00:00:00:13 – 00:00:21:18
Matt Kuehlhorn
Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Kooler Lifestyle Podcast. I’m your host, Matt Kuehlhorn, and I’m excited to have you join me as I interview community members and business leaders from the communities in which I live, work and serve. Through my business cooler garage doors, we’re going to bring you highlights and characters in our communities. Why? Because community matters.
00:00:21:22 – 00:00:42:17
Matt Kuehlhorn
And I want to know more about who is behind our business and leadership in order to understand and support the community fabric that are relationships to make up. Join me twice a month as we dove into getting to know each other better and collectively we can build stronger communities that support our lifestyles, our youth and our health. All right.
00:00:42:17 – 00:00:58:02
Matt Kuehlhorn
Thanks for joining us today. This is Matt Kuehlhorn with the Kooler Lifestyle Podcast. And today I have Kim Reignes joining us. She is the owner of Mountain Colors Paint Store and Design Shop, and she’s actually beaming in from her new design shop. Kim, how are you today?
00:00:58:11 – 00:01:05:12
Kim Raines
Doing great. I’m excited to sit down for 30 minutes because I’ve been doing Lux over the past couple of weeks.
00:01:06:03 – 00:01:25:02
Matt Kuehlhorn
And I believe it. I’m the same. You know, I know a lot of you, Kim, and we really haven’t sat down even over the probably decades that we’ve both been in this valley. But can you give me a little summary snippet of your time here? Like, when do you land into the valley?
00:01:25:02 – 00:01:38:09
Kim Raines
And I’ll be fast, but this January is going to be my 20 year anniversary, which is pretty exciting of living in Crested Butte. But I moved here in 98, went to Western. I think I met you there accidentally.
00:01:39:02 – 00:01:40:02
Matt Kuehlhorn
It could be possible.
00:01:40:08 – 00:02:03:12
Kim Raines
98 to 2000 lived in West. We lived in Gunnison with Western State and it just wasn’t my I didn’t really love the scene. So Miss Fort Collins graduated from Colorado State, didn’t like that scene either. So moved back to Crested Butte literally the day after graduation. I had a job at Christie Sports all planned out and I couldn’t even find my toothbrush on my first day.
00:02:03:12 – 00:02:22:01
Kim Raines
So I, like, walked in and I was like, I’m ready, I’m here. I’m working at a ski shop. And then the person who taught me how to clock in is my husband now, Bryan. So I moved to Crested Butte for a couple of months to like, figure out what I want to do. Same story. Don’t we all have that?
00:02:22:14 – 00:02:42:12
Kim Raines
So we started we worked at Christie Sports for two years. Wasn’t super psyched about that scene, but loved it. Like I said, 100 days a year. Like I really like introduced myself to be like, this is pretty sweet. And then Fitz and Kari Young, the previous owners, Mountain Colors, were friends with the owner, Christie Sports. They were in all the time.
00:02:42:20 – 00:03:03:07
Kim Raines
Usually come work at a paint store. I’m like, a what? I don’t even know what a paint store is. So like that June, she called me again. I was like, Okay, guess I’ll come check that out. You can read my whole story on my website, maybe a little more fun to talk about it. But I showed up. I started making paint and I was like, This is not lame.
00:03:03:07 – 00:03:28:20
Kim Raines
This is fun. Met tons of people. Like once you start working at a place where, you know, Crested Butte tourism based and then the second is building, basically once you start working at a place where like everybody that lives here goes there, whether they’re building a house or they have a house, it was like I really start started to feel like I became a part of the community, meeting people, seeing the same people every day.
00:03:29:11 – 00:03:42:03
Kim Raines
And it’s still the same. Like if you move here and you’re going to bag nails, like you’re probably going to come into mountain colors at some point and you’re going to come in a lot and you’re going to meet me, and then we’re going to become friends and either you like me or you don’t, and you keep buying from me.
00:03:42:03 – 00:03:58:00
Kim Raines
But it was just awesome. And I worked there for two and a half years. They tied to the second I started working there. They tried to sell me the shop. I’m like, I’m 24 years old. You know what? That like, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. And then I was like, Could I do it? So I started asking around.
00:03:58:00 – 00:04:21:19
Kim Raines
I talked to every I’m sorry I going to waste my time on this. I talked to every bank in Crestview. I talked to everybody. Nobody would give me a money. They’re like, You’re 26 years old and you want this much money to buy a business like you have, you know? So my father in law, who’s now passed away, was like my biggest fan.
00:04:22:10 – 00:04:42:08
Kim Raines
And he they’d put a second mortgage on their house and they gave me the money. So paid that off. Like took me like 13 years, I think, to pay it off. But I have paid off mountain colors, paint design and I like literally and debt free right now for the first time since I was 24 years old. So that’s pretty sweet.
00:04:42:21 – 00:04:43:14
Matt Kuehlhorn
That’s awesome.
00:04:43:18 – 00:04:45:06
Kim Raines
Long awesome. Yeah.
00:04:45:15 – 00:04:58:14
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah. I love that story. That is so cool. So during your time here, what is it that like, what really engages you in the valley? What do you love about the Crested Butte community?
00:04:58:19 – 00:05:20:12
Kim Raines
Gunnison Valley Well, I think it’s just that the like I’ve mentioned before, like every single person that walks into my store, whether they’re a builder that doesn’t have their own property or they’re a homeowner or second or third or fourth, they all have that same connection to Crested Butte. I, I very rarely meet people that are just coming in here to make a ton of money and leave.
00:05:20:15 – 00:05:36:24
Kim Raines
Like most people are like, yeah, we’re going to maybe make some money by investing in property. But most people are like here for more than that. And it’s different. Like some people are here for the food scene, some people are here for the biking. Like I know a lot of people, like I’m obsessed with biking and ski and that’s all I do even with my business.
00:05:36:24 – 00:05:54:08
Kim Raines
Like I, I try to ski four times a week and like, that’s why I live here. But I have a lot of people are like, well, we don’t like to ski. And I’m like, okay, fine, but we’re still here. Like, I’m looking out my window at Whetstone right now and it’s like peak and it’s gorgeous and I want you to truck to like, it’s like we’re all here for the beauty.
00:05:54:08 – 00:06:10:03
Kim Raines
We’re all here for kind of the same thing, even if it’s different. And then I just think that means like, okay, so people walk in and we’re already connected and, and then they see that, you know, I have three employees. We all live here. I live here. And they’re like, well, your your people that are invested in here, too.
00:06:10:03 – 00:06:30:06
Kim Raines
And it doesn’t take very long to be connected to every person that walks into the door. And people are always confused. How do you remember my name? I’m like, Well, we just met yesterday. Like, didn’t did we meet? Don’t you know who I am? Like, this is what we do. You know, you meet people and then some people don’t recognize me on the street unless I have my apron on.
00:06:30:06 – 00:06:38:21
Kim Raines
But like most of the time it’s like, yeah, we met you help. You know, this, this. We’re friends now. Welcome to Crestview so absolutely.
00:06:39:07 – 00:06:49:21
Matt Kuehlhorn
And just just for the listeners and kind of time stamp it I mean it’s it’s October 5th I was just up in Skyland and it’s peak colors right now. Like the leaves are amazing.
00:06:50:04 – 00:06:55:24
Kim Raines
And it’s get a little going on like it’s a yellow. Everything is just like golden hour. It’s gorgeous.
00:06:56:16 – 00:07:06:02
Matt Kuehlhorn
This is like the quintessential Colorado days of them. What do you see? Are businesses role being in the community?
00:07:06:02 – 00:07:32:00
Kim Raines
I mean, I provide besides what we provide, you know, we make your house is pretty whether it’s paint or lighting or hardware like that’s pretty sweet. You know, most of us have a house or we have a rental and we all learn during COVID, like, how important it is to have to love your space and it’s still like that, like even when you don’t have a lot of money and like you, can we help people love their homes?
00:07:32:00 – 00:07:52:17
Kim Raines
And I think that that’s really cool. But again, we’re also like kind of I read this like really funny article about how your local hardware store is your psychiatrist. Like, people will come in looking for a screw or sanding block or whatever and then just like unload on you in more ways than one. And you’re like, Yeah, I’m a person too.
00:07:52:17 – 00:08:14:11
Kim Raines
And yeah, I have a house too. And Oh, I went through that too, and, and I get it. So we make that connection. We become friends with our customers. But my crew, two of my employees and I can remember every single one of them since 2004 that I’ve hired and fired and they’ve left and had babies. And like my employees are my life and everybody knows that we can’t do it alone.
00:08:14:11 – 00:08:32:10
Kim Raines
And like where I’m creating jobs for them and I’m and by people coming in and us being nice people keep getting us business. So hopefully I can continue to provide jobs and a livable wage and ski passes and all the things that make it so that employees can live here. I can’t buy house houses. I’m really working on that.
00:08:32:10 – 00:08:34:18
Kim Raines
But that takes money.
00:08:34:18 – 00:08:38:11
Matt Kuehlhorn
So yeah, that’s a trick, right? Yeah. I’d like to figure that one out to.
00:08:38:17 – 00:08:39:23
Kim Raines
Let me know how that goes.
00:08:40:15 – 00:08:52:04
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah, well, I know a couple of people that seem to be doing it. I’ve just got a corner on now. Yeah. How that’s going. This is so rad. So apparently we. We met in 1998.
00:08:52:10 – 00:09:05:22
Kim Raines
I think so. Or maybe it was your wife. Like, I just I always like your name is so familiar to me now. When you became a painter and started coming up, I’m like, Have we met? I have no idea though. But yeah, 98. I’m pretty sure it’s possible together. Did you go to Western?
00:09:06:12 – 00:09:29:18
Matt Kuehlhorn
I did, yeah. Yeah. I came out and I came out in 97 and during that year I came out to ski bum basically on the severe Mars work student work program. Yeah, those the second last year and I took a year off of college and then I enrolled at Western in 98 and, and finish it out there. So yeah very possible.
00:09:30:03 – 00:09:31:16
Kim Raines
But nonetheless yeah.
00:09:31:20 – 00:09:51:21
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah yeah. Nonetheless for the short time that I, that I did run a painting company, like I came in there and one of the things that really stood out is, you know, I look in business and there’s three primary people, there’s the entrepreneur, there’s the manager, there’s the artist. And we’re all of these people. Obviously, we have to be.
00:09:52:02 – 00:10:11:09
Matt Kuehlhorn
But at the end of the day, like, I think we’re we’re core one of those. And I would kind of from my observation can point you as an artist like the way that you mix up your stuff and the lighting fixtures and the pieces that you bring in, it seems like that’s the juice would.
00:10:11:09 – 00:10:41:19
Kim Raines
You know what? That’s funny. I would say I’m the opposite. I think the creativity part of it is kind of what made me like it, but I am a business person and I love spreadsheets and I love numbers and I love organizing people and I feel like that’s where I put myself in the industry is that I work with lots of very creative designers that design the most beautiful homes and they can’t stay very organized.
00:10:41:19 – 00:11:09:18
Kim Raines
I’m like, Oh, I got this for you. You make it beautiful and I’ll be your assistant, I’ll be your spreadsheet coordinator. Same with everybody. Like I try to just fit myself in like that. I can help everybody in the industry. And same with even keeping paint colors on sale, which doesn’t seem like a very hard thing. It is like a fricking full time job and I feel like every day my employees are spending, they they’re looking up at least 5 to 10 houses a day.
00:11:09:18 – 00:11:33:03
Kim Raines
So, yes, we’re helping pick out colors. But like, if you didn’t have that, the value of coming in the mountain colors is not as important. You know, like you could go get crappy service and paint anywhere, but like coming in and going, do you know what that is? I’m like, oh 426 Classic, great, easy. Like either it’s in my mind and if I’m dead, it’s in the computer so you can find it.
00:11:33:16 – 00:11:45:03
Matt Kuehlhorn
So that’s awesome. That does make sense and how you explain it that way. Tell me about where you’re at, the new design center. What is this for? Is is for folks who stop by. What’s the what’s the jam there?
00:11:45:23 – 00:12:13:13
Kim Raines
So originally, you know, 2004 when I started working there, like we did everything, but there was no internet. So when people built houses, they drove to Denver literally, or Montrose and like bought their light fixtures at the Home Depot. So like the way that we could talk about this for an hour, but the way that it’s evolved since then, like I saw a massive amount of light fixtures and hardware and I saw a massive amount of paint and they, like, go together because these are these like little easy details for you to change in your house.
00:12:13:13 – 00:12:34:23
Kim Raines
So they’re like and they’re also the last detail of building. So you’re picking out your flooring and your cabinetry before you pick out your paint, lighting and hardware. Like you make those bigger decisions before you make these decisions. So my company makes sense the what I’ve done, I don’t want to change what mountain colors paint design is. It makes sense that I have these three things and people ask me what you did before.
00:12:34:23 – 00:12:54:15
Kim Raines
You know, like these three things make sense to me and maybe one day I do. But the way that it’s been is with the lighting and hardware, it’s a massive amount of boxes and it’s a massive amount of showroom and storage. And the paint store is a massive amount of paint and organizing. So we just grown out of each other.
00:12:54:15 – 00:13:14:10
Kim Raines
And I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time, which is why I named my company differently. I have two Instagram accounts, like I’ve been starting to like plant the seed that I’m one owner, but my businesses are very different. And you’re going to go to the paint store and you’re going to get help from the paint store people, but they’re not going to be able to help you.
00:13:14:12 – 00:13:38:06
Kim Raines
Do a whole house on the lighting like they’re going to help you with their paint colors and consulting that way. So just trying to define what I do at the shop and this physical change is going to help to. So I have more storage, I have a warehouse so that when you come in and you buy lights from mountain colors, you’re buying them from a human, but you’re also buying them from a person that’s going to organize.
00:13:38:10 – 00:14:00:00
Kim Raines
My spreadsheets are all printed and I have everything printed so that as items come in, I check them out and I label everything. And then when you are ready for them, they’re delivered on site or they’re picked up. So that helps me stay way more organized and give more value to what I do. And so you are more likely to buy it from a person than the the Internet.
00:14:00:16 – 00:14:19:11
Kim Raines
But this will be a showroom. It’ll be basically by appointment too, because now I’ve made my life harder by having a second location. So I’m going to be running around even more. But I can do a lot of things virtually. I do lots of things wherever I want with my computer, and that’s usually building, quoting, ordering and solving problems.
00:14:20:15 – 00:14:33:03
Kim Raines
So which is probably like 60% of my job and then about 40% is actually meeting with customers in a showroom, touching doorknobs and lighting, which is why you come here, so you can see it before you buy it.
00:14:33:03 – 00:14:38:24
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah, I love that. I love it. And you’re right, the organization, I mean, that is a value add. That’s huge.
00:14:39:06 – 00:14:57:04
Kim Raines
It’s when you order anything for your home, where’s it going? Is it going to the post office? Is it going to the job site? Who is receiving it? Like most of our customers, whether we like it or not, don’t live here full time. I do love it. I have I help with a lot of my friends where they become my friends, people that live here and work here.
00:14:57:04 – 00:15:16:17
Kim Raines
And I love helping with all budgets. So that’s always important. Same crap though. Like where are you going to get your light fixtures shipped and where are they coming? So thanks post office for giving me more value because you get mail delivered in Riverland. It’s pretty exciting. So when I get deliveries it doesn’t matter if it’s post office or UPS, it comes right here.
00:15:16:17 – 00:15:18:13
Kim Raines
So that’s one more reason.
00:15:19:03 – 00:15:26:10
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah. Awesome. Right on. Kim, what would you like to see in our community that is not currently here?
00:15:26:17 – 00:15:54:08
Kim Raines
Oh, I forgot to get that far. Gosh, we honestly, there’s two people we need in this valley. One of them. And this might not be what you’re asking, but we need someone to hang wallpaper. Like, if you wanted to move here and be a 365 wallpaper installer, we could keep you busy. I get people ask that all the time and then is this what you and I just talked about?
00:15:54:08 – 00:16:14:19
Kim Raines
We need places for our humans to live. I mean, we got to figure it out. We are figuring it out. It’s happening, but it’s not going to happen fast enough. And I can’t hire robots and either can you? And it’s changing. And we’re going to have to figure it out and none of the business owners that I know have a lot of money.
00:16:15:06 – 00:16:35:07
Kim Raines
We just come to work every day and work really hard to live here. Like we could probably make more money lighting and doing stuff in Denver or whatever, but then I’d be living in Denver, so nothing’s wrong with that. But like, I want to be here and I’m willing to work hard and I’ve been working really hard for a very long time to live here and stay here and provide jobs.
00:16:36:06 – 00:17:05:18
Kim Raines
But it’s getting harder and we’re seeing our friends leave and the person that’s going to move here tomorrow, my wallpaper installer, where are they going to live? Are they going to be able to make enough money? Probably. We could probably charge a lot. But so I’m hopefully you’re going to find some more people to figure this out. And I know that there’s great people doing stuff for the community besides the town and mountain like Carlino is talking about things and like whatever we can do, like, let’s figure it out.
00:17:05:18 – 00:17:07:00
Kim Raines
How to keep people living here.
00:17:07:21 – 00:17:18:06
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah, that’s a big piece, 100%. And I’ve seen the attrition and now people are trickling down into Grand Junction and Montrose and totally big.
00:17:18:17 – 00:17:34:20
Kim Raines
Well and trickling down the Gunnison from Crested Butte. So not a big deal. Like my my employee Greg lives in Gunnison and he loves Gunnison and he loves driving up here every day and he’s fine. And Gunnison is an awesome community. But Gunnison did not affordable either.
00:17:34:23 – 00:17:37:11
Matt Kuehlhorn
So same thing. Yeah.
00:17:37:11 – 00:17:49:04
Kim Raines
So like, we got to figure out how to continue the quality of life and continue to have people that work here in Serbia because it’s not going to be a very cool community if you can’t eat and you can’t paint your house.
00:17:50:03 – 00:17:55:20
Matt Kuehlhorn
So how can people learn more about you and your business?
00:17:56:10 – 00:18:15:00
Kim Raines
Well, I always say my employees are like, oh, you should make a post on Facebook or issue. I’m like, nobody. Nobody’s paying attention to me. I think like a couple people are. But I’m very vocal on Instagram with Crested Butte Colors is the Paint Store and Crestview design is that I mean, I am posting all the time and posting beautiful house photos.
00:18:15:00 – 00:18:40:05
Kim Raines
I’m posting stupid videos in my face. My websites are very informative. The Design Shop. I have invested a massive amount of money to shop online with my design shop. So like Google me, you can find me and you can learn all about me. And when you call me or text me like that number on my website like comes to me so you can website Instagram call me.
00:18:40:05 – 00:18:46:17
Kim Raines
I mean, I’m very easy to find people. I was like, well, I’m like, Google me, sign.
00:18:46:17 – 00:19:01:11
Matt Kuehlhorn
Awesome. We’ll also include the handles and URLs into the notes from this show, so that’ll be easy for folks any last words? Anything else we’re looking for? You think the triple dips are going to really deliver a bunch of snow this winter? What’s the.
00:19:02:09 – 00:19:23:19
Kim Raines
Cross? You know what? I hate talking about the weather. This is my pet peeve every day and everybody says, oh, we can’t do that this weekend because of the weather. And what I’ve learned in Crestview, I feel like in other places maybe you’re like, oh, a hurricane is coming. I see it. But in Crestview you don’t know. What I do every day is I wake up and if it’s beautiful, I go do something and that’s it’s not.
00:19:23:19 – 00:19:41:04
Kim Raines
I go figure it out, but if it’s going to if if it’s going to snow this winter, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be out there 60 days like out there because that’s why I’m here. And I’ll do my best. But let’s hope it does. I mean, we always vote for it like nobody moves here if it doesn’t snow.
00:19:41:10 – 00:19:47:00
Matt Kuehlhorn
So I know. I know. If we had Chad Ridge, you tell us how many days it was before they started spinning those lives.
00:19:47:24 – 00:19:52:23
Kim Raines
Well, maybe not this year. He just sold his skis because of his knee injury, so he might not be.
00:19:53:11 – 00:19:53:17
Matt Kuehlhorn
Here.
00:19:54:18 – 00:20:08:04
Kim Raines
Now, the one bicyclist, but maybe my husband, Brian, who is my stay at home husband, but also is like my assistant here and does whatever I ask him to do. He’s awesome. He also excuse 120 days a year, so he probably knows.
00:20:08:17 – 00:20:14:07
Matt Kuehlhorn
Yeah, yeah. Awesome him. Thank you so much. As an absolute pleasure. I appreciate you.
00:20:14:15 – 00:20:19:20
Kim Raines
Thanks. I didn’t even say any bad words. I’m so good. I was good out there.
