We were lucky to catch up with Jonathan Hammel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jonathan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

When I first opened MadeFirst, around 2011 in Nashville TN, I used my home as my studio. Often times working in my kitchen if it was raining or in my backyard when the weather permitted. As I started getting more clients and projects, I made a decision to rent a small space. That space was roughly 2000 sq ft. About a year later I once again decided to move into a larger space, roughly 10,000 sq. ft., to accommodate the larger projects that we were starting to get. Which meant I needed more staff to produce the projects. I quickly hired a solid team of builders, painters, and managers. Today we have roughly 60 employees between both locations.

All along the way I was trying to find ways to be more efficient and I desperately wanted to expand our capabilities. Investing in computer controlled machines was the fastest was for MadeFirst to expand and meet the demands of our clients. CNC routers, large scale printers, CNC lasers and painting systems were key to making the shop capable of handing the larger projects with short deadlines.

The business was really gaining traction in the world of live events and in 2017 we moved into the space we are in now, which is approx. 60,000 sq ft. in Nashville.

I took the biggest risk during the tail end of the pandemic when I expanded from Nashville to Los Angeles. The opportunity to buy an existing shop and all its assets was presented to me. Expanding was always on my mind, and I think the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. So in 2021 we set up shop in California. The expansion to California gives us more capabilities, and allows us to service clients across the country more efficiently.

Jonathan , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

MadeFirst is a full-service creative design and fabrication company with facilities in Nashville, TN and Los Angeles, California. Most of our clients are in the live entertainment and marketing industries. We provide our customers with superior service and quality craftsmanship at competitive prices. Our diverse client and project bases regularly challenge us to create cost-effective methods of planning and fabrication. It is our innovation, attention to detail and dedication to our clients that makes MadeFirst the right partner for creative endeavors.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Reputation is everything in the live event industry. You are only as good as your last project. MadeFirst is know for its attention to detail and quality craftsmanship for a fair price. My goal is to keep clients coming back year after year.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I am incredibly proud to say I have built MadeFirst without any funding. Today we are debt free. I believe in organic growth. So year after year I would invest in new tools and equipment by putting the profits back into the shop and into hiring talented staff. Every year we look to buy equipment that can expand our capabilities and offer solutions to clients trying to push the limits of design and fabrication.

Contact Info:

• Website: madefirst.com
• Instagram: madefirsttn
• Facebook: madefirstfab
• Twitter: @MadeFirstTN

Image Credits
Kristina Krug