A little about me
I began painting at 14, on a ten-week summer job. I earned my first raise — from $4 to $6 an hour — for the last two weeks, because after learning a few things from a real pro on a different job site, I came back and impressed the socks off my supervisor. That summer taught me two lessons I've never forgotten: learning proper — even unique — methods + impressing the people you work for = excellent success.
At 17, while still in high school, I moved away from home and started my own painting business. I finished high school, then went on to college part time for construction management while building my business. The business grew into one of the finest custom paint offerings in McLean, Great Falls, Arlington, Vienna, and Oakton — I even worked repeatedly for a billionaire — across multiple properties — and her neighbors. In the early years I was running five 3-person crews and keeping them all busy! But over time it evolved: less volume, more custom.
For years my lead painter was Joe Sullivan — undoubtedly the best in the area. Joe had been a medic in the Army, but chose painting in his retirement because he had such a passion for it. Somehow that passion rubbed off on me. I joined Joe and the crew in the field for many years, and together we shared, studied, explored, and developed new methods in our day-to-day work. After Joe fully retired — and to this day — I've continued thinking deeply about paint, the business of painting, and the methods we made: refining them, and still developing new ones. Thirty-five years sounds like a long time, but I'm still quite energetic, and my methods let me work so productively and efficiently that I can be almost as fast as in my young prime days.
There's more to the story. My painting company evolved into a Class A General Contractor, which grew into working with most of the insurance carriers to provide emergency and full restoration services. At its peak we ran an office with three estimators, four project managers, two accountants, a receptionist, myself — and a subcontractor list a thousand long, with each manager juggling as many as seventy live files at any given time. Then came the next chapter: real estate investing, through a program of my own design I called the Beckwitt Real Estate Method, which attracted over one hundred partners. While winding that down amid ambiguous changes in legislation, I helped found — and became a partner in — a real estate development company, where to this day I serve as the partner in charge of finance, accounting, and closing operations. It takes less than 1% of my time.
After ten years of trading + coding algorithms and indicators for trading, I decided to pivot and do two things. First, I developed an accounting software to rival Intuit's QuickBooks and beyond, called BizBooks Pro — which I'd love for you to check out! And second, I reopened my painting company — but so far only for my neighbors in South Run, including their rental properties, and anyone close enough by who's been referred by a neighbor.
I've always kept my painting skills sharp by working on my own properties, and by keeping the deep thinking about painting alive. Now I'm right back in it, delivering the Perfect Look for my neighbors — though I should really say my friends, because each customer is extremely dear to me, and that is how I regard them. I live here in South Run with my wife Julie and our three daughters.