Once both of my daughters were at full time school, there was only one thing I wanted to spend my time doing, this was decorating and improving homes. I had always took an interest in this from an early age, watching my granddad go to work in his overalls, as he was a foreman for a painting and decorating company in Birmingham. This probably stuck in the back of my mind, that and always loving the smell of paint on him. So, I approached Herefordshire College of Technology where I was to enrol in a NVQ Level 2 in Painting and Decorating course. They said I could only apply if I was employed or self-employed, but with no encouragement to be taken on by anybody locally I took a huge leap and became self-employed, this was during 2000. I have never looked back and it was the best move I have ever made. I love my job and have completed many houses over the past 14 years, I have also met wonderful customers and some who have become good friends.