Michael Fahey: Owner. Builder. Husband. Father. Mate.
Being the boss doesn’t mean you can’t be mates too.
“I must have started in 99'. No, it was 98'… I finished school in 97' then came to Sydney and started a job... I can’t even remember who it was with? His name was Brandon? I think it was Brandon’s Home Maintenance Service?”
Virtue Projects’ co-owner Michael Fahey didn’t really land on his feet when he started his career in building, making the daunting journey from Forster to Sydney only to return home soon after.
“I wasn’t learning anything, so I bailed back to Forster and started an apprenticeship with Mick Schumann (CORR Building); this was when I really began to learn my trade and how to be a decent carpenter.”
It was on CORR Building’s jobs, under the tutelage of Mick’s brother Ronnie that Michael had the opportunity to build up his skills and learn from tradesmen willing to share their knowledge and experience. But the good fortune to work with such tradesmen not only resulted in Michael becoming a great carpenter in his own right, it also created friendships that have since stretched far beyond the silt fence of the job site:
“Ronnie is still one of my best mates today, and still such a great builder”
“Mick was always managing the bigger picture stuff like: quoting jobs, arranging sites and making sure that everything went as planned… while Ronnie definitely helped me develop my experience with the hammer in my hand, since building up Virtue Projects from a small crew of three (Michael, co-owner Dave and apprentice Kale) I have definitely understood better the role, and the pressures of being responsible like Mick was back then.”
Focusing mostly on residential work in Forster during this time of apprenticeship, once completed Michael ended up moving back to Sydney, working for a new building company, and doing his Builder’s Licence at Randwick TAFE by night.
Today he is the co-owner of a growing #carpentryondemand business that provides carpenters to large developments across Sydney, and boast’s 11 employees and counting…
The journey from apprentice, to carpenter, to residential builder was relatively simple for Michael, as it is much the same for others in the industry. The leap from residential builds to carpentry labour hire was a big one though; one which seemingly came about without much effort.
“It was originally just myself, Dave and Kale in the beginning, and that was pretty straightforward, but we started working with a company called DL Constructions and they were really the developer that made us grow quite rapidly into who we are today.”
“To keep up with them we simply had to grow.”
Over time, many of the foremen who originally worked for DL Constructions ended up branching out to other companies and this is where the growth of Virtue Projects got its second wind: because both Dave and Michael had such good working relationships with these guys onsite (and because their work was of a high standard), many of these original contacts are now working for the clients that are helping them grow even more so today.
“We are really happy with our decision to focus on this short term labour hire option as we don’t have the stress of managing whole builds, which is so different to what other builders we know have to go through.”
“Dave and I are able to focus on growing our great team of chippies, and for me, it gives me the chance to spend more time with my wife and young daughter too; not having to get up at 5 in the morning and go off to work has allowed me to be there in this early stage of my daughter’s life and I am so fortunate and thankful for that”
Virtue Projects is a company that hopes to grow its team in size, as well as to help the individuals who turn up to work each morning grow their skills and abilities too.
It is a business of course, but the feeling within the company is one of a bunch of mates building things together and enjoying it all, rather than workers struggling under an unfriendly boss.
“One of the secrets to our success so far is that not only are our guys good at their jobs, they are also likable people who are easy to get along with too; our clients actually like having our guys on their job sites and that is a big deal for us.”
“We are really stoked with our guys and we are so happy to have them on this journey with us too.”
It’s quite rare to have real mateship between employer and employee, but Virtue Projects might be exceptional in this respect.
But given Michael’s career of working with employers who were also his friends, is it any wonder that this is how Virtues Projects operates?
