Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Murphy.
Hi Joe, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Murf Turf Sprinklers & Water Management
Joe Murphy – Co-owner Irrigator
Kaydian Murphy – Co-owner
Houston area commit January 2019 – from Tampa, Fl.
College: University of Tampa graduate 2010 – Business Management and Entrepreneurship
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2008 – Tuckz, LLC – Invention, product, and 1st company was socks with a card-sized, sweat-resistant pocket inside. Keep card, ID, Key – safe, accessible, dry will you are active. This became my intro to serial entrepreneurship. I ended up with about 10 seconds of air time up on Discovery channel that year also. Pitch Men S1E9 – “Grater Education” 2 minutes in.
January 2018:
Circumstances forced me to start over and get my first job as an adult, at 30 (and a half) years old. I was making $11 an hour, with 2 kids. I had to find a purpose bigger than the money, just to keep my sanity. Once I found out how fulling this work was. I was locked in. I saw the future.
January/Feb 2019:
Moved to Katy/Houston where my wife was, got a job as an irrigation tech. Started acquiring the licenses and credentials required to keep ascending in this industry.
March 2020: Started our family business – Murf Turf Sprinklers and Water Management
May 2020: Went independent
Current:
Now we are considered one of the “smartest” irrigation companies in Houston metro. We work with schools, HOA’s, builders, homeowners, so on.
I’m proof you can start over, later in life and make build something substantial, if you’re open to it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Easy or smooth? I’m not sure. I’d say, just… Worth It!
When it’s YOUR path, whatever you go through to get to where you’re going, is worth it! Serendipity is unlocked.
Challenges that I HAD to turn into leverage:
1) Not keeping a job while establishing this business, no savings, no real plan – just following a signal. Plan, save, keep your job! This caused (causes) our family to play some mental gymnastics and grow up on so many levels. They had to sacrifice as much time, money, opportunity cost, and sanity as me, but I signed up for it, not them – so its not fair in some ways.
2) Being an introvert, when entrepreneurship is in large part about letting your light shine and getting paid for it.
3) This industry is not accustomed to people who look like me, being an owner, nor skilled laborer. So, a lot comes with that fact… But its IMPERATIVE that people continue to see me so we can soothe this culture shock and keep building.
4) Those days when you’re still not established, haven’t made your nut yet, but the world is against your goals. These days always end up being the days that set you apart from others after you see it through.
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Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Murf Turf Sprinklers & Water Management provides smart water solutions for sprinkler projects and beyond. Our goal is to be the preferred handlers of the universe’s most precious commodity.
What We Do:
Murf Turf Sprinklers is a full-service irrigation and landscaping company. Servicing the Houston Metro counties. We specialize in B2B, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and residential projects.
Services provided:
Irrigation system installation; irrigation system maintenance of all kinds; backflow testing; landscape revamp/irrigation reconnection after pool, patio, and/or other construction; trouble shooting/valve track/wire location; licensed system and backflow Inspections and audits; enhancements/upgrades; wireless controllers; weather sensors; mapping components; provide landscaping packages to fit budget needs; and more.
The water is so infinite and ever giving. How do you not get excited every day, to be a trusted professional contractor to handle the most foundational commodity to our existence? Take pride in being a waterman.
What makes us different:
Our level of skill, info-sharing methods, transparency, customer service, forethought, passion, and creativity allow our clients to have a refreshing and constructive experience. Our clients leave us feeling smarter, and if not, they at least know that they had the brightest minds in the industry on their projects.
People deserve to experience us. It may change their outlook on business experience in general.
Creating careers:
I found a trade skill later in life that changed my trajectory. We want to share our passion for this industry, as well as help train others to start a career in the irrigation world. We’ve developed a system, along with a partnership with nonprofit staffing agencies to get more people into careers with direction.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
My Grandma taught me how to sew so I could make my own prototypes for the socks with pockets. Those prototypes I sent to China. She passed the next year. I just thought that was cool.
My wife Kaydian Murphy who I met in college, is smarter than me and will run the world any day now.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.murfturfsprinklers.com
- Instagram: @murfturfsprinklers | @wtrmane
- Facebook: @murfturfsprinklers
- Twitter: we will be polishing up this winter
- Youtube: Murf Turf Sprinklers and Water Management
Image Credits
Graystone Photography
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