We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason and Kellie Sartain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jason and Kellie , appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Our most meaningful project we have worked on to date has been with RedBull. On a regular business day a gentleman named Alex walked into our storefront and asked for us to refinish an antique oar. We thought it was a cool project and began to ask questions of what it was for. After a humble conversation we learned Alex worked for RedBull and was going to use the oar for their whitewater rafting event trophy. We thought it was the coolest thing and we asked for a picture of him with the oar. A few months later we began to build a relationship with Alex through small projects and conversations. Shortly before the Formula 1 Grand Prix in October of 2022, Alex came in and asked us to build several walls for their suite at the Circuits Of The Americas track. We were excited, humbled, and thankful. We pinched ourselves as we watched a media Q & A with the RedBull drivers standing next to the walls we built! The experience was incredible. In April of 2023, we provided several walls, art pieces, and furniture to decorate the RedBull suite for MotoGP. The connections made during this event and the chance to display our pieces was a once in a lifetime experience. The entire suite was Awesome Shoppe! Working with the RedBull team was an experience that taught us no matter how big you become, it is about building relationships and staying humble from the top down.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

We build custom fine art furniture pieces, accent walls and ceilings, and hand-hewn architectural faux beams to provide the look that is one of a kind for an interior or exterior space. We strive to make every piece we deliver an heirloom piece that will last for generations to come. Complete with a saw mill and wood kiln, our goal is to use every part of a tree we can. We have made everything from wedding gifts, charcuterie and home decor to one-of-a-kind large format live-edge show stopping pieces of furniture. We are very proud of our art pieces and hand-hewn faux beams. We have studied the woodworking hand-made process to make certain every piece is designed with you in mind.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

We began this business in a garage with no air condition and in Bellville, Texas… that’s HOT! We started out donating our work to the city, participating in several market days, and auctions around our hometown. The purpose was to get our name out there, but we could not afford the materials we were using to build the items we were donating. Our way around that was by making our first purchase- a saw mill. We knew if we learned how to mill our own wood that the cost of material would go down. We put all of our trust in the future of the company in God. After several years in the garage our equipment stash began to get bigger than us. In order to finish a project there were times we had to go to three different places because our equipment was spread out in different places. In 2019 we purchased our first brick and mortar and centralized our equipment. The work wasn’t over. The building was built in the 40s and had been sitting for 20 years. The work had just begun. After a year of restoration and pushing through the active business projects, auctions, market days, and the restoration of the building; our grand opening was in Dec 2020. And then there was COVID. We prayed over our business, put our faith in God, and opened anyway. It wasn’t easy, but we knew the struggles were going to be worth it and whatever came our way we would push through.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Growth was our hardest lesson. After opening the brick and mortar, the demand for projects went up. Spending money to make money is not easy when you don’t have money. We stepped out of our comfort zone and hired help. At the time we were a two man show and had one employee. We went from the three of us, to seven of us. After a year of grinding out projects we quickly realized we were loosing our niche. While we were finally making money, we were handing it right back out to our overhead. We had been told by mentors to be careful with growth too quickly because you can quickly grow yourself out of business. On top of that we found ourselves suddenly not laying our hands on projects. We also realized we have to touch every project- it’s why our craft exists! It’s why it is so special!        

Contact Info:

• Website: awesomeshoppe.com
• Instagram: @sartainsawesomeshoppe
• Facebook: Sartains Awesome Shoppe (no apostrophe)
• Other: Tik Tok – Sartains Awesome Shoppe (no apostrophe)

Image Credits
Photo credit: Chip Gillespie Kolton King