It was the 70's when my brother Dan and I began painting for my father. I was 15 years old and decided I needed a job. With what I had learned from helping my mother with her meticulous painting projects around the house, I was confident I could help dad with his construction projects. Dan and I were in over our heads but were too green to know it,  and dived in with gusto. Dad was a a builder and managed an apartment complex at the time that needed painting. He was happy to put us to work and taught us the basics and then left us to it. Each morning he staged where we were to work with tools and pump jacks, and gave us free range. Dan and I learned how to raise ourselves up the side of the building and paint our way down. If we forgot to bring lunch, we'd go without for the day. Bathroom runs were via ladder, but we'd go without that too if we forgot to set one up in advance. Of course my brother had an the occasional advantage I didn't, and could 'go' off the side of the scaffolding if push came to shove. 

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Eventually my brother became more interested in people-watching than painting, and I was left to finish the project by myself.  If you've ever seen a pump jack in action you can imagine the balancing act it was for a 15 year old girl to work one solo. I'd move from one side to the other, cranking myself up little by little until I reached the top, and of course I'd do the same thing at the end of the day in reverse to crank myself back down until I was on terra firma. 

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My tenacity impressed my father and he gave me another job painting the exterior on an addition he was working on for Fran Ford. Fran was a notorious realtor at the time so this was a big deal. As fortune would have it, the house next door to Ms. Ford's was also being painted, but by a ‘real’ painting company. It was then that I began to learn the importance of prep work. I spent quite a lot of time studying their every move so I could learn how the 'pros' did things and would implement each new lesson into my own regimen.

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As a teen, I had three passions — horses, softball and painting. I couldn’t wait to get up early on a Saturday morning, jump on my horse and ride through the woods for waht seemed like hours. As for playing ball,  I ended up playing for the Connecticut Diamonds, a semi-pro fast pitch softball league.  I was hot stuff. When I wasn’t playing ball, I was painting.  At 17 my next-door neighbor, Guy, and I joined forces. He had a small landscaping business and for a few years we worked together on and off — landscaping on rainy days and painting on good-weather days. I painted my way through high school and college and bought my first house by the time I was 20. After college, I continued to paint houses and when I eventually married and had children, I decided to build my first crew — a team of other mothers who were willing to work part time when their children were in school—and Painting By Marge was born.

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For over four decades now, I've trained incredibly talented painters and built scores of crews. Some have moved on, other have stayed with me for years. I can easily say that the prep-work I learned all those years ago is the very thing that distinguishes Painting By Marge from most any other company — as it's a lost art that most have abandoned due to the required skill, time and expense meticulous prep work it can exact. My clients have come to expect the highest level of service and beautiful results, and I take great pride on being able to meet their expectations.

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When it comes to quality, I've learned there are no shortcuts. Ever. The extra work can be painstaking at times, but the results say it all—beautiful, professional results and enduring finishes (nearly doubling paint life). For me, that's what it's all about—putting a smile on the faces of my customers, and knowing I've provided the very best for them. 

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