Cameron Knox started with University First Class Painters in 2023 as our North Vancouver franchise manager. After a summer of hard work, Cameron achieved our 2023 Western Rookie of the Year! He attends the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, where he’s currently in his third year of a Bachelor of Business Management degree, with a minor in psychology.
Q: How does a typical day start?
“I usually wake up for work around 6:00 am-6:30 am, and I’ll make breakfast along with my lunch for the day, otherwise I’m right out the door. If I need paint or supplies and I wasn’t able to get them ready the day before I’ll head to the paint store before I get to the site. Once I’m on site, my crew and I will go over the previous day’s progress and get ourselves set up for today. If I don’t have any estimating or other admin stuff to do, I’ll get my painting clothes on and help the guys out for the rest of the day. Once the painting day is over, I’ll go door knocking for a few hours. After that, I’ll get home to make dinner. This past summer I was training for a triathlon, so I like to get in a run or bike after work.”
Q: What do you do in between your sites?
“When I’m not helping the guys out on site, I’m meeting with customers and estimating new work. If I have some admin things to get done, whether it be payroll, checking out new resumes or following up with new leads, I like to get it all done in between working on site.”
Q: What happens when the job is done?
“Once a job wraps up, if I’m not on site I’ll reach out to the customer to see if they’re available for a walk through that day or the next day. I’ll walk through with my crew first to make sure things look good before the customer and I have our final walk through. If there’s anything the customer would like touched up, we’ll take care of it. Once the customer is happy, we’ll take payment and move our gear over to the next one.”
Q: What do you like to do after work?
“Outside of work, I like to go outdoors as much as possible. I like to mountain bike, run and fish. My family lives back in Barrie, so calling with them and staying in contact is really important.”
Q: What happens when it’s a rain day?
“We don’t get too many in BC, but when they do happen, I like to get any pressure washing jobs that were lined up done, or any pressure washing I need to get done before we start painting on a project. I’ll do payroll if it’s a Friday or Saturday. If not, I’ll take advantage of the day and go mountain biking or go out to Whistler with my uncle.”
Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of running your own painting business?
“I went into the summer with no experience running a business. I found it really rewarding learning how to do everything that goes into my own business… learning all the important pieces that go into operating a successful business. My uncle runs a restaurant, so it was really cool to talk about the day to day of things with him. I also found finishing a job and having happy customers really rewarding.”
Q: What was your biggest learning curve in running your painting business?
“I’d say that hiring the right guys and managing them was my biggest learning curve. Having never been on that side of hiring and training employees, there was a lot of learning that went into it. It was a lot easier once I got that first employee trained; I found the second, third, and fourth, came a lot easier throughout the rest of the summer.”
Q: What was your favorite experience/moment/story with UFCP/running your business?
“Finishing up the first job and realizing that it’s not just about painting a house. You see that the customer really appreciates what you’re doing for them. That was a really big shift for me in the way I saw this job; going from a focus on selling a job to improving the customer’s home. I realized it wasn’t me vs. the customer when I was selling to them, it was finding out if I was the right contractor for them before we went forward with the work”
Q: Has anything you’ve learned with UFCP benefited you outside of work?
“The hard work ethic translated over to school and life in general pretty well. Knowing that you can work super hard for a prolonged period of time, knowing you’re capable of doing that degree of hard work. Even in my classes, you can tie together the stuff you learn with how things work in a business in real life… you see the accounting we’re doing in class and the accounting we do in our businesses is hugely helpful. “
“.. the sales skills were also a good thing to have under your belt. I found learning the psychology behind selling was interesting, and a good skill to have outside of business. It was also interesting to start recognizing the same tactics and skills that others are using to sell to you.”
Q: What advice would you give to yourself if you were starting your first summer with UFCP again?
“I would tell myself don’t be afraid to ask questions and make sure you’re clear on how everything is meant to be done correctly. It’s also really important to have a positive outlook on things, don’t get yourself down if something goes wrong, you’re not helping yourself if you do that, pick yourself back up and go. It’s also important to have fun with it, you’re not working overtime at a fast food restaurant; you’re managing other people, you’re managing a business. It’s a pretty sweet job, you’re spending lots of time outside. It’s really rewarding, unlike any other job I’ve ever had.”
Once he finishes his degree, Cameron plans to keep with his entrepreneurial spirit and start his own business. After a successful 2023 painting season, Cameron will hit the ground running with his North Vancouver franchise in 2024. With all he’s learned this past summer, he plans to train for another triathlon, along with pushing his franchise’s revenues north of $200,000 in 2024!
Do you want to be part of the UFCP management team? Apply today!
We are looking for student managers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.
