Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert “Kyle” McDaniel.
Robert “Kyle”, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always enjoyed drawing as a kid but it was geared more toward structures, buildings and even landscapes. When I was little I’d sit down with a piece of trace paper and sketch out my “dream pool”; a slide here, diving board there, I’d even get out the colored pencils to fill in the landscaping and walkways around the pool. I loved the planning aspect to it. It was limitless, I could draw whatever I could think of, nothing holding me back. I was free. I loved it!
Around 7th grade in shop class I learned how to write in “all caps” like architects do and it clicked for me. Don’t ask me why that was such a big deal but it was! It was an epiphany. I remember thinking, “I’m writing like this for the rest of my life, it’s cool, I love it; I’m going to be an architect like Frank Lloyd Wright.”
By the time I got to college at the University of Texas at Austin, I remember my thinking changed for one reason or another. Call it doubt or fear or maybe old man cynicism in a young man’s heart. It was weird, I still loved architecture and design but I remember having this nagging doubt, almost hopelessness about what my future as an architect would hold. I thought for certain I would put in all this work into becoming an architect and then I’d get out of school, get a job and get stuck in a cubicle designing the most bland, boring, soul sucking strip centers imaginable. I’d be put in a cage. The thought of being shackled by a corporation killed me. As foolish as it was, I thought I’d just as soon never even go down that road if the only thing waiting for me at the end of it was a cage. So I got a BA in Government. Yeah.
I graduated from UT and the design and planning bug was still there. Still wanted to build great things. So I started to pursue a career in commercial real estate. I got a job with the world’s largest commercial real estate firm with the intent of getting into brokerage and then development. Long story short, that industry and career was the cage I’d always feared. Everything was transaction based, the “why” was irrelevant, the only thing that mattered was “how much.” After several years in that industry an opportunity came up to begin designing pools for a luxury builder in Houston. My wife and I were unsure about it but I kept going back to the idea that this was really what I always wanted to do. I wanted to design and build. So we moved to Houston. While in Houston I learned the ins and outs of pool design and construction and began to hone my craft.
It was becoming apparent to everyone around me that design suited me, I was thriving. I surveyed the industry around me and saw there was a disconnect. Homeowners were going to builders and getting multiple designs at drastically different prices, the bids were impossible to compare on even footing. The clients simply weren’t getting value and weren’t in control of the design and construction process; the builders were.
There had to be a better way to do this. There was, and it was already being used in the custom home building industry.
The way to avoid this issue all together was to hire a talented designer first who could draft the homeowner a master plan. By hiring a designer to first establish a plan the homeowners immediately put themselves in the driver’s seat of the process. They tell the designer what they’d like to see and the designer creates the plan. Now instead of having multiple designs from different builders all with pieces they like and don’t like, they’ve got the perfect design with everything they wanted included and nothing superfluous added.
Now they could move to bidding the project out on a level playing field. With a master plan in place the homeowner can take their design and submit it to multiple builders and ask for them to give the homeowner a price to construct their design. Now when they get bids back from builders A, B and C they can quickly note that they are really comparing apples to apples and make a decision on the bid and builder they are most comfortable with.
At the same time, the homeowner can go back to their designer as an objective sounding board during the bid process as well. The entire script has been flipped. The homeowner is now in control of the project. They determine when the design is perfect and they determine which builder is giving them the best terms and value.
As I began to introduce this process to the Houston market I was seeing an incredibly positive response. Clients loved it. They saw the value in paying for a design up front so they could control the bid process down the road.
Ultimately, this new process allows the homeowner to get the two things they want most; the exact design they’re looking for at the best value for their dollar.
Since I’d always been a 1099 contractor and essentially self-employed I decided to introduce my design services and process to a wider market in Dallas/Fort Worth and that’s when I created McDaniel Custom Design, a boutique exterior design/build firm specializing in pools, landscapes and outdoor living.
After all these years I’m doing the thing I always wanted to do. Designing and building beautiful things. That’s not to say it hasn’t been difficult, it has. Any entrepreneurial effort is going to be difficult especially one that involves a paradigm shift in the way an existing industry works. But where there is boldness there is opportunity.
Doubt and fear are the real cages in life. If we let them dictate our decisions then we’ll always stay trapped. They’ll always keep us from truly flourishing. At some point in our lives we have to move from a fear that cages us to the boldness of faith that sets us free. As Providence would have it, that’s exactly what brought me to where I am today.
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh no, not at all. But like I said before, any entrepreneurial effort will have challenges especially one that involves a paradigm shift within an existing industry.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced has been finding the right people and businesses to partner and grow with. Not everyone shares the same passion I do about design. Most folks in the pool industry just want to collect a paycheck and if something’s not performed with a high degree of excellence or if they don’t delivery up to the client’s expectation then it’s not that big of a deal to them.
It is to me. I put my name on the shingle for a reason. This company is a direct reflection of who I am as a person. That means every single job and every single detail matters a great deal to me.
McDaniel Custom Design exists to serve our clients in truth and excellence. That’s the standard. Period. Finding people who align with that mission isn’t easy.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with McDaniel Custom Design – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
McDaniel Custom Design is a boutique exterior design and construction firm specializing in pools, landscapes and outdoor living. Our clients hire us to design and construct their outdoor spaces and typically that starts with a swimming pool and goes on from there. We’re design focused and often we’re hired solely for that aspect of the project. Our clients are spending a lot of money on these projects, they want to make sure they’re designed well. Our passion for design and commitment to excellence is how we bring them value where others can’t.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love North Texas. It’s the place on the prairie that really shouldn’t exist. There’s no major inland waterway or other notable geographic reason for pioneers to have settled here and flourished but they did. In spite of the odds Dallas and Fort Worth continue to press forward. It’s the spirit of the place. There’s a reason people are still coming here in droves. If you’ve got the boldness to imagine it and the guts to go for it, then North Texas is where you get it done.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8101 Boat Club Rd, Suite 240
Fort Worth, TX 76179 - Website: www.mcdanielcustomdesign.com
- Phone: 469.608.1831
- Email: kyle@mcdanielcustomdesign.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcdanielcustomdesign/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mcdaniel-custom-design-fort-worth
- Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/rkylemcd/__public
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
