We recently connected with Jake Mulder and have shared our conversation below.
Jake, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
To be successful, you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe that you will succeed and try your best not to think negatively when things don’t go your way. You can’t expect everything to be a win, there’s always failure on the way to reaching success. I feel like in order to be successful in this business in particular, you need to be a people person and be willing to take risks. I also feel that you would need to have a love for art. This type of work requires some type of artistic vision in order to continue to come up with new designs and ideas.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m currently living in Houston, TX with my partner of almost 22 years, 2 cats, and our dog. My business is creating luxury, custom accent walls using various types of wood trim. I offer my clients free quotes through my website or direct messages. Clients send me pictures of the wall(s) they would like to have done in their space(s), as well as any inspiration pictures for the design(s) they’d like to see. If they don’t have a design locked in, that’s ok! I work with my clients to create a custom accent wall for their space. The day of install, I bring all of the supplies, install, caulk, paint, and at the end of the day: the space has been transformed. I love what I do! It brings me so much joy to see the expression on my clients’ faces when their wall is finished, often completing the look of the room. My most proud moment so far, is starting my business. I never had aspirations as a child to own my own business and this type of work is definitely not something I ever thought I would be doing – but I love it!
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
I started my business in April of 2022, but completed my first accent wall in 2017. I had seen some amazing accent walls online, watched YouTube videos for about two weeks, and then decided to tackle my first wall: my living room wall. After I completed my wall, I had posted pictures on our neighborhood Facebook page, never expecting what came next. A neighbor had seen my post and wanted to get a quote for an accent wall at her office. I hadn’t ever worked for anyone before, I was still brand new at doing this and definitely still learning. Although she did not hire me for the job, a wonderful lady who patronized the gym where she wanted the accent wall, wanted a quote. I ended up doing SEVEN walls for this woman and her family. After she posted pictures on her Facebook page, I worked for a few of her friends, then a few of their friends, and their friends. Word of mouth has always been an amazing tool for me to gain clients. I didn’t actually start advertising until 2022 when I started my business.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The majority of my work comes through word-of-mouth advertising. I often work for family and friends of clients, and then friends and family of theirs. I feel like what has also helped me build a reputation within this market, is the quality of my work, my fair pricing, and my personality. I can be a perfectionist and I try to ensure my work is as flawless as possible. Nothing is ever perfect, but the quality of my work is important to me. I always try to make sure that shows in the final result.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MulderArtistry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mulder_artistry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MulderArtistry/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-mulder-073151134/
- Other: TikTok: @the1andonlyjake
Image Credits
Yellow Wall & White Wall w/Gold Accent boards: Shot on location, Houston, TX courtesy Keli Rabon