About Ladd Painting Company

Hello, my name is Glenn Ladewig and I have painted hundreds of homes since 1997. This page tells of my adventure on becoming a professional paint contractor.

It began when I started working for a remodeling contractor back in 1991 and I did a lot of painting for him in addition to other remodeling work.

Then in 1993, I started working for an accomplished new home builder in the Park Cities. He contracted out most of the building but we finished out the house with crown molding, cabinets and tile.  So I got proficient with many different skills.

After six years of working for other people I decided to start my own painting business.  Even though I already had years of experience as a painter, I thought I really should study up on the subject so I purchased many books on how to paint at the book store including a dictionary of painting terms and read them twice.

I didn't want to assume that because I had painted for years that I knew all about painting and I wanted to make sure I was doing everything properly.

It paid off immediately because I "filled in the gaps" in my painting know-how and over the years I perfected my skills further to become a true professional.

For ten years, I painted hundreds of homes, both interiors and exteriors. But I wasn't really sure I wanted to be a painter for the rest of my life so I changed gears and started a retail business that was hugely successful.

After five years I went back to school to pursue my passion for photography.

I did over 3000 photo shoots over the next 15 years rocking out 150 - 300 photo shoots a year and then 2020 hit. All of my wedding, event and corporate photography jobs got canceled so that's when I decided to take a break.

After a year of minimal photography work, mostly by choice, I decided to get my painting company back up and running. I felt it would be easier in the today's economy to build a painting business than it would be to start over in photography.

I still do photography on the side, but for most of 2022 I've been busy painting.

My plan is to work by myself through 2022 and to familiarize myself with the world of painting again and then hire helpers in 2023 to expand the business.

As a note, I was always a different type than the typical painter that people had come to expect watching Murphy Brown which was popular on television at the time.

Instead of taking two years to paint a house, I used to paint the whole inside of a house by myself in a week. And when customers came to see how it was going, they walked into a house filled with classical music and a clean environment. I was always listening to either WRR 101 Classical FM or some book on tape or lectures.

At the end of the day all of my tools were neatly organized in one section of the house and somehow I had painted three rooms in a day! Who was this guy?

One thing I am especially enjoying this time around is technology. Gone are the days of having a cassette player clipped to my belt with wired earbuds.

Now, I have 56 gigabytes of classical music on my phone and a new pair of high-fidelity headphones that are wireless and have a 60-hour battery life! Plus they have noise cancelling. Pair that with an Audible subscription and I'm off to the races!

My goal is to listen to 100 classic books in 2023.  

For the future... my plan is to paint interiors in 2022 by myself. No employees. I want to do all of the work myself and familiarize myself with the world of painting.

Then, perhaps in the spring of 2023 I may take on a couple of helpers and exponentially expand the business. I will focus on volume and staying busy.

Finally, in 2024 I will look for an apprentice who might take over as my lead supervisor and can run a crew self-sufficiently. I would like to get back to a point where I have three crews with three painting vans, two foremen and a supervisor.

After I get Ladd Painting Company running independently, I will look for another photography studio and return to high-end portrait photography.

If you want to see my work as a photographer go to Glenn Ladewig Photography and check out my website. It will give you an idea of what kind of painter I am with the attention to detail that I put into everything I do.