Two Black Childhood Friends Turned Their Lives Around and Built a Successful Windows and Doors Company

#KRITICIZM - BROOKLYN, NY — Ronald Tucker and Teddy Coleman have a friendship that stretches back roughly five decades. From growing up together in Jamaica, Queens, to experiencing some of life’s toughest consequences, the childhood friends have transformed their story into one centered on business, opportunity, and giving back.

Today, Tucker and Coleman are the men behind Level Windows & Doors, a Brooklyn-based construction company specializing in window, door, glass, and related hardware work. Coleman serves as CEO, while Tucker serves as vice president.

Their relationship began when they met in elementary school. As teenagers, they attended Thomas Edison High School, where they learned vocational mechanics—skills that would later become part of a much bigger story.

Their journey, however, wasn’t a straight path to entrepreneurship. Between the two men, they spent a combined 36 years incarcerated.

Rather than allowing their past to determine their future, the longtime friends eventually redirected their energy toward building a legitimate business and creating opportunities for others.

“I trust Teddy with my life,” Ronald says.

Teddy has been equally open about the mistakes they made earlier in life.

“We did a lot of wrong together in our lifetime. Now, we’re doing something positive.”

From Childhood Friends to Business Partners

Building a company with someone you’ve known since childhood requires a level of trust that many business partnerships never develop. For Tucker and Coleman, their decades-long relationship became part of the foundation for Level Windows & Doors.

The company has reportedly completed window and glass work on more than 100 buildings, turning their knowledge of the trades into a growing construction operation.

But their mission extends beyond completing projects.

Tucker and Coleman also work to introduce young people and formerly incarcerated individuals to careers in the skilled trades. By providing training and exposure to construction work, they are helping others see that their circumstances—or past mistakes—don’t have to prevent them from building a career.

For people returning home after incarceration, obtaining stable employment can be one of the biggest obstacles to successfully rebuilding their lives. Tucker understands that experience personally.

He says that paying your debt to society begins once you come home, emphasizing the challenges and responsibilities that come with starting over.

Turning a Difficult Past Into Opportunity

The story of Ronald Tucker and Teddy Coleman isn’t about pretending their past never happened. Both men openly acknowledge the decisions that led them down the wrong path.

Instead, their story is about what they decided to do afterward.

Two childhood friends who once found themselves on the wrong side of the law are now business owners completing construction projects, creating jobs and helping introduce another generation to skilled trades.

After approximately 50 years of friendship, Tucker and Coleman are still building together—but today, they’re building something completely different: businesses, careers and second chances.