Daphny and Joseph Feria are the owners of JF Professional Painting Inc. They are also Nonahood residents. Check out our conversation with them below!
Nonahood News: What is your job?
Joseph Feria: I am a painter-contractor in Orlando. I have been doing it for 20 years. We do construction, we do paint. We do commercial buildings, we do garage floors, interior house, exterior house, new construction, renovations. We paint fences, we do electrostatic coating – that’s a type of paint that we do. We do drywall, stucco repairs, texturing, tilework, demolition. We pretty much do a little bit of everything in the construction industry.
NHN: What do your day-to-day schedules look like?
JF: I wake up in the morning, I contact my painters – my contractors – and I make sure that we meet every morning in the same spot. We have a meeting, I send them out to the different job sites, and once that’s done, I go ahead and do my estimates, meet the customer, find out their needs, do an estimate based on what they need. Once my job is done, I send it to the office. The office takes care of all the paperwork. Then I go and visit all my job sites to make sure all my painters are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.
Daphny Feria: I’m at the office. I make sure that I answer all the emails, I do the quotes, I pay the bills, go through the insurance. All the management.
NHN: What would you say are the most challenging aspects of your job?
JF: The challenges of my job would be making sure I have great communication with the clients. That’s the key, having communication. If it’s face-to-face, even better. I’m an old-fashioned guy, I like to communicate a lot. I like to communicate with my painters, and they’re part of the family. I try to treat them the best I can.
DF: The most challenging aspect would probably be trying to get the answer for everybody. It’s a little hard to get ahold of Joseph sometimes because he is on the job, but that would probably be the one. Trying to get answers for all the clients.
NHN: What would you say is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
JF: The most rewarding aspect is when I see the happiness of the client when we went from Job A all the way to Job C, and they are happy and satisfied with the job. That is my satisfaction. Seeing that happiness, that smile, that appreciation of what we did for that particular client.
NHN: What got you interested in doing your current job in this area?
JF: When I was young, my grandma put me to paint. Every year, I had to paint her house, especially for Christmas. At that point, I was getting the hang of it. When my kids were born, my uncles had a painting company in Alabama, so we moved to Alabama and that was the first job that I had. I just liked it; I was good at it. We decided to move to Orlando and found this place like home. That’s when I started my business. Since then, it’s been a real job, and I’m happy doing it.
DF: To do it in this area was awesome because it was growing at that time. Fifteen years ago, there was not a lot here, so we knew that many communities would be coming up and that happened. Schools, communities, and all that. So we had a great opportunity.
NHN: Do you have any interesting hobbies, collections, or interests?
JF: I like water. Anything that has to do with boats, jet-skis. Any activity with water.
DF: Fishing, scuba diving; he loves that.
JF: Anything that has to deal with water, I’m there. Other hobbies? Spending some quality time with different people, family.
DF: For me, I love biking. The trails here are amazing. I like them. I go all the way to Laureate Park, Nemours, go down VillageWalk, Narcoossee. I like it. I bike in the morning.
NHN: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
JF: I want to keep growing with the community like we’ve been doing, helping people. I want to have more employees and do more stuff in the construction industry.
DF: Definitely Central Florida. We like to be close to the beaches. And definitely growing the company.
NHN: What brought you to Lake Nona and when did you move here?
JF: Back in 2000, I was in Hunter’s Creek. I moved to Lake Nona in 2004, and it’s been home. I’ve been invested in Lake Nona since 2004, it’s been 15 years already. And I’ve been growing with the company when 15 years ago there was nothing here. It was only probably the Publix and the 7-Eleven and a few things, mom-and-pop businesses. But now I like it because the community has been growing. It’s an active community, and I really like that. My kids went to all the schools around here from elementary all the way to high school. When I moved to this area, at that point it was just the projection of what Lake Nona had and the opportunity that Lake Nona has
to offer.
DF: I liked that it was quiet, and I liked the schools at that time, so it was good for my kids.
NHN: Where are you from originally?
JF: I am originally born and raised in Puerto Rico. I moved from Puerto Rico in 1997-98 to Alabama. Then back in 2000, we moved to Orlando.
DF: I’m also born and raised in Puerto Rico.
NHN: What would you say is your favorite part about Lake Nona?
JF: All the communities have something different to offer, the people, the schools. At that point, when my kids were growing up, the schools were important. And now that we’re growing so fast, the convenience of pretty much having everything. I like Lake Nona a lot.
DF: It’s quiet, the restaurants are good, you don’t have to go very far.
NHN: Do you have a favorite restaurant?
DF: Other than Yogurt Breeze? [Laughs] Side note, we founded Yogurt Breeze. Other than that, 407 Café. Tijuana Flats on Tuesdays, we love Taco Tuesdays.
JF: Wawa for morning coffee, Nona Blue. Now that we have Boxi Park, I love those burgers. Those burgers are amazing. We visit all the restaurants. Well, we’re trying.
NHN: What would you say to anyone who is considering a move to Lake Nona?
JF: It’s a great place, lots of people, active community, and great schools.
DF: Definitely. Definitely amazing that there is a diversity of cultures, too. I like that. The schools are important, and they’re good.
