Thrive Tribe Tales | Foothills Painting

THRIVE: Tell us about Foothills Painting?

BEN: We’re a company about people, we just happen to do painting! We do both residential and commercial painting (interior, exterior and cabinets).

THRIVE: How long have you been in business?

BEN: We’ve been in business for 14 years!

THRIVE: Where did the idea come from to create your business?

BEN: I did an internship back in college with College Works Painting where I met my now business partners and great friends. After being with College Works for a bit, we decided to start our own company. What we thought would be a good gig to help pay off college debt has turned into not just a career but also a really meaningful lifestyle. It’s been the most fulfilling, challenging, and fun adventure. I’m proud of what we’re building and pumped for what’s to come!

THRIVE: What was your biggest success in 2023?

BEN: Building our new solar division Blu Solar. Here’s our solar website if you want to check it out!

THRIVE: What recent challenge did you face?

BEN: 2020 presented challenges to so many businesses, ours included. It forced us to quickly pivot, get creative and make changes to aspects of our business like our sales process, marketing plan and even our team culture. We solved it by including our whole team in the brainstorming process of what needed to change, ideas on how to change it and then implementing those changes. Ideas came up that we never would have thought to implement had we not been faced with those (dare I say it again?) unprecedented times. We had to be willing to change, try new ways of doing business, and slow down to learn (so many hours spent to get the PPE loan. Grateful we got it!). Those challenges ended up creating new ways of doing business that we now really enjoy. It’s a cliché, but seeing a challenge as an opportunity really can make all the difference.

THRIVE: What’s your favorite piece of professional advice you’ve received? How did you implement it into your business?

BEN: Slowww Downnn. As business owners, we are so on the move and getting the limitless todo’s completed. But slowing down, taking time to think about your business and the direction you want it to go, is critically important if you want to build something special.

THRIVE: What’s your favorite quote that would inspire other entrepreneurs and business leaders for 2024?

BEN: “I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.” – Stephen Jay Gould