I have been building homes for almost 30 years now and in that time I have built over 4,000 homes. These days my company, Southern Serenity Homes, is known more as a custom home builder than a subdivision, tract-type builder. Working with people with all different types of personalities, combined with the fact that every house we build is different, certainly adds to the challenge of building a high-caliber home.
I started my career in the banking industry as an originator and was quickly promoted to construction and development loan officer. That is what ultimately gave me the ability to mold myself into the builder that I am today. As part of my job, I had to inspect other builders' homes and see what they did right or, in some cases, wrong. Fortunately, I worked with an awesome group of builders.
All of the subcontractors swear that I have levels in my boots because I have the God given gift of being able to tell if something is off by only an eighth of an inch. I realize that I am a bit of a perfectionist, but that's what makes me good at what I do.
"I can drive down most any road on the outskirts of Memphis and be able to say that I built all of the rooftops I can see. I have built in developments that include hundreds of houses and I've also built homes on remote lots. I get joy knowing that I built something that people dream about; that I was a small part of making their dream come true."
-- Greg Bridgers
To own a successful small business you have to be willing and able to do anything that you would ask someone else to do. A business is only as good as you make it, and if you aren't willing to put your heart and soul into it then don't do it. I came from nothing so no one can say that I had anything given to me. My parents had to file for bankruptcy my freshman year in college, but I managed to work my way through school. I believe to this day that is what gave my brothers and me the drive that we all have. With no risk there are no rewards!
People who know me know that I don't stop-I am always working on something. That is what keeps me feeling young. I just don't understand being trapped inside when God created so much beauty for us to enjoy outside. I enjoy the outdoors and people who know me know that I love to hunt and fish. These days when I do stop to do something relaxing it is usually fishing and
duck hunting with my buddies. We have horses and my wife loves to trail ride. We always joke that if there is such a thing as reincarnation and you die and come back as one of my wife's horses, then you are definitely in heaven.
I love a good challenge! When someone says it can't be done, I am bound and determined to do it. I love having met all of the wonderful people that are now part of the Southern Serenity family. I'm just an old Mississippi boy who wound up here in the big city of Memphis; to me it was a big city because the little town I grew up in had 4,500 people total.
I love going back home to Belzoni, Mississippi, where I grew up. I still have a lot of good friends there, as well as my adopted brother. Everything there seems to move in slow motion compared to Memphis.
