Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Floyd.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up I always found myself good with my hands. If something was broke in the house, I always wanted to take it apart, fix it, and put it back together. After I graduated college (University of Central Arkansas) I moved back home Dallas with no clue with what I wanted to do. Which is a pretty common occurrence for athletes after college. I worked odd jobs around the city just trying to figure out what my next step was. Over the summer and a few jobs in I told myself. If I don’t have a career job in which I feel like I can grow in I’m just going to go back to school and get my master degree. A month before school was going to start, I got a call from Dallas County offering a job at the juvenile detention facility. I worked my way up in the building and if anyone knows anything about working in corrections the turnover rate is high and there is always an ample amount of overtime. For a year straight I practically lived in that building. 12-hour shifts were a norm. I finished my second year in the building accumulating 400 plus hours of overtime in one year. I was burnt out and told myself there has to be an easier way and I’m going to figure it out. And it finally hit me after a few friends came over my house and asked who put the TVs on the wall and if I could come mount theirs. After a few months, I decided to see if I could turn it into a business. I decided to start marketing MountsByFle getting my name out there around Dallas and little by little I would get calls and messages from people. And I finally found a way not to spend most of my time in “jail”
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all. I started this from scratch and had to figure out a lot of stuff on my own through trial and error. And I feel like I still have a long way to go. Before making this my full-time job it was real hard balancing my business and still devoting 40 hours a week at the juvenile detention facility. There were weeks I know I worked 70 + hours a week. I was working myself until literally sick. But sacrifices are a must!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
So, the main thing I do is mount TVs but I also do other handyman stuff which is what I feel like sets me apart like cabinet pulls which I’ve done quite a few these last few weeks in a bunch of new homes. I think here lately I’ve been known for mounting TVs on the big concrete pillars in high-rise apartments. I posted one on my Instagram a few months back and everyone wants it done now.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Well, my girlfriend Daniella Romero has helped me out a lot with marketing and just keeping me motivated. I call her the CEO, so I owe a lot of credit to her. My brothers Shane and Cody Floyd have a pretty big following in Dallas and they’ve put me out there also. But I feel like a little big of everyone has helped. I have clients that have referred me to 10-15 other people. Word of mouth is amazing and I feel like Mountsbyfle wouldn’t be were it is today without each and every one of my customers.
Pricing:
- $75 to mount a TV
- $115 to mount a Tv with a standard tilt mount included
Contact Info:
- Email: Mountsbyfle@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountsbyfle/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/mountsbyfle/photos/a.107407571250923/107409311250749/?type=3
