We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ronnie Schatz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ronnie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us a bit about who your hero is and the influence they’ve had on you?

My Dad is my hero because he provided invaluable guidance, support, and encouragement in navigating a traditionally male-dominate field. His mentorship and belief in my abilities empowered me to excel in running my remodeling business as a female, making him a source of inspiration and admiration. I remember often times going to work with him and just “tagging along” when I was younger. We also grew up in an old farm house that he was always working on. I wanted to be just like him. He taught me to work hard, and always provide great work. I truly have taken that into my business and feel it really sets me apart from a lot of contractors. I care about my clients and I care about my craft and that has landed me to where I am now, with all of my work coming from referrals/word of mouth.

I often times feel my Dad with me while I’m working. Or I’ll run into someone at the paint store who knew him. I recently was doing a repaint at a building my Dad painted over 10 years ago. I was in the janitors closet looking for the paint that was used previously for a color match and found my Dads paint cans! I knew they were his the second I saw them with his handwriting on the lid, labeling them by suite #. It instantly brought me to tears and it came at a time where I was feeling somewhat defeated/questioning myself. It quickly brought me to a point of feeling my Dad was giving me a sign to keep going and that I was in the right place. I miss him daily and hope I’m making him proud following in his steps! <3

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.

I grew up in construction as my Dad started a painting business before I was born. His work escalated into commercial renovation so I was always around it. I was not so much interested in commercial work but very much interested in architecture and residential interior design. My Dad got really sick my senior year of high school and it seemed to completely derail my family. At 18 I was financially on my own and my concentration on school was put to the side as I was working full time to support myself. I struggled for years trying to focus on school while working and finally buckled down and transferred to ASU for Interior Design. I did 2 years of Interior Design and decided that wasn’t all that I wanted to do, so I ended up finishing majoring in Business Management. My Dad passed in 2015 and I ran off to Philadelphia to find myself. I was working for a real estate investor and was able to work on some really cool projects. One of my favorites was us turning an old school into 15 loft style apartments. After living in Philadelphia for a bit I never felt at home so I decided to move back to NC. I worked with my brother for a bit (who had taken over my dads business when he passed) in hopes that I could add a residential side to things and if you’ve ever worked with family.. you know it can be quite difficult haha. I wasn’t happy and felt stagnant and was often times cleaning up commercial sites. So I finally jumped out on a limb and started Tin Lid. I started off with offering painting services but it quickly evolved into much more. With now doing full interior renovations. I absolutely love what I do. I love transforming spaces to fit my clients wants/needs/personality. Its always been a passion of mine to work on homes and now I’m getting to do it daily and I finally feel like I’ve found my true purpose!

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

I have been in the trades for over 15 years. I remember when I started out and was working with my brother I’d often times be on a maintenance call for simple commercial fixes. Like fixing a latch that wasn’t closing properly, or changing out stained ceiling tile. I can’t tell you how many times upon arrival, the tenant would be shocked that I was the one coming to fix something. Or say, “you’re Ronnie?” Back then it would bother me quite a bit that so many people questioned a female in the trades, or had doubts that I could fix, and or do the work just as well as a male. Now, things have changed and are progressing for women in the trades. My mindset on those that I still occasionally get that question me has gone from being frustrated to, let me just show you. I like to think that women in the trades are slowly shifting things in the trades. We can and do the same work as males in our field. We often times come with an eye for detail and it absolutely separates us from others. I feel that being a female in a male dominated field does have it’s advantages. I often times will get a job over a male because of my communication and connection with potential clients.
Like mentioned before, my work has been all word of mouth and referrals and I believe that my eye for detail, communication, cleanliness, connection with my clients, and true passion for what I do has built a reputation for Tin Lid Renovations.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

When I was working with my brother doing commercial renovations, I never really enjoyed the commercial side of things and felt it was a lot of the same colors, finishes and spaces that we were working on. I often times didn’t feel challenged at work or felt that I was growing. I knew something had to change. I ended up getting on an app where customers could post jobs that they were needing done and on the contractor side you could go in and provide a quote. I started quoting painting jobs on there and landed one. I made in one weekend what I was making working for my brother in an entire month. I did this for a a little bit on the weekends then I dove in full time on my own and started Tin Lid Renovations about 5 years ago. I haven’t looked back since! We now are doing far more than just painting. We do almost full interior renovation work and are blessed to be staying very busy and growing!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinlidrenovations?igsh=ZDY5ZDIxOHpkenBh&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinlidrenovations/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronnie-schatz-34b5a3a1/