Hidden Gems: Meet Charlotte Pena of Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Pena.

Charlotte, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It may be a newly launched company, but my husband and I have been working towards this dream for years. We’ve been married since 2020 and absolutely love working together. Mr. Fix-It, also known as Dennis, my soulmate, and many other things I don’t need to share here – has been working as a subcontractor in all areas of construction for over 10 years.

He comes with 10 years of Navy experience, and I swear, the man can fix anything. Most recently, Dennis held a full-time job in banking, while I finished out the year teaching 7th grade Writing in Nashville. Teaching is and always will be a passion of mine, but is not my only career path. I grew up in the workshop with my dad and have always had an interest in woodworking and construction.

I’ve spent my last three summers working various construction jobs with Dennis since I was able to take that time off from teaching. Our first job together was to move a family cross-country to Colorado. We had such a blast taking in the stunning scenery, ventured off to sightsee in Colorado, and even managed to remain married by the time we got back home!

It became more than evident that we had to find a way to make a living doing what we love; spending time together, helping others make their visions come to life, and having flexible enough schedules to allow us to spend time with our kids and be present in their lives.

We both took the leap in May to leave our full-time jobs behind, and we put our hearts and souls into our new venture… we haven’t looked back since!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think that starting a business will ever be a “smooth road.” We spent the past few years running ourselves ragged trying to work our full-time jobs, pick up handyman jobs on the side, take care of our kids, and coach soccer practice, all preparing to start living our dreams.

As a middle school teacher last year with an 8-4 school day, I often worked an additional 4-5 hours after the kids went to bed to keep up with deadlines, grading, and the demands that teaching requires in today’s society. I would wake up early to do yesterday’s dishes before I would wake the kids up, slap a smile on my face, and prepare to do it all again.

Don’t get me wrong – teaching was the most fulfilling job I’ve likely ever had. Being able to see the differences that one is capable of making in someone’s life is a gift unlike any other. While I was stressed out to the max trying to be a good mom, wife, teacher, daughter, and friend, my incredible husband worked his full-time job, helped me around the house, and worked long hours overnight on handyman projects to make us extra money. I would help him whenever I could, sometimes even bringing the kids with me to assist or simply out of sheer necessity.

When the school year ended, I took a deep breath and immediately dove into creating our social media pages, designing a website, business cards, a logo, etc. I also have a background in marketing, and I nerd out over things like this! I ran some ads on Nextdoor and Instagram, and we became flooded with business. We have had a lot of repeat clients since getting started, and our favorite form of marketing has got to be word-of-mouth.

We’ve had many clients refer us to friends and family – it has really been such a blessing. However, as Dennis always says, “It’s life. There has to be bad for there to be good.” Shortly after getting started with our business, our work truck died and it has been a struggle to get it running again.

We had to make the switch to being a one-vehicle family and not having a work truck. People may giggle sometimes when we show up at a job site in our tiny SUV packed to the rim, but it gets us to where we need to be. I sometimes will have to leave a job to stop at home and unload the car before I need to pick up the kids from camp and then return to get Dennis when the job is done, but we always make it work.

Our priority is our family, so there were just other needs that came before repairing the truck. As of yesterday, the truck is in the shop and we are waiting to see what needs to be done to get it working again! At last!

I would imagine that every week there will be new struggles for us, as this is uncharted territory. Some trials and tribulations come with working with your partner daily, but we look forward to working and laughing through them together while trying to be the best that we can be.

I think that patience, a willingness to adapt, and our motivation to succeed will get us through just about anything.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It?
Mr. & Mrs. Fix-It specializes in almost all areas of home repair and renovation in the Middle Tennessee area. We live in Hendersonville but will travel to areas within 20 miles of Nashville at no additional charge.

Some of our most recent projects include custom-built railings and shelving for closets and laundry rooms, reinforcing a deck that had collapsed, lots of painting, rebuilding plantation-style shutters and exterior handrails, tile and grout work, drywall repair, and window framing. We’ve even built a custom dog ramp and storage cabinet for a couple of French Bulldogs who were struggling to get on mom and dad’s bed! Our motto is, “Yes, We Can!”

What sets us apart from others is our motivation to continue working. Between Dennis and myself, we have a large, blended family of 6 children. We can’t afford to work and look forward to growing our business to a larger scale! We take pride in our honesty, affordable rates, and open communication. We have heard many horror stories from clients about being taken advantage of, stolen from, and left mid-job, and we just find it so shocking.

With today’s economy, we need to work as much as possible, and we feel that the best way to do that is to be upfront about our pricing, and expectations for the job, communicate about our schedules and make sure that our clients are satisfied.

Dennis will tell you that he is a perfectionist and he definitely isn’t lying. Often times I find myself going, “ok! It’s time to wrap up and head out,” while Dennis is still fine-tuning with sandpaper or a paintbrush. We guarantee you won’t be disappointed with the quality of work that we provide.

You can send us a message on Instagram after following us that says “NashVoyager” to receive a free quote on any repair or renovation needs! Check out some of our recent work by following us @mrandmrsfixit_tn.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I really feel like you have to create your own happiness. One could have every material thing in the world, the perfect job, or whatever, and still, go home each night unhappy.

Being happy is about chasing your dreams, paving new roads, and constantly striving to be the best version of yourself. Some things that we find the most happiness in are: quality time, spending time in nature, trying new things, and being with our family.

We try to find happiness and laughter in all the moments otherwise all the negative can become overwhelming. The world is crazy currently, but at least we have each other and the ability to keep smiling and laughing.

We love trips to Gatlinburg, road trips for work or pleasure, and being adventurous. I spent many years training horses and working as a trail guide at various horse farms, and there is nothing quite like the feeling of running full speed across an open field on the back of such a powerful creature. I use horseback riding as a way to de-stress, clear my head, and get my adrenaline going.

Dennis is open to trying just about anything I’m interested in, so I try to do the same. He loves to play basketball, and just about any type of sport. He’s a shower concert karaoke master, and he truly brings so much happiness into my and my sweet boys’ lives.

We started playing video games together when he first moved in with me. I quickly became a beast at Injustice and Rocket League, and we play together when we have downtime. We’re very competitive in general, but Dennis is the most supportive person and always pushes me to be my best.

If you meet us in person, Dennis will always have a huge smile on his face, and he’ll likely be the reason there’s a smile on my face as he contributes to giving me more wrinkles from smiling too much, as I constantly tell him.

Pricing:

• $100 for the 1st hour
• $45/hr for each remaining hour
• We will provide you with an estimate for materials and labor hours and can settle on an exact price per project if preferred.

Contact Info:

• Phone Number: (615) 420-7117
• Instagram: instagram.com/mrandmrsfixit_tn
• Facebook: facebook.com/mrandmrsfixittn