We recently connected with Jeni Maus and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jeni thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

The reason I started Found Rental Co in 2010 was because there was a lack of specialty furniture rentals in the event industry. Literally, I couldn’t find a single rental company across the country that offered vintage furniture to the wedding and event industry. My love of vintage and antique furniture runs deep, and I thought it was the perfect way to add a personal touch to any wedding or event. Thankfully, others did as well. The day we launched our website alongside a wedding blog featuring our (then very small) inventory. I had 21 emails in my inbox by 8am. There was definitely a need for something different and unique in the event world, and we were ready to provide it! Now 14 years later, we still pride ourselves on offering a variety of pieces (over 36k now) that you can’t find elsewhere….which allows our clients to create an event specific to their vibe….and we love that!

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.

In 2010 I was mostly helping my husband with his photography studio in our hometown of Fullerton, CA. I was able to have flexibility in my day which allowed me to take and pick up our children every day from school….and be a part of all of their activities at that time. I was also focused on making my husbands studio the best it could be. I designed and decorated the 1905 brick building to have all of the space for him to have in-studio sessions as well as use the vintage furniture we had it furnished with, for his engagement, family and kids photo shoots. It was the perfect match. That’s how Found was born…a wedding planner saw the studio and all of the cool furniture in it and suggested we start renting it out to brides….and the rest is history. We took pictures of every piece of furniture, down to every small accessory that we thought someone might want to rent (which consisted of 88 pieces…some of which were from our own home ;)). My husband built the website, asked a wedding blogger friend if they would want to feature our new company, and it immediately took off. We offered pieces that had never been a part of the rental or event world before so it didn’t take long for clients to gravitate to our offerings. Although we started with just vintage and antique furniture in the beginning, we have evolved over the years to a variety of offerings….mostly custom, or designed by me, as well as vintage and one-of-a-kind items. We want to be the company known for offering things you can’t get anywhere else…and we try very hard to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to wedding trends and designs. We are always evolving and increasing our inventory to accommodate just about anything one might need to create an unforgettable event. Although I am extremely proud of our inventory, I am even more proud of the team of employees (we call family) that makes up Found Rental Co. We pride ourselves on being the kindest and most accommodating company in the industry, always going above and beyond for our clients….and that will always be what I am most proud of as a business owner.

Any advice for managing a team?

As our sales increase every year, so does our team…and at times this has been challenging. The event industry has extremely busy seasons, and equally slow seasons, so managing payroll during both of those seasons can be very difficult. I don’t ever want to lose our employees during our slower season so we work very hard to keep everyone working, even if it is at a reduced amount of hours. I make it a huge priority to spoil our team throughout the year. I take my sales team on an out of town retreat every year, and dinners throughout the year just to hang out. We throw a big party in the middle of the summer for everyone to get them pumped for the busiest season ahead….last year this consisted of games, adult bounce house obstacle course, a dj and of course….a dunk tank, which of course they took full advantage of when I got inside :) We have monthly cash incentives, and we randomly walk through the warehouse and give $10 gift cards when we see the crew doing something great. I spoil the heck out of them every year at a huge Christmas party….lots of presents, cash bonuses and additional recognitions. Spoiling my team is one of the things I love most about being a business owner….and they all know how much I love and respect them. Because of this our clients see nothing but happy employees….and that is such a gift all the way around :)

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

COVID!! Yikes!!! That was a scary time! In one day I was forced to lay of 78 employees …. just like so many other companies. It was by far the hardest thing I ever had to do as a business owner. I cried every day for weeks. I kept my sales team and managers on for another 2 months until I had to make the hard decision to let all but 4 of them go as well. It was a horrible time for the world. I spent that year really trying to figure out any way to pay the bills and keep the few employees that I did keep, on the payroll. I started home staging, which was not something we ever offered before then. I also had our website rebuilt and added an online shop to our site and started selling off some of our inventory. I did anything and everything I could possibly think of to generate some kind of revenue. I spent a lot of time planning how to improve the company and come back stronger once we were all back to work. In hindsight 2020 was a very eye opening year for me as a business owner. It made me realize that we can get through anything. It also allowed me the time and space to create new systems and procedures that benefitted us immensely once we were all back to work and events were gearing up again. And my, oh my, did events gear up again! We named 2022 the revenge year….events were back, stronger and bigger than ever! I never could have imagined when COVID first happened that we would ever get through it. But we did, and we are better than ever! Oh, and almost every single one of those 78 employees came back, and now we are over 150 strong! What a blessing!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.foundrentalco.com
• Instagram: @foundrentalco
• Facebook: Found Rentals
• Linkedin: Jeni Maus
• Twitter: @foundrentals

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Design @jessetombs Photographer @christinamcneill Floral Design @rriserr Custom Furniture + Decor @foundrentalco Venue/Wine @promontorywine Design @jessetombs Floral Design @studiomondine Custom Furniture Decor @foundrentalco Paper Design @lotusandash Venue @amangiri Detail Photography @melanieduerkopp Photography: Found Rental Co. Furniture: Found Rental Co. Venue: @blackberryfarm Planner: @bustleevents Photographer: @josevilla Florals: @tulipinadesign Rentals: @foundrentalco Design @jessetombs Floral Design @studiomondine Custom Furniture Decor @foundrentalco Paper Design @lotusandash Venue @amangiri Detail Photography @melanieduerkopp Design @jessetombs Atrium/Production @hensleyeventresources Floral Design @studiomondine Custom Furniture Decor @foundrentalco Tabletop @theark_ Paper Design @lotusandash Venue @amangiri Detail Photography @melanieduerkopp Photography: Found Rental Co. Furniture: found Rental Co. Venue: Maison des Oliviers Planning & Design: @array_creative_design Florist: @breannajanebotanicals Rentals: @foundrentalco @brighteventrentals @bellavistadesigns, @theonicollection, @elaneventrentals Photographer: @alibeckphoto @haley.garces @iheartcreativephoto Venue: @dospueblosorchidfarm