Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Enderton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Justin. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I worked many humbling jobs as a kid/young adult in the Midwest; Walked & rode beans (killing weeds for a cleaner crop harvest), cleaned port a pots for my Uncle’s business, was a farm hand and drove tractor to work the ground for seeding and operated a combine at wheat harvest, along with working at a cattle feed yard as a maintenance man cleaning cattle drinking troughs, throwing tires on tarps to protect the cattle feed from the constant blowing wind, pulling the dead cattle from the pens, fixing fence and mowing the feed yard grass. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty (pun intended). I’d never been out of the Midwest, so I thought there was more to life and decided to apply to a college in Long Beach California where they had acting and modeling classes. I decided to give it a whirl and my grandpa Bill picked me up from work at the cattle feed yard in Leoti, Kansas and drove me to Long Beach California where I went to college (Brooks College, which was closed in 2008 due to embezzlement charges filed against them). They had majors in Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandizing & Interior Design.
I decided to major in Interior design based on a hand-rendered perspective I was intrigued by at the school. After (2) years and a lot of hard work and graduating with high honors, it was time to meet reality after the degree. The economy was bad and after much search, I had landed a job for minimum wage as a custom picture framer at $4.25 per hour. Continuous searching and persistence landed me a job at JBI where I had completed a project for at school. I ran blueprints and organized the library for a year.
Someone then introduced me to Aref & Associates (Frozan & Mohammed) in Long Beach and the rest was history. After (3) years and 100+ hour weeks (just like farming), they had taught me and I had learned the industry (design & furniture) inside and out. The attention to detail and passion was contagious. I then wanted, what I thought was bigger and better, an opportunity to work for a world renown Architecture & Design firm, Gensler. I was hired and learned a lot about a world class organization and their approach to their client’s and projects, including the Irvine Company portfolio. I was then introduced to the owner of an office furniture dealership, Rosemarie at Systems Source. She made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, as I had accumulated $100,000 plus in debt putting myself through college and the cost of living after graduation.
Hired for a PM position at Systems Source and saving an account, I was then asked to go into Sales. I said “why not” and was taught, again, by the best in the business and blazed a trail for the next nine years as one of the top salespersons at the company. I then wanted more and decided to establish my own Office Furniture Dealership, en4orm office interiors in October of 2011. I did it, I was successful for the next (6) years in business but had lost the balance with work and my growing family, my loving wife Christina & our (4) kids. I was then introduced to a very well respected competitor, Michael Cohen of United Interiors, and after a year of dialogue, we decided to merge our talents.
Family values and “Business IS personal” was in line with who I am as a person. Owning a company has many perks, but it also takes your soul, one soul which I wasn’t about to continue to give up for my wife and my family. The quality of work/life balance was the goal and objective and still is. I look forward to growing a very healthy family at home and at work.
Overall, would you say it’s been a smooth road.
A gravel road is smooth to me, don’t hold the steering wheel too tight and let the wheels do the majority of the work. In control, but not really . . . let it glide. There have been a lot of struggles, trust being the main one. Everything else is a struggle if you look at it that way, I look at it as reality, and you just have to learn to deal with it the best you can. Always taking the “high (gravel) road” no matter what negative circumstances are thrown my way.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the United Interiors story. Tell us more about the business.
United Interiors specializes in commercial office furniture and demountable walls. We are known for our “2nd to none” attention to detail and response times, accompanied by very passionate individuals willing to make a difference for someone else in their workspace. Anyone of our competitors can provide office furniture, but not at our level of speed, detail and precision. Those attributes and more importantly, the people of United Interiors, are what I’m most proud of and set us apart.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
A man of God, doesn’t need luck, but I’m Irish, doesn’t that get confusing??!! There are no random or chance happenings with God in control. Character, Integrity, Generosity & Humility are it, PERIOD, I work a lot harder than the average person and have all these characteristics, which are blessings, instilled in my genetic make-up. Proverbs 20:13 Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3200 Bristol Street
- Website: www.uiinteriors.com
- Phone: (800) 999-0159
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unitedinteriors/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unitedinteriors
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/uiinteriors
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1000715/admin/updates/
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