from repeat clients or word-of-mouth – and they only recently started rolling out social media posts and optimizing their website. Their relationships with clients and contractors in the industry are strong and long standing, with some spanning over 30 years. “We’ve been pretty busy just keeping up with the relationship demand that grows,” she says. “We’re pretty lucky that we’ve got some really, really good relationships in the industry.” Furthermore, maintaining strong, two-way relationships with their staff and creating a healthy work environment is a key priority for Colin Griffinson Inc. The best teams lean on each other’s strengths and support the weaknesses. It has to be a symbiotic relationship. “It’s a pretty democratic setup,” says Melissa. “I like to hear what their thoughts are on the progress of the job, what their feedback is on the products that we’re using, and if they have any solution or ideas for things that are coming up.” Melissa also feels that it’s her responsibility to help create happy, inclusive work environments where people can feel safe and flex their creativity muscles. “People that tend to bring in that kind of toxic vibe don’t last long here. We just don’t have the capacity or the interest in that old school mentality,” she says. “Especially being a business that is run by a woman, we tend to be a little bit more on the progressive side.” Moving forward, having now set up a strong foundation for their new technology and datadriven business processes, Melissa is looking to focus on apprenticeship training and supporting skill development within their in-house crew. She says she wants to support their crew in cross training across various painting disciplines. “We like having people trained in the traditional brushing of oil, as well as spraying and decorative work,” she says. “There’s painters on our team that can lean in to the decorative side and assist there which allows for some change of scenery for them and keeps things interesting.” At the end of the day, Melissa wants her crew to enjoy what they do. Rather than focusing on growing the team and increasing the volume of clients, she wants Colin Griffinson Inc. to take on the most interesting and fulfilling projects. “I don’t think we would ever have 50 plus employees, because at that point, we’re looking at quantity over quality,” says Melissa. “We still want to remain fairly niche and get to work on the best of the best projects. We want to work on the most creatively demanding jobs so that it’s interesting going to work every day.” APRIL 2024
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTYzNTg=