MY NAME IS DONNIE
I am the owner-operator of The Brushed Monkey Inc. This is my business and I want to share my story with you.
LIVING OUT LOUD
During the first chapter of my life, I spent time in the hospitality (restaurant) and construction industries. I worked hard, waited tables, and framed walls - it was my livelihood for nearly 20 years. I floundered a little while sorting out, processing, and expressing my confused youthful existence. I was looking for authenticity as I walked aimlessly through the world. Then a simple shift occurred. I wanted to formulate and find a way to belong; to connect to the world; to connect to others; and to connect to the task at hand. I was drawn in, fascinated, and focused as I started down a new path. I existed for my art while collaborating and executing.
FALLING IN LOVE WITH PAINTING A WHITE WALL
Finding a place in the painting business wasn’t completely out of line for me. Although it did take some time to unfold. In 2005, I was given a shot. A chance. The opportunity ignited a spark. The spark fueled a purpose. I found it.
It has now been 18 years since I started calling this Brushed Monkey thing, a thing. Providing care for the surfaces and finishes of a home. The wonder of giving a white wall a new life.
THAT OLD WALL
Multi-textured; complete with fuzzies embedded in the old finish.
Paint drips
Vacant picture holes and years of dings
A sloppy ceiling line that’s chunky, not straight; bleeding over onto the wall.
Misaligned baseboards, door, and window casings.
Gaps and cracks
Old and existing paint color.
Bridging on and off.
Refining it into a space that feels new but holds all its charm and value in your life.
Finding usefulness and purpose in making all these items fit and come seamlessly back together…complete.
~Donnie Kimbler Olson
WE ARE PROFESSIONALS
I have put together a gifted and passionate team of painters, plasterers, decorators, artists, craftsmen, craftswomen, and administrators. We are individuals that work seamlessly as a team. We make it possible to partner with you and provide individualized, uninterrupted support beginning at our first exchange. This includes administrative tasks and logistics (maintaining project transparency and functional organization) as well as assigning the right talent and skill to each project or assignment. We provide the benefit of dependable support and the ability to call for additional “hands” when team member wellness or on-site assistance is needed. This is not accidental. It happens by design. Our strength is knowing that some tasks are more challenging than others. We understand that project timing must be extremely fluid and can be impacted in countless ways. At the end of the day, we will provide a skillful and collaborative effort to care for your project and help define your space.
A VISION MET WITH INTENT, COMMITMENT AND PROMISE
We offer a complete line of traditional painting services combined with carpentry capabilities and artistic inclinations. We have team members with exceptional talents in paints, plasters, woods, metals, fasteners, adhesives, gadgets, blueprints, designs, and communications. We make new and older homes look the best they ever have. At Brushed Monkey we can influence many surfaces and finishes of the home. All this without a building permit. The possibilities are endless… drywall and beyond.
Over nearly 2 decades, we have met and developed close working relationships with general contractors, designers, and electricians, among other trades in our industry. If you require professional services outside of our area of expertise, we will make our A-List associations available to you should you desire this information. Our value at Brushed Monkey is emphasized in our ability, teamwork, as well as continuity and predictability of operational benefits and outcomes.
INTENT - GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
1. We deliver exceptional results with minimal supervision and no unexpected consequences.
2. We supply a well-informed and experienced team with a skillful, caring, genuine, and tailored approach to each project regardless of size/scope.
3. We provide truthful, credible, and dependable business practices using Brushed Monkey employees. We have exceptional talent within our own team so there is never a need to hire subcontractors.
COMMITMENT - UNWAVERING SUPPORT
1. We maintain an understanding by asking good questions and offering clear expectations.
2. We have staff vetted team members that are competent, helpful, and have the best skills at the right time for the right job. This is one of our key strengths.
3. We commit to projects with focus and undivided attention. Determining and planning the straightest, cleanest line through a project with optimized sequencing and time.
4. We are dedicated to supporting a project, client, and/or teammate to ensure they have all they need to succeed.
5. We utilize the best quality materials for all applications or installations and select additional products or concepts that may align.
PROMISE - WARRANTY
1. We promise to warranty our interior work for as long as the painted surface or item remains in your care. There are however limited lifespans - colors fade, and damage can happen. Things outside of these parameters will be offered at 75% of our current market rates. We will always cover knicks and dings for cabinets and enamel projects.
2. We promise to treat you and your home with dignity and regard, as if it is our own.
3. We promise to be professional, fair, and ethical with all things and all people at all times.
4. We promise to remain communicative and available.
5. We promise to offer discounted off-season pricing. The holiday season is a hard time to reinvent a space unless you are up for it. The temporary price reduction occurs from the end of December (Christmas) through mid-March (St Patrick’s Day). I decided years ago to apply cost savings back to the client during this time and keep our team moving. Brushed Monkey doesn’t want to lose any employees over a slow month or two. Especially when these months contribute a unique richness to Minnesota residents.
6. We promise never to spend more on marketing than we spend on giving back to the community. We consider and prioritize community service projects frequently.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
1. We will never pressure you to hire The Brushed Monkey, Inc. We believe our quality and commitment will establish us as the best choice.
2. We will not bug you for a review or a referral. We hope that your experience of our team and the excellence of our work will inspire you to share your feelings publicly and with those around you. It may be the desired practice for today’s successful business, but we won’t dilute our best reviews with pressured ones. The Brushed Monkey brand is about the time and care our craft requires. It allows oppositional agreements with the demands of today.
3. We might come at a higher cost- this will always benefit the people working on your projects. These are the folks responsible for delivering a quality product and their time. We want to take good care of them.
4. We may lose one client and appeal to another for the same reason. The value of that cost and how it applies to preference and budget, discipline - comes from a controlled operation to get a project handled. We will not let you spend money twice. We will redo something if it is deemed necessary.
5. We may require flexibility with start and/or completion dates. Many of our projects both in size and scope along the way and end up taking more time. Additionally, delays can occur due to high humidity and slower drying times. On occasion, other trades get backed up and require timing adjustments. We do a good job at narrowing down a project month. And then by week and day as the start date and time gets closer.
6. We may take out time to provide you with a quote. Some projects are less about the room or how much painting your project requires and more about how and when it’s done. Other projects just require more time to consider. We want to make sure you get the most accurate cost estimate.
7. Your project and the work performed are attended to by skilled and experienced applicators and problem solvers, who specialize in making things look as great as we are allowed. 100% of our surface teams are trained and certified technicians in dealing with lead paint, plasterwork, and safe renovation protocols.
8. By intentionally pairing finishes and furnishings in a room, everything comes together as preparation, primer, and paint are applied and managed with care. This results in a better feeling in your home with things that are important and useful to you and having them work together. That is the business we are in.
DONNIES CORNER -
AN UNSOLICITED OPINION
If the Minnesota Painting Industry were a pool, there would be 1,100 swimmers (painting companies) within 20 miles of the Brushed Monkey office. With a bucket and a brush, you can be a painting company. The average size of these companies is 1.5 painters. Utilizing today’s technology, artificial intelligence, and a sizable marketing budget, it is possible to appear as an established painting business and dilute failings with a volume approach. There are always problems in painting with hundreds of things we work hard to make certain don’t go wrong. We seem to be one of the few companies trying to establish ourselves in the deep end of this pool. We work here with regularity, we have a diving board, and we can do some impressive things with finishes. A shout-out to the capable painters you may know. I would like to suggest there is a lack of experience that dominates the construction trades today. It’s more accurate than saying there are bad painters. If I had to guess, I would say that 75% of the 1,100 painting companies in Minneapolis are inexperienced and greatly limited in their project understanding, paint knowledge, and abilities. It’s possible to find and possibly better afford many great painters in the area other than Brushed Monkey. If you have one, hang on to them.