I learned construction from my dad. He’d take me with him on weekends in high school — finishing drywall, doing the work the right way. That’s where it started.
From there I joined the local carpenters union and learned the commercial side. But the union has a rhythm you can’t control — finish the job, get laid off, wait for the next call. Side work started filling those gaps. Eventually the side work paid more than the union ever did.
I grew the business by paying to learn. Every trade I didn’t know, I’d bring someone in, pay them to do the job, and watch until I could do it myself. Paint, baseboards, flooring, doors — that’s how I picked up all of it. Then I hit a harder lesson: it doesn’t matter how good you are at the trade. At some point your job isn’t to do the work — it’s to run the business. Nobody teaches you that part.
Learning it cost me real money. Charging too little just to win a job and ending up working for free. Overpaying workers because I didn’t know the market. Hiring people because of friendships, not because they could actually do the work. If I could go back, I’d invest in a mentor. It would have saved me more than I’d like to admit.
I’ve worked every level of this — from a $200 repair to a $400,000 union floor contract for a casino hotel. I’ve made $25,000 in two weeks and I’ve worked jobs that cost me money. What I know, I learned with real skin in the game.
Today my construction business keeps me selective. About eight active leads at any time, four that close, and a clear sense of what’s worth my time. But where I come alive is the business side — strategy, positioning, helping someone build something that actually works. That’s what MBS & Company is. Everything I wish I’d had when I was starting out.