Hello to whoever is willing to read this,
My name is Brian, and I am a young professional that has been trying to make a dent in the construction industry in the south Florida region for several years now. I am originally from Long Beach, New York, but I have been living in Boca Raton since I was in kindergarten, so I like to consider myself a true Floridian. I have a Bachelor's of Science and a Masters degree in Building Construction from the M.E. Rinker School of Building Construction in Gainesville, Florida. Yes, Go Gators!! I graduated in December of 2010 with the masters degree and upon graduation moved back to the south Florida region in anticipation of finding a job. Due to the state of the economy back in 2011, I had a tough time landing a job in the construction industry, especially in south Florida, because the housing collapse had such a great effect on the number of construction jobs that were available. When the economy got turned upside down, the banks stopped lending money, the value of real estate plummeted, and all of these things directly effected the quantity of jobs in my sector. I managed to get a job on the west coast of Florida in Sarasota for a painting and waterproofing company. I packed up my bags and away I went. My stay in Sarasota was short-lived, thankfully, and within 3 months of the move, I got offered another job with a large company in the Ft. Lauderdale area. I moved back to the east coast, and worked on the Seminole Casino of Coconut Creek for almost a year. From there I transitioned to a multi-family company, and built two 384+ unit apartment complexes, and worked as an Assistant Project Manager for the company.
When I was back at the University of Florida, my dad suggested to me that I take the General Contractor's licensing exam while I was still in "study mode." I still thank him to this day for pushing me to take the exam, because having this license has opened up a few doors that would have otherwise been closed. After working for almost three years building apartment complexes, I was granted an opportunity to go on my own and I have since opened up Beach to Bay Custom Builders Corp back in May of this year.
After having experience now for about six months operating my company, I have to say that things are different from what I was expecting, but definitely in a good way. Whenever anyone thinks of working for themselves and not having a boss, the first thing that you think is, 'nice, now I don't have to report to a boss, I'm going to work less hours, this is going to be pretty cool!' This thought process is actually a fallacy, because in reality I have actually been working harder, and trying to go above and beyond to maintain a positive reputation among my clients. I feel that it is more rewarding have a chance to run jobs and be on site on a daily basis and to see things coming together through your direction and managing.
At this point, you might be asking yourself, 'so what exactly is the point of this blog?' Well the idea to begin this blog was begat on a late weekend night a few weeks ago. I was conversing with a few friends, and one of them suggested that I begin to document the progress of the jobs that I have going on and to provide some insight on construction-related procedures and techniques that some of you readers may take an interest in. Also, I will try and offer suggestions on certain types of finishes, and provide you, the reader, with specifications on some of the finishes that go into the projects, just in case you like what you see.
I hope you enjoy the blog! If you have any questions on anything please send me an email and I would be happy to answer!!!