MARBLE FALLS — Terry Pilley recalled a time when she was tied to “the books,” working for someone else.
“I had always worked for someone else in the accounting capacity. I worked for an accounting firm for 18 years, then (husband) Michael’s business started growing,” she said of the early stages 30 years ago of what eventually evolved into Mike Pilley Enterprises.
It took about a decade for Mike Pilley Construction to parlay itself into a family venture.
“I went to work part-time at first, but I started wanting more time off, so I resigned from my accounting job and went to work for Michael full-time,” Terry Pilley said of the company, which specialized in home remodels in Horseshoe Bay. “In the beginning, we started with nothing more than a paint crew. I did the books, the payroll, all that.”
Their home in Marble Falls doubled as an office.
“At the house, I’d get up and think I’d forgotten something that needed to get done at work. Because the office was right there, it was so easy to do,” she said. “To get some separation, we moved the office from the house to Broadway Avenue.”
The couple set up shop in a leased building at 1401 Broadway.
By 2006 the Pilleys decided to buy a lighting store adjacent to the office they leased. Business continued to grow. About three year later, as the customer base broadened, the Pilleys made another move to their current location, a two-story building located at 914 RR 1431. The family business now includes a showroom, featuring custom lighting fixtures, frames and mirrors as well as the building construction arm, specializing in ICF, or insulated concrete forms, homes.
