PIERRE MIDDLETON-BAEZ: NEW FOUND GROWTH CORPORATION
number, I almost didn’ t pick up.” The caller said that he was from Consolidated Construction and looking for a plumberpipefitter, but Pierre thought one of his friends was playing a joke on him.“ I asked how he’ d gotten my number and he said on a website – but I didn’ t have a website at the time and told him so. He clarified that I was listed on website and asked if I was interested and would do it. I agreed, saying I would call him back, but I didn’ t call him because I thought it was a hoax.”
When the man called back a week later to ask if Pierre wanted the job, he said“ sure” – not even thinking to ask to see the project specs or contract terms because he still thought it wasn’ t real. To his surprise, about three weeks later, he was asked to come to Daly City to sign the contract. Pierre recalls feeling so dazed that he signed the contract without even reading it, at which point he was asked to show up the next morning at the Santa Rita Jail for a site walk.“ As we walked the site, it became clear that I had agreed to remove and install all the inmate sinks, toilets and drinking water units throughout the facility,” he shares.“ This was no little side job. I threw up twice the night before starting because all of a sudden, I had a huge project to complete all by myself.”
The first day of work, Pierre was taken aback by the high-security environment and wondered what he had gotten himself into. Then he realized that he’ d received exactly what he’ d asked for – a major opportunity. Unfamiliar with incarcerationstyle fixtures, he had to take a few minutes to study them before realizing that this project was actually no different than any other day on the job – that he had the skills to get it done.“ I thought, after 10 years of experience, how in the heck would I not know how to change out a toilet and sink? Then, I just rolled up my sleeves and got the job done.” He methodically worked through the demolition process – breaking concrete walls to remove the lavatory“ combo units,” anti-literature tables and drinking faucets – before moving on to installation.
Besides the trial by fire project work, Pierre also found out the hard way about other public works requirements – such as worker’ s compensation, financial recordkeeping, certified payroll and general liability insurance.“ General contractors assume that you already know what the requirements are, but I had none of this set up,” he reflects.“ So the first progress payment that I received went right to establishing all of this for my company. Halfway through the project, taxes also had to be paid out. Had I known how much overhead was involved, I would have charged more, but in this kind of situation, you either go into hiding or you persevere and push through. I wasn’ t going to let this sink me and I was also very excited to have landed my company’ s first job, which helped sustain me. I put on my big boy pants, laced up, and got it together. In the end, I managed to get all the work done myself and everything set up business-wise.”
After about a year in business, Pierre
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