Today we’d like to introduce you to April Robertson.
April, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Construction, my parents owned a roofing and siding company and I went to work with my father as a child; cutting siding and hauling bundles of shingles up ladders for him while he was roofing and then cleaning up the job site at the end of the day. While I loved spending time with him, I knew that roofing and siding wasn’t a career I wanted to pursue. I loved art and when I graduated high school in 1989, I immediately left for college to pursue a degree in graphic design. After a year of college, I left and went to work for a printing company during the day and tended bar at night until my oldest daughter was born in 1998 at which time I needed a better job with more predictable hours so I went to work running an H.V.A.C company for a family friend. I loved this job and it gave me a lot of experience on running a business. I learned the ins and outs of scheduling, accounts receivables/payables, creating contracts and time management. I thought this would be my lifetime career.
In 1998 I got married and soon found out I was pregnant with triplets. Three more daughters which were born May 30, 1999. Within a year we met the statistics for families with multiple births and were divorced. This left in a position where I knew I had to find a job that 1. Provided enough income for me to raise my four daughters on my own without giving it all to day care and 2. Provided flexibility enough that if one of my children was sick or needed me, I could leave at a moment’s notice and be there. It was at this time I decided to start my own painting company.
I started doing small jobs for friends and family. Many of my customers knew me from growing up in the small town of Merrimac, MA and working for my father. Slowly but surely I built my clientele and referrals began to come in. A couple of things I had learned from working for him as well as running the H.V.A.C. company was always invest in your company and always portray your current business as the business you would like to have down the road. Be larger than you are. So year after year, that’s exactly what we did. I would buy more equipment every year and advertise the business expanding the services that we offered.
What started out as a single mom owning an interior painting company has grown into an interior/exterior, commercial/residential painting company which offers construction and repairs; windows, doors, roofing, drywall etc. One of the things our clientele loves about us is that they don’t need multiple contractors to get their job done. If they have ceilings, walls or exterior clapboards damaged by the elements, they know they can call us and we will handle the entire job start to finish without waiting for another contractor to come in.
My Crew: During the course of 18 years, our company has had its share of hard times. I am currently winning my 3rd battle with cancer. We have lost a couple of lifetime crew members along the way due to various health issues and we’ve had some crew members need extended time off to care for family members, but at the end of the day, we are a family and family takes care of each other. If someone has a problem, it becomes all of our problems and we are there for each other. We pick up the slack for them until they can make it back and because we operate like a family, we are all very close and we have never ever missed a deadline to get a job done.
We’ve grown from being a single person painting company to a crew of members that regard ourselves as family willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. And we do!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My Crew: During the course of 18 years, our company has had its share of hard times. I am currently winning my 3rd battle with cancer. We have lost a couple of lifetime crew members along the way due to various health issues and we’ve had some crew members need extended time off to care for family members, but at the end of the day, we are a family and family takes care of each other. If someone has a problem, it becomes all of our problems and we are there for each other. We pick up the slack for them until they can make it back and because we operate like a family, we are all very close and we have never ever missed a deadline to get a job done.
We’ve grown from being a single person painting company to a crew of members that regard ourselves as family willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. And we do!
Please tell us about Paint Misbehavin.
We specialize in commercial/residential, interior and exterior painting. We are best known for being “the company” able to take on any job start to finish; whether its painting, carpentry, windows, doors, roofs repairs, drywall installation and repair etc.
As a small business, I am most proud of the fact that we are all so close, like family. We are not afraid to lean on each other when we need to. We work hard and play hard together and when we are asked to take on jobs that many other small companies shy away from, we go after it head on just to prove there is nothing that we cannot accomplish as a team.
The fact that we are willing to do this is what sets us apart from other companies. There’s never been a project that we’ve said oh that’s too big.
Our proudest moments as a company are our “Paint it forward” projects. Each year we take applications for projects from people in need. Whether it’s retired Veterans or single mothers or fathers needing painting and repairs around their home it doesn’t matter and from those applicants, we choose a minimum of one job per year that we donate all of our time and materials to get the job done.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Honestly I can’t say that we would’ve done anything differently if we had to start over. We grew at a rate that was comfortable for us and we were very lucky to find the right people at the right time to join our team every step of the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.paintmisbehavin.us
- Phone: 978-914-4231
- Email: itspaintmisbehavin@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaintMisbehavin/
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/G96lTDsGMwrHiBYstJYJJg
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