Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christopher Ansley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Christopher thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It was November 2019. I was a Project manager for a residential solar company; I had been running the entire operations side of things for about a year. This was a start-up company, and I came to the company to bring insight and improve the operations side of the business. I never truly felt like I was compensated according to the amount of hats I wore for the company, but I kept going. When covid hit, everything changed. The company still had work, but we had slowed down tremendously. I got a call from one of the owners; in the conversation, he said that I was essentially being terminated, but I would be getting paid my usual salary for the next six months. I honestly had no idea what I would do. I honestly fell into a bit of a depression. Covid was everywhere. We were isolated in our homes, and I just lost my job; I was completely lost, or so it felt. I quickly started applying at other solar companies, but no one was hiring, and if they were hiring, it was for solar installation positions. I could not lower my wage from what I was currently at; we had just bought our first house and had a newborn. I needed to do something. So, I started a handyman service. I did everything at least once, from washing cars to pouring concrete pads. I enjoyed it but wanted more money and the line of work. One day, I did a detailed car wash for one of my neighbors; after the wash, he was pleased with the work, and we started talking about what I wanted to do. Honestly, I had no idea at the time. He came up with a way to help me. He had a handheld paint sprayer, which you get from Home Depot, and you have to fill up every 5 minutes. He said to start advertising fence staining. I thought, of course, when I was 18, a friend and I started a fence staining business. I enjoyed it, but due to the way things ended with the business, I never even thought about starting one up myself; once I did my first fence stain I knew this could be my Niche. Even though I had a handheld sprayer, it took me almost 8 hours to stain 200 feet of fencing. I wanted this now. Little by little, fence by fence, I saved up to buy a commercial sprayer, and once we had that, I felt unstoppable

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

I started in this industry out of necessity, but that quickly grew from an obligation to something I became passionate about. During the start-up of my business during the COVID era, everyone became a contractor out of necessity. This truly brought out some of the worst people and some of the best; I had multiple customers. depict interactions with contractors described as nothing short of criminal. Some contractors would accept jobs, take the deposit, and run; this was becoming such an issue that many people stopped trusting local contractors and were becoming more inclined to go with commercial companies. The turning point for me was my first horizontal Cedar fence build. A customer of mine accepted a bid from me, and we scheduled the installation. A few days prior to the installation, he backed out; it turns out he accepted a much lower bid from another contractor. Unfortunately, the contractor took the money and ran. At that moment, I felt like I was obligated to change the current conception of the local contractors. I ensured those customers I worked with knew I was honest. From that moment forward, I ensured that we showed our customers that they were like family to us; our company follows closely to the Marine Corps values of Honor, courage, and commitment; as a Marine myself, I knew these values could continue with our business. our definition of these values as it relate to business follows Honor. We ensure we will never lie to our customers about anything or mislead them in any way; courage means to us the ability to make a change in our community and spread contractor secrets when no one else will. Commitment means to us that we will never leave a job undone or a customer unsatisfied. We always strive for the best experience, and we know that is not always possible, but our model is to give it 110 percent every day. We are a family-owned business. My wife’s father was a firefighter in San Antonio, and I am a Marine and cancer survivor; because of this, we always offer military, first responder, and medical discounts. This allows us to give back the best way we can. We stand by our work. We offer high-end stains and seals for any exterior woodwork. we also specialize in custom cedar fence builds and custom gates. we look forward to meeting you.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During Covid, I had to pivot from being a residential solar company Project manager/operations manager. Being let go during COVID made me step out of my comfort zone and dive into Entrepreneurship. I did struggle with all the paperwork and back office items and tasks for a while but it is not as daunting as it seems.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Honestly, I struggled I had no capital in the beginning, and after every job, I purchased more equipment. until I hit a point where I needed more income. I went through a program called Semper fi Fund, and they gave me a 20 thousand-dollar grant that really put me over the top. I no longer need most tools, but as an Entrepreneur, you already know that there is always another purchase that is needed. but this helped tremendously

Contact Info:

• Website: Stainingisthename.com
• Instagram: Ansleystaining
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stainingisthename/
• Yelp: Ansley Staining & Exterior works
• Other: Tiktok: Stainingisthename

Image Credits
Desiree Ansley Christopher Ansley