We caught up with the brilliant and insightful KJ Holland a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, KJ thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Going from idea to execution was a journey. I am a third generation carpenter and my first realization is that having someone to hold you accountable and push you at the same time is essential. My thought process shifted when I was working for a company where I was doing everything on projects. I was getting contracts, going out to take measurements, doing CAD drawings, fabricating pieces and installations all for a company who only paid me thousand dollars a week. I began to really think about worth. That put me in the mode of figuring out why I was making this company all this money and why I couldn’t make it for myself. So I studied what I needed to do to get my DBA, LLC, insurance and everything else I would eventually need. I sought wise counsel from my grandfather and my dad who have been in business for decades. This goes back to where I stated that having those that will hold you accountable and push you is essential because they did this for me. They began to pour into me and made sure that I had the knowledge to step into owning my own business. This made for a strong origin of Jae Woodwork. From day one up until now its been an amazing trail of twist and turns. So my idea began to manifest.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in South Dallas, but I wasn’t just an average child. I excelled in my education, loved to learn new things and had to figure life out at an early age. After going through some really rough times in my life, I realized that I wanted better than I was around and exposed too. I made decisions to read and educate myself on business and I found my passion of woodwork through a cabinet making class. I loved working with my hands and soon realized that building things is better than destroying them. After the cabinet making class I began to learn other trades as a maintenance technician, I than had a job in construction where I learned about building from the foundation to the roof on commercial and residential properties. I then went from being a contractor and learned the administrative side of the business which included customer relations, bookkeeping and personnel management. I also continued to develop my passion of woodworking and began to provide an array of custom furniture for clients. This is how my business started, small, I wanted to make sure that I provided quality products for my customers so I disciplined myself in areas of learning materials, tools, and created unique pieces that my clients enjoyed. I went from building furniture to learning how to make custom decks and fences. I also learned how to fabricate stones for kitchen countertops and bathroom vanity’s. Which turned into bigger projects, I made connections with investors who were into flipping real estate. To get the bigger contracts I had to become a registered General Contractor (GC) and in doing so I managed several properties from start to finish. What I am most proud as a brand is that we not only provide quality, but consistency in everything we do. Jae Woodwork is more than a business or a brand to me it is a legacy.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

At the end of 2022, I was managing the remodel of three large projects and finishing a fourth property. The properties were spread out all across the DFW area and I had crews at the different sites. It was too much for me to be at so many places at the same time. We were getting too big too fast and within a short period of time the quality and consistency our business was built on started to diminish and we had to reevaluate the skill level of our workers and realized that to do several different projects at the same time also required an onsite supervisor, not just the workers to get the job done. We have scaled back on the number of projects we accept at one time to focus on our core values of integrity, quality and consistency. Where most people would have given up and quit, we have taken these experiences as opportunities for growth,

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

At the end of 2022, beginning of 2023 I almost lost a client. Jae Woodwork was hired to remodel two bathrooms, a project that should only take at the most two weeks to complete and this is because my client needed a functioning bathroom for their household needs. My workers were new and I didn’t know their true skill level and their was a language barrier. I could not stay and supervise them because I had three other properties that needed my attention. In the guest bathroom, there were minor discrepancies that needed to be fixed but I thought it was okay to move forward to the next bathroom. The master bath consisted of a removal of a stand alone bathtub and shower, install a custom shower and enlarge a walk in closet where the original shower was locate. It required plumbers to move the plumbing. Once the plumbers completed their part, my workers put concrete where the shower originated to make a good foundation for tile in the closet area. Water flooded the master bedroom and ruined the flooring, I thought it was something that the plumber did incorrectly and had to have them return to fix the problem. However it was because my workers did not mix the concrete correctly, instead they put the dry compound into the hole and filled the hole with water. When this was fixed, I had them tile the walls and the floor of the shower. Because I was at other projects I did not properly inspect before the client turned on the water and found free standing water in the bottom of the shower. My client was furious and we had to come to agreement for me to personally fix the problem. I fired my crew and I tore up the shower base, leveled and retiled the incline of the shower so the water would properly drain. It was very embarrassing and I lost a lot of money on this project. The only reason my client stayed with us was because of the rapport I established with them in the beginning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kjaewoodwork.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/jae.woodwork?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaewoodwork/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/k-j-holland-560371201
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jaewoodwork
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCpH3GRqB6X7x8QsLQADzlhw
• Other: Linktree- https://linktr.ee/jaewoodwork

Image Credits
Both professional photos are by Yassin Nkya