The Slick's Story
The first time I ever poured concrete was the day of my last job interview.
In the fall of 2019, a year after I graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Business Economics degree, I was applying for what I thought would be my next corporate role. In the meantime, I was doing some odds-and-ends handyman-type jobs with a friend of mine.
On October 9, 2019, I had a job interview with a marketing agency in downtown Fayetteville. That same afternoon, I had three yards of concrete ordered for a small side addition where a customer planned to build a little lean-to shed for storage.
I went into that interview thinking I wanted the job. The employee who greeted me guided me through rows of cubicles and windowless offices to a dimly lit community workspace, where we sat for a minute while we waited for the interview room to be ready.
While sitting there for what felt like an hour, but was probably only two minutes, my whole life flashed before my eyes. I could see weeks, months, and even years on end working in offices like this all across Northwest Arkansas, claiming my piece of the corporate pie.
This wasn't what I wanted.
What I wanted was to be outside, working with my hands and learning how to do hard things well.
My turn for the interview came, and from what I remember, it went fairly well. But my mind was already made up. I was going to keep up this contractor thing I had been doing and see what I could make of myself doing something I enjoyed.
The interview wrapped up, and I went out to my truck, where my buddy was waiting. I changed into a pair of blue jeans, and we drove straight to the job site.
At the time, there wasn't anything particularly special about that pour. After all, my buddy did most of the work while teaching me what he was doing. But in hindsight, it's crazy to think that this was the first day I ever touched concrete.
And so the story goes…
Chapter 01
Starting Small
After doing a little of this and a little of that, we started getting quite a few small concrete pads, mostly for hot tubs. Because we had very little overhead or expenses, we were able to bid these jobs cheap, too cheap, and get a few small pads under our belts.
Truthfully, I had no idea at the time what kind of chain reaction those first few concrete jobs would set into motion.
We had a profile on Thumbtack, one of those lead sites where you pay for leads. It was okay, but it also led to a lot of random side jobs and trash cleanups. Looking back, though, those little jobs made a major difference.
We responded to trash pickups within hours and could often be there the same day, get the work done, and be out of the customer's way. Those small jobs gave us an opportunity to earn public feedback in the form of five-star reviews. Before long, we had more than 20 of them on our profile.
We quickly became one of the most reputable local companies on the platform. That reputation helped us start bidding and winning larger patio jobs.
By the middle of 2020, daily life and the economy had been turned upside down. At the same time, the work-from-home boom caused an influx of patio requests. People were spending more time at home and looking for ways to improve their outdoor spaces.
My main business partner split off to narrow his focus to machine work. I stayed the course and continued narrowing my focus toward concrete.
I kept knocking out jobs for the rest of the year, learning as I went, one project at a time. I upgraded to an F-350 diesel. My collection of tools was growing, and I was constantly honing my finishing skills.
I had officially caught the Mud Bug and couldn't imagine leaving the concrete business.
Chapter 02
Always Learning
As my second year began, I started running the business much more intentionally. I had developed relationships with my suppliers, previous customers were referring me to new clients, and the calendar was filling up. The outlook was promising.
Then there was a concrete shortage. (Looking at you, new Walmart HQ.)
Because of high local demand and low supply, smaller companies like mine took a back seat. Suddenly, it was extremely difficult to get work done in a timely manner. Jobs would sit completely prepared and ready for concrete for weeks. The job security I thought I had was beginning to evaporate.
But I kept pushing because I knew I had something.
I had one main employee at the time, an older biker-type contractor who worked alongside me and kept things entertaining with plenty of jokes. When it came time to pour and finish concrete, though, I was still carrying much of the responsibility.
That summer became a period of self-training.
I was always focused on delivering the absolute best product I could. Not necessarily for the sake of the customer, although that was always a priority, but because I really wanted to be the best at this new thing I loved doing.
As I continued narrowing my focus to residential concrete flatwork, I developed a company website and social media accounts. Leads began coming directly to me, and customer referrals continued to grow.
I started to land bigger, more decorative jobs that allowed me to advance my skill level even more. Most of them went extremely well. One of them blew up in my face when a sudden storm washed out the surface of a freshly poured pad, and I had to pay thousands of dollars to get it professionally polished. Lesson learned.
Heading into my third season, my main worker moved away to be closer to family. Going solo into what I expected to be a year of growth was difficult, but I was able to hire on a few good workers, many of whom are still in my circle today.
Despite the rough start, this third season ended up being really fun. I had a great crew of guys and was able to get another full schedule of awesome jobs to knock out.
At that point, I knew this was something I was committing to. I invested in a trailer and a machine, which allowed me to complete jobs faster and take on more substantial projects. My concrete skills continued to improve, and I started diving into decorative concrete.
Chapter 03
Hitting My Stride
My persistence with ordering concrete eventually paid off. I became a preferred contractor and no longer had trouble getting concrete supplied for my jobs.
I had developed a strong core team, and my decorative-concrete skills were really beginning to take off. My team and I completed some amazing projects that helped cement my reputation in the area.
Before my fourth season, the team and I spent a week at the World of Concrete convention in Las Vegas.
We came home ready to work. At that point, I had a solid crew, the right equipment, and a full schedule of decorative jobs ahead of me. It had only been a few years since that first three-yard pour, but Slick's had turned into a real concrete business.
Chapter 04
The Story Continues
Concrete patios are not the end of the story.
In 2023, I began learning how to build swimming pools. That next chapter eventually led to the A Street Pool, the project that brought together nearly every skill I had developed along the way.
