We love sharing paint and decor ideas with all of you, but we thought we'd add a personal touch to our newsletter by giving you a peek at the lesser known, funny (and sometimes quirky!) sides of the people who make Hester Painting & Decorating the incredible company it is!
First up is Jeff Hester. Not only did he enthusiastically provide awesome info, it is rather appropriate that he be first as he is the eldest son of founder, Tom Hester and has been with the company for close to 40 years!
1. How long have you been with Hester? In the painting business?
40 years this May!
2. What is your favorite part of your job?
Getting to meet new people every day. Being part of a team that is considered the BEST in the industry. Working for and getting to know three generations of customers and their families over the years. Having customers become friends throughout the years and having them call me for questions about their homes - sometimes the questions don’t even pertain to painting, they just call and ask because they say we are the best at what we do. Watching painters/friends of mine start their careers as apprentices and work until they can retire from the industry.
3. What is the most unusual job you have ever been asked to bid on?
There have been quite a few unusual jobs! A few that come to mind are: preparing and painting the fire escapes on the exterior of the Drake Hotel - walking out on these old metal fire escapes that high up was unnerving to say the least. Also I would say traveling to out of town projects like Lake Tahoe, Truckee California, Sun Valley Idaho, New York City, and Northwood Wisconsin are a few that were unique to say the least. The most unusual I would say is the Gold Leaf Dome at Skokie city hall.
4. Tell us one thing about you that no one would ever guess.
I miss the days when I would go into work in my painters whites and work my 8 hours painting and go home and not worry about anything else about work like schedule, having enough work for all the men, calling customers to set up appointments, taking calls from employees/customers about problems or issues that may have occurred each day, and all the fun things that go along with running a company!
