I am often asked “What got you interested in house painting?” The question itself is often accompanied with a quizzical look, silently implying “are you crazy?” It is no secret that interior and exterior painting is one of those tasks that is (almost) universally hated among the household chores.
People hate painting their homes for various reasons.
- It’s messy.
- It takes too long.
- Taping everything is tedious.
- It takes longer to gather all the materials and clean up after than it’s worth.
- And my personal favorite, “it’s not worth the divorce if I have to paint with my spouse.”
Love at First Paint Brush
I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands, and from an early age learned the direct correlation with hard physical labor and monetary reward. I’ll also admit that I was 25 years old before I ever held a paint brush. My uncle was a firefighter, and part time painter in the Champaign, IL area. He invited me to come work with him for a few weeks when I was looking to make a career change in my mid-20’s.
I can honestly say that I fell in love with house painting from the very first day.
For me, it checked all the boxes. I was able to use my creative and artistic gifts, while performing physical but valuable work that most people had no interest in doing themselves.
Benefits of the House Painting Lifestyle
As my young business and experience level increased, I grew to appreciate several other benefits of this lifestyle:
- The Quiet. I could paint all day in total silence, or I could listen to good books, music, or podcasts in my earbuds. It was a great combination of peaceful tranquility while also earning a living for my young family.
- The Freedom. While I always had a project to go to, I never felt tied down to a certain place. I can’t imagine parking in the same space, and walking into the same building, working at the same desk day after day. I need change of pace, scenery, and new challenges daily. Obviously, the tasks themselves were repetitive, but it was always a new house, new color, and a new feel for a new space.
- The Immediate Satisfaction. One of the greatest rewards of this profession is the immediate job satisfaction we get almost daily. Physical evidence of the work contributed each day. There is nothing better than looking back over the day’s work and seeing something transform from looking tired and old to new and revitalized. It’s no wonder that painting videos or clips are among the most popular viewed category in social media reels. Paint changes feelings. It creates moods. Much like music, it can shape or challenge the way we look at something.
As our painting contractor business grew, an unexpected new vision began to take shape. As we hired team members to help in our efforts, we realized that many young people were looking for direction in their life. They wanted their lives to count, and to contribute to something larger than themselves.
A new motivation was stirring within me. I wanted to give our team members some of the same benefits I had enjoyed in my painting career. Peace, tranquility, freedom, and job satisfaction were all great reasons to come to work at Men In White, but in addition to all that, they were learning a valuable skill they would carry with them the rest of their lives. We all feel that the contributions we make are meaningful to our customers as we repair damaged surfaces, change colors, and protect surfaces from future damage with our coatings.
Men In White Painting Now
Men In White Painting has trained over 30 painters for the Southern Illinois region. Some have moved on to other endeavors, some have started their own painting businesses, and some are still with our team. I’m proud of all of them.
Our community needs more skilled craftsmen, and we are proud to be at the forefront of calling young people to the trades. We hope to continue giving them the tools and knowledge they need to keep providing top quality house painting and drywall services for the Southern Illinois region.
We have invested in a painter training facility designed to teach and practice the hundreds of tasks expected of a professional painter. Our custom painter training program takes a person that has never held a tool in their hand to a mid-level painter in a short amount of time. Believing that practice makes perfect, we invest hundreds of training hours into our team, which is one reason why we think that we have the best painters in our region.
I still enjoy painting. I don’t get to paint as often anymore since I’m busy running a company instead of performing the physical work anymore. In fact, my team makes fun of my attempts, as most of them are now faster than I am. Paint will always be a part of my life and might actually literally run through my veins at this point, and I’m not a bit ashamed.
For those of you that also enjoy house painting, I salute you! For those that, like most, hate the idea of doing it yourself, my team and I will be there for you.