How Geko Painting
came to be
Here is the previously unreleased version:
Right after college I was a professional clarinetist with The US Army Field Band based in Ft. Meade, Maryland. During those 3 years I was lucky enough to perform in almost every state in the USA! (I still need to get to Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii). Around the same time, I began teaching music privately. At the peak of my music instruction career I was meeting with 50 students individually per week. After some time my roster got a bit smaller and it became necessary to shift gears. My wife and I put our heads together to brainstorm new ideas for my next path. It took a while, but finally it occurred to her that I had painted every house we’d lived in and did a good job of it. That’s when she said to me, “How about painting?”
In 2007 I started working on small and simple painting jobs for a general contractor friend of mine. The very first job was to paint a few pieces of trim around a small front door portico. Then came a portion of a white picket fence including a swinging gate. Next were the walls of a basement, including my first basement stairwell with a high ceiling. I still remember how nervous I was trying to cut-in the sage green color at the top of the high wall! Thankfully the shaking hand and nerves settled down with more experience. Each successful job was rewarded with a more involved and higher stakes opportunity. Somewhere within those first few weeks was a moment I realized I could actually earn a living from painting! It was exciting because it was a new career path, something I was good at, and an activity I enjoyed.
Over the course of the next couple years I continued to learn painting techniques and business practices from my contractor friend and others in the trades. By 2009 I had completed 2 years of work in the painting industry as required by the commonwealth of Virginia. Now I was ready to get my official painting license and in January 2009, Geko Painting LLC opened its doors and the first
“Very Free™ Estimate” was born!
Most small businesses close within the first 5 years but I’ve been fortunate to hit the 5, 10, and 15 year marks! My business thrives from a mixture of word of mouth, repeat customers, and clients recommending me to their Facebook friends and neighborhood groups. I also get many referrals from local paint stores, Realtor connections, and when homeowners google for a Winchester painter. Clients have been generous to leave many great 5-star reviews for Geko Painting on Facebook, Google, and Angi.
For anyone who is wondering where the name ‘Geko’ came from, when I was in The US Army Field Band, my friends in the clarinet section nicknamed me Geko. I guess because it’s close to my last name of Gresko. A lizard with paint splatters under its feet made for a fun and memorable image so I decided to use it for the company name and logo. I went with the unique spelling of ‘geko’ because it could be pulled from the letters in Gresko.
“Steve was recommended to us for interior painting,
and we are very pleased with his work. He was flexible,
easy to work with, and he did a beautiful job for a reasonable price.
Highly recommend!”
-M.D., Stephens City, VA
