“I wasn’t strong enough to lift a lot of those things, but I had to do it anyway.”

As his high school days came to an end, Pyron had experience in just about every part of the store, but a second love for teaching led him to Louisiana State University to pursue a degree in economics.

Never one to stray far from the furniture business, however, Pyron worked three days a week as a salesperson at a furniture store in Baton Rouge through his college days.

After graduating with his degree, Pyron enlisted for active duty in the National Guard.

But a year later he found himself off active duty and enrolling back into LSU to pursue a master’s degree, with high hopes of teaching one day.

“I called home a couple of weeks before I was going back to school, and my dad told me that his manager had resigned, and asked if I was interested in coming home and helping him from September through Christmas,” Pyron said. “And 42 years later, here I am.”

With a college degree and several ideas under his belt, Billy began working alongside his father — taking note of every transaction and business plan.

“My dad was one of the smartest businessmen I knew, and he just had the greatest people skills,” Pyron said. “The greatest thing about my dad was that he allowed me freedom at work.

“He would say some things to me, but for the most part he would bite his tongue, even though he knew I was going to screw up.”

As the years passed, Pyron began a gradual process of taking over the family furniture business.