Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jake Latvala. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jake, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Woodworking for me started as a hobby and after awhile I bought a sawmill to reduce lumber costs. I then started a social media page and created a following. From there I had many of leads to the point that I was losing money working at my regular job and that’s when I decided to quit my daily 9-5 and started a business

Jake, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

5 years ago I was a father of two kids and husband who had barely graduated High School in Redding California but was given an opportunity and I’ve been able to capitalize on it.

It is never to late to make a change….
I started working for Walmart at 18 and was 37 when the new chapter of my professional life began. Walmart brought me to Arkansas after working my way up to management. I took notes on all the leadership classes they offered and now have applied the same strategies in my business today!

Starting Ol Loggin Sawmill, then Ol Loggin Epoxy and most recently Ol Loggin Airbnb is something I never would have imagined or even dreamed of growing up. I hope to inspire my children to reach for the stars and believe in something, because it’s possible. My life is proof.

I am now surrounded by woodworkers, Artists and Content Creators just like me and have found a way to connect through Social Media!
We are not perfect but we want our craft to be. We support each other, we learn off one another, we teach, we entertain and we create! The piece itself is not the art. The art is how the piece is made and how we tell the story along the way.
We are a new age of entrepreneurs and woodworkers and we want you to hear our story!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Everyday we walk through all of our projects through our stories, posts, reels and videos on Instagram, Facebook , TikTok and YouTube. We teach people what we are doing and how we are doing it. We give the viewers a benefit by teaching and in return they buy our products. We are a brand so we offer Lumber, Epoxy, pigments and finishes in store and online in both United States and Canada

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When starting a woodworking business with employees I had to learn how to delicate parts of the business so I can have time to focus on networking and the growth of the business. For example I had to learn how to run the sawmill then teach /train someone to do run it the way that I want them to. This allowed me to build projects/tables. Then I had to teach/train someone to take over building projects. This allows me to focus on networking and the growth of the business to access more leads

Contact Info:

• Website: Ollogginsawmill.com
• Instagram: Ollogginsawmill
• Facebook: Ollogginsawmill
• Youtube: Ollogginsawmill

Image Credits
Jake Latvala