For the Hayes clan, painting is a family affair.

Kevin Hayes went to work painting for his father. His wife, Krissy, joined the business a year and a half ago. They have three sons, all of whom make their living in paint.

They know that many husband and wife teams deal with added stress when they go into business together. It’s hard to have a work/life balance when your coworker is your spouse.

“I know this sounds so unicorn,” says Kevin. “But man, we don’t have those issues.”

“When he comes home from work, we’re done for the day,” says Krissy.

This is the story of how the Hayes family has thrived for almost a half-century in the painting trade.

The father

Gene Hayes was on a road to nowhere.

Growing up in California in the 1960s, Gene fell into the hippie lifestyle and the drugs that went along with it. Heroin, PCP, LSD—whatever he could get his hands on, he consumed.

At one point, he lost his eyesight and was committed to a mental institution for a few weeks. Eventually, his eyesight came back, but he still didn’t see the light.

At the age of 24, Gene knew he needed a change of scenery. His older brother, Skip, was living in Mobile, Ala., which seemed like a good place to make a fresh start. So Gene stuck out his thumb and hitchhiked across the country.

But Gene wasn’t ready to give up the drug life. He thought Skip was selling drugs, using a religious organization called Teen Challenge as a front. That was the family business he wanted to join.

Little did he know, Skip had actually become a Christian.

His brother was getting married and walking the straight and narrow. Gene, however, continued his life of crime.

At a party leading up to the nuptials, Gene wanted to bring Skip a gift. So he went downtown and stole a car stereo. He proudly presented it to Skip with the clipped wires still hanging out of the back. Skip made him return it.

Love would show him the way. Skip was engaged to Denise, who had a best friend named Susan. Gene was smitten with Susan and started dating her. Within months, they were married.

Now it was Gene’s turn to find Jesus. He gave up drugs and crime and sought out an honest living. In 1979, Hayes Painting was born.

The son

Kevin was Gene’s second son, but he was the first who was interested in following in his father’s footsteps.

During high school, Kevin worked in the family business during the summer, learning the painting trade. Three months before graduation, Kevin realized college wasn’t for him. He took his diploma and picked up the paintbrush.

“I was done with school,” Kevin says. “I was just like, ‘I’ve had enough.’My dad had a business and I thought I could just step right into this.”

Next, it was time for Kevin to start a family of his own. When he was 18, he met Krissy at a line-dancing event. They hit it off right away. Three years later, they were married.

At 18 and freshly graduated, Krissy didn’t give the painting business much thought when she married into the trade.

“I was probably a little too young to understand the business side of it,” Krissy says.“I just knew he was working and it was providing for our family, which was enough.”

Kevin promised his wife that he would work hard and earn a good living.

“If you’ll just stick with me ‘til I’m 40, I swear we’ll have more money,” he told her. “I swear.”

Wedded bliss

Kevin was true to his word. By the time he was 39, he was ready to take over his father’s business.

“My dad is 73, and believe it or not, he was working for me up to maybe a year and a half ago,” Kevin says.“So I helped him out with his retirement.”

Kevin set out to professionalize Hayes Painting. He learned about social media and began to market on Facebook. He hired some hands to help him with the extra work. Then he started attending the PCA EXPO.

“I learned so much there,” Kevin says. “I attribute a lot of our growth to what I’ve learned there.”

For example, Hayes Painting didn’t have an employee handbook. Three years ago at the PCA EXPO in Orlando, Fla., he met Mark and Nicole Black, who had a painting business that was further along. Nicole offered to help.

“She goes, ‘Let me just email you our handbook,’” Kevin says, still marveling at the generosity. “She emailed their entire handbook, and Krissy went through it and changed out their name for our name.”

That wasn’t the only change in the business that was inspired by the EXPO. In 2023, Kevin and Krissy had just attended their second EXPO at Sandia Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, N.M. They decided to drive up to Santa Fe.

“All the way there, we talked about me resigning from a portion of my job,” Krissy says.

One thing that stood out to them at EXPO was all the husband and wife teams that ran painting businesses together.

Kevin was watching his business rapidly grow and knew he couldn’t handle it all himself. He needed someone to help with the bookkeeping, networking, and all the other business operations he didn’t have time to do.

By the time they got to Santa Fe, the decision had been made: Krissy would join Hayes Painting. “It’s like, ‘OK, we’re really doing this,’” Krissy says.

The next generation

Even as the business was growing, so was their family.

Kevin and Krissy had three children, all sons: Andrew, the oldest, is 23. Blake, the middle child, is 21. Trent, the youngest, is 19. All three of them make a living with paint.

After Andrew graduated, the business wasn’t yet big enough to take on another worker. So Kevin called up his local Sherwin-Williams and got Andrew an interview. Andrew took to the new job right away. It helped that he had his father in his corner.

When customers called with questions that Andrew didn’t know how to answer, he would politely put them on hold. Like on the show “Who Want to be a Millionaire,” Andrew would phone a friend: his father.

“It was a happy moment for my husband because he was like, ‘My son actually has a question about painting,” Krissy says.

Blake was the next one to graduate. He went to college as a baseball pitcher, but within one semester realized it wasn’t for him and called Dad.

“I don’t think I want to do this anymore,” Blake said.“What should I do?”

“You should make your own decision,” Kevin told him. “Because you’re not going to blame me for something in 10 years if you’re unhappy.”

“I’ve already made my decision,” Blake said.“I’m ready to go to work.”

“Come on then,” Kevin said.

Trent, the youngest, followed his brothers. First, he went to work for Sherwin-Williams, then he joined Hayes Painting this year.

Kevin is mindful to bring them up right, having learned from being on the other side of the employer/employee relationship.

“I remember all the things my dad did that pushed my buttons,” Kevin says.“I tell them I know those things, and I’m not going to do things that push your buttons.”

That doesn’t mean Kevin isn’t providing a strong guiding hand.

“I was a painter before I was a businessman,” Kevin says. “So I feel like they need to know the trade backward and forward. I want to teach them how to be a painter.”

Looking toward the future

Kevin isn’t going to make his sons wait as long as he did to put down the brush. Kevin wants to see them out of the field and into management positions by their early 30s.

“So I make them read books,” Kevin says. "I tell them, 'I know you’re 21, but you need to read this book on business.’”

Now, with two of the kids engaged and getting married this year, Kevin and Krissy are looking forward to the fourth generation of Hayes Painting

 “We’re building something that I can pass on to my boys, and that they can pass on to their kids,” Kevin says. “We’re building a legacy.”