Marine Corps … College … Accounting … Corporate Chief Financial Officer … jumping from one city to the next every few years when the next high-powered project came along …

“It was really fast. It was like drinking from a firehose every day,” Brendan Carpenter explains. “I tried a job out in Colorado, starting a new credit card business.”

After two years, that business hadn’t caught fire. And after 17 years, Carpenter’s passion for finance was extinguished, too.

“I lost the gumption,” he says.

That could have been a crisis, but it was an evolution for Carpenter. He rekindled a hobby he started while he was in the military.

“On the Marines’ bases, they have workshops, woodshops — I hope they still have them. There were some guys in the shop, and I learned how to use a drill, learned how to use this and that,” Carpenter says.

“Being a young Marine, I couldn't afford nice furniture. So, I started learning to make furniture.”

He continued to hone his woodworking skills during his corporate career. When he ended his career, he amped up his hobby.

“I figured I would dabble in this for a while until I decided what to do,” Carpenter says. “Pretty soon, somebody brings me a piece of furniture, and I refinish it.”

That was 13 years ago.

More: Steuart Watson's career changes brings him back to Powdersville as a restaurateur

Today, the hobby is a business that bears his name, Brendan Carpenter Custom Furniture and Refinishing. He works with his oldest son and a longtime employee, Latra Collick.

Together, they refinish and restore furniture, build high-end custom furniture, and refinish kitchen cabinets.

“We evolved by learning to finish things, restoring countless dining room tables, countless pieces of furniture,” says Carpenter, who grew up in Travelers Rest and now lives in Duncan.

It also became fashionable to finish furniture by painting it.

“We got really good with painting and distressing and creating different kinds of finishes,” he says. “After a couple of years, I did a kitchen. Now we do about 26 kitchens a year.”

Though the Greenville area has many cabinet makers, not many refinish cabinets.

“I'm not sure what prompted me to refinish that first kitchen. I'm not sure how I did it, or even what made me think I should do it. But we did it. We did a really good job, and it just took off,” Carpenter explains.

A cabinet maker might start from scratch when remodeling a kitchen, but Carpenter says he can give homeowners “a great-looking kitchen at a third of the price.”

The method works because most people are happy with the footprint of their kitchens.

“I don't build all new cabinets. But I'll refinish them, rearrange some doors or drawers, make minor modifications. We can make those cabinets look brand-new,” he says.

“If they want new doors, we can build them new doors, give them a different style. Most people don't have any interest in reconfiguring their kitchen, they just want it to look prettier.”

The team is booked through June.

Carpenter’s 22-year-old son, Brendan Ethan, just graduated from college; his main interest is building high-end pieces. (Carpenter’s younger son is a junior at The Citadel.)

Collick leads the kitchen jobs, with other workers to support him. “He’s the one who makes us all look good. He's a master finisher. His work ethic is off the chart,” the boss says.

They don’t work for builders; they work directly with clients.

“You call me, and you tell me what you want. There's just you and me. And I work until I make you happy,” Carpenter says.

That personal contact and immediate feedback set this career apart from his previous work.

“When we do a good job, we know immediately. When a woman walks in and sees her kitchen, and it’s all put back together, she's just absolutely floored,” he says. “We deliver what we're supposed to deliver.”

When it comes to family treasures, the work is even more personal for Carpenter and a client.

“Most everybody has those pieces. They may not have much intrinsic value,” he explains. “But it's priceless to the person — like a rocking chair their mother rocked them in, and now they want to rock their grandbaby in it.”

Is the cost of refinishing and restoring worth the price? “My answer, assuming that it's a sound piece of furniture, is that you're going to get 25 more years of use out of it. Is it worth that cost to you? Most often, the answer is yes.”

Carpenter’s only advertising is social media. “I'll post a before-and-after picture of a kitchen. I don't even say anything. I just post a picture, and I'll get 10 people calling me.”

Also: Habitat For Humanity's Fabia Rodrigues finds a home in Greenville, helps provide for others

His 30,000 “followers” recommend him to each other. “Somebody will ask, ‘Who can I get to refinish this table?’ Ten people will say, ‘Call this guy.’”

He’s flattered and humbled. “I’ve got people tooting my horn, and I've never even met them. That's so cool.”

In truth, Carpenter estimates only about a half-dozen people in the area do what he and his son and Collick do.

“Honestly, it’s not sexy work,” he admits. “People think about the antique we’re refinishing and feel nostalgic. But 85% of what we do is sanding.”

Sometimes, at the workshop in Wellford, they sand furniture and cabinet doors for eight hours, six days in a row. “Not many people want to do that,” he says.

What eases the boredom? “Each one of us has headphones. In an odd way, we look forward to it because it's mindless work. I put on my headphones, and I know I’m going to sand 30 doors. I don't think about it.”

Carpenter is as proud of his son and Collick — as he is of his work.

“No two people are harder working or more driven. We hear negative things about the younger generation, but there are good, solid young folks out there,” he says.

“My son plans to continue the business, long past me. And Latra is like a son to me. He will be as much a part of the future as Ethan is. The future is Latra and Ethan.”

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Former marine turns woodworking hobby into career building furniture