Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelley and Jeremy Irwin.
Kelley and Jeremy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Jeremy has worked in construction in some capacity for practically his entire life. His dad had multiple construction-related businesses that he helped with growing up, and this instilled a love for building things. In college, he expanded this interest while working for an interior designer. He was the one who figured out how to make the designs she dreamed up possible in reality.
We met in 2006 while attending the University of North Texas and were married in 2009. Shortly after, Jeremy took a corporate job that required a long commute from our home in Denton while Kelley finished her master’s degree at UNT then stayed on for a teaching job as an adjunct in the Kinesiology department. Jeremy quickly realized that a corporate desk job was not his passion, and began to look for a new job closer to home. He obtained a position at a Denton-based construction company in 2013 and was happy to once again pursue his passion for building things and reimagining spaces.
In 2014, we made the decision for Kelley to step back from teaching to stay home with our oldest son, who was 2 years old at the time. At the same time, Jeremy was approached with a job offer to be the Facilities Minister at the church we had both been members of for 8 years. We’d been throwing around the idea of starting our own residential remodeling company for years, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to finally start our side business along with Jeremy’s new job.
We formed Irwin Construction in August of 2014 and it has grown faster than we thought possible. We started with small jobs – a flooring install here, a guest bathroom there, and before we knew it we were tackling multiple full-house remodels at a time! At first, Kelley just typed estimates and managed the books from home, but as our workload grew Jeremy needed more help managing projects. As Kelley began to visit job sites to help with management, she realized a passion for design and began to take a bigger role in designing spaces with our clients.
Now, four and a half years later and with two little boys, Jeremy still functions as the General Contractor while Kelley heads up design and operations.
Has it been a smooth road?
While we have had a relatively smooth road in comparison to many start-up businesses, we have had some hard seasons and have learned some difficult lessons.
Finding a workload that allowed for work-life balance definitely took some trial and error. There have been a couple of seasons where we’ve committed to far too many jobs simultaneously, overwhelmed ourselves, and ended up letting things fall through the cracks because we were spread too thin. We’ve learned to put restrictions on how many jobs we will take on at a time in order to prevent this. We also now have a wonderful assistant who helps us keep our to-do lists in order!
When we had our second son in the spring of 2016, our world was once again turned upside down as we learned how to manage the ever-increasing demand for projects while also juggling two little ones at home. I think it took a solid year to feel like we were in a sustainable place again!
We’ve also had project setbacks several times due to unexpected circumstances at a job site or materials delays that throw off the entire project schedule. Over the years we’ve learned to double and triple check everything in order to minimize these surprises.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Irwin Construction – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a family-owned and operated construction company specializing in residential renovations. We pride ourselves in attention to detail in both the design of a space and the technical execution of the remodel.
Jeremy has an eye for rearranging small or awkward spaces to dramatically increase their functionality. On more occasions than we can count, clients have cited his innovative ideas as the reason they chose our company over other contractors they interviewed.
Kelley enjoys walking a client through the entire planning and design process, from initial ideas and material selection all the way to decorating and styling. We’re a ready-made team of designer and contractor and we work well together!
Most of our new work lately has come from clients who have seen our work online – whether on our website, shared by someone they know, or one of our online features – and liked our style so much that they sought us out.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
We love the diversity of the metroplex. We can simultaneously be working on projects in 100-year-old historical houses, new builds, track homes built in the 80s, and country farmhouses, all within our service area. This keeps us on our toes because every project is something different. We also love the availability of materials within the metroplex. The sheer scope of tile, granite, marble, and all other materials in stock locally in the DFW area is extremely helpful in our business.
In the Denton area, we love the small-town feel. We both came here to attend UNT, and the artsy college-town vibe has stuck with us, even more than a decade later. Many of our college friends settled permanently in Denton as well, so the community we’ve built here is unique. I don’t think we could ever move – we’d never be able to replicate the relationships we have here! In our line of work, each client is a new friend. We’ve made many good friends through remodeling their homes.
Our least favorite thing about the DFW area is hands down the traffic!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.irwinbuilds.com
- Phone: 940-320-9508
- Email: info@irwinbuilds.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irwin.construction/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irwin.construction.denton/
- Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/irwinconstructionllc/irwin-construction-llc
Image Credit:
Darby McFall
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