12/10/15, 1:42am

Cece created a new flyer for me and this one was perfect to get printed. ([email protected] if you want to contact her about graphic design needs, she’s the best in town) While headed to the printer I decided to share my new flyer on social media as well. Only this time instead of putting up a pic for everyone to “like”, I asked everyone to “share” the photo. The shares are what will get me new business because each share is like someone telling everyone they know about me. I had no clue that 90+ people would share my post. If only 10 of their Facebook friends see the flyer that’s 900 new fresh eyes. Doing the simple math those numbers alone would surely lead to some referrals or new business right? You’re right! My phone was blowing up all day today. Not to mention the email and text message inquiries that came thru. What a time to be alive!

**all pictures taken by me for the purpose of retelling this story below, I just set my camera in self mode, find a way to prop it up to capture the shot needed, and set the 10 second timer**

I’ve never been more proud of myself doing this Hangman thing than I was tonight at the home of Mrs. Ervin. I had this job scheduled for about a week after Mrs. Ervin saw my flyer floating around Facebook and decide to call. At the request of her children, she was looking to mount her TV onto her fireplace. Beautiful home, and I’m thankful Mrs. Ervin decided she was finally ready to mount her TV. “Travis I been in this house for 35 years, go ahead and mount the TV, we not going anywhere “.

First thing I noticed is that the TV was a good size, and the space over the fireplace didn’t seem like it was much bigger than the TV was when you take into account the slanted ceiling. I was going to need to be precise. Fireplace mounts can be tough. Anytime your going into brick its a good idea to be smart and use caution. You have to have the right drill, bits, screws, anchors and more to hit a home-run when mounting a tv onto a brick fireplace.Everything started out well, brackets went onto the back of the TV just fine, no worries there.

I used spacers to give the TV a little more “sit off the wall” effect that looks great on fireplace mounts. It makes the TV look even on the wall and centered over the mantle itself. At this point I am doing just fine. I’ve got my Pandora playlist set to John Legend so you know I’m groovin. I usually play John Legend because it’s cool, calm and not overly sexual. As much as I love hip-hop I don’t like clean versions and I am not going to be in someone’s home trying to mute out words like “&$#*#*” and “*($(#(@#(@)” every two seconds.  Plus John Legend is safe r&b. Imagine if I was in your home playing the R.Kelly 12 Play album while I was doing handyman work. C’mon now, the TV wouldn’t be the only thing getting………nevermind I’ll leave that alone.

 By now I’ve got the TV all set and have  a plan of action for this brick wall. Around this time Mrs. Ervin popped in on me, gave me a bottle of water and some much needed small talk which I appreciate. She spoke with me about retirement life and then we both had a good laugh when we discovered that I have more W-2’s coming this year than she has had in her whole life! She told me that I need to get somewhere and stay put! Wiser words have never been spoken. She also told me that she was glad I found something entrepreneurial that I enjoy and of course wished me the best of luck. Then she left me to my work.

Do you see the above picture? Let’s inspect the photo closely because ladies and gentlemen, all hell just broke loose. I have done MANY brick and fireplace jobs but for some reason this was not like the rest. I truly believe that the brick on Mrs. Ervin’s fireplace were original bricks from the Walls of Jericho or the Great Wall of China. Never in my life have I drilled into a wall and the wall didn’t do a dang thing. I tried different masonry/brick drill bits, concrete screws, and even raced to Home Depot minutes before they closed and purchased a new hammer drill. Truth be told I had been eyeing this new drill for awhile, tonight just gave me the good reason to go spend the $! But even that new drill wasn’t enough. We have a serious problem people and I had to admit I had no clue.

Frustration has set in. As a last effort I dumped out my entire toolbox looking for a 5/16 socket to ratchet the bolts to the wall by hand but still nothing. When I first got into this business a man at Home Depot told me the key to being successful as a handyman is to stay organized, be on time, and learn from every job. Organization just completely killed me out. Clearly I didn’t put that socket back in its case with the other 14 pieces. They were all there but the very one I needed had somehow dissapeared. Home Depot and Lowe’s were closed by this time. I was in a jam.

I can only imagine what Mrs. Ervin was upstairs thinking. I’m downstairs frustrated making all types of racket. Trying to drill into a wall that wouldn’t budge. The wall was starting to look like connect the dots with all the holes LOl! Heck at one point I left to get a BBQ plate from the gas station up the street thinking I could work better on a full stomach. While I was waiting on my plate, I flipped open my handyman handbook and turned to the pages with tutorials on brick. No matter what, you can never be above learning and needing help. After skimming thru 3-4 pages I found a strategy that gave me a different method to try using screws and sockets I knew I had in my toolbox. I was headed back to Mrs. Ervin’s place not with a guaranteed TV mounted, but at least I had a plan!

All I could do is send up a prayer. On Facebook I was having my biggest success. Over 100 people had shared my post about Hangman Inc. My phone, email, and text had been blowing up with clients asking for prices and new Hangman jobs all day. At the same time, I’m across town in a living room dang near in tears ready to give up the business all because I couldn’t figure out a problem. Lesson in that is that you may reach success but it will not come without blood sweat and tears. You have to work at it. You cannot cheat success. Success knows how much work you put in. It knows your grind. You have to earn it. Nothing comes easy.

Would you look at that!!!!! We have a fully mounted beautiful TV!!! I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I can’t wait until my next fireplace job,I have a whole new technique and it came out perfect. I yelled out for Mrs. Ervin to come look at the finished work. Seeing her smile and laugh at me as I told her “…it would take Samson, Noah and Jesus combined to get this TV down off that fireplace” made it all worthwhile. Of course when she paid her invoice that made it even more worth it LOL!

I’m thankful for a job well done! Thankful for the lessons, the tests…all of it is making me a better man. I tried to get Mrs. Ervin to jump in a photo with me like my other clients and she swiftly replied “No way! It’s late and I don’t have on no makeup and you not about to have me looking crazy on the internet! Get a picture of the TV, and if anybody needs a reference have them contact me” 

Follow my Hangman adventures on instagram: @HangmanHSV

If interested in having some work done. Contact me at [email protected]