Meet the Team of Southern Shutters & Blinds near Austin and San Antonio

Allow our experienced staff to discuss your window covering options!

We place high importance on employing the most professional, knowledgeable people in both our showroom and manufacturing facilities. We also pride ourselves in hiring, training and retaining highly qualified and skilled professionals! In doing so, Southern Shutters has created the most friendly and proficient staff in town.

Mark Edmondson: Owner/plant manager. He has been in the shutter business for 22 years. He learned the craft from the ground up by working for his family-owned window covering company in Dallas before launching Southern Shutters in 1993. Utilizing his degree in production management from North Texas, he built his production facility in Manor (15 minutes east of Austin) where he has drawn all sorts of local talented professionals to supply Central Texas with a full variety of window covering options.

Chris Lovell: Owner/Sales manager. Raised in Georgetown, he began as an installer for Southern Shutters in 1996. Having displayed a knack for design, he moved into sales in 2000. Through his devotion and understanding of the craft, he was made a partner in the business in2005. He remains active in sales, providing you with knowledgeable insight when designing your custom window coverings.

Matt Sink: Sales manager. He came to our team with a military background, which is visible in his professional attitude and punctuality. He began with the company as an installer in 2004 and moved into sales in 2008. He utilizes his knowledge gained through years of installation when advising you about your various custom window treatment options. In addition to his shutter knowledge, he has become our expert on blinds and shades through working closely with Hunter Douglas and accessing every class and seminar he know of. He likes working with a close-knit team where everyone is more like family than coworkers and has a willingness to do whatever it takes to get projects done right. He's a husband and father of two, and he organizes the local disc golf club.

Eddie Rodriguez: Lead installer. Eddie has been with the company since the summer of 2005, when he started with the company as a woodworker in the fabbing department. It did not take long for us to notice his love of woodworking and eye for detail. Eddie is very self-motivated. He moved into the installation department in 2007 and has been our "go to" guy ever since. For fun, Eddie enjoys billiards, watching sports, movies, and spending time with his family.

Barry Richardson: Installer. Barry has been with Southern Shutters & Blinds since the summer of 2008. Barry's many years of experience working in the construction industry (he's been in the field since he was 14) has made him the man who can tackle any and all installation we can throw at him. We need his unique blend of experience to fulfill our motto of "giving you shutters that look as though they came with your home." His favorite thing about working for Southern Shutters & Blinds is meeting the customers, and he always tries to get every project completed as smoothly as possible. His interests include antique furniture, old guns, knives, coins, and military items.

Patrick Baylor: Production manager and arch department supervisor. Patrick trained as a woodworker in Europe for 2 years. He began his career with us in the summer of 2006 as an installer. After a year, he moved into the arch department. This is where his formal training really paid off; now, he oversees all work produced through the arch department. Thanks to him, we have a robust arch department and can back up our claim that "arches are our specialty!" He loves anything having to do with sports, and he enjoys spending time with his dog.

Tom Hopkins: Supervisor of fabbing/safety manager/maintenance. Starting with the company in 1998, Tom came to us with a military background in the engineering department of the US Navy. His experience is evident in his precise attention to design detail. Tom was our one man fabbing department, which means that he built the frames and anything else required to complete the custom fitting of your shutters. As we grew, Tom took on the responsibility of converting all sales diagrams into the many reports and cut lists we use in the manufacturing process. Tom opens the doors to our plant every weekday, many hours ahead of the sun and his coworkers, utilizing this time to insure all machinery is calibrated and maintained properly.

Andrew Huerta: Paint department coordinator. Andrew started with the company in February of 1999 as a driver and began his training in the art of paint color matching. Andrew works tirelessly to provide his customers with the closest paint or stain match possible. He makes sure every customer sees a sample of the paint or stain selected for their order before it ever hits their shutters. Going to customer's homes to provide his expertise with any doubts they may have, Andrew utilizes his color matching skills to help provide our customers with shutters that look like they came with the house.

Dino Rocha: Paint department supervisor. Dino first started as a sander in the paint department of Mark's father's company in Dallas in 1988. He continued to work as a painter in the Dallas area until joining us here in Austin in the summer of 2003. His nearly 25 years of experience in painting and staining of shutters is evident in the furniture quality finish he and his department apply to all shutter orders.

Johnny Martinez: Assembly department supervisor. Choosing sawdust over grease, Johnny started with Southern Shutters & Blinds back in January of 2003 in the assembly department after leaving the life of a big engine mechanic for Ford. By the summer of 2006, Johnny became the supervisor for the assembly department and our factory on a 4-ten hour day workweek. This leaves Johnny with one weekday every week to tinker with cars and still have the weekend to enjoy time with his family.

Doreen Drake: Controller. Doreen joined us in 2012, but she has over 25 years of experience. She enjoys working with the rest of the team to produce a superior product. For fun, Doreen likes solving puzzles, and she uses that skill to organize our business and take care of our accounting, personnel, and human resources needs. She has one daughter who is currently studying psychology in college, and her hobbies include gardening and being outside in nature.