In this episode, Aaron sits down with Mike Barrett and Bill Curtindale, co-founders of Pro Paint Solutions in the Seattle metro area. Both Mike and Bill spent years as employees and eventually senior leaders at another commercial painting company before striking out on their own in March 2021. Now five years in, they share how they built a profitable, debt-free business, kept their 50/50 partnership strong, and set a plan to step back from day-to-day operations over the next five years.

This conversation is especially relevant for painting company owners worried about key employees leaving to start competing businesses, and for employees weighing whether to make the leap into ownership themselves.

Key Takeaways

• How Mike and Bill's decade-plus at a former employer shaped their approach to ownership
• Why it only took about three months to go from "we should consider this" to launch day
• The cultural commitments they made to avoid repeating their former employer's mistakes
• How they built a debt-free, self-funded company from year one
• What they track weekly to stay fiscally disciplined and catch problems early

• How a 50/50 partnership survives disagreements without a tiebreaker
• Their 10-year plan to grow to $15M in revenue and step back from daily operations

Connect with Our Guests

Bill on LinkedIn

Mike on LinkedIn

Website: Pro Paint Solutions

Connect with Us

⁠⁠⁠Podcast website⁠⁠⁠

Request a FREE 1-Hour Consultation with David Chism

Episode Sponsors

⁠The Wooster Brush Company⁠

⁠⁠⁠The Commercial Painting Industry Associate⁠⁠⁠ (CPIA)

DC Marketing Group

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Episode Summary

Two years after American Industrial Partners (AIP) acquired PPG's architectural coatings business and launched Pittsburgh Paint Company, Todd Gatesy and John Moore join the show to clear up the confusion contractors have been running into in the field. They discuss why some stores, trucks, and labels still say PPG, what's actually changed versus what hasn't, and how the distribution and dealer network works now. The conversation also gets into the private equity ownership timeline, rising raw material and paint prices, product quality, and where Todd and John see the biggest growth opportunities for commercial painting contractors over the next several years.

Key Takeaways

• The AIP acquisition and the move from PPG to Pittsburgh Paint Company
• PPG vs. Pittsburgh Paint: what's still PPG-branded and why
• Store footprint (500+ stores, 2,500 independent dealers) and how the dealer network fills coverage gaps
• The rebrand: timeline, what's changing and why product formulas aren't changing
• Private equity ownership and what a future sale could mean for the company
• Why paint prices went up and why price increases don't come back down

Connect with Our Guests

Todd Gatesy: tgatesy@pittsburghpaints.com | 239-270-4621

John Moore: johnmoore@pittsburghpaints.com | 724-683-1807

Connect with Us

⁠⁠⁠Podcast website⁠⁠⁠

Request a FREE 1-Hour Consultation with David Chism

Episode Sponsors

⁠The Wooster Brush Company⁠

⁠⁠⁠The Commercial Painting Industry Associate⁠⁠⁠ (CPIA)

DC Marketing Group

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, share and subscribe!

Episode Summary

After over 50 episodes of Aaron interviewing others, David flips the script in this special episode. From his multi-generational upbringing in Chicago to building a multi-city commercial painting business and co-founding the Commercial Painting Industry Association (CPIA), Aaron opens up about the decisions, planned and unplanned, that shaped his career and led to building the CPIA.

Key Takeaways

• Why Aaron relocated his family out of Illinois, and how he restructured the business to run it remotely over several years
• The frustration that led Aaron and co-founder Steve Hester to start their own peer-group association (CPIA), and how it differs from typical "guru-led" masterminds
• An honest conversation about how Aaron and his wife have approached traditional roles, and how their kids have adjusted to his travel schedule
• What’s next for the CPIA

Connect with Aaron

Aaron Moore on LinkedIn

Connect with Us

⁠⁠⁠Podcast website⁠⁠⁠

Request a FREE 1-Hour Consultation with David Chism

Episode Sponsors

⁠The Wooster Brush Company⁠

⁠⁠⁠The Commercial Painting Industry Associate⁠⁠⁠ (CPIA)

DC Marketing Group

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, share and subscribe!