Who we are
Alex Salazar, President – Alex grew up in Costa Rica, spending much of his youth on the coast of Golfito fishing and living Pura Vida. He was (an is!) passionate about futbol (soccer) and played religiously. As a teen, his coaches pushed the athletes to their limits. 26 years ago when Alex immigrated to the US, he brought that mental toughness and a belief that he could reach his American Dream. Alex’s willingness to be uncomfortable so he could learn how to speak, read and write English, desire to prove to everyone that he has what it takes to be successful is what drives him in business. When he isn’t working, you might find him playing pool, riding his bicycle, strumming on the guitar, or just maybe, sipping a nice tequila.
Leslie Biagini-Salazar, CFO – Leslie is a proud Marin native who loves Mt. Tam and West Marin. Since the age of two, when her father passed away, Leslie and her older sister were raised solely by their Mom. Leslie grew up watching her mother overcome loss, grief and depression to eventually stand tall, and become the Executive Director of one of the largest Medical Malpractice organizations in the State. Leslie learned that as long as you get back up, you never fail. Throughout her childhood, Leslie excelled at soccer and softball, taking on key positions like goalie and catcher; stressful and terrifying when you were losing but glorious when you were winning. Leslie has always valued the possibilities and synergy that exist when working (and playing) as part of a team. Leslie was the volunteer coordinator and past President of the Marinwood Waterdevils, Valedictorian of the Leadership Novato Class of 2014, President of 1st Advantage (a business networking group), Rotarian and member of the Novato Chamber. Leslie has spent her life building teams and surrounding herself with experts to create better outcomes for every endeavor. When she isn’t working, Leslie can be found playing with her kids, dogs or chickens, reading, wine tasting (it’s a sport!), or cooking great food for the people she cares about most.
Our story
Leslie and Alex met as employees of a Novato property management company. Later, one of the vendors wooed Alex away to become their very first employee. Quickly, Alex became a partner in the business and helped built it from a single operator single service organization to a multi service, 10+ employee, million dollar Corporation. After 13 years, Alex was ready to own his own business, make all the rules and drive all the success.
In the fall of 2008, Leslie and Alex launched their new multi service company. Some folks said they were “crazy”, starting a trade business, in the off season, during one of the worst economic recessions of the past 50 years. In hindsight, it wasn’t crazy, it was insane. Driven by a dream, powered by passion and elevated by their determination to succeed, Leslie and Alex made it through the “long winter” and never looked back.
Leslie and Alex sacrificed a lot to create what eventually became AJ Paintmasters Plus. They believe the only way to make those sacrifices worthwhile is to continually build on their reputation as a premier residential painting contractor in Marin. Every day, in every way, they strive to be better.
At AJ PaintMasters Plus every job we do is our most important
The short story is that it’s word of mouth that builds a local business like ours.
How many times have you heard “The food was great, but the service was terrible”? Or “It’s not what you said, but how you said it”?
We’ve been building our reputation for the last 26 years. We don’t cut corners or skip steps; our reputation was built on doing it right, making the experience enjoyable and always honoring the price we have quoted.
You will know what the project is going to cost up front with no hidden fees. We don’t bid low and add change order costs after we have started the project. We bid the cost to do the job right, with all the proper surface preparation so that you get a lasting and enjoyable interior or exterior paint job.
Whether we’re painting your home or refinishing your deck, you can always depend on us to make it beautiful.
We will work on your project like our reputation depends on it…because it does.
