By 2014, I’d had enough.

 

Enough smooth talk masquerading as quality work. Enough promises of “the best” quietly traded for better margins. Enough misguided or even fraudulent ideas of what real craftsmanship meant. But most of all, enough of the common thread running through it all—the abuse of trust.

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It was time to do things my own way, with my own values and standards at the forefront.

That was the beginning of Nexus Building & Design.

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But conviction alone wasn’t enough. There was still much to learn about how to bring a different standard to the construction industry. Starting a company with strong beliefs was one thing. Learning how to turn those beliefs into a disciplined way of building was another.

That began the evolution.

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The evolution into what would eventually become Hayes Building Company. And, more importantly, The Hayes Standard.

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Growing up, I was mentored by family who only knew one way to do things: the right way. I heard sayings like, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”

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What exactly “the right way” means is debatable. But to me, it meant you don’t settle for “good enough.” You don’t accept “it’ll work” or “no one will notice.”

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It isn’t the right way until, looking honestly and deeply at the work in front of you, you can see no better way it could have been done.

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That is the most anyone can ask of themselves—at least at that moment.

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Undoubtedly, there is almost always a way to be better. Whether it’s the thinking that led to the solution, the time it took to get there, the method, the interactions along the way, the underlying design, the execution, the visible outcome, or even the things no one will ever see, there is room for improvement.

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That is Progressive Mastery.

 

We get better.

 

We insist on that improvement—not occasionally, but continually. We look inward at our own work and outward at what can be learned. We challenge the way we did something yesterday, even when yesterday’s way was good.

 

Because doing something the right way does not mean believing you have found the only way.

 

It means giving the work everything you know today, while having the humility and discipline to become better tomorrow.

 

Hayes Building Company is not a change in direction. It is a refinement of it—the result of years spent learning how to better define, apply, and hold ourselves accountable to the standards that started this journey in the first place.

 

The name changed because the understanding has deepened. The standard has become clearer.

 

And the pursuit continues.

 

If this is how you believe your project should be approached, I would welcome the conversation.

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— Mike Hayes
Founder, Hayes Building Company