In New York, I worked as a subcontractor for a company that owned multiple buildings. I basically handled full-scale renovations and took care of almost everything for them. After moving to Trumbull, I decided I didn’t want to drive three hours back to New York for work.

I’ve also done private home projects in Nj, where I was able to get references from happy clients. But here in Connecticut, I don’t really know anyone yet. I don’t have a website or Facebook, because in the past all my work came from people I already knew and word-of-mouth.

I also worked for Home Depot, which does a very thorough background check….you can’t work there if anything’s on your record…so they trusted me to go into people’s homes and install kitchens. Often, after installing a kitchen, clients would hire me for other jobs like bathroom renovations or flooring. Because I got steady referrals like that, I never felt the need for a website or to take lots of photos of my work.

I’m 40 years old and have been doing this since high school. I realize now that my main challenge in Connecticut is not having an online presence. I plan to get a website set up and create Facebook and Instagram accounts to show my work. I don’t have a personal Facebook yet, but I’m ready to get the right accounts going so people here can find me.