Joose paints his own path

What’s it like to work at Väriset? At the very least, there’s plenty of hustle, bustle, and great colleagues. I met Joose one evening at a gas station. He told me how he ended up at Väriset and revealed the worst mishap of his career. As the story unfolded, my own memories from my time at Väriset came flooding back.

With playful gestures and a cheerful expression, the young man had hardly changed since we first met in 2015 at a Väriset worksite. Back then, we were both roof painters, and that’s when Joose’s path at Väriset began to take shape.

I met Joose at a gas station in Vantaa. I wanted to hear Joose’s story in his own words, as I knew it would be interesting. I had only heard snippets of it at painting sites and knew they were understated.

Joose’s story

“I left North Karelia to look for work in the Helsinki area. Through my brother Pietu, I got a tip about painting contracts around the capital. I decided to call Väriset and ask for more information.”

“I was nervous about calling, but perhaps more nerve-wracking was whether my old and battered car would make it south if I got invited to a job interview. It was lucky that the car held up and I made it there. The painting sites needed diligent painters and training was also promised by Väriset.”

“It all started as an apprentice. When you took the time to do the work carefully, speed came later. After a few thousand square meters of painting, I dared to develop painting techniques and tools to improve the jobs. Pietu and I designed Helsinki’s finest painting scaffold for roof painting, and with it we were able to minimize unnecessary movement on the roof.”

“I remember the moment when I was over the moon when Henkka asked me to help with painting supervision.”

“Of course, it also showed in the paycheck when we got the sites finished faster. All summer I aimed to be critical enough of my own work so that I wouldn’t have to do the agreed painting job more than once. A painter’s work is largely similar, but self-development at work is continuous.”

New job responsibilities

“In the summer of 2016, I stayed in Joensuu to renovate my sister’s house for the summer. When a year later I wanted to check out the capital for the summer, I decided to call Väriset’s Henry and ask about painting jobs. I remember the moment when I was over the moon when Henkka asked me to help with painting supervision.”

“So I had been diligent and made a good impression. Of course, I wondered how I would handle the responsibility. That memorable summer began with me getting to build my own work vehicle. The base was a Nissan Pathfinder SUV, where I had to build a cargo space in place of the back seats. I got to move lifts to worksites and deliver supplies to painters. I also got to handle inspections and think through tricky situations with the painters.”

You learn from mistakes

“It so happened once that I was delivering a lift to the painting girls’ worksite. I was backing the Nissan SUV rather boldly through a narrow gate. I might have been in a bit of a hurry too, as the painting summer was at its peak. What happened was that the customer’s and neighbor’s boundary fence was hidden under a bush, and I backed right into the fence. It knocked the fence down a bit.”

“I was terribly startled by it and went to knock on the neighbor’s door. I told them what happened, and after chatting for a while, the customer’s neighbor told me about their own facade painting needs. I sent a message to the salespeople, who took on mapping out the neighbor’s needs. So that mistake ended up turning out well in the end. That’s when I realized how important it is to honestly admit your mistakes, since we all make them sometimes.”

A helping hand at painting sites

“It’s important to listen to the painters’ and supervisors’ concerns and help build a solution from different opinions that works for everyone. I believe that even the shyer ones have dared to tell me if they needed help or if they had a development suggestion in mind. This kind of equipment manager role is perfect for me, as you get to work alone and together at the same time, independently among people.”

What to do at the end of the workday?

“Summers at Väriset are work-filled. Whether you’re a painter, supervisor, salesperson, or something else, there’s hustle and bustle all day long. In my free time, as a counterbalance to busy work, I like to play floorball, hunt, and otherwise move around in nature. I also get to meet friends nicely during the summer. When everything is in the right balance, it’s easy to be happy.”

“Now it’s incredibly easy for me to breathe and attend construction engineering school in Joensuu, since I was promised a job for the summer of 2018. Painters, salespeople, and managers, rest easy—Joensuu’s Joose is signing up to handle his part of the Väriset story. Once again, countless homes will get a new coat of paint. See you in the summer, new and old colleagues and customers!”

Guys and gas stations

At the Vantaa gas station, customers had already changed many times, and the guys from the nearby worksite seemed to have come for their second or third coffee break while Joose was still sharing his experiences. All in all, it sounded like the man from Eastern Finland had things under control. Even though Väriset employs about a hundred workers in the summer, it’s been nice to notice that there’s room for just as many personalities.

Memories

After saying goodbye to Joose, I drive home as the streetlights shine into the winter dusk. I reflect on my own summers as a painter at Väriset. A smile inevitably rises to my face as I recall various incidents at painting sites. Yes, and that team spirit. At least I got the impression that Väriset cares about its employees. For me, and surely for Joose too, it has been more than just a workplace.

Lauri Pajula

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