Communicating Beauty In Texas
The Lorie Galloway Story
Located off State Highway 114 in Wise County, Texas, the community of Boyd sits approximately 30 miles northwest of Fort Worth and about 15 miles from Decatur and Bridgeport. On its website, the city of Boyd states that it is “a small town with a rural atmosphere, an excellent school system and [is] a great location to raise a family or to retire.”
And nestled at the town’s center is Lorie Galloway Companies (LGC), a 17-year-old hardscaping company. Its mission is to blend nature, beauty and art in hardscapes for both residential and commercial developments. “I have to admit that I love where I am and what I do,” says Lorie Galloway, Owner and President. “We are proving that art, beauty and construction aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Beauty and art aren’t words you typically hear when speaking to building and construction professionals about what makes their businesses tick. Instead, you hear “budget” and “risk reduction” and “timelines.” But for Galloway, attractive designs and natural features—and a focus on who the clients are—comes up often. “Our goal is to create objects of lasting beauty, something that puts the heart of our client in the forefront. We want all of the hardscapes we design and construct to have a lasting impression,” she says.
The first thing you see on the company’s homepage is a lovely banner that reads “Communicating Beauty.” The woman-owned business has a lot of experience building Dallas-Fort Worth hardscapes with a flair for combining nature and art into every project. If you review their projects, you will see many of the same themes—wood rafters leading to brickwork that melds effortlessly into a stone wall; wood accents curving up into a stone walkway; or wood, stone, brick and metal, all artistically blending together to create warmth and provide structure.
On any given day you may pass by a multitude of hardscapes—walls, paths, driveways and fences—without ever noticing them. But when you stop and really take in your surroundings you can see the brilliance that they add to properties. Whether it’s the gray-green succulents beautifully blending into the masonry, the stone monuments holding eye-catching signage, a red brick fence acting as a windscreen, or columns with earth tones and stonework, these details serve to make a strong impression on not only the function of the building, but the feeling as well.
The Art of Effective Communication
But what’s behind Galloway’s artistic passion? What makes her feel her projects? She says she started her business in January 2000 because she “saw a gap in the hardscapes market for art- and client-centric firms.”
She soon realized that the basic tenets of effective communication, such as honesty and inherent good will, along with mutual respect, could be a major differentiator in the market. “I noticed that some shops weren’t acting in the most ethical of ways, or weren’t putting out good products. I was afraid the industry’s image in the region was being tarnished,” says Galloway.
Hence, she not only built her company with a focus on picturesque project solutions, but also on transparent, courteous communications to build trust with clients.
When starting out, the company had some early hiccups. “We went through a lot of people who were used to working in the ‘old ways’—not being responsive, not understanding what the client wanted, not thinking artistically. But we kept working at improving our processes and communication methods, and hiring the right people,” says Galloway.
Effective communication and a client-centered attitude are key to LGC’s success. “How can we make beautiful and artistic structures without knowing what the client really wants? From the beginning, we wanted to set new standards in professionalism, responsiveness and customer care. This is our foundation—it’s what we believe in,” asserts Galloway.
An Easter Mission
And while Galloway says her vision is “simple,” it has helped her company develop some great relationships within the industry. “We work hand in glove with site developers, utility contractors and other subcontractors to accomplish the best results for our clients,” she adds.
Business relationships can grow from something as simple as a personal introduction. “A couple of years ago, I was working on a project adjacent to a general contractor’s site. I decided to walk over and introduce myself to the project manager,” says Galloway. “I asked if he would be open to working with me on other projects. And can you believe that eight months later, after one of the briefest negotiations of my life, they awarded us a $105,000 contract at a local church.”
The church project proceeded normally until the week before completion. “On a Friday afternoon, the general contractor found out we had to have 25 additional columns built for the following Tuesday morning city inspection,” she says. “Not only that, but the next Sunday was Easter Sunday. If the church didn’t pass this inspection, the congregation would not have been able to have Easter service in the new building. We weren’t going to let that happen.”
Over the next three days, the entire project team came together to make the additions to the project happen. The first step was to create custom cast-stone column caps, which usually takes seven days to complete. “We told the cast stone company—P&L Cast Stone in Roanoke—that we had to have the column caps as soon as possible,” says Galloway. “They worked over the weekend and after hours to get it done in two days.” Other contractors, including the brick supplier (Acme Brick) and materials supplier (Alliance Materials in Keller), worked around the clock to provide the materials necessary to complete the work.
She adds, “My crews worked very long hours drilling and pouring piers, laying brick and setting cast-stone caps. And did I mention that it rained all weekend, too? But we worked all weekend anyway and completed all work on Monday night, just in time for the following morning’s inspection.”
All their hard work paid off; the inspection passed with flying colors.
What’s the moral of this story? “Talk to people, introduce yourself, and personally ask for work. It still is the only way to do business,” says Galloway. “Also, remember that technology sometimes hinders our communication efforts, keeping us hidden behind a keyboard and monitor or a telephone. There will always be that personality factor in our business that will never be revealed without direct contact.”
The company has since worked on a range of other projects, including a natural stone monument at High Oak Park in Arlington; red brick screen walls at Life Church in Keller; and public park pavilions in Flower Mound, which incorporated brick, stone and wood materials.
“Our clients come back because they know that we won’t give them the run-of-the-mill project. They know that we will provide them with a product that speaks not only to the intention of the building, but also to the heart of the project. And that’s what matters most,” says Galloway.
She concludes by stating: “A positive frame of mind, good employees, good procedures and a large dose of confidence dictate our solid progress as a company. We practice patience and have direct, open dialogue with our clients and colleagues. Also, our artistic flair in combining nature and metalwork will help us continue our path of growth. We will remain positive and we will persevere, no matter what.”