Meet Darryl Michaelson

We recently connected with Darryl Michaelson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Darryl with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

Fron as young as I can remember I have been busy. I had chores as a kid but I also had a couple chores that had monetary rewards – one being doing the laundry. My mother did not like to do laundry so she paid me $10 per week to take care of it. At age 11 a had a paper route. Every day after school I did my route and every weekend I was up at 4:30 in the morning to do my route. By age 16 I had 3 different routes combined and I also ran the paper shack. That meant I was at the paper shack when the truck arrived. I counted and sorted the papers for the other carriers and then waited for them to arrive to pick up their papers. When they picked up their papers I closed up the shack and then did my route. That meant I was the first to arrive and the last to leave.
At 16 I got a “real ” job as a bagger at a local grocery store and at 18 I also got a job in the kitchen of a nursing home which meant I was working two jobs.
I moved out of the house at 18, signed a lease on a rental home and found 3 roommates to help with the expenses.
I’m not sure exactly where the work ethic stemmed from but to this day in a volunteer situation I always pick the most difficult task at hand. I find time moves faster when keeping busy. Also, a body in motion stays in motion and I have a goal to live past 100 years old.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

At age 23 I had gotten a couple kittens and was looking at cat furniture. I realized that the cat furniture market does not have much to offer. Most of it is poorly designed, too lightweight, and too small for a cat to fully utilize. Being handy, I set out to build a piece myself for them. My approach though was to find and collect wood for the frame as opposed to purchasing it new. My first piece was rather crude but my cats loved it and I felt as though I built it for free. stating to myself that everyone needs a hobby I decided to build more pieces. i found there is an endless amount of lumber in the form of electrical reels. After a year of doing my hobby I had honed my skills and decided to try and turn it into a business. That was in 1991 and it has been going strong ever since.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I picked some of my wood working skills from woodshop in high school.
I believe attention to detail goes a long way and people notice. Attention to detail in quality of product but also attention to detail in running a business. You cannot overlook anything or it will cause you problems in the future.
Customer service is also very important and a good business person will “match” the energy of their client.
It is clear to me that most businesses that fail, fail because the were not managed properly.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

One of the best books I have ever read is “How to win friends and influence people”. I read that book when I was a teenager and to this day I practice many of the principles in it. Most importantly is to be an active listener. Take the time to let a person express themself, ask pertinent questions, and pause before responding to be sure they are finished.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.purrniture.com
• Instagram: catpurrniture
• Facebook: Purrniture