Otego native Taylor Perry has found a passion for paint.
Perry, 24, launched HillTop Painting earlier this year, after learning from fellow business owners.
“I worked for my first three years with a woman named Doreen Walke and a man named Darrell Moorehead, and they took me under their wing and just taught me literally every single thing I know about painting, and they’re based out of Unadilla,” she said. “Doreen has owned a painting business for 20 years now. I decided to branch off on my own, because I really liked painting and wanted to continue to do it. My parents thought I should try to start my own business, and I agreed and that’s how it all happened. In January of this year, I was determined to do it.”
Perry said she offers a variety of services, with a focus on residential jobs.
“As of right now, I’m only one girl, so I do exterior house painting and I can do larger houses and get up on a ladder but, if a customer wants to rent a lift, it’s quicker,” she said. “And I do interiors. I’ve done woodwork; refinishing and bringing it back down to bare wood. I do free estimates and I bid my jobs.”
Perry said she is booking jobs for both, though she will prioritize interior work through winter.
“It changes so much and New York has such wonky weather, and it all depends on the weather, but usually I start exterior some time in April, most likely May … usually through October,” she said. “I’m finishing up my last exterior job of the season right now.”
Clients, Perry said, have been impressed with her work.
“People have been amazing,” she said. “Since I posted my business on Facebook, I’ve gotten so many great comments and a lot of people sharing my posts and getting a hold of me or tagging me. The response has been way better than I thought it was going to be.
“I’m anticipating my customer base being an older group of people,” she continued. “I feel like, in today’s society, there are a lot of DIYers, especially with interior; not so much with exterior. But people around my age and into their 40s and 50s do their interior painting themselves, and that’s a lot easier than exterior. For interior, I’m assuming it will be an older generation of people that can’t do it.”
Perry said her customer base spans “from Sidney to Cooperstown.”
She said she hopes to evolve HillTop Painting while maintaining the quality work for which she’s become known.
“I hope that it goes really good and I hope to continue to get a lot of jobs and that I can continue to grow my business and maybe, in the future, find reliable employees and expand,” she said. “I would be excited to be able to expand, but it’s very hard to find people that want to do this kind of work.”
The work, Perry said, is what fuels her.
“It’s something I’d say I’m really good at,” she said. “Growing up, I never really found anything that I loved doing. Some people know what they want to be from the time they’re 10 years old and what college they want to go to and I didn’t have that. One day, I had unfortunately lost my job during COVID and was unemployed for a while and didn’t know what I wanted to do. Doreen offered me a job to come help paint and it just stuck.
“I really liked it, and I like learning how to fix stuff and do stuff on my own,” Perry continued. “It’s experiencing different things that you didn’t think you’d experience — like attaching a ladder to a steep roof — and it is really, really awesome to see people’s reactions when you finish their houses and it’s what they’ve been wanting for years and years.”
For more information, find “HillTop Painting” on Facebook or contact Perry at 607-287-1421 or hilltoppainting1@gmail.com.