As small children learning to walk, we can’t imagine where our steps in life will take us. But every parent knows that baby steps will eventually make adult size impressions. Parents also know that a small part of themselves will always keep those baby steps in their hearts even when those toddler’s feet grow to wear adult shoes and follow in their footsteps. There is an intrigue in the mind of a child as he takes his play hammer, screwdriver and other assorted toys and emulates his father’s actions. It’s a seed that both father and son will sometimes cultivate into a career from one to the other.
For Emmanuel Mora, the specific seed of his father Augustin’s profession would begin as a work ethic and a desire to succeed in a foreign land. It would grow with each step Augustin took toward his desire to be a painter and owner of Impressions Painting Company. As he refined his step toward his goal, Emanuel was learning he would have some large shoes to fill when the time came to walk with his father on each job .… and fill he has in his youthful stride of 22 years of age. But it has not been a walk without obstacles. There have certainly been growing pains since first picking up a paint brush at the age of 13 on one of his father’s jobs.
For Emmanuel, everything started at the age of 13, an age where men and women begin working in the Hispanic culture. He and his family migrated here from Mexico. Augustin had begun working in food service in Texas upon his arrival in the US. After a few years, he would soon grasp on to two simple desires; to make more money and to do so by painting houses. He was making such little money working in restaurants that he began painting houses for $500. And at even such a low amount, he was making more money and doing something he loved.
Augustin became immersed in his craft learning everything he could about painting and drywall. Over the next few years as his skills increased so did his workload and profits. The time had come to bring on his son Emmanuel who began working summers in 2013. And like his father, he too enjoyed the painting trade. He became more involved even working after school through high school. And though college was in the cards for him at the time per his parents’ wishes, he had a love for business and developing ideas to build them. He would eventually follow in his father’s footsteps, but also clearing a new path that both would walk.
“I was juggling school and work and the company hadn’t gone full-blown yet as we were still just working as subcontractors and not really moving forward. I had to decide what was more important to me. I quit school and started working in the business full-time,” Emmanuel said. The next year would be a battle of ideas and a measure of growth for both father and son. Growing pains were prevalent as one was taking hold of something and the other was learning to let go.
“Once we became committed to building the business, we would argue a lot. My dad is the father figure and had been the boss, and it made for a weird dynamic at work for a while,” Emmanuel said. But after some discussions and realizations on both sides, father and son were able to become father and son business partners. And it seems to be working well for both with each handling different aspects of the business. Together they have been able to grow to three crews full-time and have done over one million dollars per year for the past two years.
The father and son team paint homes and businesses, interior and exterior, as well as drywall work. “A one stop shop for anything painting,” Emmanuel said. They also do repairs such as exterior wood replacement that is needed before painting.
In the end it seems some bonds are never broken; they just grow into new footprints that fit like an old pair of comfortable shoes.