Father, veteran, and artist are just a few ways to describe Chief Estimator, Travis Lang. He credits his knowledge of the paint industry to his own “Mr. Miyagi,” Dave Spencer. He encouraged and challenged Travis to be the best he can be from the very start of his career. Spencer took a gamble on Travis, who was the youngest person ever hired to his Florida-based painting company.
Leaving Florida in 2019, Travis quickly became a member of the Shaker Painting family and was given the opportunity to build and run the commercial painting division. Travis is Chief Estimator at Shaker Painting—conducting new construction estimates and reconstruction projects, among other responsibilities that help carry our values of trust, communication, teamwork, growth, and fun.
“Shaker never truly gave me parameters to work in or rules to limit my abilities or reach. This freedom allowed me to challenge myself, the abilities of our crews, the office staff, and the status quo,” Travis said.
In addition to specialized estimating for commercial projects, Travis is well-versed in the latest design and finishes technologies such as FilzFelt, a 100% biodegradable and renewable material. The German milled wool felt is moisture resistant, self-extinguishing, and known for its thermal and acoustic insulation properties which is best used in break rooms, conference rooms and other office environments.
“It’s a unique product that very few companies understand how to figure,” Travis said, giving Shaker the ability to not only figure it but also understand it. “FilzFelt has many application possibilities and the fact that we [as a painting company] are able to offer it as a service is huge. Nobody, that I know of, had heard about it until about a year ago.”
But when this estimator isn’t crunching numbers at Shaker Painting, you may be surprised to know he’s painting his own pieces. Trying to kick boredom back in 2018, Travis picked up some supplies and hasn’t put the brush down since.
Painting may be his side hobby, but the Shaker Painting team loves seeing his amazing artwork at the office – and it’s even caught the attention of others! In the next few months, Travis expects to show some pieces in a local gallery.
Before finding his way into the paint industry, Travis served in the United States Navy as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman for the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines Infantry.
“As a Corpsman, I learned how to treat and understand people. As a professional, I use the same people skills to establish and maintain positive working relationships built on trust, communication, and respect,” he said.
Of Shaker’s values, trust and communication resonate with Travis the most, and he finds them to be key factors to being successful as Chief Estimator. Leadership has full trust in him.
“Poor communication means poor planning, which means wasted money,” he said.
Once trust is earned and communication is established, he believes the rest of the values fall into place naturally.
Behind his joy of the bidding process for contracts or creating art, you’ll find Travis’s motivation: family. He describes his family as his “why,” and is determined to give them every opportunity he was not afforded.
Travis’s contribution to Shaker Painting is greatly appreciated. We look forward to witnessing his continuous growth in business and leadership.
