By Laci Ollison Photos by Michael Duncan Building and establishing a legacy is something that many strive to do. It is also something that Brian Flewellen is extremely familiar with. Not just in persevering his own legacy but being able to live out the legacy of his late grandmother as well. A native of Dallas, Texas, Brian is the founder and owner of BF Configurations. The company specializes in TV mounting, home theater setups, picture hanging, equipment relocation, and computer repair. “We’ve been in business a little over seven years,” said Brian. “We currently operate in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Houston, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and we’re branching out to San Antonio soon.” Although Brian is now a successful entrepreneur, he actually gained the inspiration to start the business from a manager at one of his previous job. “When I worked for another company as a corporate sales trainer, I was installing security systems for employees. One day my director at the time said, ‘man you should start your own business.’” Brian disagreed and felt that starting a business was not the right decision for him. “I said no. I will never start my own business. I’m making money as a corporate trainer. I’m not about to leave what I’m doing to go start a business.” But his manager gave him advice that stuck with him. “He told me to remember that I’m black and I’m always replaceable in corporate America.” Brian still wasn’t convinced that he had a need to start a business. “I said they’ll never let me go. I’m black and the only sales trainer in the building. However, one year later, Brian was let go from his job. His manager, who was also let go from the company, offered Brian a job at a new company and gave him the opportunity to work on his skillset and perfect his craft. “The second company that I worked for does the exact same thing that I do; they specialize in TV mounting and home theater setup. He put me in a position to really perfect my craft. And once I perfected my craft, he pretty much pushed me over the edge and said go swim.” That was when Brian took the leap into entrepreneurship. From there he jumped out and ran and never looked back. Now, BF Configurations has grown and Brian has been able to scale to multiple cities in multiple states. “While at the first company, I trained a guy that lived in Atlanta. About a year and a half after I got laid off, he got laid off. He reached out to me and asked if I had any work because he heard that I was starting a business. He asked did I have any work in Atlanta,” Brian says. At this time, Brian had not considered expanding to Atlanta. “I said I didn’t really have anything. But I always knew that my Grandmother, my Aunt, and my Dad had a connection in Atlanta. So, I had a good resource there so I kind of ran with that.” But the expansion into a new market was not an easy process. “In the midst of going to Atlanta, there were a few times where I considered closing the doors because it was hard. I was managing Dallas and then trying to manage Atlanta. But I had to let go and I had to trust and know that Rodney was going to run the location,” he shared.
Continued on the next page
35
