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

Meredith , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero and biggest inspiration for everything that I do today, is my mother. Looking back over my life, I can recall so many obstacles that she faced throughout her life. No matter how difficult life became, she never gave up, and she faced adversity with so much grace. She would use hard times as an opportunity to point others to Christ. One thing that was an outlet for her was writing poetry. In July of 2021, she became ill with Covid, and after a three month long fight, she was called to her heavenly home. While going through her things, I was fortunate to come across many pages of poems and things that she had written through the years. I have been able to transform her words into beautiful signs, that now hang in many homes. Words that have helped me heal, and words that I hope will inspire and help heal others.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Growing up, my mom always loved crafting and making things with my sister and I. She was a very frugal person, so I recall many times that we would make our own “decor”. She loved thrift stores, yard-sales and repurposing items. She passed that trait onto me at an early age. When my husband and I got engaged, we started gathering items for our new home. We were young, and let’s face it, we were broke! I will never forget the very first piece of furniture for our home. My mom brought home an antique China cabinet that she found at a church auction. It was in rough condition and was missing all of the glass. She and I sanded it down, and then sat in her living room floor and applied paint! That’s where my obsession began! I brought home any bargain furniture that I could get my hands on, and I repurposed every piece. We soon had a fully furnished home. What began as a hobby, quickly turned into a side hustle. I began refinishing furniture pieces for friends and family while going to college. A few years later we had our first son, and my little business had grown to a point that I was able to stay home with him full time. Over the years, our business has taken many different twists and turns. My very talented husband came from a construction background, so after a few years of refinishing furniture, I began requesting that he build me a few new furniture pieces of our own. He began building custom pieces for our home, such as our dining room table, our bed, and my sons bedroom furniture. This quickly spilled over into my diy business, and as friends and family caught onto his talent, he began building for them as well. Ultimately, our goal was to, one day, be a full time, family owned business. Over the last 3-4 years, our business grew to a point that he could no longer keep up working full time and building furniture for our business. We began praying for God to show us which direction that we needed to go. In May of 2022, he left his full time job, and is now building custom furniture full time. We have had the opportunity to build over 50 vanities for new construction homes this past year, and we’ve also completed our very first custom kitchen. Although I no longer refinish furniture, I do finish the pieces that he builds. I also enjoy making custom signs and home decor. Attending local markets are an outlet for me as well, and this gives me the opportunity to show my creative side. We enjoy being able to create custom pieces for our customers that will last for years, and our job never gets boring! We like to say “it’s built by us, but created by you.”

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

When you own a small business, you are constantly pivoting. It’s about learning what works and what doesn’t. I feel as if I am constantly learning and unlearning. I feel that one of the biggest hurdles for me has been time management. I am now a mother of 3 boys, and as you can imagine, they keep me on my toes. I have had to learn that I cannot do it all, it is ok to say no sometimes, and to separate business and family hours! When you are passionate about your career, it is so easy to be in work mode 24/7, but that leads to business burn out very quickly. Even if you are an at home business, set yourself designated business hours and stick to it! This has been a great tool for me.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Reputation is everything. When you go above and beyond for a customer, they remember it for years to come. We strive to make our customers happy, and if there’s ever an issue, we try our best to correct it. We are all human, which means we all have imperfections. The key is admitting when there’s been a mistake and learning from your mistakes. And always stay humble. I feel that this has allowed us to have great relationships with our customers, and has given us repeat customers over the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: Garnerandgray.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/garnerandgray?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garnerandgray?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Morgan Williamson