Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Peringer.
Matt, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in rural Washington State, with family role models in police work, military, and agriculture. There was a common thread in the lessons I learned from them. My police and military influences often showed me that their career-goal was to be able to say at the end that they always did right by their partners and the communities they served. As a street cop, Dad once drew his pistol on a man with a gun who had a position on his partner. Dad was just a fraction of a second from pulling the trigger to save his partner’s life when the man dropped the gun and the confrontation ended. Dad said that experience was part of him from that day on because he was so close to having to choose between the life of his partner or the life of the bad guy. It still strikes me how much compassion he had for both his partner (whose life he had chosen to save of course), but also for the criminal. He worried about how God would judge that decision, but he was proud to be in the position have to make it (even though it would affect lives dramatically, including his own) because he loved his community and his police family.
Helping on my uncle’s farm, I would be tasked with walking through pea fields (which is like walking through a jungle) with a 5-gallon sprayer on my back to kill thistles. I remember my uncle explained that the thistles really don’t hurt the crop, instead, every time someone drove past our field they would see how much extra effort we spent to make it look perfect. It was more about representing the profession of farming and the family name than improving the yield of the crop. Somehow those lessons of service and pride in your work led me to police work.
You can’t tell by looking at me now, but long ago I looked very young for my age. After graduating from Washington State University and the police academy, I was covertly placed in a high school posing as a student to investigate a drug epidemic. I went to school for three months, purchasing cocaine and other drugs until the cases were made and the problem-students were arrested in a very visible bust. Undercover work is very high stress and high liability. As you can imagine, handling drugs and money, and in this case being immersed in a high school around kids, required perfect documentation and adherence to protocol. I knew that if any action I took was called into question by any student, faculty, or anyone at the police department, it could bring huge consequences on the organization, the mayor, the chief and myself.
After that, it was off to patrol to learn how to be the OVERT police officer we all think of. The organization I worked for was very progressive with supporting people who wanted to lead, so I had opportunities to be a background investigator and recruiter for new hires, to be an instructor and later lead the firearms training program, eventually promoting to sergeant. I got to attend a wide variety of leadership training, become certified in Lean Process Improvement, and apply those skills on a number of committees and as a supervisor.
I supervised the Complex Investigations unit and oversaw homicides, cases of abuse, and even a case that threatened the lives of my team, me, and our families. The stresses were piling up slowly.
Full Circle: Last year I was supervising an undercover unit, targeting prolific criminals when I was forced to make the same decision my dad was forced to make all those years ago. Only a month after that incident, and not yet having processed the trauma of it, my dad retired from 40 years of police service. It was a great day. He had retired with his honor, and a positive outlook-on-life, intact. A month after that, though, he was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer, and a month after that he was gone.
My wife and I were rocked by the events, and having no answers, we did what we should have done years earlier and asked God to show us a way. God did.
We were shown an unbelievable path out of law enforcement and an opportunity to live our decades-long dream of moving to Texas.
When we got here, we started Focus Window Washing, our little American Dream. This business has been the perfect vehicle for applying the lessons and values I hold dear, which are built right into the business model and procedures. For example, time to just chat and get to know the customers is built into every appointment, even though it may slow down a project. I never go over a quoted price, no matter what. I only use the very best products, and always look and act with top-notch professionalism. The goal was to create trust with long-term customers, but the value in those relationships, and often heartfelt conversations, has gone far beyond business.
Giving Back: In police work, I got a lesson in PTSD; The way it builds slowly and can be triggered by an event or sound. It can be difficult for those affected to concentrate, which is frustrating for them and their families. I learned that everyone copes differently and that it’s much more prevalent among first-responders than anyone acknowledges. I also learned that work like window-cleaning can be therapeutic for sufferers. A mission of my business is to hire veterans and provide them with substantive opportunities for growth within the company and far beyond. In that light, the name “Focus” seemed appropriate.
Our move to the Houston area, and starting Focus Window Washing with our values built-in, has been a faith-affirming adventure that I hope will have positive ripple effects through every customer and employee we interact with. As I tell my customers regularly, you may be able to find someone who’ll do the job for less, but you won’t find anybody more trustworthy or that does a better job!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Salesmanship! Before Focus, I thought salesmanship was a script of sleazy tricks to use on potential customers, and that just isn’t me. I’ve been blessed with a business mentor in the first Texan we ever met, our realtor. Cathy Wilson took me under her wing and shared that salesmanship is just being honest and being yourself, letting people get to know what you’re about. For me, this knowledge was a relief, and made sales much less of a burden, and much more genuine and casual.
Focus Window Washing – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Focus Window Washing is The Greater Woodlands, Texas Area’s best choice for window cleaning. We use only the best products and equipment, always look and act 100% professional, and always treat our customers with kindness and respect. You may be able to find someone to clean your windows for less, but you won’t find anyone as trustworthy or that does a better job. Focus Window Washing is a representation of me, my family, and the Great State of Texas, so I take a lot of pride in it.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
There are benchmarks for efficiency, productivity, revenue, etc., but those don’t measure success. Success, for me, is making an honest living, giving my family what they need, and living the life God wants me to.
Contact Info:
- Website:Â www.focuswindowwashing.com
- Phone:Â (346) 298-9990
- Email:Â info@focuswindowwashing.com
- Instagram:Â focuswindowwashing
- Facebook:Â focuswindowwashing
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