Making Your Dreams Work
Article by Alison Kartevold
Photography by Provided
Originally published in The Woodlands City Lifestyle
"When was the last time we actually had a dream?"
Jeff and Ruth Vargo, owners of DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen of the Woodlands, TX, talk about their experience leading up to buying a remodeling franchise.
The discussion around starting their own business began with a question, “When was the last time we actually had a dream?” says Ruth Vargo, the co-owner of DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen of The Woodlands. The question set her and her husband Jeff on a journey that included a good deal of self-reflection.
Jeff and Ruth Vargo met at West Point. After graduation, they each deployed twice. As company commanders, they had countless discussions with their troops about the difficulties of deploying with children, so they left the Army when they started their own family. From there, they went to Exxon Mobil’s Major Projects Group, and in a blink, ten years had passed.
In 2019, Jeff, who has always had an affinity for home improvement, felt led to pursue something new, an opportunity to examine life’s purpose, happiness, and fulfillment. “He started asking himself some of those questions and really doing reflection and felt like God was really telling him to make a change,” says Ruth.
He began by looking at opportunities in the residential construction space. A year later, they had decided to buy a franchise. Their DreamMaker location in The Woodlands focuses on interior design and remodeling, and as it turns out, following their dreams is helping others fulfill theirs.
“That’s been the most rewarding thing for both of us,” says Ruth. “To have this dream and then actually try to go out and do it, it’s such a gift.”
“It was in construction, remodeling, owning your own business, all of that kind of thing was a really good fit,” says Ruth Vargas.
