Chris Reynolds became an employee of Hall’s Plumbing in Sacramento, California, 16 years ago and essentially ran it for a decade before he and his wife Jennifer bought it outright five years ago. Since then, extended Reynolds family members have joined him in the business.

“Shortly after I took over, company employees were me, my brother Jason and his friend Troy,” Reynolds says. “Today, we have 24 employees and 11 of them are family, including cousins and in-laws.”

But Reynolds is a big believer in thorough employee training to establish a level of competence across his workforce and establish a standard of excellence that he wants the company to represent. So, while he may have brought in some people closest to him to do the work, he hasn’t cut them any slack. Expectations remain high, and those employees/family members have largely risen to the occasion.

“My brother can do everything,” Reynolds says. “My cousin Joe and I run the lining crew. My brother-in-law Ryan runs the pipe bursting crew.”

Reynolds has a strong work ethic, but he says it’s his mind, not his labor, that differentiates him from some tradespeople.

“I have a well-developed sense of curiosity. I educate myself. I remember when I was learning plumbing, I would go home at night and study till midnight. What I know about the industry today has all been from on-the-job learning and studying.”

Reynolds says he believes that approaching work in that way — which he also tries to train his employees to do — gives a person the best chance to make good decisions on the job.

Read more about Hall’s Plumbing in the February 2022 issue of Cleaner magazine.