Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Brown.
Travis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in rural Texas around tools and engines, and since my dad ran a shop, I learned early that you fix what’s broken instead of tossing it out. That mindset never left me.
When we started Hometown Garages, it was me, my best friend Logan, and my wife Dominique. Logan knew the technical side inside and out, I ran marketing and got our name out there, and Dominique handled everything on the back end, all the admin and systems that actually hold a business together. Then Logan decided to move on and I bought out his share. So there I was, running a garage door company with no clue how to actually hang a garage door.
So I taught myself. Logan would hop on FaceTime and walk me through a spring or an opener while I stood in somebody’s driveway figuring it out live. It was humbling, but every job I finished I got a little better, and somewhere in there I realized I really loved the work.
These days it’s Dominique and me running it together, with a tech on our team and over 175 five star reviews from folks right here at home. We’re not the biggest garage door company around, and honestly we don’t want to be. We just want to be the one people trust. The one that shows up, tells you the truth about your door, and treats your home like it’s our own.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? Not even close. But I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.
The hardest stretch was right after Logan left. I had a company to run and I honestly didn’t know how to hang a garage door yet. So I was learning the trade in real time, on customers’ driveways, while trying to keep the lights on and the phone ringing. Some weeks we had more work than we could handle and some weeks it went quiet and my stomach would drop. That feast or famine thing is real when you’re small, and nobody warns you about it.
Then there’s the part people don’t talk about much, which is what it does to run a business with your spouse. Dominique and I are together at home and we’re partners at work, so there’s no clocking out. The line between “how was your day” and “did we follow up on that invoice” gets blurry fast. We’ve had to learn how to protect our marriage from the business, because the business will happily eat every dinner and every weekend if you let it. We’re still learning it, honestly. But fighting for that line has made us stronger, and I’d rather build this thing with her than anybody on earth.
What got us through all of it was pretty simple. We kept showing up, kept telling people the truth even when it cost us the sale, and kept treating every house like it was our own. Do that long enough and folks start trusting you. That trust is the whole business.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
So at the heart of it, we fix, service, and install garage doors for folks all over Central Texas. Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, Manor, Cedar Creek, all of it. Springs, openers, off track doors, full replacements, the works. If it’s a garage door and it’s giving you trouble, that’s our lane.
But honestly, the garage door is almost the easy part. What we’re really known for is how we treat people. We tell you the truth about your door even when the truth is cheaper than what you were expecting to pay. We give you the price up front so there’s no mystery and no surprise number at the end. And we actually show up when we say we will, which sounds like it should be the bare minimum but anybody who’s hired a contractor knows it isn’t.
What sets us apart is that we’re a family running this, not a call center. When you call us you’re getting people who live here, whose kids go to school here, who are going to see you at the grocery store. That changes how you do the work. We can’t hide behind a 1-800 number, so we do it right the first time.
Brand wise, the thing I’m proudest of is those 182 plus five star reviews. Every one of those is a neighbor who trusted us with their home and felt good enough about it to say so publicly. You don’t buy that. You earn it one driveway at a time.
If there’s one thing I want your readers to know, it’s this. We built Hometown Garages to be the company we’d want showing up at our own house. Honest, on time, no games, treats your place like it’s our own. That’s the whole promise, and everything else is just details.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
First one’s easy. Logan, my best friend and my original partner. He’s the reason I know this trade at all. When he moved on he didn’t just leave me hanging, he walked me through jobs while I learned on the fly. He never made me feel dumb for not knowing it yet. I owe him more than he’ll ever take credit for.
I’ve also got to give it up for Jake, our technician. Jake’s been doing garage doors longer than I have and he knows them cold, so I learn something from him all the time. But more than that, he brought this genuine love for the work and a spirit that makes the whole company better. You can teach somebody the trade, but you can’t teach that. We’re lucky to have him.
Then there’s my wife Dominique, and I mean it when I say there is no Hometown Garages without her. I’m the one you see out on the job, but she’s the one who built everything you don’t see. The systems, the books, the hiring, the whole operation runs on what she’s put together behind the scenes. I get to focus on the work because she’s carrying the rest of it. She’s the real backbone of this thing.
I’ve got to give it to my dad too. Growing up in his mechanic shop is where I learned that you take care of what’s broken and you take care of your customers. A lot of who I am on a job site came straight from watching him.
And honestly, our customers. Those 182 plus families who took a chance on a small local company and then told their friends about us. Word of mouth from people who trust you is everything when you’re small, and this whole community carried us there. We don’t take a single one of them for granted.
Pricing:
- Free estimates on installs and replacements.
- Upfront pricing before any work starts. You’ll know the price before we touch the door, not after. No mystery total at the end.
- The honest option first. Sometimes a door needs a full replacement and sometimes it just needs a $30 part. We’ll tell you the truth even when the truth is the cheaper fix.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hometowngarages.com
- Instagram: @hometowngarages
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HometownGarages/
