Meet Chris Townsend | Founding Owner of Bearded Brothers Roofing & Restoration

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Townsend and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
For the first decade of my career I worked for others. However, entering the restoration construction industry, I realized that a pattern was arising. I would come in as a consultant, start to build someone else’s company, and then they would start making decisions which interrupted our progress. I also saw that in the completely deregulated Texas environment, the room for industry revolution was limitless. As a reformer, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build something truly revolutionary.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Hi Chris, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
For the first decade of my career I worked for others. However, entering the restoration construction industry, I realized that a pattern was arising. I would come in as a consultant, start to build someone else’s company, and then they would start making decisions which interrupted our progress. I also saw that in the completely deregulated Texas environment, the room for industry revolution was limitless. As a reformer, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build something truly revolutionary.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Bearded Brothers Roofing and Restoration is a full service restoration construction company. We help property owners restore, remodel, and reinvest into their homes, business, and property assets. There are tens of thousands of restoration construction companies in North Texas. Having so many “competitors” makes standing out more difficult, but the deregulation of Texas contractors sets the bar very very low. We specifically have designed our company to be able to service high end clientele, but we make those services available to everyone through straight forward pricing, price matching, and a long list of guarantees. However, our true competitive advantage comes from the nuanced skills of our team. I describe Matt, my partner, and the other Bearded Brother, as a “nerd in the best possible way.” Matt and I both have a tremendous passion for learning and both of us were professors before entering construction. Matt’s the kinda guy who teaches himself to become fluent in Spanish just because it’s heavily used in our industry. He’ll stay up late studying and getting new certifications. His passion and skill are primarily applied to understanding the science and artistry required for installing a long list of custom construction products and his genius generally has him knowing more than the manufacturers within weeks or months of getting his hands on a particular product. This gives us a unique ability to rebuild beauty into properties. My passion and nerdiness tend to be focused more on systems related designs. Where Matt is a Master Craftsman in the design and production of the construction, my mastery exists in the intricate design of systems that manage for the infinite situations that arise. This helps us protect customers from bad experiences and ensures good ones. My microscopic attention to detail means there’s a lot of work to be done. I’m not anywhere near satisfied with our results, but one thing is certain, we are getting better and better each and every day and our reviews suggest that even with the hiccups of a startup, our customers are being cared for at an exceptional level. We’re already a top quality contractor in North Texas. We’ve already done large commercial projects all over the nation. We’ve already got some of the most advanced technologies, automation, and people in the industry. We’re able to produce consistently at a level comparable to companies that have been around 20 times as long as we have and we’re just getting started.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I went to college in Fort Worth and now live in Downtown Dallas – Victory Park. I love this city. We have so many great venues. With that said, the list of places I’d take them is quite long and it’s also been about a year since I’ve really experienced the city in it’s full glory due to the pandemic- especially over a week’s time, but I’ll list a few: For brunch I’d probably take him to Bread Winners patio off McKinney if we were wanting to be around a lot of people. If we were wanting something a little less energetic, we’d go to Bistro 31 or Fearings. For lunch we might walk over to the Henry or pop into Bazille at North Park or Bird Bakery in Highland Village if we were doing some shopping. For dinner we would probably walk over to Imoto, Billy Can Can, or Te Deseo depending on what cuisine we felt like at the moment. From there we might catch a game at American Airlines (I love that we don’t have to worry about parking). I’m also a big fan of concerts, so might see who was in town playing and check something out. Dallas has so many great venues that there’s usually someone interesting playing. I’m not usually out late and though I enjoy a good beer, glass of wine, or a nice cocktail, I’m not much for lots of drinking so we might check out some of the more tame bars known for quality rather than quantity. If they were so inclined, we could definitely check out some of the more crowded night scenes in Uptown or Deep Ellum as well – just make sure you change your shoes…

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without a doubt, those directly around me act as an invaluable support system. Owning a business, particularly a startup in the middle of a pandemic, is challenging to say the least. Long days, random calls, emotional ups and downs, and cancelled plans are all par for the course. As such, the closer a relationship, the more flexibility and understating is needed. Therefore, the biggest shout-out has to go to my girlfriend, Meghan, for putting up with all the late nights and long phone calls during our time together. My parents have been a similar place I can trust for support on a personal level. Professionally, our original administrative manager, Mary, has been a great friend throughout. Whatever she’s done for the business, it pales in comparison to having a caring, honest, and intelligent friend who has an intimate knowledge of the hardships that have transpired since inception. Most people see the sexy side of business ownership. They see the perks of money, control, and respect that done with owning a business. They rarely see the abuse owners experience from employees, customers, business partners, vendors, and more. Mary has an intimate knowledge of the weight of ownership, without having to personally bare that burden. Nevertheless, her love for my partner and me has made the weight we carry noticeably easier. Finally, my business partner, Matt must be mentioned. He’s brilliant and knowledgeable in some of my weakest areas. We don’t always get along. We are both strong personalities with fierce focus. We have a great many shockingly similar similarities and an equally numerous deviations. Business partnerships are like a marriage. You take the good, the bad, and the ugly and you’re in it during sickness and health. Sometimes we want to rip each other’s heads off (I would imagine any business partners who tell you they don’t feel this way at times are lying), but Matt is a decent man and I like to think I am too and we both possess the right characteristics leaders need to work together. Even in the toughest of times, even in the face of palpable disagreement, and even in the glory of massive success, Matt and I always find ourselves grounding in friendship and a desire to care for our one another, our company, and the thousands of people impeached by its reach.

Website: Beardedroofing.com