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

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I think that every small business owner has had this thought from time to time. Starting a small business from scratch isn’t for the faint of heart, and there are certainly days I miss the freedom of a clock in, clock out job. However, I was never happy at those jobs. I always found myself in middle management positions and honestly it was the worst fit for an entrepreneur at heart. I had all the responsibilities, and none of the creative benefits. I think a lot of people can identify with this type of pain.

However, life is seasonal. Those middle management jobs may have been a season of preparation. Learning about how I wanted to be treated as an employee who often felt my loyalty and extra efforts went unappreciated. My Father once said that there are two types of people who are promoted from a history of being mistreated in the job place. One, who when promoted thinks it is “Their turn” and treat all their employees just like they had been treated. Making their employees stay late, go with lower pay and flaunt their authority. Then there are the people who think “When I’m in charge, I will do better.” I strive to be the latter.

I pay my employees their worth. I give them massive flexibility. I take them out often, I praise them when things are done well, or when they bring an idea to the table that makes a positive impact. I give them holiday time off, and regular raises, and I think they will all tell you that working for me is a wonderful work experience. In return they give me their best everyday on the job. We have a positive work environment and a lot of camaraderie.

However, with those benefits to the employees comes hardships to the business owner. I am often the one that goes without the paycheck when business is slow. I work the longest hours. I find myself taking the work home with me mentally constantly, and mostly carry the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders alone.

So are there nights that I think to myself, “I could sell it all tomorrow and just go get a job. I could have more time to work on fun creative things instead of creativity for hire..” But the truth is, It wouldn’t make me happy. There is no regular job in this world that could bring me the satisfaction of knowing that I am doing things to the best of my ability, making clients happy, providing wages to people who need it, and doing it all with integrity and with something that is completely mine. I will never go back to a regular job.

A wonderful friend of mine, Lauren O’Quinn Burns, fellow business owner and also fellow former restaurant industry, said to me once, “When you finally make it as a business owner you realize you will never be poor again. You will always know how to make your own money.” She didn’t mean just poor in your finances. She meant poor in hope. There is nothing wrong with waiting tables if you love it, but if you don’t love what you do every single day, even the hard days, you aren’t working in your purpose. Once you find what you are on this planet to do, you will never work another day in your life.

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?

My business is called Resurrect Wood Refinishing. We focus on cabinet refinishing here in Central Florida. I got my start in the business working for my sister and brother in law. They bought a cabinet refinishing franchise in 2015. I desperately wanted out of the restaurant industry. I wanted regular work hours. I wanted to spend Saturdays at my nephews soccer games and not smelling of fried food and sticky drinks. I knew it would be tough work but I wanted to give it a try.

I first started on the bottom as a regular technician, scrubbing and sanding and learning the sprayer. It was really hard physically at first. I would go home and barely be able to keep my eyes open to eat my dinner. The men they hired to be my leads kept quitting and eventually by default I became the lead tech. The bosses noticed that my degree in fine art and background in painting came in rather handy when mixing color matches and doing stain restorations or custom color matches. I loved the process, and found my creative heart being fed from using these skills in a way I had never dreamed of.

After being an intrical part of building the business into a success, my family decided they had other business ventures they were ready to move on to. I thought I would try to buy the business from them, but it was a little too successful and I just didn’t have those kinds of means. I was devastated. I couldn’t imagine continuing to run the business working for strangers.

I had a mentor who I admired greatly. He had discussed giving me a loan for the downpayment of the business to purchase and when the sale of the company went through to new ownership, I called him distraught. He was very encouraging and assured me that this was likely “the greatest thing to ever happen” to me. He encouraged me to think about starting my own company.

I was very afraid. There are a lot of comforts that come from owning a franchise. You have a whole community to ask questions to, you have instructions on the products, warranties, product development and so many other benefits. I had just spent five years learning all of the franchise’s systems and products. How would I ever replace that? My mentor laughed at me in jest. He asked me “Do you really think you can’t do your own research and find your own products?” This stretched my beliefs. Maybe I could really just start my own company?

I teach a Christian yoga class at my local church God’s House Orlando. I had just guided the class out of Shavasana, into a gentle worship time, when one of my best friends and employees came up to me and quietly said ” You should call the company Resurrect.” That was so on point. I couldn’t deny that it was time to start my own business in wood refinishing.

We landed our first client in April of 2021. Not a great time to start a business right after a pandemic but that was just another blessing. We were able to start small with just one big account. It gave me time to sample new products, try new techniques and equipment and get a handle on doing this on my own.

At the beginning I was trying to brand my company on being high end refinishers. After being hired to fix many of my competitions work over and over, I realized I was doing this on a higher level then other refinishers in the area. However, I think that ultimately wasn’t the greatest strategy for the average customer. The average customer over the last five years just wanted the cabinets white and wanted a good deal. They didn’t really value what we were bringing to the table with higher end products, specialized skillsets, attention to details and streamlined niche services. However, as the trends began to bend and change, I learned really quickly you have to learn to bend and stretch right along with it. The golden days of just painting the kitchen white were ending, it was time to level up my skill sets to really stay relevant and be a part of big transformations.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I truly believe that living every single day in gratitude, will greatly increase your joy and sense of fulfillment. I don’t just tell my customers “Thank You”. I leave them custom thank you cards. I leave them a gift set with a handmade candle to help get the house smelling homey again. I leave a touch up kit, offer lifetime touchups, and discounts for referrals and additional projects. I would not have my business without my customers and I try to make them feel valued. They are my biggest resource, and the friendship that has developed with us by trusting us with their project is something I never take for granted. I also send out Holiday cards and sometimes just text messages to check in on their pets and lives. I think that personal connection and those personal touches does more branding for our reputation than $500 on social media ads will ever do. I really make sure their expectations were set correctly and we deliver what we promise.

Any advice for managing a team?

Sharing the business success with the employees that work so hard to help get you there, is a big one for morale. They are much more likely to work harder and longer when they really feel a win for the company is a win for them too. It doesn’t take much. Just a small bonus here or there. Buy a round of Starbucks and deliver them to the job site. Verbal recognition when days are hard and they kept their heads down anyway. These things share the successful moments and then when there are moments of not so successfulness, such as when business is slow, money gets lean, If I have to ask to hold payroll an extra day, or they have to deal with an unhappy customer yelling or acting unprofessionally, they know the company is on their side. We’re in it together. And not in a fake way where we say we are family but we don’t treat one another that way. We are truly in it together and all want success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.resurrectwoodrefinishing.com
• Instagram: @resurrectwoodrefinishing
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/resurrectwoodrefinishing
• Youtube: @resurrectwoodrefinishing6500
• Other: TikTok @resurrectwoodrefinishing

Image Credits
Zettl Photography (Photos of Erin Laine)