I never heard Picasso speak, but I imagine his voice sounded like that of Jake Schlegel, the owner of Bison Painting.
It’s a Friday morning.
The sun is creeping in through the gray fog, trying desperately to signal to Minnesotans that she wakes up before 7:30 AM, even though it’s closer to Halloween than it is to Independence Day.
Jake and I walk into Dunkin’ Donuts to get hydrated.
I see the $6 meal deal, which includes hashbrowns and iced coffee with the egg sandwich.
“Can I just get a water instead of coffee?” I ask the cashier.
“No,” she says, but I persist, and another employee with a tear tattooed below his eye intervenes, and then I am indeed granted a cup of ice water.
Seated on purple and orange leather chairs, respectively, Jake and I start talking about painting things.
Most people are cheap, myself included, so it’s hard to envision someone hiring an outside party to slather some paint on their walls.
“I don’t think you should hire me if you want to do it yourself,” Jake bluntly states.
“See how crappy of a salesman I am?” he then says with a laugh.
A cagey, stoic individual, Jake doesn’t try to compete with degenerates like me who think they can competently paint their home’s interior.
Rather, he partners with smart homeowners who understand what quality costs.
“If you want it professionally done, you should hire us,” shares Jake, a native Minnesotan who spent over a decade in Arkansas practicing ministry.
Which is to say, Jake has integrity.
“In the painting trade, it’s so easy to take shortcuts,” he shares.
Something I didn’t know:
With painting jobs, preparation is 80% of the job.
“Every paint job requires prep,” Jake tells me.
“20% of the job is actual painting.”
Clean lines, clean taping, and even cleanup of the jobsite.
All this encompasses a professional job.
I take a break from writing this to go inspect the cabinets I painted when I first moved into this home.
Yes, still looks like a pigeon climbed into my linen closet and defecated on the wood.
Should have called Jake, but I’m spatially obtuse, so ignorant to quality that I wouldn’t recognize it if Sherwin Williams himself applied primer to the nursery.
“I think they’re the best,” Jake says, commenting not on nurseries, but on Sherwin Williams, a popular paint brand.
“They work with us on pricing and do free delivery. I can order online and I have a field rep who knows way more about every product than I’ll ever know.”
Jake admits that there are other quality paint brands out there, but from a service standpoint, no one takes care of Bison Painting quite like Sherwin.
Philosophically, this aligns with Jake’s approach to business.
Yes, he channels his inner Picasso and deftly revitalizes the interior and exterior of homes, but it’s how he does it that has endeared homeowners to Bison, an outfit that has already helped over 100 Twin Cities homeowners in a little over 12 months.
But what I like about Jake is his authenticity.
Despite my best efforts, he would never liken himself to a famed Spanish painter.
That level of gravitas is not rooted in his DNA.
Jake would much prefer to lead with intentionality and make your home look beautiful, all while doing whatever he can to ensure you enjoy the Bison Painting experience.
From a cost perspective, many painting companies price jobs out per square foot.
Bison is somewhat different.
“Anytime you do math-based pricing, you end up paying more because the bigger companies have to account for all the overhead, sales guys, teams, etc.,” explains Jake, his operation and payroll less bloated than some of his competitors.
Still, Jake isn’t necessarily leveraging Bison’s humble status to engender goodwill from the denizens of this great state.
“I’m not trying to sell you on a small company,” he emphasizes.
“I don’t want to be a small company, but I am one. My hands touch pretty much everything we do.”
Having the owner so actively involved in the actual painting process can be viewed as a benefit, but what makes Jake and Bison unique goes deeper.
As mentioned earlier, Jake was a minister for many years.
He didn’t always eat, sleep, and breathe textured mineral finishes.
“My personal life mission, I’ll just say it that way for the audience, is to always be honest and to always do the right thing,” he says, before injecting some truth serum into the proceedings.
“I fall short all the time, but I do have that as a strong conviction to always do the right thing.”
Adds the enterprising family man:
“It’s not fulfilling enough to just walk away and say a paint job looks great. I want to walk away knowing I did the right thing, even if the customer was in Florida for vacation while I painted their house.”
Put differently, Jake’s moral compass won’t allow him to veer starboard and jeopardize someone else’s well-being.
It’s not a deity or a higher power that compels him to act with integrity, but an immutable characteristic of his that was forged eons ago.
Looking ahead, it’s this same commitment that Jake is hoping will lead to the rise of Bison Painting.
That being said, shortcuts will not be employed.
“A lot of painting companies scale by using subcontractors,” Jake says.
He then pauses to ask if I know what a subcontractor is.
Admittedly, I have to stifle a belly laugh because I sell windows and decks to contractors, so of course I understand the concept of subcontracting.
“I can’t do it [subcontracting],” he then discloses.
“A subcontractor does not feel the same level of ownership and conviction to fulfill the Bison Painting brand level.”
So take out your crystal ball and imagine it is 2029.
Jake and Bison Painting are in your home, reworking your dilapidated popcorn ceiling.
Everyone on the premises is W2.
They wear company shirts and have been personally trained by Jake.
It’s very likely you as a homeowner will have a much better experience than if you chose a company who saves money on labor costs by poaching the perpetually tardy Jeff and Rick from Craigslist for an absurdly low rate.
“There will be multiple crews who are trained to do things the right way, according to my standards,” says Jake, who has a vision for what the future entails, but is not so hellbent on getting there that he will prioritize profits over a clear conscience. QS
**
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