We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andre McHenry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andre below.

Hi Andre, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

We focus on making home upgrades more affordable and cost effective for residential home owners. We also hire many kids from local high schools and give people who messed up in life a chance and opportunity to become someone no matter there background or race.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Me as the owner I like to go and meet each customer personally to let them know no matter a person status in life we all are the same and deserve the respect of a personal meeting with who your going to spend your $$ with, also just giving them the satisfaction of having someone who can analyze and is knowledgeable of determining what’s needs to get done. My outfit serves many services such as retaining walls , chimneys , rebuilds , brick replacement, tuck pointing , water proofing, restoration of historic buildings finding matches and making the building look like it’s remained preserved in its natural state.

What sets us apart is the way we go about conducting business we’re very fast and efficient, we also serve everyone no matter the size of the job we’re there to work. And w always treat everyone with respect no matter the work or job.

I personally didn’t have much leadership or or remodels growing up to look up to. And as being a person from here I think it’s very important to teach our youth what life is really about and equipping them with the knowledge and tools to better there / families life’s. I get a kick out of watching boys become men and make that leap from being a boy to becoming a man. A responsible adult. My company also stands out due to our team building program l. We spend time after work as a team and reflect and enjoy our time together building chemistry and bond that goes outside of work. Such as paintballing , bbqs , road trips , feeding the homeless I challenge my guys to be the best version of themselves not for just them but for our community.

And I’m finding out that it works very well me with me being a leader and big brother guiding them it translates to them doing it in there community some of my guys that are young as 18 are mentoring younger kids in there neighborhoods. I also have been traveling the world the last 4 years going to sacred places and very old historic monuments to learn and implement a little bit of all the building around the world here. It’s like the funnest homework to do traveling and learning. Not only about history but why the buildings last so long

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being in the trades here wasn’t easy nor was it fair. I’ve dealt with being racially profiled and a large amount of racism. It thought me how to have thick skin and let my work and personality do the talking. It also taught me that it’s ok to take chances on yourself. Due to going through that from 18-27 I harnessed my craft and it kind of lit a fire inside me to out perform the people with the negative mindset.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

First starting out I worked on my reputation and did projects at a very low price to get my name out there and to acquire the tools and vehicles I needed to grow. Every job I did I put a little bit of $$ away. And as time went on it accumulated over time. I’m very never took a business loan and im grateful for that. You have to be able to grow at a comfortable rate and not bite off more than you can chew

Contact Info:

• Website: https://McHenry-masonry.com
• Facebook: McHenry masonry

Image Credits

Guatemala, Mayan temple , Morocco