Perseverance comes in handy in east Bradenton

Mill Creek’s Kim and Kelly “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, owners of Illuminate Landscape Designs, worked alongside each other earlier this month as they navigated roots and plants to place their client’s new lighting in a Waterleaf yard.

It had to be a similar skill set they used to navigate their way past a potential business disaster due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March, the Fitzpatricks landed one job, a lighting system repair, which brought in $125. 

That was $125 gross, not profit.

They had bills to pay and no income.

“It was surreal,” Kim Fitzpatrick said.

The couple had started their business Jan. 7, and all signs indicated they had made a good decision. It wasn’t an easy decision; Fitz Fitzpatrick had ended a 19-year career as a mechanic in the automotive industry to pursue a new direction.

He had worked on a lighting project at their home with his son, Sam, and he thought it would be a needed service in the Lakewood Ranch area.

“We’ve always wanted to do our own thing,” Fitz Fitzpatrick said. “I didn’t want to get to the end of my life and go, ‘Man, what could we have done if we would have pulled the trigger on our own business?’”

COVID-19 wasn’t part of the plan.

Fitzpatrick said going through a March with only one job was “humbling.”

He began to brainstorm ideas to make money until business picked up. He had to provide for his family — Kim and  their twins, Sam and Meghan, who are seniors at Lakewood Ranch High. They’ve had their own pressure to endure, finishing their senior year with e-learning while missing their prom and senior dinner because of the pandemic.

It was all troubling to their father. 

“As a provider, you want to be able to provide for your family, so if that didn’t work, I’d find something else to do,” Fitzpatrick said. “You do what you have to do.”

Kim Fitzpatrick described her husband as driven and said he accomplishes anything he sets his mind to. He decided to take jobs as a handyman to sustain some kind of income.

He worked on ceiling fans, light fixtures, garbage disposals and faucets to earn enough money to get the family through a tough three months. His neighbors and friends reached out to help.

“We didn’t realize there was such a demand, but a lot of people reached out with all kinds of odd jobs,” Fitz Fitzpatrick said.

Although the handyman work helped, the Fitzpatricks had to dip into their savings. They applied for a Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance. They received $2,000.

It wasn’t much, but it got them through until business began to pick up again this month.

“Being able to have a sigh of relief with a little bit of money coming in to pay bills was huge,” Kim Fitzpatrick said.

By mid-May, they had picked up their fifth job of the month and appeared to be moving in the right direction.

“We have tremendous faith,” Fitz Fitzpatrick said.

Besides their faith, Kim Fitzpatrick said they had each other.

“I just think it’s a blessing [the twins] had each other through all of the craziness,” Kim Fitzpatrick said. “They’re resilient. They just kind of go with the flow.”

Fitz and Kim Fitzpatrick, who have been married 30 years, hope their story motivates others.

“More than ever, people need things that inspire them because there’s so much darkness,” Fitz Fitzpatrick said.