High school friends Derrick Langlois and Michael Alvarado got their first general painting training in the Navy. After their military service, both attended Lane Community College in Oregon and started doing side work in between classes and day jobs. That eventually led to the launch of Servicemen Painting in November 2020. We had a chance to sit down with Alvarado to learn more about their fast-growing company.
How did you choose your company name, and what does the concept of “service” mean to you?
Servicemen is an older word for a member of the Armed Forces. It also represents people in the trade industries. We identify with both of those definitions.
At the end of September in 2020 we were hanging off the roof painting the fascia of a very tall two-story house when the client asked what we call ourselves. We yelled out to her, “Servicemen Painting!” When we finished the job, she gifted us with two custom-made military tan shirts with our name and a logo, complete with a U.S. flag on the left sleeve. This act of kindness made the dream feel tangible and we would apply for our license less than a month later.
Service is in our mission statement. We pride ourselves on our punctuality, dedication to duty, seamless coordination and scheduling, and ability to be flexible to changes or adjustments. Paint is what we do, but service is who we are.
(watch “Painting with a Purpose” video at servicemenpainting.com)
What have been the key turning points fueling your growth and success?
We understood early on that networking would mean a difference in how we build our brand. There is so much value in building and growing relationships. From our clients who refer us to their neighbors, to property managers and realtors, to general contractors, the goal is to create and foster lasting partnerships as we grow our company. You can’t just be focused on the paint. It’s the people that matter.
Speaking of people, our employees are a large part of why we’ve been so successful. We’ve had some outstanding individuals work with us. Some have gone and some have stayed, but all have greatly contributed a large amount of sweat and consistent execution. When we’re not painting, we have worked out together, cold plunged, gone on runs, and even participated in triathlons and marathons together. For us, they’re not just employees, they’re our friends.
Like many painters, you started out with residential work. How did you first get into commercial projects and what have you learned from working on these jobs?
We knew right away we would want to paint commercial projects big and small. We built confidence towards large projects, but you can only get so ready for bigger projects. At some point you have to take opportunities that come to you and make it happen. For us that was painting Empire Concrete Cutting in Springfield. The owner was a friend and trusted us with his large six-truck garage, two-story concrete building in our first year of business and we delivered. We would move on to other big commercial projects like supermarkets, cinemas and entire medical clinics.
Commercial is often night work. We don’t want to disrupt normal business operations. You learn to switch your schedule, lose some sleep, and still execute with the same precision. You learn to set up and tear down each night, leaving no trace you were there except the paint on the wall. You have to plan better because you don’t have the same access to certain resources in the middle of the night, and also have to solve problems a little differently than you would during the day when our Sherwin-Williams store is open. You learn just how flexible you need to be.
RELATED: Read more stories about successful painting companies in the PPC archive
What role does Sherwin-Williams play in your day-to-day business?
Jake Atkinson is the store manager in our Springfield store. He’s always energetic and a joy to greet in the morning – you name it, Jake is there for us.
Erik Clawson is our sales representative and has gone above and beyond to help make our projects a success. He’s educated us on various products and how they perform. He doesn’t just read the literature to you, he comes to the job site personally to measure performance, ensure customer satisfaction, help us plan out projects by estimating coverage, and is always on call for any questions we have (and we ask a lot of questions). We have given a free paint job away every summer since 2023 and Erik has been eager to make Sherwin-Williams a part of that by donating paint.
Giving back to the community is important for you and your company?
Definitely. Once a year since 2023, we have given away a free paint job to a deserving resident in Springfield. We have always recognized the need to help our community with the skills and resources we have. Sherwin-Williams has played a key role in this endeavor.
We also teach SMART Goals to students at the middle and high school level in Springfield. We learned SMART Goals in the Navy and have a desire to teach that goal-setting technique to young people in our community. We feel knowing how to properly set and achieve your goals, regardless of your age, makes a profound difference in your success.
On the job with Servicemen Painting
PROJECT: Burke Barn, Coburg, Oregon.
PRODUCTS: Exterior Latex Wood Primer, Duration Home® (interior wood), WoodScapes® (exterior barn door), SuperPaint® (barn walls), Pro Industrial™ DTM Acrylic (roof).
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Painting the roof was definitely a challenge. You have to paint metal roofs in near perfect weather conditions to avoid flashing. It has to be dry and warm enough to evaporate the condensation on the roof from the morning dew, but cool enough to allow you to keep your paint wet. You want to paint only in the morning before ambient temperatures rise above 70°. There are only a handful of days of the year like this in our region. We watched the weather daily and when we had the right conditions, we paused our schedule to execute the roof. We used safety harnesses starting at the top of the roof and working our way down for each side. We used 1-foot extensions on our Graco® 795 sprayer with two guns going for speed and coverage so we didn’t have to crouch as much as we focused on holding our leashes and our paint lines together. It was a hard job but executed with precision!
This article was originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of PPC/Pintor Pro magazine. Michael Alvarado was interviewed by PPC/Pintor Pro Editor Mike Starling. Photos: Deej Martinez. ©2025 Fusable.