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

Derek, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think the recipe to being successful includes some combination of discipline, perseverance, accountability and surrounding yourself with good people. I have been very fortunate to have great people around me from different fields that teach me so much about business and help me grow professionally and personally. I think discipline is important because there are times I have to do the things I don’t necessarily feel like doing. Perseverance is necessary for success because you may not be an immediate success but if stay focused on the goals at hand you realize those goals can be obtained and you can make new goals.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into painting as a side gig while I was getting my master’s degree in mental health counseling. I fell in love with how every job was unique and provide me with an opportunity to problem solve. I also enjoy painting because most days you can look back at what you did and see progress. My primary focus is residential repainting and working with contractors to complete the painting part of their projects. I believe painting is rewarding because it’s the phase of a project where it goes from looking like a construction project to a home. One focus of my business that i believe sets me apart is my flexibility. We mostly work in peoples lived in homes, so we have to work hand in hand with customers to adapt to their schedules to get things done efficiently and in a timely manner.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson that I had to unlearn is that I don’t need to micromanage the team around me. I had to learn that i hired the people around me because I trusted their skills and i needed to let my team have the opportunity to take the lead at different times,

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

One major pivot in my career was the change in mindset from painting as a side gig to my full-time career. Before I got my degree I was painting with the end goal of getting my degree and getting into counseling. After I got my degree, I was seeing clients and doing therapy as my primary source of income and still painting. It was a difficult decision because I had paid for schooling and invested a ton of time to get my degrees. However, I’m very happy with how things have played out and I would make the same choice if I had to do it again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.derekrufpainting.com/