We recently connected with Rick Byrd and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rick, thanks for joining 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?

Being a business owner is really all I ever imagined being. When I attended school for architecture and interior design at MICA in Baltimore, I worked for a general contractor learning the trade. I saw the challenges he faced every day. And even then, I knew what I had to offer the world was different and I would never truly be happy working for anyone but myself.

But the construction industry is hard. It’s saturated. It has a certain stigma. Most contractors are incredibly old school in their ways. I wanted to break free of that. But, in a world where information is at your fingertips, and tv shows show seemingly simple renovation projects, everyone thinks they are the expert.

Our craft is one of the only fields where someone believes they know better than the professional they hire to complete a home project. I laugh sometimes at the idea that people would tell their cardiologist how to do their job after watching a youtube video.

In the post pandemic world, construction jobs are booming. We are busier than ever, our subcontractors are too making it difficult to staff our jobs, supply chains are a mess which creates a timeline disaster, and the stress of a home renovation project compounds. It was during this time that I questioned my purpose and my goals.

The conclusion that I came to was that my life’s work is worth more than the challenges these past couple of years have thrown at me. I grew and changed as a business owner and team leader. I now have a renewed sense of purpose and some incredibly lofty goals to achieve over the next 3-5 years. I work with some wonderful, talented, smart, and innovative people that continue to inspire me daily. I have completed the most beautiful home projects for some incredible, grateful clients. And that is what I set out to do from the very beginning.

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?

Rick started Byrd Design and Build in 2011 after attending school at Maryland Institute College of Arts for Architecture and Interior Design. During the day, he apprenticed with an old school contractor working on beautiful, luxury home in Baltimore City.

During that time he witnessed a disconnect between the design aspect and general contractor roles of a project. It was his vision to start a company that was a true design/build company with designers under the same roof.

After a decade, lots of growth, failure, a pandemic, personal tragedy and happy times has brought us to our current business model providing luxury homes throughout Maryland, DC, and Delaware.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As so many entrepreneurs experience, Covid 19 hit us hard and fast. In February of 2020, Rick was under contract on two new properties to add to his small but growing development portfolio. One was a near tear down in Delray Beach, FL, and the other a lot in Rehoboth Beach, DE that had a small portion of a foundation that had been abandoned by a previous builder.

Carrying these new liabilities when the world went silent was terrifying. It was a new challenge he wanted to dive into, but had no idea that stop work orders would be initiated, people were no longer to work on projects, and no new project would be coming down the road.

Rick says he felt as though he was running into a burning building while everyone else ran out.

After a couple of months, work began to flow, then pour in. All that pressure seemed to lift and we were so busy that we had to reposition again. Within 6 months, our business model changed twice. It was a true moment of pivoting to survive.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I truly believe in working with clients to help them both create a beautiful space for them to live, but also to help them build wealth through real estate. In doing so, I feel as though people trust working with someone when they feel as though they have their best interest at heart.

I remember a time very early on in my business that I was called to a house for a consultation. The couple wanted to build an addition and make some pretty major renovations. The home was in an area where the values didn’t support putting that kind of money into the house. I help explain how I thought it would be a better investment to make some minor cosmetic updates and sell this home in favor of buying something large that fit their needs. I think they were surprised that I didn’t oversell them.

Two years later, that couple called me when they moved into their new home. They not only thanked me for the advice, but I then had the opportunity to do renovations on their new home and I know its exactly what their growing family needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.byrddb.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/byrddesignandbuild
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/byrddesignandbuild