The recession of 2007-2008 was a wake up call, a game changer. We went from a very comfortable living mostly from my radio advertising sales job to having to use credit cards to cover our monthly expenses. When a business is faced with budget cuts, unfortunately advertising is one of the first things to go. We were in for a major lifestyle adjustment. People across the country were cutting expenses. Guess what most people also consider a luxury? Decorative painting and interior design. Wham- Bam. 3 for 3
Are you kidding me?
Instead of throwing up our hands in defeat we started thinking about the future. The future of our family and the future of the internet. Without an advertising budget of our own, we were forced to think creatively about how to market our painting company. Marketing for the future business that was sure to rebound at some point. What had once been a part time hobby was now our major focus. I sat down and started running google searches for our business. "faux finishers in Nashville", "faux painting", "decorative painting". We didn't show up anywhere. I made it my mission to systematically and methodically start working on our internet presence. We put all our efforts into marketing our company to attract people looking to have their cabinets painted because even though decorative painting had waned in popularity, cabinet painting was emerging as a new category. I knew it could take years, but if I was consistent, we could eventually own some Google real estate
Remember when I said that I was an avid reader of design blogs? As it turns out, Google loves blogs too. They love the the frequency of the posts and the engagement from things like sharing posts across social media. We were creating beautiful spaces, we had great projects to talk about, it was a natural progression that we should start sharing our work through our website and blog. I started posting our home renovation projects, and people liked them.
I mean really liked them. That is a pretty good feeling. My friends were posting photos of their children's athletic events, social activities and accomplishments. Although we rejoiced along with our friends, we still had broken hearts that our children were not achieving those same milestones. The banner we could wave was that of pretty spaces and our faith that God was in control. We started sharing our client projects and before and after photos and after a while Google started liking us too.
God was making beauty from ashes. The recession had forced us to re-group, redirect our efforts and really trust that God had a plan for our family. Our dreams for the future looked different than what we had planned, but we were trusting for a better tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. One day at a time.
Every time one of you hired us, wrote a review for us, shared, or liked, or commented on one of our posts you were helping us grow our business and reach new people. You are our ambassadors, our cheerleaders. We don't take that lightly. We are forever grateful for the way our community (starting with the ones locked inside our home with us) has supported us, encouraged us, recommended us and helped us succeed. What started as a one guy part time operation is now a multi-person full time painting machine. So, back to the original topic: Why we paint:
WHY WE PAINT
- We paint so that we can have a sustainable home based business that allows us to be at home for our children who need us- A LOT.
- We paint because we love the creativity, the collaborations and the end results.
- We paint so that we can create work opportunities for our children so that they can have a fulfilling life with purpose beyond high school.
- We paint because we are following the path God has clearly identified for us.
And Brooks does still sing.........at church, on the worship team.
Did you miss Part 1- Why we paint? You can CHECK IT OUT HERE.
Need some help with managing your whole project? In 2018 we expanded our services to also include interior design, full kitchen remodeling services and project management.
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LOVE THIS!!!
Lovely site, easy to navigate, beautiful images. Nice blog, love how you ride with the tide. Thanks for sharing. Didn’t you buy a couple of shadepops from me? I am trying to remember how I found you.
THANK YOU!! Yes, I did. I still love them!!
Love your beautiful story. Thanks for sharing and may God bless you all.
What a sweet thing to say. Thanks so much Louise!!! Thanks for reading!