say?
Yeah.
I would say have a good heart to heart, you know, with each other and really think about,
you know, where are your, you know, I think with any, with anything you should do, you
(28:03):
do diligence, you know, research what it is, see if there's some commonalities.
Can you see your, yourselves working at this together?
What would be your role?
Would be, you know, what would be each other's roles?
How would you make that work?
Because I think with couples, it's really important, first and foremost, that there's
(28:25):
a respect with one another.
If there isn't, and you start a business, you're just looking for, I think, down the
road, there may be more challenges.
It's already challenging to start a business.
And then you're bringing your partner along for the, you know, you're doing it together.
(28:45):
So it's really important to establish roles, establish commonalities, create boundaries,
find time to be the couple that you are outside of the career, you know, and outside of what
you're building together.
It's important to create those in compartmentalize that, because if you don't, everything becomes
(29:08):
one big hybrid situation, and then, you know, it becomes harder to...
Yeah, because you can't leave your trouble at the office, whereas you can have a business
partner that you can't stand, but you work well together, and at least at the end of
the day, you get to go home and close your door.
Here you close the door, and the person you were trying to get away from is on the other
(29:30):
side of it.
So you want to make sure that you, you know you love each other, but you want to make sure
you continue to like each other.
Yeah.
And that's important.
And like, what Laura was alluding to was that we still date.
So that's our free time, that's our downtime.
So those are the boundaries that we've created.
So if we're on a date, we're out to dinner, we're taking a walk, we're playing pick up,
(29:54):
whatever, whatever the...
No work conversation.
No work conversations.
We're just hanging out and being us, you know?
I love that.
That's great.
That's wonderful.
It's really, really, really good advice.
Coming from a couple who's been married for 25 years.
That's great.
I love it.
Well, thank you.
Thank you.
(30:14):
Going this route to open a franchise business, anything that surprised you?
Like, well, I didn't really think this, I didn't expect this.
I think at each business, it has its own set of challenges and things you didn't know,
but you realize that coming from, not coming from a contractor business or a painting business,
there's a lot that we don't know that could not have been taught during any kind of training.
(30:39):
It's things that you kind of have to experience on the job.
And again, having a franchise behind you, you could pick up the phone and say, hey,
I don't understand this, or I've got a question about a procedure or steps.
Like I mentioned earlier, permits.
It's nice to have someone to kind of bounce that off of, but you could not have planned
(31:00):
for certain things just because it wouldn't have come up in any kind of an initial training
where in my world, they try to plan for all of that.
In pharmaceuticals, they try to plan for all of those questions.
But here, it's a lot of on the job.
So I don't know if we've been necessarily surprised by anything.
I think we did our due diligence, guys.
I mean, we didn't, it's not like we got the opportunity and like signed the papers the
(31:23):
next day.
It was like a nine month.
It was like having a baby.
So it took some time to do the research and meet with the teams, meet with the other franchisees.
It's a big network too within the, we were at a national meeting in September and I got
to meet other franchisees around the nation.
(31:44):
And we're all connected.
Like even yesterday, I called my guy up in Orlando and I called my other guy in Dallas.
And I had two different opinions because I'm working through an estimate and that's a community
within itself.
I think for us within the franchise, it's also, look, wherever you go, it's important
(32:08):
to have in our opinion, it's important to have community, whether you're building it
within your career, you're building it within your actual place of business.
It's important to have places to go to ask questions and where it's reciprocated back
and forth.
I also think it's important to have, you know, you're individuals too.
(32:33):
Have your friends.
If you have, you want to go out with her, you know, go to a movie with your girlfriends
or go like you went, you know, go out with the guys that gots dinner and just have a
minute to just also be an individual if you've got that time to do that.
Because, you know, it's, as we get older, it's like, you forget got all these responsibilities
and we've got to do this.
But, you know, if you strip it all down, we're, we're just, you know, we're kids and
(32:58):
we're big kids.
We're big kids.
We're like kids in big bodies, you know,
Dalting is hard sometimes and sometimes you just want to be a kid.
Yes.
No responsibilities.
I don't know what to do.
I don't know a better way to end the podcast.
I want to be a kid.
I think that is like the line of any podcast.
We've done in three seasons.
(33:18):
I love that.
I love that.
That is amazing.
But I took one quick other question.
How establishes the franchise?
How old is the franchise?
Because it sounds like it's a really got a lot of support.
Yeah.
So it's, I mean, it really is, it's about five years old.
It's a young, that's the other thing.
So in franchise world, the big thing is if you've heard of the franchise, then it's
(33:41):
too late because it's really expensive to get in.
You want to be, you want to look at opportunities where franchises are kind of on the up and
up and you want to kind of ride that wave.
So as they become more like with this franchise in particular, we're kind of, what caught
our attention is the national accounts that they have and the commercial accounts.
(34:05):
And more so than, you know, residential is great.
You get to meet people, but it's the commercial ability and scale ability that was really
exciting for us to look into and dig deeper.
So it's a younger franchise, 2018.
(34:25):
So where they, they franchise, but prior to that, they did, they did five years before
they even actually franchise.
So in looking at, you know, the commercial ability and you look at the competitors,
there's a competitor out there that's been around 30 years, you know, doing painting.
You know, if you look at, you know, side by side, and then, you know, but then you,
(34:47):
you look at the agility of what's happening in this, in this world and where they're going.
We have weekly meetings.
We have, you know, there's, there's, there's that structure within the structure, if you
will.
So to, to, you know, give us the information that we need, have the touch points, work
with the teams and to make sure that we've got, you know, all of our answer questions
(35:08):
answered.
They pivot easily and quickly.
Yeah.
And they're very tech heavy.
Tech heavy digital service.
Yeah.
Some of the other older competitive franchises, they're not quite as tech heavy, like, you
know, as far as even putting together an estimate or dealing with national accounts, we have
the ability to just kind of tap into all the resources on your phone.
(35:31):
Everything we done on your phone, exactly.
Your phones, you're, you can do everything, you know, you would handle everything digitally,
which is a very modern way to approach the businesses, especially with where we're going.
You know, you think about where everything's digital.
And then, you know, one thing I heard about painting as well as that, especially with
(35:53):
AI kind of taken over, you know, over the, you think about AI is going to, AI can't take
over painting though.
You know, I was actually thinking about that because you, you know, you're just, you know,
because you still need, they're not coming in and doing that work.
So it's a recession proof and it's also AI.
It could be a compliment to the job, but you're not necessarily, it's not taking that away.
(36:16):
You know, it could actually help bring it together.
So really good, really good, very relevant.
Yeah.
Whatever you read about today.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So, well, thank you guys so much for being on our show.
We love you guys.
It was exciting.
This was great.
We appreciate you inviting us.
We hope that we were able to provide some, you know, a different lens, you know, little
(36:37):
insight.
The kids, the kid line is, we will never leave us.
That was a classic.
That was awesome.
We thank you for that.
Okay guys.
Thank you so much.
So great seeing you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
(36:57):
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
All right.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Hi, I'm Tony Parente.
(00:10):
And I'm Mickey Pogano Parente.
We're owners of branding shorts, creative content agency.
And we're a couple of entrepreneurs.
We started this podcast because there are so many couples in business, just like us.
Because who took risks, some even spent their life savings to build a successful business.
(00:30):
Together, without ending their relationships.
In this podcast, you'll hear their inspiring stories.
Get tips, advice, and the secret to success for any entrepreneurial journey.
Welcome to our podcast, A Couple of Entrepreneurs.
An account manager, a beauty expert, and a move from Brooklyn to Florida that took them
(00:52):
from beautifying faces to beautifying spaces.
Meet Laura and Matt Garrett, owners of Painter Bros. Fort Lauderdale Franchise.
Welcome to the show.
So Laura and Matt, welcome to the show.
No, thank you guys for making time to join us today.
(01:15):
So, that is beer.
So tell us a little bit about who you are and what your business is.
So we're Laura and Matt Garrett.
Our business is Painter Bros. of Fort Lauderdale.
It's a painting, residential and commercial painting franchise.
In over 50 states, we happen to be down in Fort Lauderdale and we love the concept.
(01:39):
And so we are owners of the Fort Lauderdale territory, all of Broward County.
Why this business together?
Well this is something that it's new for both of us.
Laura coming from the cosmetics industry, where what did we say it was creating beauty
from faces to spaces.
Genius branding, wonderful.
(02:01):
Exactly.
It just came out of that and my background is sales and pharmaceuticals.
So we're trying to play off of both of those.
While I kept my full-time job in the pharmaceutical space, Laura is basically running the company
and I'm more of an assistant at this point.
But the two of us, we are working together, you know, trying to, well we are making the
(02:23):
goal of this.
There's no plan B.
So we do interiors, exteriors, spaces, commercial.
So you know, working with big names, like you know, storage facilities, big box stores,
you know, you name it.
So I think from that perspective, it's a challenge, it's an opportunity.
(02:46):
And I think for us, you know, we're originally from New York.
You know, again we have two different backgrounds.
I've been in the beauty industry all my life and Matt's been in pharmaceutical sales.
So you know, we're down here in Florida for about two years now and looking at this opportunity
(03:06):
and looked at working together as a new start, if you will, to do something together and
kind of take this next chapter in our lives and in our relationship.
The pandemic basically gave us a jump start on this though.
And a push.
And a push.
You know, we were both basically locked in the house with the kids, you know, holding
(03:28):
on to respective careers.
So we knew that we could share a space.
We knew that we could work together because we really didn't have a choice back in, you
know, 21 and part of 2021 and even part of 22.
So now that we have a little bit more space, having moved to having relocated to Florida,
this was definitely something that we figured we could manage together and create something
(03:54):
else.
So we're not beholden to a corporate thumb.
And the other thing is that being down in Florida, you know, usually around the nation,
people experience seasons, right?
So this is winter for most of the nation.
But down in Florida, we have a different kind of winter.
So we actually have more months to work down here and to work outside, inside and outside.
(04:17):
When you're working with paint, you know, you think about paint and you think about color,
color is such a moon enhancer and you can create such beauty in just, you know, the change
of the change of your color.
So I think, you know, what we were thinking is, all right, we love, we both love home
(04:38):
decorating, home color, home, you know, anything that has to do with the, even though we're
not handy, we enjoy it.
We enjoy it.
We like picking things.
But I think from that perspective, where, you know, it's one of these things where you
look at the opportunity and, you know, we know that this is a new journey.
It's been a new journey for us and think that this is really more so about us putting our
(05:03):
best efforts in from, you know, what we've learned in our careers and bringing it together
as, as like a couple and as a unit to make it happen.
Building teams together, you know, working through different challenges because, gosh,
there's so many challenges.
You know, we're in the beginning, we just kicked off really end of 2023.
(05:24):
So this is where one of your newer couples, if you will, right, newer in really taking
this next step together.
But we took the opportunity of moving, being in a new space, a new area, looking at what
the opportunities, what we could do, what we could enjoy doing together and really took
(05:44):
those, those blocks of information.
And we said, all right, let's, let's figure this out.
And then we thought, hey, painting is it.
Yeah.
So there's different ways to start a business, right?
You can start a business.
Say, hey, I have this idea to start this business or you could say I could, I'd love to be a
franchise owner.
Why did you guys go to the franchise route?
I think the franchise route offered us the best support from a business standpoint.
(06:09):
It's nice to have a national accounts team that let's say we're trying to get a bid on,
let's say, for instance, like a Walmart or another big box store.
There's a national accounts team out there that's already done a lot of the legwork for
us.
And the learning curve, while it's steep, it would be a lot steeper if we didn't even
(06:29):
know how to contact people, how to, what's the formula for, you know, measuring a wall
and getting a price on a space.
All of that work has basically been laid out for us.
So it cut down on the learning curve.
It's not to say we didn't, we looked at a lot, Laurel looked at a lot of other franchises,
a lot of other opportunities, whether it be gyms or restaurants or even food trucks or
(06:54):
educational, like a, like a magnesium, for instance.
And this one seemed to be the most scalable, something that we wouldn't have, we weren't
kind of be, we weren't beholden to one location and then having to buy another location if
we wanted to increase sales and profitability.
This is something where we're working within a confined area, let's say Broward County,
(07:19):
down in Florida, but the amount of business we have is basically unlimited.
There's no, there's no one saying, oh, well, you can't have another restaurant.
You can't do another home.
It's just, and again, having that national accounts team behind us to really cut through
some of the red tape, to even just ask questions, you know, how do you apply for a permit?
(07:40):
That's a lot of great benefits that you guys have just outlined.
What were some of the challenges, like the bigger challenges when you guys started this
up?
Well, I think for us, because it is, it's a new industry.
My dad is a painting contractor, so I can say, all right, I've been around it.
I've been around a family that has been in construction all my life as well.
So I felt a little bit connected to that.
(08:05):
But I think the challenges, you know, Matt hit on them.
It's really the learning of the industry.
You know, you can do all the research and you know the numbers and you can see what
the opportunities are.
And then when pedal hits the metal and you've got action, you know, and you've got, it's
like action and you get out there and you're like, wow, I have so much more to learn.
(08:27):
And so through the challenges of learning, it's been really important for us to make
like partnerships, connections.
We joined the Chamber of Commerce, you know, really just put ourselves out there.
We're in an HOA, part of the, you know, architectural committee.
Like we're really putting ourselves out there as part of helping the community, being part
(08:51):
of that community.
And then also using that as a resource, you know, as contacts and to show what we can
do.
So it's really more about eyeballs.
The challenge is, is really getting homeowners trust us, having commercial businesses trust
us, like because people, people will work with who they like or who they know will do
(09:14):
a good job.
And, and it's word of mouth.
Look at Google, look at Alexa and look at your friend network.
You know what I mean?
And you usually look at those three buckets.
I was talking with someone yesterday because you were like talking about Google analytics
and we were saying, but wow, the Google is wonderful and you'll get, you know, your ads,
(09:36):
you can get placement on there, but it's the people that are going to be the ones that
work with MedU.
I have, you know what, I work with this great company.
They did such great work.
I'm going to give you their names.
That is, that goes so, that is like more, that's priceless when you look at that compared
to like a lead, a lead generation, you know, where you, you have, where you've got to kind
(09:58):
of prove yourself versus, hey, this person knows this person.
So how does it work?
Is it an online business?
Do you need a storefront?
Do you need to hire employees?
I mean, how does it work?
We don't need a storefront, which is a big advantage.
So we're not paying rent.
We did purchase a vehicle that's in the process of being wrapped with our logo on it.
(10:20):
So that's another form of advertising.
We did join Thumbtack and what's- Yeah, home advisor Thumbtack and we're on Google and
we're, we're, we're building all of our digital presence.
We've got our website as well.
So we've got, you know, organic leads just, just through our, our website and word of
(10:43):
mouth.
So I think our, our big, our big hurdle now is to, you know, bring in our, you know, create
the relationships, create the connections.
You know, we've been going on estimates, landing some jobs.
We've got a great job down in Coral Gables that we're excited about where we're starting
(11:04):
in a couple of weeks.
It's commercial account.
It's a storage facility and it's all art deco.
So it's kind of cool because there's, it's, it's complicated, but cool, you know, from
an aesthetic standpoint, it's pretty, it's pretty.
But you know, so I think for us, it's eventually depending on whether we need a storefront,
(11:27):
I think it would be more about vehicles.
We have three territories, so it would be hiring estimators for both residential and
then our commercial accounts.
The trajectory is to build this, you know, build this so that it is bustling, if you will.
And it's more owned rather than owner operated.
Yeah.
(11:48):
How do you have like the painters, the people that actually paint on the projects, how do
you hire them?
They're subcontractors for us.
We have connections through Sherwin Williams, a PPG, a Ben Moore.
We meet with the regional managers and we have like appointed a sales, a sales rep for
us.
So that's a relationship in itself too.
(12:09):
You know, I was on the phone this morning and there's a lot of opportunity.
This woman is sending me like a list of opportunities for this big box store that's coming down.
And that's where it starts.
So you get connected with subcontractors through your paint store because that's where they
go in to buy the paint.
(12:30):
And they're doing jobs for other people.
So they're coming, much like us, we're coming recommended from other clients.
They're coming.
They're coming recommended from the paint supply stores.
So they know that they're in every day, that they're reliable, that they're following up,
that their accounts are paid in full.
They'll recommend them to us knowing that they're basically in good standing because
they're putting their name with this potential subcontractor.
(12:53):
So then we'll hire them to do a job for us.
So it's all, it's really, it's really, you know, I got a guy, I got a gal.
That's who we want.
We want, I got a guy, I got a gal, paint a bros like that's what we call it.
I was going to say, how does it work with the franchise?
Are you like with the paint stores?
Can you select whatever paint stores you want to work with because it's a franchise?
Are you told?
(13:13):
Is it a guideline?
You can only work with these?
No, I mean, there's an actual town.
So the way that it works is that the corporate teams have national accounts with all the
major paint stores.
So it's not like you can only use one.
It's not like they have their own.
So we're working with Benjamin Moore, Sharon Williams, PPG, Stowe.
(13:37):
Like you think about all of the types of paints that are out there.
So it's not like we're beholden to one brand, not at all.
That's great because being in a franchise, they have those relationships already that
you guys can then work with, which is great.
Right.
And we also get the national price.
So whereas if you were to walk into a Ben Moore, the price per gallon for you is a different
(13:58):
price than it would be for us coming from a national account standpoint.
That's great.
So how much creative input do you get to have?
How much creative control do you have?
So for our territory, I think for our, it's, it's, we have creative control when it comes
to our marketing.
So for example, we want to do a billboard on one of the big road.
(14:22):
So we want to do a billboard ad just to try that out and see how that works for eyeballs.
So I was told, set it up, you know, and then show us what it is.
We'll prove it and you go.
So it's not like anybody saying use this.
So it's really up to us in order to, you know, we have the resources, but we can have the
(14:46):
ability to create ads or ways to create, um, homos or things like that.
It's our business.
So I think for us, what's nice is that whereas with some franchises, they may be more rigorous
on, um, staying in your lane.
I know that with painter Rose, we're able to, uh, again, we have the support, we have
(15:11):
the guidelines, but when it comes to our territory, it's us, you know, it's our business.
Like, you know, there are lines that we're supposed to stay within, but those lines are
dotted.
You understand it.
You know, we can view it out and view it left and view it right where it can.
And again, it helps to have a national counts manager or someone that we could say, Hey,
(15:32):
what do you think of this?
I say, well, it didn't work here, you know, in another state, if you want to try it, you
can go ahead, but these are the expected outcomes, but we're not going to tell you,
no, but you're kind of going into a gray area at that point.
But so it's nice to have someone to kind of push you back on course.
If we're thinking too far outside the box at one particular time to kind of realize
(15:54):
back in, if anything, I think what, what we liked about when, why we landed with, with
this model, if you will, is because it gave us the opportunity to get the guidance, but
also have that agility to be able to create the relationships and make, make a name in
(16:15):
our community and be part of our, be part of the community as the couple that, you know,
can come and do, we can paint and we can probably do more than that too.
But it's just, we're using paint as our, as our door opener.
Yeah.
As our door opener.
Exactly.
So you guys had mentioned a little about this before.
(16:35):
So how important is it to kind of get ingrained in the community, like when you open a new
business like this?
Oh, I think it's really important because it's trust.
I think as human beings, we need to trust one another.
And when you have a familiar face, when you know of someone that, you know, aside from
what you do for a living, it's like, oh, you know what?
(16:55):
This person came here and volunteer.
This person's here to help Laura and Matt came in and helped us with handing waters
out to kids after school.
Whatever.
Something as simple as that.
What helps is that we bought three territories within the town, basically in the surrounding
areas that we live.
So we are constantly out doing things on our own with the kids.
(17:18):
I'm still working full time, you know, outside of this.
So I'm, whether or not I think I am, I'm flying under the radar.
I'm really not flying under the radar when I walk into the same public supermarket or,
you know, when we go to the gym or whatever the case may be, I'm a familiar face.
Laura's a familiar face with, you know, and other groups and other areas that we live in.
(17:40):
So when they find out that we own a page, oh really?
I didn't know you wanted to paint different.
Oh, really?
Let me.
Oh, I have a garage.
Oh, I've got a floor.
I've got my, my trims that need.
We're like, okay, all right, we're here.
Like, evidence really needs to be, all right.
I got a guy and I got a guy.
Yeah.
How do you guys make decisions together?
I mean, that's one of the things that we, having our own business, obviously that's
(18:02):
always, or can be a challenge about which way to go, whether it's roles, decisions.
Okay.
So I think this is a testament of our relationship.
You know, Matt and I have always been, you know, we're, yes, we're married, we're friends
and we respect each other's thoughts.
We may not agree all the time, but, you know, Matt will state his case, I'll state my case,
(18:27):
and then we'll come to some sort of con, we'll come to a conclusion.
So in this relationship, it's not like one puts their foot down and says, that's it.
That doesn't happen here.
We talk it out and we'll, we'll get to some, Matt definitely will take his time to, to
really work through a situation.
(18:49):
I am deaf.
I'll feel it.
I'm like, I got it.
Let's move.
So I think for me, I've also learned to take a step back and, you know, especially when
working with, you know, you think about it, you work with so many different types of people
in life.
So for Matt and I, it's also, he's my husband, he's my friend, he's my colleague.
(19:10):
So it's figuring out also how to work with his personality type and decision making skill
and to work with mine.
So it definitely is, we're still growing.
That's for sure.
You know, sometimes we have to think and say, all right, well, if we were in an office situation,
would you speak to a coworker like that?
Would you say that to a coworker?
(19:30):
And I have to remind myself of that, you know, all the time.
I'm like, no, I wouldn't yell at a coworker.
So, yeah.
Well, the interesting thing too, we, I don't know if you guys feel this or we'll feel this
as you grow the business is like, we sometimes we've got couples and they go, you know what,
they can, you know, the, the, the one partner can say something to the other partner to
push them more than anything would ever happen in a corporate environment.
Can you push each other because you're, you know, you're more, right?
(19:53):
Oh yeah.
I think for sure we can push each other and I'm, I push the heck out of here.
I'm always pushing.
I'm like, she's pushing and I'm a lot of times the voice of reason or I'm like, well, I don't
want to knee jerk this situation.
Let's like Laura said, let me think about it.
Let me do a little bit of research, whether that be Googling or just pulling up a few
(20:17):
files and say, all right, you're right.
Speaking to someone.
Right.
So I would rather take, take a beat and Laura would sometimes rather knee jerk and often
time she's right, but I, I'm, I'm the one that's more conservative and all right, let's
do a little bit of homework, but that's again, that's playing off each other.
That's learning from over 25 years of marriage and being together.
(20:39):
So you know, if we got married last year and started this business, this would be a completely
different kind of thing.
Oh yeah.
It sounds like you guys have roles.
I think so.
Some of them are unspoken, unwritten just in terms of household and, you know, between
the business and my job and, you know, the little one she's, you know, in school, it
(21:02):
has activities.
There are certain roles and responsibilities that we've each taken on that weren't, we didn't
actively say, well, I'll do this and you do that.
It's just kind of the way it just kind of how it flowed into the everyday and it just
became a working side of your kids.
If you like, hey, mom and dad are going to work together on a business.
Is there any feedback from the kids?
(21:23):
I mean, they know you as parents.
We did.
We asked that even before when we were looking into, you know, purchasing and doing, you
know, building this building a business.
And so the little one really didn't have much to say because she's little and she's like,
she just sees mom and dad, but when we, you know, we spoke with our 16 year old and now
(21:46):
our 21 year old today, crazy.
And we spoke to both of them and we said, what do you think?
And I think they were both, they both came at it pretty objectively and said, you know
what, if anyone could do it, you guys can do it because look, you know, you, you built
your marriage, you built this family, you know, you, you definitely, you make it work.
(22:11):
Are we, you know, sitting on a bed of roses and like, you know, drinking Bellini's all
day?
Absolutely not.
So, you know, we definitely, we disagree on things, you know, the kids have seen like
certain things like where we agree, we agree.
Where we disagree, we disagree, but there's always like a solution.
So I think from their perspective, they're like, you guys got this, you can do it.
(22:36):
I think they actually enjoy the fact that mom is home more now when we were up in New
York and Laura was working for corporate, she would work long hours.
Sometimes she would leave, you know, seven 30 in the morning to catch a train.
And sometimes if she was working late, she would take a car home at 930, 10 o'clock
at night.
And this was before Rafaela when Roman was little, he didn't see mom, but for, you know,
(22:58):
five minutes before he went to school in the morning.
And that's part of the weekends and the weekends.
So that's where I would, my role picked up because my schedule was a little bit more
flexible.
But now mom is working from home.
Dad comes home from work like he always did, you know, you know, early in the afternoon
and they're working together on certain things.
If Laura has to run out for an estimate, I'm home.
(23:20):
And if we could both go Roman, well, you know, our middle one will watch the little one.
It's so different.
It really is.
I think it was COVID.
I think it was Rafael, you know, our third child.
It's changed our trajectory.
You think for however long it is, you're on this career path.
You've got, you know, you've got your life kind of set.
(23:43):
If you were to ask us a couple of years back, you guys are going to, you know, own a painting
franchise in, you know, Laura, you're going to go in Florida and you're going to be doing
Laura, you'll do beauty on the side.
And, you know, as a consultant and you're going to be working on this, you're going to
totally be the entrepreneur and, you know, Matt's going to be your partner in this journey.
(24:03):
I'd say, you know, it's kind of a cool idea.
Let's see if it works.
But you never dreamed of that, right?
Yeah.
Like you dream about this.
I say that all the time, Mickey.
Like I say, I've always wanted to own my time.
So and by owning your time, yeah, this is the good, the bad, the ugly, of course there
(24:24):
is.
It's not going to be that, but it's your time versus being on someone else's clock.
You're always going to be working with someone, for someone, but it's just the perspective
of it and how kind of turning that so that, you know, control that narrative.
Do you have a work life balance or do you feel it's a little challenging now?
(24:45):
I would say that would probably be one of the biggest challenges working, not just together,
but out of the house.
Because again, when you went to work in the morning, you had a corporate job, you come
home, you take your shoes off at the end of the day and that was kind of it.
Unless you were to follow up on some emails.
Now where does work stop?
Where I remember, it must have been 20, over 20 years ago, my friend left his hedge fund
(25:09):
job and he started an eBay business.
This is how long ago this goes.
And I said, what's the biggest challenge?
He said, I don't know when to stop working.
He said it could be nine o'clock and I'm looking to fill an order.
It's, you know, 9.30.
And I realized that there's an email that I didn't send out and right now we're trying
to manage that portion of our lives.
(25:29):
If we're laying in bed, trying, you know, getting ready to go to bed and you hear Ding
on the phone, it might be a very valuable lead that's come in.
That someone, someone's hamster was on their wheel and they were like, you know what, I'm
going to look for a painting contractor right now.
And they put out, you know, the search for it and our phone, Laura's phone will ding
(25:50):
and I'm like, are you kidding me?
But if you don't answer that call someone else gets the job.
So I think what I've done is I silenced it.
After 11, I'm like, off.
You put your hamster to sleep.
I put the hamster to sleep because we need to, we got to recharge.
We have to recharge.
Well, we hear a lot of people, the couples, they talk about not necessarily work life
(26:10):
balance, but work life integration.
Like how do they just make it work to get what you guys are talking about very, very
And we totally hear you.
We've been working together since 2008.
So we totally hear that.
Being in Florida, what we're also seeing is that a lot of people have homes that don't
live here or they're either going to relocate or they need somebody or they got, they need,
(26:30):
yeah, they need, you know, they've got to get their house ready because they're coming
down because they're coming down and they, they want to get it refreshed before they
get down or they're renting it.
You know, there's a lot of different scenarios.
So and with that said, I think for us, it's always about making sure we find time to, because
(26:52):
we like our downtime together wherever we can find it.
So like if a date night can't happen on a traditional Saturday night, we'll jump in
the car on a Sunday afternoon and, and just go for a walk and that's our date.
Like we'll have to, we'll, we figure out time points to either, if it's not dinner, we'll
(27:12):
go for lunch.
We'll meet each other and we'll go for lunch and take that time as our date.
We just recently, we wanted to do activities together.
So that's another way to kind of, you know, de-stress from life, you know, and responsibilities.
And so we're playing pickleball together.
So I love it.
That's great.
No, just little things where we can just find time to be Laura and Matt, the couple, you
(27:38):
know, and the best friends that we are.
I love that.
And so if you were to give advice to any couples thinking about working together, what would
you say?
Yeah.
I would say have a good heart to heart, you know, with each other and really think about,
you know, where are your, you know, I think with any, with anything you should do, you
(28:03):
do diligence, you know, research what it is, see if there's some commonalities.
Can you see your, yourselves working at this together?
What would be your role?
Would be, you know, what would be each other's roles?
How would you make that work?
Because I think with couples, it's really important, first and foremost, that there's
(28:25):
a respect with one another.
If there isn't, and you start a business, you're just looking for, I think, down the
road, there may be more challenges.
It's already challenging to start a business.
And then you're bringing your partner along for the, you know, you're doing it together.
(28:45):
So it's really important to establish roles, establish commonalities, create boundaries,
find time to be the couple that you are outside of the career, you know, and outside of what
you're building together.
It's important to create those in compartmentalize that, because if you don't, everything becomes
(29:08):
one big hybrid situation, and then, you know, it becomes harder to...
Yeah, because you can't leave your trouble at the office, whereas you can have a business
partner that you can't stand, but you work well together, and at least at the end of
the day, you get to go home and close your door.
Here you close the door, and the person you were trying to get away from is on the other
(29:30):
side of it.
So you want to make sure that you, you know you love each other, but you want to make sure
you continue to like each other.
Yeah.
And that's important.
And like, what Laura was alluding to was that we still date.
So that's our free time, that's our downtime.
So those are the boundaries that we've created.
So if we're on a date, we're out to dinner, we're taking a walk, we're playing pick up,
(29:54):
whatever, whatever the...
No work conversation.
No work conversations.
We're just hanging out and being us, you know?
I love that.
That's great.
That's wonderful.
It's really, really, really good advice.
Coming from a couple who's been married for 25 years.
That's great.
I love it.
Well, thank you.
Thank you.
(30:14):
Going this route to open a franchise business, anything that surprised you?
Like, well, I didn't really think this, I didn't expect this.
I think at each business, it has its own set of challenges and things you didn't know,
but you realize that coming from, not coming from a contractor business or a painting business,
there's a lot that we don't know that could not have been taught during any kind of training.
(30:39):
It's things that you kind of have to experience on the job.
And again, having a franchise behind you, you could pick up the phone and say, hey,
I don't understand this, or I've got a question about a procedure or steps.
Like I mentioned earlier, permits.
It's nice to have someone to kind of bounce that off of, but you could not have planned
(31:00):
for certain things just because it wouldn't have come up in any kind of an initial training
where in my world, they try to plan for all of that.
In pharmaceuticals, they try to plan for all of those questions.
But here, it's a lot of on the job.
So I don't know if we've been necessarily surprised by anything.
I think we did our due diligence, guys.
I mean, we didn't, it's not like we got the opportunity and like signed the papers the
(31:23):
next day.
It was like a nine month.
It was like having a baby.
So it took some time to do the research and meet with the teams, meet with the other franchisees.
It's a big network too within the, we were at a national meeting in September and I got
to meet other franchisees around the nation.
(31:44):
And we're all connected.
Like even yesterday, I called my guy up in Orlando and I called my other guy in Dallas.
And I had two different opinions because I'm working through an estimate and that's a community
within itself.
I think for us within the franchise, it's also, look, wherever you go, it's important
(32:08):
to have in our opinion, it's important to have community, whether you're building it
within your career, you're building it within your actual place of business.
It's important to have places to go to ask questions and where it's reciprocated back
and forth.
I also think it's important to have, you know, you're individuals too.
(32:33):
Have your friends.
If you have, you want to go out with her, you know, go to a movie with your girlfriends
or go like you went, you know, go out with the guys that gots dinner and just have a
minute to just also be an individual if you've got that time to do that.
Because, you know, it's, as we get older, it's like, you forget got all these responsibilities
and we've got to do this.
But, you know, if you strip it all down, we're, we're just, you know, we're kids and
(32:58):
we're big kids.
We're big kids.
We're like kids in big bodies, you know,
Dalting is hard sometimes and sometimes you just want to be a kid.
Yes.
No responsibilities.
I don't know what to do.
I don't know a better way to end the podcast.
I want to be a kid.
I think that is like the line of any podcast.
We've done in three seasons.
(33:18):
I love that.
I love that.
That is amazing.
But I took one quick other question.
How establishes the franchise?
How old is the franchise?
Because it sounds like it's a really got a lot of support.
Yeah.
So it's, I mean, it really is, it's about five years old.
It's a young, that's the other thing.
So in franchise world, the big thing is if you've heard of the franchise, then it's
(33:41):
too late because it's really expensive to get in.
You want to be, you want to look at opportunities where franchises are kind of on the up and
up and you want to kind of ride that wave.
So as they become more like with this franchise in particular, we're kind of, what caught
our attention is the national accounts that they have and the commercial accounts.
(34:05):
And more so than, you know, residential is great.
You get to meet people, but it's the commercial ability and scale ability that was really
exciting for us to look into and dig deeper.
So it's a younger franchise, 2018.
(34:25):
So where they, they franchise, but prior to that, they did, they did five years before
they even actually franchise.
So in looking at, you know, the commercial ability and you look at the competitors,
there's a competitor out there that's been around 30 years, you know, doing painting.
You know, if you look at, you know, side by side, and then, you know, but then you,
(34:47):
you look at the agility of what's happening in this, in this world and where they're going.
We have weekly meetings.
We have, you know, there's, there's, there's that structure within the structure, if you
will.
So to, to, you know, give us the information that we need, have the touch points, work
with the teams and to make sure that we've got, you know, all of our answer questions
(35:08):
answered.
They pivot easily and quickly.
Yeah.
And they're very tech heavy.
Tech heavy digital service.
Yeah.
Some of the other older competitive franchises, they're not quite as tech heavy, like, you
know, as far as even putting together an estimate or dealing with national accounts, we have
the ability to just kind of tap into all the resources on your phone.
(35:31):
Everything we done on your phone, exactly.
Your phones, you're, you can do everything, you know, you would handle everything digitally,
which is a very modern way to approach the businesses, especially with where we're going.
You know, you think about where everything's digital.
And then, you know, one thing I heard about painting as well as that, especially with
(35:53):
AI kind of taken over, you know, over the, you think about AI is going to, AI can't take
over painting though.
You know, I was actually thinking about that because you, you know, you're just, you know,
because you still need, they're not coming in and doing that work.
So it's a recession proof and it's also AI.
It could be a compliment to the job, but you're not necessarily, it's not taking that away.
(36:16):
You know, it could actually help bring it together.
So really good, really good, very relevant.
Yeah.
Whatever you read about today.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So, well, thank you guys so much for being on our show.
We love you guys.
It was exciting.
This was great.
We appreciate you inviting us.
We hope that we were able to provide some, you know, a different lens, you know, little
(36:37):
insight.
The kids, the kid line is, we will never leave us.
That was a classic.
That was awesome.
We thank you for that.
Okay guys.
Thank you so much.
So great seeing you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
(36:57):
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
All right.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
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