In August, I was asked by Canvas Rebel to share more of our story! In this article, we discuss my background, ways of growing clientele, my personal hero, and how we funded the business. It’s always an honor to share my experience with others!

Meet Pat Murray

August 22, 2024

We were lucky to catch up with Pat Murray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Pat, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

This one is a no-brainer; my hero is my dad, Mike Murray. Now, I certainly didn’t always feel this way, as once upon a time I was quite a rebellious young adult. However, the thing happened to me that happens to many people as they grow up: I realized my parents were right! As time has passed, I’ve found myself being drawn to my father’s character more and more with the hopes of exemplifying it. My dad worked in the corporate world for years until the financial crisis of ’08 when he was laid off. This forced him to retreat inside himself and think about his life, goals, and what is most important to him. He ended up deciding to pursue entrepreneurship and bought a failing pet supplies business. He saw its potential and turned it around into a wonderful business that has continued to thrive and grow.
My journey mirrors his experience very closely. I worked in a corporate-like position and became increasingly unhappy, until I reached a point internally where I needed to do something different. I left the big job to start a business from scratch. I contribute part of my business’ success to following the example my dad has given me. Not only do we talk all the time, but most of the lessons I’ve learned are by simply watching the way he lives his life and runs his business. Some very basic yet incredibly important lessons I’ve learned from him include going above and beyond to treat people well, selling a high quality product or service, and creating an environment where employees are happy and can thrive.
There’s a paradoxical nature when it comes to customer service: When a business owner is selfishly consumed about “getting theirs” they will surely miss the real feast. However, when a business owner focuses on giving and treating people well, the rewards returns tenfold. It’s an approach of faith, of sorts. There is an immediate reward of feeling good about yourself in treating folks well, and then the faith that word of your good deeds will travel, bringing about more business and more opportunities to help and serve others. When it comes to selling a quality product or service, I’ve learned how to set myself apart from any competition by offering the best quality in our field, just like my dad. If a customer wants the best, they know to go to the Murray boys! And lastly, I’ve watched my dad keep the same employees for years and saw how happy they were and wondered how he does it. The trick to it was in fact no trick it all; He pays them well and treats them even better. Again, the selfish and near-sighted business owner is concerned of only getting theirs, while the conscientious one sees the big picture. What you put out into the world is what you get back. By giving employees a great place to work, a business owner can expect retention, to trust their workers to do a good job, watch them grow within the business, and then the owner can turn their attention to growth. I’m so incredibly grateful to have a mentor in my life like this, to watch and to talk to regularly about business and all of life’s questions. Love you, dad!

Pat, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Pat and I own Murray’s Modernized Furnishings! We specialize in cabinet and furniture refinishing and painting, serving Yavapai County. As I mentioned before, some time ago I made a huge life change to leave my career in hospitality management to start my own business, which has been a dream of mine for years. I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and had already been working on furniture as a hobby for a few years. The business began simply as a side hustle and turned into a full time gig in a short period time thanks to the support of our community. We have morphed and grown since our inception and are grateful to be where we are today!
What sets us apart from other companies is that we are the best at what we do. This isn’t meant to come off egotistically, but the fact is, that we don’t do a little bit of everything; We do one thing exceptionally well. We have a specialized focus of painting and refinishing furniture and cabinets, therefore all of our time and energy goes into doing that at the highest level of quality. We use top of the line products and professional practices that are often overlooked by other companies. What we do isn’t just changing the color of wood, we’re seeking a factory-like fine finish that will last a lifetime. We’re not just looking to get the job done, we’re hoping to build relationships with our clients and give them a positive, personal experience to remember. We often work on pieces of furniture that hold sentimental value to the client, therefore we must treat every job with incredible care and love. When painting kitchen cabinets, we’re working in someone’s home, where our clients break bread and make memories. We don’t take that lightly, as we’ve been tasked with improving a sacred space for folks that must be treated with respect and finished with all minor details kept in mind. We recognize that our services may not be for everyone, as people’s needs vary, but for clients who want the highest quality work and the best customer service around know they can count on us! I’m thrilled to have been able to build a company that I can proudly stand behind. It’s what I’ve always wanted and had missed in my previous career: the ability to focus on what is important and trust that if we live by certain principles and don’t take shortcuts, then we will be taken care of. This has proved true for me in life and business so I intend to keep doing it!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

This is an interesting story! To be quite honest, I wasn’t fully sure what my plan was other than starting my own business. All I had was the simple idea of refinishing furniture as a side hustle until I figure out the “big idea”. I was sure to build a personal prudent reserve before I left my previous job to cover our expenses in case there wasn’t much profit to start. I also took a part time job cleaning houses to make sure at least some money was coming in. I didn’t want to invest too much into this presumed side gig at first, as I had no clue if I’d still be doing it in a few months. I already had most of the basic tools needed to begin, so all I had to buy was a cheap paint sprayer and a few other odds and ends to start. Luckily I had a place to work (my garage) so that obviously helped immensely. Once I completed a few pieces for profit, I realized I was having a lot of fun and perhaps there would be an actual demand for what I do. Within a few months, I made the leap to pursue my business full time and made the decision to invest more into it slowly but surely. As money came in, I would buy tools and materials that would help me do my job more efficiently and to achieve a better finish. To answer the question simply, I really didn’t need very much capital at all to start- maybe $200 and a place to work. What it really took was the guts to actually pursue my dream, the willingness to not have secured income for a bit, and learning how to methodically invest in the business as time went on and as the business grew.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I don’t do too much advertising currently, but have been able to continue to grow. I attribute this to a few things. First of course is word of mouth. When people have positive experiences with quality work, and fair prices, they will want to talk about it. It’s human nature to want to share good things in your life with other people , and we try to be one of those good things. This is one reason why we insist upon customer satisfaction. We also insist on satisfaction because we simply want to do a good job and stand behind our work. Not everyone will leave a review or pass our name along, but we want to feel good about the work we do and make sure the customer knows they are in good, caring hands. When we know we have left no stone unturned, that we’re not worried about any bad press coming in, that we’ve done good work and treated everyone well, then we can proudly and confidently move forward without fear.
Second, we believe our growth in clientele can be attributed to our online presence. We document all of our work and share it on different platforms in hopes that someone will see our quality work and invite us into their home to help improve their space as well! These posts come in the form of before and after photos, quality videos demonstrating our process, and funny videos of us working to demonstrate that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and enjoy what we do. I insist on having fun, otherwise I would just go back to an unfulfilling career that’s probably less work! People feel the energy, they can see with their own eyes that we do good work, and also see that we’re human and approachable. Again, it’s all very simple stuff we’re talking about, nothing new or groundbreaking. By practicing these tenets consistently and sticking to our guns, we’ve been able to please our customers and grow consistently.