We are here today with Man, probably one of my longest lifelong friends and business colleagues, mark Enos. Uh, mark is the owner of Spraying Coat Painting, uh, in Nampa, Idaho. background here, mark and I, man, I became a Christian in his father's church when I was 19 and Mark, I think we're, what, seven years apart?
I.
I'm 40, so
something like that.
eight years yeah. Mark was 11 or 12 years old. Yeah. long-term friendship here. And so there's a lot of history also, um, in the business realm. Mark and I have also grown together, and so you know, me being a little older started into the business world, but he was close behind and Mark's got a really cool story of how he, know, went through his, i in this.
Do not, let me forget to have people tell, or you tell the people about the, the candy bars in your, your locker. So a, that's a legend in my mind. But Mark, uh, mark had that business kind of entrepreneur mind from, gosh, from that time, from just being a, a child and he just took that into adulthood.
And so I want you guys to hear, hear what Mark has to say. So Mark, how are you, man?
Doing great. This will be fun.
Good dude. So excited for you to be on here. Um, let's jump into that. I, I wanna know what initially in your, you know, child mind fired you up an entrepreneur?
Yeah, the, I think the, the candy bar is in the locker room is probably a good opening story. So an old, an old friend, um, Isaac Rozier, uh, hopefully he'll listen to this 'cause that'd be fun. But Isaac Rozier's an old time friend and he got me into, I. Where we were knocking doors for the the local newspaper, and every time you would get a subscription for the Idaho State Journal, the local newspaper, every time you would get that, they would give you the option of giving you five bucks.
That was your commission or. I remember, like, I can still like picture, they had like, uh, a closet in the office space there. It was like under the stairs. And they would go to, you know, Costco or Sam's Club or whatever, and they would get boxes of candy, you know, 24 packs of, of, of candy bars and they would give you the option.
So back then, I guess you could buy a box of 24 candy bars for $5 apparently. 'cause they would let you choose, you know, the candy bars are the five bucks. And so I'd go in there, you know, I, and they thought it was 'cause I was the fat kid that I was going for the candy bars. But really it was because I, I, I was a little chubby.
Uh. That was because I would take the, these candy bars to school, I'd put 'em in my locker, and then people word got out pretty quick that if they went over to my locker, I would sell 'em a candy bar for 50 cents. And, um, that's making me feel old now because what does a candy bar cost? Like $2 and 50 cents at the gas station now?
bars.
Uh, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So anyway, so that was it. I would, I would sell 'em, I'd probably, you know, I'd probably eat a couple, but then maybe I'd make, you know, five or 10 bucks off the box of candy bars. And that was the locker selling candy outta the locker room story. And that was junior high. So that was,
move on past that, how did your, uh, how'd the school faculty feel about that?
you know, I don't remember ever like, getting in trouble other than I remember it just looked suspicious. Right. 'cause I would, you know, I would open my locker and a bunch of people would like be like coming to my locker room. So I'm pretty sure. Few people at least thought I was a drug dealer, but really I was just selling candy.
So,
my in common, right? I, uh, I've been accused of being the white powder dealer for several years now, so.
yeah. Yeah. Actually I just remembered I had a locker partner, you know, they would assign you a locker partner, and I'm pretty sure he was stealing from me, so I think I had to shut down that operation
due to theft. It was, uh, it was really cutting into the profits when, uh, the lock, the, the locker room partner was, was stealing from me.
That was my,
your or he was taking your cash that you left
I think he was still in inventory to be, to be honest. And so I think I had to stop because of that. I don't think I ever got busted, but, you know, I do remember that as a, you know, it was just, I don't know. I, it was just kind of the way my brain worked. I don't, my dad didn't, I. Necessarily pushed me to do it, but it was just something I did kind of just as a natural thing, I guess.
I don't know. Yeah, that's the, that's the story.
that's, that story always makes me happy, man. I have to ask you to tell it again in the future just so I can hear it.
Yeah. Yeah.
so tell me, tell me about growing up, man. I,
Yeah. Pocatello. Yeah, I grew up in Pocatello, um, pastor's kid. So my dad was a pastor from when I was a little kid, you know, for 25 years in Pocatello. Um, yeah, I grew up going to, just going to school, public school in Pocatello. It was a great city to grow up in. You know, we'd go mountain biking, ride dirt bikes.
That was kind of what you and I did first together, right? Was uh, I don't know if we ever did mountain biking, but we rode dirt bikes together. I think when I was in junior high, I mean, uh, junior high, high school, 'cause I had the KDX in junior high. So that was definitely, uh, around that 13, 14, you, you must have been 20 and, um, you were just married and, and I was in junior high and we were going out riding dirt bikes with Trevor and my dad and it was, uh, it was a lot of fun.
So yeah, that Pocatello was, was where I grew up. I don't know that I'd wanna. Try to run a business there today, but you know, I love the proximity of the foothills and the mountains and just access to Pebble Creek and all that. Growing up it was a lot of fun.
Yeah, man, were, those were good days for sure. uh, refresh me because you had a lawn mowing operation too for a while, didn't you?
Yeah. So in high school, and I think my dad gets some credit here because my dad welded, uh, a trailer. For a, for a bicycle. So he built a trailer, very simple trailer that you could put a lawnmower and a weed eater on and pull it behind a trailer. So I think he took some old, you know, trailer that you'd put a kid in and he modified it so I could, so I could put, you know, lawn, do lawn mowing.
I think it was before I had my driver's license. So I was probably 14, 15. And uh, you know, I would just hit the neighborhood and, and mow lawns. You know, back then you'd charge 10 bucks, I think 10 bucks a lawn. And I did that for a couple summers. I would say that was, was definitely, I mean, I remember making business cards, right, you know.
All that. So yeah, that was, that was probably my first business that I had a, I mean, that's when it's a real business, right? If you got a business card. So I had business cards. I've, I've, I, I probably have 'em stashed somewhere, but I, I still remember the business cards. Um, that was when we lived in Chubb.
And, um, yeah, so that, I did that at least for one or two summers. I'm not sure how far I took that, but made a few, a few bucks.
Well, it seems like, 'cause I remember the KDX coming along and it seemed like you had done something to earn the money for that dirt bike.
Yeah, that's very, very possible.
that's, that's when things started to get real.
Yep, yep. Yeah, the Ford Ranger. Um, yeah. 'cause I remember the first dirt bike was the DR 1 25, and I had saved up money to buy that with a paper route. So I had the paper route probably like at 12 years old and that was like $1,100. And so I think I made about a hundred bucks a month doing the paper out.
So, you know, I saved up for a year and I bought the DR 1 25, the KDX 200, I don't even remember. Um, exactly. But you know, I pretty much paid for everything. Um, you know. My, my dad was a, was a, was a pastor of the church. My mom was a teacher. I don't really picture them buying me motorcycles. That just wasn't a thing.
So I, I probably saved up for that bike, doing the, doing the paper out, or sorry, doing the lawn mowing. And that was probably, yeah, like 14. That was like freshman year probably that I got that bike somewhere around that because I got the Kicks 500, but that was, that was a couple years later, so that would've been my junior senior year.
Yeah.
So.
Well, what
you saving for an entire year, man, that, that when you're that age, that's a huge percentage of your life, right? So that, that year seems like a long, a long time. What, what did that, that experience of just continuing on, being steady and sticking, sticking with your goal, what do you think that's done to you as an adult?
Yeah, it's definitely a, it's definitely an important, um, it's definitely an important life skill, you know, I mean, you know, in, in bus, you know, just in business or in just, even if you're not a business owner to, to manage money, your personal budget, all of that, you, you have to be a saver. You just, you, you gotta be a saver to, um, to avoid debt, you know?
And um, you know, you can borrow money, but it just changes everything. It creates risk and stress. And so I think I've always been pretty, pretty natural saver. And, um, yeah. And that's, I guess that's kind of where it started was probably some of those, you know, buying dirt bikes, you know, that was probably the beginning of it.
Yeah.
think that those kind of stories are cool 'cause I've seen that happen with my own kids, right? Where we were, the type of parents that, uh, when my kids were young. We were going through some rough business times and we're too broke to buy 'em anything. But then as we grew, we wanted to teach them lessons, right?
And
Yeah.
we had them do
things where, you know, you remember when they would buy and sell bicycles,
Oh yeah.
you know? And so I, I think about that very fondly, you know, you doing, doing the work it took to get that dirt bike and, and saving for a long period of time and watching what that's produced in my kids and what's what they've turned into now as adults.
Right. Um, it's, it's beautiful. I, um, so tell me this, you own spray coat painting now, um, you've turned that into, how many employees do you have today?
Well, we've got about 25, um, about 25 here in, in our Boise location. And then I. Vegas, uh, has another, uh, seven to eight. And so if you kinda add those together, there's 32 or so.
Yeah. And so, so let's talk about how that got started, because you start, tell the story about your college years and how, how you worked. You, you did some painting then too, correct?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So when I was, I was in high school my senior year, we painted a neighbor's house and my dad had painted when he was in his twenties, and so I. I, I don't know why exactly. All of a sudden he decided to paint a house 'cause he hadn't done it in 10, 20 years. But, um, you know, he might have been saving up for something, I don't know.
But he offered to paint the neighbor's house and I remember helping him. And, uh, all I literally remember doing is just like scraping paint off the side of the house. So I don't, I don't know that I even contributed to that job, but I helped him. And then, uh, you know, really, I think like the next year or so, I was, um, you know, I was, I was, I was probably 19, something like that.
And he had a friend at church that needed his house painted, and somehow I just kind of got vol volunteered to do it. So he just, um, he's like, my son, mark, he, he'll paint your house. So I, I had like no experience. I rented a sprayer from. You know, the local paint store, Sher Williams or Columbia, back then, they would rent you a sprayer.
So I just remember renting a sprayer and just painting this guy's house. I cannot imagine how bad it was. I mean, it had to have been the worst paint job ever because looking back, I just had like no training, but my dad just sort of was like, you know, and I'm sure the price was right. You know what I mean?
Uh, young guy comes, he, he offers to paint your house. It's cheap. You're just whatever, you know. And that's probably what it was. But I did that and then I think it was kind of like, oh, like I can do this. This isn't that hard. Right? And so then I would just go knock on doors and I would just sort of, again, I made some business cards and, uh, I just used the name m and r.
Because that was what my dad had his business called m and r Enterprises, m and r painting, something like that. And I just started knocking on doors. I remember I was on 12th Street over by, um, the university I issue, and I actually drove by this house recently. It, it actually looks, it's, it's actually a really nice home.
Um, but it's this big white home. And I, I knock on the door and, uh, I find out later, he's an attorney and he was actually like shopping to get his house painted. I knock on his door, I'm 19. I just said, Hey, like, you know, you know, do you want your house painted? Like it was, I don't even know what I said, but, um, and immediately he was like, well, yeah, I do.
I, I want, I need my house painted. So I gave him a price. It was $1,800. And I just remember standing there at the front, front door with him, and he just looks at me. He says, are you sure? Like, are you sure you'll do it for 1800? And I just remember being like so confident, like, yes sir, I will. You know? And so, uh, anyway, like in today's dollars it would've been like $20,000.
Like that's what I would charge today to paint this house. But, uh, but I just, you know, I, I had a couple young kids that were in the youth group. Um, one of 'em, his name was Jesse, and there was, and I think it was Jesse and Chase Duncan and I, I recruited them as my helpers. And I just remember just 10 hour days, like for two weeks straight.
And I had guys helping me and we just scraped and scraped. 'cause the whole house was just shredding paint off of us. We had to just like hand scrape this, this big monster mansion of a house. And, and then we just painted it. I mean, we were sanding lead based paint. I'm sure no mask looking bad. It was probably pretty bad for our health.
Um, but anyways, when I finished the job, I remember he, like, he tipped me like hundreds of dollars because, you know, he got such a good deal. Um, but, you know, I looked at it as like, Hey, I made $15 an hour and everybody else is making seven, so look at me.
You know?
You were
Yeah, yeah. And I, and I think that's the, the greatest thing about when you just start from nothing and you go is, you know, you're, you're not, you're not getting rich at the beginning.
You're not making tons of money, but you're just building that, that muscle of like looking somebody the eyes and saying, yeah, I can, I'll solve this problem for you and, and here's the price. And, and I honored that price. I, I finished it and, you know, and. I made a few bucks, but you know, you build, you know, you just build confidence through that.
Um, there's just some, some work ethic that you build through those experiences. And, and there were several homes I painted in Pocatello in those summers as a college student, but that one really stuck out. It was one of the first and, um, but yeah, I drove by like just last summer because I was just really curious.
There it is. It's like somebody's like really taking good care of this home. 'cause it's like right next to University, 12th Street. It's in a really nice location, still bright white, the whole thing's white. And um, yeah, it was a good experience.
That's super cool. I, so you're, this was, uh, through your college years and you, you said you started knocking doors at the beginning for the, the paper subscriptions. Um, so by this point you're feeling pretty comfortable knocking doors, sounds like.
Yeah. Yeah, I remember knocking a lot of doors. I, I, I even remember an elementary school where they would have contests, you know, and I don't even know what it was, but you, you know, you're selling something, or it was probably like a sponsorship, you know, I'm gonna run a mile and will you sponsor me for, you know, you know, for every mile I run or whatever, you know.
But I remember doing that in elementary school, and I remember liking that challenge. I remember like, you know, being like, oh, okay, like I, I can do this, you know, and I'd go out and I remember being one of the top door knockers, you know, for whatever fundraisers, you know, and this is probably at like 11, 12 years old.
Um, and so, you know, I just, I think I was just exposed at it at a young enough age that it was like, this is not big a deal, you know? Because man, there's a lot of people that, you know, would not, that do not want to knock doors, right? Like, that is not a desirable thing. But I think I did it. I just did it at a young enough age and did it often enough.
I mean, you know, we haven't got to this part of the story, but you and I knocked some doors together
and so, I mean, literally I knocked doors selling whatever, fundraising for school. I knocked doors selling newspaper, I knocked doors selling lawn mowing. I knocked doors selling, painting, I knocked doors, selling windows and siding.
So, um, I've, I've knocked a few doors in my life.
Yeah, that's definitely,
you you, kind of joked around about the business card, making it real, making a business real. Um, you know, we, we, you and I have had enough, uh, meetings together and talked about this stuff enough. You know, it really, it's when you make your first sales, what makes a business real, right?
yeah,
You just have a business
can do that part, but the hard stuff is getting out there, knocking doors, and
yeah,
few people are willing
it, that they fail to launch.
yeah.
Yeah.
just talking
a guy this morning. So talk about how that continued, uh.
You know, a funny story about knocking doors. I remember this was like maybe three years into the business of spraying coat painting. So this would've been 2011 or so, and we just had a week or two. So I, you know, I had, uh, three, four or five guys working for me. We just had a slow week for some reason. We just didn't have a job that week.
So I, I took the guys and I said, Hey, we're gonna go knock doors, you know, and they were just like, what? And I was like, come on, it's fine. You know, we'd done a lot of work in this neighborhood. This is like legends. It's over on Eagle Road and McMillan. And I remember Dan, Dan was out there, he hated it. He was like, no, I, he did not want anything to do with it.
But I had this, this guy, Carson Cody, a couple guys. And like I just showed them, I was like, here's, let's just knock on the door. You say, Hey, we're, you know, we painted a lot of homes around in this neighborhood and, you know, we're, I just wanted to see, you know, if you need your house painted, it's not hard.
And, but I remember doing that and then shortly thereafter they quit. They're like, we're starting my own, we're starting our own business. Because it was like, it, it wasn't both of them, it was just Cody. But, but I just showed him, it was like, it was like this magic secret. He was like, oh, like, you know,
he kind of must have had a little entrepreneurial bug in him too.
And so, but just me showing him one day, like empowered him to be like, I'm gonna do this now. He didn't make it, like he didn't stick it out. He, I remember he went back and was, was gonna become an EMT or whatever, but, you know, it, it takes more than that. But it is a key, like just going out. I. Whatever that knocking doors can be a little bit figurative, right?
And, um, sometimes it's just physically knocking on doors. But that, that, that is a key. And you, you know, I, I, I a hundred percent say that that was one of the keys to me doing this today was me knocking on doors. Like, let me, let me tell another door, since we're door talking, door knocking. This is my favorite door knocking story.
So this was another neighborhood, it really actually like, like Five Mile and Overland. I'm trying to remember. This is my old neighborhood that I used to live in off of Al Ridge there. And, uh, very similar to the Legends I was just telling you about. Same era, same type of homes. And I'm in there, I'm knocking on doors and.
I remember this lady, like, she cracks the door open, just like barely lets me in, right? And, and she, she's like, oh no. Like, you know, uh, she's like, my husband was not home. You have to talk to my husband, you know? I was like, okay, well when is he gonna be home? And she's like, oh, not till, not till like nine or something like that.
So I was like, okay, no problem. You know, this is like 7:00 PM So I just, I go back at like 9:00 PM I knock on the door again. And, uh, I remember he's home and, you know, they were open to it. I, I did a walkthrough and I remember walking away at whatever, 9 45 with a check in my hand and a contract signed, you know, and it was just that, that was like, for me, that was probably 2010.
And that was that persistence of just being like, okay, I'll, I'll be back. You know? And anyway, that's one of my, that was definitely one of my favorite door knocking experiences and just. I guess maybe a confidence, you know, boosting experience to do. And
anyway, we can,
we can move off the door box and Yeah, I can still, I mean, I, I could drive you right to that house.
It was a light blue house, you know exactly where it's at. I remember the, you know, I remember the lady, I remember the next door neighbor, neighbor. I, I painted their home twice. Um, anyway, I, yeah, but those are the early years. Those are 15 years ago. I don't, I've painted thousands of homes. Thousands. I, I don't, I remember very few of them, but that's like, those are homes that are just like very clearly in my brain because, you know, those are key moments.
Yeah. Man. I, uh. I think how you said, the door knocking is kind of a figurative thing, right? 'cause it's, it's not always door knocking. It's, there's multiple ways to get out there and get yourself in front of people, all of them have in common, they're uncomfortable. They take you outta, you know, outta your comfort zone, and then they're, uh, it's just, it's just hard.
It's like working out, man. It's like you never want to, you never want to get up and do that stuff, but when you do, you always feel good afterwards.
Yeah.
Yeah,
a CHE
Huh?
yeah, yeah. That was a good one. So, yeah, so that was the early years and, um, I mean, really, we, we skipped the part where I worked for you. Did we gonna hit that at all, or?
ahead. Be nice.
so, you know, I think it's an important part of the journey. 'cause for me, I saw, I saw painting houses as, as a hundred percent just a college job. You know, it was just a summer gig, you know, make enough money to pay for college. And that was it. Like I had no, no desire to continue the painting business.
No thoughts of no plans, zero plan to continue to do it, you know? Yeah. Um, but when I, when I finished up school at ISU, you know, this is December, 2008, so 2009, you know, I came to work for you and doing sales for a siding window company. Right. And, you know, I remember coming out of that 'cause it was like, you know, I, I was, I was very, you know, I had no ex, I had nobody like teaching me how to do anything.
So it was me just. Very just off the cuff, you know, talking to people. But you know, we, we have like a plan, like, you're like, okay, we're going to, we're gonna sell a certain way and we're gonna present. And we're not the cheap guy, we're the premium guy. You know, we're, we're the company that's gonna give 'em the best quality, the best value, and we're probably gonna be the most expensive.
And that's okay because we're gonna give 'em the most and it's gonna be worth it. And, and not every customer is gonna buy, but the customers that want quality, that want the premium service, then they'll, they'll, they'll pay for it. Because, you know, that's what we offer. And, and so we, you know, we did that for, for youth for a year and a half, right?
It was about a year and a half through 2000, um, 2009 basically, right? 2000 or no, 2000. Oh, I'm, I'm mixed up. So 2008. So I graduated December, 2007. I came, worked for youth Spring of 2008. So we did that for about a year, year and a half. And, you know, I presented to customers sometimes two, three times a day, right?
Two, three hour presentations and, uh, you know, with the goal of selling the job. And so when I, when I, this is another kind of funny story. So when I, when I, you know, as that business wrapped up, we don't have to get into all the details, but that business closed, right? And so I was summer of 2009, I got married that summer and, you know, I needed, I needed some money, right?
And so I was knocking on doors again. I was going back to Pocatello. I was painting houses, but I was living in Boise. So then I was, I was knocking on doors in Boise. But you know, you, when we presented, when we sold for your company, we were in a suit and tie, you know, which is, is crazy to think about. So when I was painting, I just took everything that I learned and I just used it for painting.
So I was, I don't know if you know this, I was selling painting jobs in a suit and tie. You know that
not,
like today, I mean the average person who, who gives somebody a bid, um, you know, when they're for painting, literally has paint all over their clothes. 'cause they're just a painter. Right? And so I was, I was going in, I was giving people's bids with a tie and on the dress shirt, the whole thing.
And it's weird, like, I don't think I did it very long because I kind of was like, I realized this is not normal. But when I did it, and I remember going to a Sherwin Williams will do these lunches, right? They'll just, they'll, they'll have a grill at one of the local Sher Williams. They'll have hamburgers and they'll just feed guys, right?
So I remember going to one of those and I remember the guy looking at me and be like, so are you like a sales rep for Sher? Or like, 'cause I was
in a suit.
You
Are you like an executive for Sher Williams? Like, who are you? You know? And, and I be like, no, I'm just a, I'm spraying coat, you know? So it, it is funny that I, you know, I did that, but, you know, I, I just, you know, I didn't know any different and so I just, I just used what I knew, you know, but I went in there and I was selling, I just took everything I learned selling for you, and I just took it, I applied it to the painting world.
I don't know that I, I I, I stuck out like a sore thumb I bet but I was selling like these premium options and upgrades and, you know, and people like that, you know? And, and I think that was a, a real key for me when I was selling was I, I was like, I was doing, I was not doing it the way everybody else was doing it, and I didn't know that.
But looking back, I was weird. You know, I heard a quote the other day about marketing and they said, um, better is not better. Different is better.
I was like, wow, that's interesting.
were
I was different. I was maybe not better, but I was different. So those were the, those were the early days of, of just, yeah, just knocking on doors.
I remember, you know, I, I see we bought leads from, was it called Service Magic back then? Or, or something like that? Does that ring a bell? Do you remember? That? You pay per lead, I think it was like Service Magic or whatever. They, they changed their name a couple times. But basically it was a company that, you know, was, this is, this is the early days of the internet, which is again, makes it sound very old Riley.
But you know, what they were doing is they were, they were showing up on the Google for, you know, painters. And people would go there and they would fill out their information. It was a little bit tricky. It was like, oh yeah, like get a quote on a painting job. Give us your name, you, you hit next. Oh, we need your address.
Oh, hit next, you know, whatever. And then pretty soon they, you've given all their information. So I remember we were paying for those leads windows inside, and we were paying like 50 bucks a lead or 20 bucks a lead. So I got on in the painting world and I just did the same thing. I pretty much just stole everything I could from you.
And, and so I did that for the painting and then I, and then I was like, well, I'm gonna make my own website. So I started my own website, you know, and this was just in a season where not many painters were doing it. And so I, I had a, I got spraying coat.com. My sister made the website and I built a form that was just like the form that Service Magic used.
It started with these real generic, Hey, gimme your name and what type of project you have. They'd hit next, oh, I need your email. Oh, hit, I need your, your phone number, you know, whatever. And, um, and then I would get leads and, you know, because I did that early on, you know, I had the number one spot for painters Boise, you know, and it was just like taking something that I learned from somewhere else.
And I said, well, I'm just gonna apply it here. And that was, you know, that was a, that created momentum for us online. And it was kind of like the next phase from knocking on doors, was getting a website, getting traffic, doing SEO, all of that. And there wasn't a whole lot of competition on the SEO side back then, and that those were, those were some key moments.
man, dude, I, I'm glad you were able to take something of value from the, from the
A lot of value, man, you know, I still got the sales bag.
You do.
Yeah.
Oh, should put that in a glass case.
I dunno why it's hilarious, but I'll have to show it to you sometime.
might give you.
Well, so for the audience sake, I, I, um, started my adult working life in the, in the siding industry, putting siding on homes and windows and I grew up a, uh, another company that I worked for for a lot of years. And then, uh, I bought a branch of that company. I bankrupted a branch, branch of that company. Um. For me these years that Mark is talking about very fondly for me, were not fond years. They were some of the, um, oh, learning the hard way experiences for me. So to hear you talk about it fondly is, is kind of fun because I, you know, I was in a pity party of failure at that point in my life, and, and yet you were able to take something valuable away from it.
So it, it's a silver lining for me. It's,
Yep.
have to tell that
of these days, but
Yeah. Yeah, that's a whole nother story. So that's a good one. That's a good one.
me this man. You're, um, you said you got married, was it oh eight? You got married?
Now, 2008 was the first year in Boise, but then 2009 is when we got married that, that following summer. So Wendy, my wife now, she moved down, um, yeah. Early 2009. And then we got married in July of 2009.
And then, uh, you've got, tell us about your family,
Yeah. So, um. Yeah, so we got married in 2009 and then we've got three kids now. So our oldest, um, is, is Sam. And so he's 11. And then Colin is our second son. He is, he is nine. And then our daughter, Maylee is seven, so three kids
and uh, still in the Boise Meridian area. Um, yeah, yeah. Moved around four times.
All within the same basically mile or two. So it's kind of funny. West, west, Boise, Meridian area, and that's kind of, that's where we've been for the last 16 years. Just, um, yeah, raising a family, building a business. There's, there's all these different seasons. You know, it's funny, somebody was asking me just the other day, they're, they're kind of wanting to start a business, you know, kind of feeling like stuck.
Like not really, doesn't, don't really have a career. Love the idea of owning a business but don't know how to get started. And they're just asking me. So like, you know, I think a lot of times they see it as like, you know, it probably really sucked for a long time, but now it's okay. Like now you're doing good.
You know, and, uh, they're trying to like figure out, like, so, and when did it get easy? Like when did it get easy? And, and I, you know, it's funny, I think back and it's like, well. It's just, uh, there's just all these different layers of like, like you hit certain lids, right? You hit a certain ceiling. And you know, for me, I had, um, I hired Dan, this is like 2010.
So like, we're about a year, a year and a half in. And I hired Dan to come work for me and he was a beast. He just like, he loved the painting. He was way better at it than me. And so he, he kind of, he was like the guy, he was my foreman. He was running the jobs and like, we just started adding guys. And so we, like, we're running like a crew of five.
We, we didn't know any better and it was just Dan and a bunch of helpers and I'm out hitting the streets trying to sell jobs and, which today is, it's a horrible model, but we just didn't know any better. And so, you know, I remember a friend of ours, um, his name's Joe Patti, he's a, he's in the mortgage business, but we're sitting there and he's like, you know, he's kinda a business guy too.
And he is like, oh, so when are you guys gonna add some crews? And I remember sitting there and just being like, I. Like, I don't know, like that's, I'd have, I just, I remember I told him I'd have to be a lot smarter 'cause Yeah, like, I don't know how we would do that. We're just a big crew and we just go and we knock out jobs and you know, so today we've got here in Boise about eight crews and you know, and it's just funny to think back.
Like, I just didn't know like how else I could do it. It was just, that's, that was my world, you know? And then there's these different things, you know, when I moved away from doing all the sales, this was around 20, 20 16 and you know, I'm hiring project managers and you know, hiring office people and you know, there was just different challenges and you know, but I wanna like say is, you know.
Every part of the journey has been fun and challenging and I've had some flexibility in my schedule the whole time. That was kind of part of what this guy was asking is like, 'cause at some point you kind of arrive and you have flexibility and you, and you're making money. And like, how did, how long does that take?
You know? And I, and I just like look at that and say, you know what? I feel like I was making good money all along. And the beginning I felt like I was making good money. And, you know, it was a lot less back then, but I, I was pretty happy and I was working hard and it's no different than today. It just looks a lot different 'cause I've learned a lot.
But, um, but it's just interesting how, you know, people's perspective of business from the outside. I think sometimes they think that, you know, it's just gonna be this, it's just gonna be a horrible grind. And then, and then all of a sudden you're just like, oh, now you're established and now you're good. And, and I think some of that comes back to the pricing model that I, and I, I learned that from you, you know, it was like, you're not, you don't have to be cheap to, to, to be valuable service.
And so I just wasn't, and so, not that I charged, you know, a lot more, but like, I charged enough that it was profitable all the way from the beginning to now. And it's, uh, you know, construction, it is changed a lot. You know, all the, you know, all, all that. But, so it's a lot more than it was back then. But anyway, that's my perspective.
I don't know, what do you think about what I'm saying right now?
I, so it's what I like about hearing your perspective on this was I always felt like whenever I would take that business idea to our team in the window and siding company, the idea that we were gonna be the premium product and, and we're gonna be more than likely the most expensive one, bidding on any project, I felt like, man, like I was swimming upstream.
'cause that's, most people do not think that way. And you, you said earlier, you know, better isn't better, but different is better. And for us it was, that just made more sense to me. It's like, yeah, I may sell less projects, but the projects I do sell will be that, just have a better margin in them. And there's this really interesting thing I learned over the years, and you tell me if you've. If you agree with this after all your, your years of experience, but there's this really cool sector of people who, they want something that's premium, they're willing to pay for it. But they're also, they've worked hard for it and they're, they seem to be people who, I dunno how to put this politely.
I'm just not gonna, I'm just gonna say they, they're not entitled people. And so if there's a problem, they're easier to work with. They, uh, you know, they weren't out there trying to find the cheapest person and complain about everything they did. They just, they just seemed to be a, a easier customer base to work with.
And I, I started to learn that over the years. So it's fun to hear. I'd, I'd like to hear more about what you think of that.
Yeah. Yeah, that's kind of interesting idea. Um, man, we deal with just so many different personalities in, in our world and, um, you know, different types of projects. I. The, you know, I don't, I don't know. I, I think that, you know, I think that we, we find that, that some people, I, I'll, I'll say it this way, here's be my perspective, some customers, and we're, it's not all about the money.
It, it's about like, Hey, I trust you. Um, and, and, and maybe about the premium service, it may just be more about the trust. Like, I just, I feel comfortable with you guys. I trust you, and the money is not a big deal. Um, because it's more about the work. You know, my, one of my favorite stories from this is my wife, Wendy's, late father, um, Greg, he passed away in 20.
20 13, 20 14. Um, but, but he told me this story. He was in the piano business. He, he, he fixed, restored and, and sold pianos. And what he would, he was telling me, he's like, yeah, I, I'll be talking to somebody. They want their piano refinished and you know, this piano might have a lot of times these pianos, they're from the twenties, you know, and they were, they're gonna get their, their, their piano script and refinished.
And it's, you know, it's pretty expensive. And he would tell the customer, he would say, you know what, um, you know, the money, you know, I card for this, but like, let's not focus all on the money. Let's focus on the piano and the work that we're gonna do because this is a, this piano is gonna stay in your family for generations.
And you know, the money is, you're gonna get me money and I'm gonna spend it on, you know, I'm gonna pay my mortgage, I'm gonna pay my bills. And then the money's just gone like a year from now, two years from now. Like the money just is irrelevant. It's just we have to exchange. It's part of business. But the piano.
It's all about the piano, you know? And so, you know, he, he was a good salesman, but he, he, he made that point. And, and I've, and I've used that and I've even told that story to customers. And I remember one time I was selling the garage floor coating, and, you know, they were, they were worried about the quality.
And I, and I told 'em that story and I said, you know what, that's for me. It's about like, doing this well, and let's not obsess over the money side of it. It's about doing this well. And I remember, like, I couldn't even finish that story. And they just, like, they put their credit card out. It was just like, instantly like, okay, we wanna buy from you.
And I was like, I hadn't even like built the quote yet, you know? It was so funny. Um, so I think people resonate with that. And, and, and my, going back to what you said, so I think when customers are more, when they, when they're, it's like, no, I want somebody that's good. That's gonna do it, this's gonna do it well, and you know, or I can trust them or whatever that value is.
And, and they're not all about the money. When people obsess over like the money and like it's gotta be done cheap or whatever, like it has to be the very best deal. I gotta get, I gotta get 10 different bids from 10 different people and, and all that. I think those kind of people can be hard to work for.
And, and I think it's because they don't, they're, they're, they're, they're, they focus on the wrong thing a little bit. So I don't know if that makes sense or not to you, but that's a little different perspective than what you're saying.
was saying. But
Yeah, I think it, I think it relates, I think it's a little, it's different but similar.
So,
um.
no, there
is a, I've always appreciated working with, with folks who want quality because, you know, it did, it did another thing for us too. And I, um, you know, it still does today in my. Mobile business. Um, and in my electrolyte business, you know, it's uh, it creates a, um, a lack of a need for a service person.
I remember there was another window company in town and they, they sold, they were still expensive, but their product was cheap. Um, and they had a guy I went to church with who was their service guy who would go do all their warranty stuff and he worked full-time. He had eight months of, of a list that was gonna take him eight months to get through at any given time of warranty claims to do for this company.
And, you know, they were one of the biggest companies in town as far as volume goes. But yeah, they had to have, there was him and another guy. There were two full-time dudes that were working as just doing warranty claims. You know, and we did way less business, but we never did warranty claims 'cause our product held up.
Yeah. Yeah,
just hardly
So we didn't even have a person employed in that position.
yeah, yeah. Interesting.
So.
I love it.
uh, this, in this growth. So you've gone from college kid painting some houses just to eat, you know, make your way through college to, you come and work for me then our company crashes. So you start spraying coat. Um, I am curious, where did the name spraying coat come from?
I was trying to be creative, you know, and Columbia, that was one of the companies we bought paint from. They were called Columbia Paint and Coatings. And so I was like trying to, I think I somehow got inspired from that, the coatings and, you know, and whatever. And so we just, so I, it was just a creative like, oh, spraying coat.
Like it just came to me. I don't know what it exactly. And then it was just spraying coat, like it had like. No painting, just spraying coat. Okay. But then what I found was it was confusing. So, so like you guys sell paint, is this a car painting company? So we, we added painting to the name, we added a, a brush.
So the logo had a brush next to it for a long time and rebranded last year and, and got rid of that. But um, but yeah, that, that's it. Yeah. You miss the brush. You know, it's funny how logos. I was over at this guy's house today. We, we, very unique home. It's a home on the park and Morrison Park. It's built on poles.
It doesn't really have a foundation. It's got these big telephone sized telephone poles in the ground. It's, it's a five level home built on the side of a hill, so it's the most unique home I've ever worked at, but we, we stained it like seven years ago and he, he wants us to come back and do it again. And, um, but, um.
Yeah. And you know, it's pretty cool. He's, he's, he's up there in age and, and, and he's just like, yeah, I just trust you guys. You know, I know you'll do a great job. He's, it's not even a job. We give him a price ahead of time. It's too complicated. So we just, it's just time and materials. It's a big job. But he, he, he just trusts us.
But, but it was funny 'cause he's getting up there in age, probably doesn't see as good maybe the memory, but he's like, he didn't recognize me. But then when I explained to him the logo, oh, it's, he's like, I thought you were s spraying coat. I was like, oh, we're, we are, we're spraying coat. He's like, oh, okay.
And then I was like, new logo. He's like, oh, okay. He's like, he, he, he remembered the old logo. So, yeah. It is funny how branding, uh, it makes a big difference. And so,
fun, man. So, well, so in this, uh, in this growth of yours, what has been your, your biggest challenge?
yeah, the biggest challenge is figuring out how to get stuff done without you doing it yourself.
And.
I.
That's, you know, for me, one of, one of, one of the strengths I had was I could, I could kind of do any part of the business if I had to, if I had to do the painting, I could do the painting. If I had to do the sales, I could do the sales.
If I have to do the bookkeeping, I can do the bookkeeping. Um, you know, my, just the way my brain works, I can kind of do the numbers, I can do the hands-on stuff. I can do the, the people stuff and that, and that was great in some ways, but also hard in other ways because it's hard to let go of things and, and not do 'em yourself the way you want 'em done.
And, and the painting side, that was not very difficult. Dan was just better than me and he would say, mark, I don't need you here. Like, you don't need to be at the job just to go away. And we, we butted heads a little bit from time to time, but, but I really could just like let him do it. But then, you know, like the sales side of it, I mean, that, that was hard.
And it's still hard because. Everybody's gonna sell a little different. Right? And so, trusting guys to do it, um, maybe a little bit different than how you would do it, but trying to hire the right people, let them do it, you know, operationally, you know, how we run crews and organize crews. I mean, so I'm kind of at the point in the business where my job is, is to not really do any of the tasks.
It's to simply train and support people to do all the tasks. And if I'm doing things myself, um, you know, it's, it's just not where I need to be as a business owner. I, I have to put on my attention on managing and trying to, you know, focus on vision and strategy and culture. Those are the three things that I've gotta work on.
But those are all very, you know, touchy and, and they're, they're not as simple and straightforward as just doing the task yourself. Right? And so I think all along, that's, that's always the challenge is, um. Getting other people involved, delegating and, and, uh, letting people do it. And, you know, delegating is not as simple.
I like the, you know, Dave Ramsey, he talks about this
delegating is not just like assigning out to someone the, the task. Like, okay, you do it now. I don't do it anymore. It's not, I mean that, you could call that delegating, but, but health, when it's done in a healthy way and, and in a high performance way, um, you've gotta, you've gotta get to the point where they're doing it as well as you're doing it.
And, and that's a, and that's a journey with people you know, and 'cause you're ultimately responsible for all that stuff. And so you don't just get let go of things, but you also can't control everything either. And that's a difficult balance.
You know, it's, it's an interesting thing you say that 'cause you, you mentioned earlier that Dan did it better than you. Uh, how long did it take you before you could admit that?
Honestly, I don't think on the painting side, I. I just, it wasn't a big deal. But I do remember on the sales side, I had my buddy James Rich working for me. And I remember after like a year or two, I remember being like, James, you're better at this than me. And he was, you know, he, he, he, he, he's a natural people person, connects with people in ways I just can't.
And so, you know, and that, and I, and, and I'm happy when that happens. You know, when I look at that somebody and say, Hey, you're better than me. I'm like, that's, that's, that's the greatest thing I've, I've heard all day. You know? And I, I don't know, maybe for some people there's like a pride in, in that for me, that's just not a challenge.
Um, but, you know, sometimes maybe it's difficult to recognize somebody's doing it, just not doing it the way I would do it. And. And that's, you know, and that's okay, right? If they're gonna, if they're still going to meet the, you know, if they're gonna get it done in a way that, that's, that's, that that fits or is right, then let 'em do it.
But that's sometimes hard to distinguish. So,
somebody do it differently and still succeed. I,
yeah.
I think
big deal 'cause it's guys who can grow a business and you really can only grow to a certain point if you really hold onto that ego about, I want to be the best person here. 'cause if man, you don't hire people that are better than you in every area of the business, eventually you're just gonna hit that lid and you can't, can't grow past you. So I think that's important, man. let me ask you this. If you. If you started over, you're 18 years old again, would you do, would you do anything different?
Oh, man, that's a good question.
wife and kids here. We're just talking career.
Career.
wanna get you in trouble at home. No.
Yeah. You know, I, I think one of the things I've learned is, you know, every business has its unique challenges, you know, and, and sure, there's, there's probably some businesses that, you know, like over the last a hundred years, there's some businesses that have died and no longer exist, you know, um, you know, and so, yeah, I mean, there's, there's probably some businesses that are better than others.
Uh, you know, getting in at the right time. I mean, that, that probably matters to some degree, but I would say 90, 99% of the time. It just doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you, if you're a cleaning, if you're just cleaning homes and, and you're gonna be a janitorial, you know, business, if you're gonna do a painting business, if you're gonna learn it.
Being in, in the computer world, technology world, um, you know, there's just opportunity in, in everywhere, right? Siding, windows, oil, electrolytes, like, there's a lot of different opportunities out there. 'cause I think so many people, they get stuck on what business should I do? As in they have to pick the right business.
And yeah, there, there's probably some, some thought that should go into exploring a business, looking, what does it look like, you know, for it to scale. Some businesses are gonna scale easier than others. Competition, all of that. But really what I find is that. Ball businesses have similar challenges. You know, I was, I got a friend, he owns Mechanic Shop, you know, and um, and just talking with him a couple days ago, just kind of their general numbers, you know, and it was like very similar to our numbers, right?
Like the cost of goods, you know, what's our direct, you know, materials and labor and you know, and it's just different, you know, even though he, he's producing double what I do per hour, but he also has to pay their labor a lot higher and he has to, you know, do this and do that differently. And there's different liability and all these things.
And so, you know, two very different businesses and, and maybe I'm selling $80 an hour, he's selling a hundred 16th hour. Yeah, but he has different constraints. And so, you know, my whole point here is, yeah, I could look at it and say, is there better businesses to go into than the painting business, more profitable, whatever.
Probably, you know, plumbers, electricians, they, you know, they produce twice what we do per hour, but different constraints, different labor, everything's different. So I think that's a long way of answering your question and say, probably not, you know?
Uh.
that's fair,
that's a, there's a lot of wisdom on what you just said. 'cause there's, it's easy to look at someone else's gross dollar amount and think, oh my gosh, they're amazing. But you don't see the net dollar amount. You don't, you don't see what it looks like. And so, you know, and I have. You've heard me say before, uh, a well run business is a, it's a pleasure and they're just, it's a fun thing to do. It's almost like playing a game, a poorly run business. It's like a bad marriage. It's just terrible overcomes your life and your emotions and it, you know, so A lot of wisdom in what you just said, man.
Yeah, yeah.
well, listen, this is the Go Earn Your Salt podcast. When you hear the term go earn your salt, what comes to mind?
Sweating,
doing something hard,
again.
sweating going on your salt. Like, you know, go sweat, go do something hard. Um, and, um, I think, you know, your brand is, is for people that are gonna do hard things and, and they're gonna go, you know, and they're gonna earn it, right. And they're gonna go earn it. And so I, I love that.
Uh, I love that tagline and that's what comes to mind. Hard work.
Sweat. Yep.
Um,
I.
your favorite pastime?
Favorite pastime. You know, we talked at the beginning about riding dirt bikes and that that was definitely my, my main hobby as a kid, you know, growing up and, and really took a break from that for, for a long time. Um, 10, 10, 15 years really did not ride dirt bikes just because I was in a different season.
Right. You know, I was, when I bought one of our first vehicles, I, I sold my street bike. I sold my dirt bike, but now I'm in this new season and so I, I got the adventure bike and we've done a couple, a couple three day adventure rides and, um, and it, it kind of reminded me like I do love riding dirt bikes, so
That's that's, one of my favorite,
version of dirt biking. You realize that, right?
definitely.
All right, dude, you're eating a hamburger and they put the veggies on the bottom underneath the patty. that good or bad?
It is fine. I just flip it over, I guess.
seeds on the bottom. Oh my gosh.
Yeah, that is kind of weird. I don't know. I like to,
how to debate
eating it You're not taking it apart and putting it back together
the veggies on the bottom. I don't know, man. I, I don't know if I'd be too concerned about that, but it does seem a little off, doesn't it?
it's it's way off, man. It's, it's, it's wrong. It's immoral. Uh, I play it. So, uh, scariest moment of your life.
Scariest moment in my life. One of the things that comes to mind was I was, I. I was climbing Mount Adams, so this is a 12,000 foot peak in, um, north of Hood River on the, on the Columbia, and me and a couple old friends decided to climb it, so it's a glacier at the top. And so we hiked up, we got to the top of the glacier.
Then on our way down there was like a, basically like a little cliff. Of, um, and what you can do is it, it had like a, almost like a, like a cliff, but then it had like a, an a little area where people, what they would do is you would slide down the center of this glacier. Do you remember this story?
anyway, so it was kind of like a slide.
And you would, you would slide down the glacier on your back and you don't wanna go over off the cliff part. But if you went down the center where it had been carved down, you would use your, your, your ax that you're hiking with and you would, you would grind it into this, into the glacier, and you would slide down it.
Well. I was in this situation where I was kinda like halfway down it, and I, um, had to climb back up it, and it's hard to explain the details, but it was sketchy. It was really sketchy of us, like falling off the edge of this glacier cliff. And so we made it out okay, but it was a precarious situation. I ended up breaking my ankle on the way down there and, uh, that was no good.
But, um, that was a sketchy situation. I, that always sticks in my brain. So
that's what comes to mind.
That could out worse, for sure. All right. Another question on the lighter side here. Were you ever kicked out of school? You ever get suspended?
Well, I got a major discipline, so I'd never been kicked outta school, but I did get a major discipline for eating a rat eye in zoology class.
Do you remember that story?
A what?
A rat eye?
Like a rodent?
Yeah. We were dissecting a rat in zoology class and the eye, there's like five of us all around this table, and the eye is like tiny. It's disintegrated 'cause it's in the whatever chemical it was tiny like the size of a shriveled pea. But maybe even smaller than that.
And we're, I'm holding it in my hand and everybody's around him. He is like, I'll give you 20 bucks if you swallow it. And so, uh, uh, and so everybody was like, yeah, I'll, I'll give you 20 bucks. So I was like, oh, I just swallowed it. And of course, the whole class, like you erupts, like, oh, mark just ate the rough.
So the teacher gets involved, they take me to the principal and they give me a major discipline and they, and they wrote on the paper, I wish I had this student ate a rat in class, even though student knew they were not supposed to. That's what they wrote on it.
actually said, don't eat the rat.
I don't know. But that they said, I ate a rat. I was like, no, I didn't eat rat. I ate a rat. I. So they gave me major discipline and my mom thought it was hilarious. And, um, that was the most trouble I ever got into school.
So
Oh
you probably at school a couple times. I did not, but I did get a major discipline.
that's probably you. You have never told me that story. Um, I'm really glad to hear that, man. Oh my gosh. Um, bucket list challenge, man. You got something, something on your bucket list you wanna do. I.
You know, I really wanna learn Spanish, I wanna be fluent in Spanish. That's one of my bucket list items. Um, I'm not a big traveler, so I think lots of people are like, oh, I wanna go here, I'll go there. Um, that's it. I wanna learn Spanish. That's a bucket list thing for me. I'm not sure exactly why, but I would love to be able to be fluent Spanish
one day.
cool. Book recommendation. What's a, what's a book you'd recommend everyone read? I.
I think if, um, you know, it kinda depends on, you know, what, which, which, you know, what you do, but if you, if you manage, uh, a team, if you're involved with a team, um, one of my favorites is the Five Dysfunctions of A Team by Patrick Lencioni. And, um, you know, I, I love that book and, um, I've revisited it a couple times over the years and it just is a really good, easy breakdown of, you know, what, what the, the importance of just building trust and all the way up to focusing on results.
And, um, that's one of my favorites.
Nice man. Well, where can spray coat painting be found?
Yeah. Easiest way to, to, yeah. The easiest way to get ahold of us is, is probably through the website, spray inco.com. Um, we are, um, yeah, we're on social media and, um, doing a lot more videos right now. So we're, have recorded like about 40 videos in the last few weeks, so we're, we'll be dropping those, you know, every, every couple days here soon.
So I'm excited about that.
Nice, man. Well, my friend, I appreciate you being on here. We're an hour and six minutes into this thing, so I appreciate you being here, mark. , We've, we've gotten together so many times over the years and it's just been like this ongoing thing and I, I want you just to know how much your friendship means to me and, always having a, you know, somebody to celebrate wins and
Yeah.
somebody to cry on
when I'm going through it.
So
Yeah, yeah. Likewise Riley. Man, I appreciate it. It's, it is fun. We've got a lot of history and you know, we, we've been through a lot and it, it's fun to go through and just tell some old stories and, uh, just kind of revisit the journey that we've been on for, man, for over 20 years now. So, um, yeah, appreciate you, grateful for you as a friend, man, and, and I'm glad you're doing this.
This is a lot of fun.
you're a good dude. It's Mark. Go in your salt man.
All right. Talk to you soon.