Two Completely Different Paths, the Same Standard on Every Job

Handing your house over for months is a strange kind of trust to extend to anyone, and there's nothing wrong with feeling a little unsure about it going in. It helps to actually know who you're trusting, the person who'll be walking through your rooms every day, making the calls when something doesn't go according to plan, and telling you the truth about it either way. At Greymark, that's Javi Gonzalez or Will Polito, and while the two of them ended up doing the exact same job, they got there in about the most different ways possible.

Javi's spent his whole life in Houston. Will grew up in a family that's been in the trades for generations, in a completely different part of the country. Different starting points entirely, and somehow the same standard once either one of them is standing in your home.

What a Lifetime in Houston Teaches a Project Manager

Javi Gonzalez, Greymark's Senior Project Manager, has spent eight years managing job sites for Greymark, but construction wasn't exactly where he expected to land. Every summer as a kid, he'd head to Atlanta to work for his uncle's paint company, and something about working with his hands stuck with him well past those summers.

"I always liked working with my hands since I was younger," he says.

That early stretch in paint still comes in handy on job sites today, just maybe not in the way you'd expect. Every so often a trade will try to convince a project manager that some detail simply can't be done, hoping he won't know any better, and Javi usually does.

"My paint background helps a lot," he says, "because some trades will try to tell you certain things can't be done, but I've been around too long and know how it can be."

Being a lifelong Houstonian matters just as much day to day. Javi's never managed a project anywhere else, which he says is exactly why the city's weather doesn't catch him off guard the way it might catch someone newer to town.

"I know the climate and what to expect from Houston weather," he says, and on a renovation timeline, knowing what a Houston summer or a sudden week of rain is actually going to do to a schedule matters more than most homeowners realize going in.

Outside of work, Javi's quick to admit that meeting his wife is what inspired him to be his best, for her and for their two kids, and that mindset carries over into how he shows up on the job site too.

Will Learned to Build by Watching His Grandfather Do It

William Polito, Greymark's Project Manager, grew up in a family that's been in the trades for generations, and there was never much question he'd follow them into it. As a kid he tagged along to work with his father and spent plenty of afternoons in his grandfather's shop, watching furniture come together board by board.

"I loved going to work with my father as a kid and sitting in my grandfather's shop watching him build beautiful furniture," he says.

That background in carpentry still shapes the way Will runs a job today, because understanding how a house actually goes together, stage by stage, means he can often spot a problem before it becomes one.

"My experience as a carpenter helps me every day on the job," he says. "I'm often able to see issues before they occur because I understand how things are built and how the different stages of a build affect the next one."

Will moved to Houston in 2021 with his wife and their two kids, a long way from the family and the climate he grew up around, and he's settled into it just fine.

"I love what I do. Where I do it makes little difference to me," he says, though he'll admit that adjusting to a new climate specifically pushed him to learn and grow in ways staying put probably wouldn't have.

Outside of work he keeps things just as simple, spending as much time outdoors as he can.

Trust the Process, In Their Own Words

Ask Javi what "trust the process" actually means day to day, and he doesn't reach for a slogan.

"Trust the process means, give us a chance to get the job going and don't stress out," he says. "We are the professionals and we do this for a living. What you see as a red flag may be something so minimal to us. We will always do things the right way without cutting corners."

Will answers the same question in far fewer words, though the sentiment lands in the same place. "Having faith in myself and in our amazing team," he says.

What They Want You to Know Before You Hand Over the Keys

Most homeowners carry some version of the same worry before a renovation gets going, wondering who's actually going to be moving through their house for months at a time while they're not there to see it.

Javi's answer to that worry is simple. "We will take care of their house and make sure while we are there we will look after it and make sure they love everything about it once they move in," he says.

Will comes at the same question from his own angle, but lands in a similar place. "I will treat their house with the same respect I would if it were my house or my parent's house," he says, "and I will make sure they are informed every step of the way."

That's most of what actually separates a project manager from a job title. It isn't the years of experience or the family history, though both of them have plenty of that too, it's showing up every day and treating a stranger's house like it matters, because to the people living there, it was never just a job site to begin with.

If you're thinking about a renovation and want to know who'd actually be running it, reach out to start the conversation.

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Greymark Design + Build is an award-winning, woman-owned design-build firm in Houston, TX. See our work or learn how we do it.