We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kyle Jamar. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kyle below.

Alright, Kyle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Yes. It’s not without challenges. I’ve been building high end custom airstream and boat interiors for the last 14 years. It started with a boat restoration I did for myself. People started asking if I could build a cabinet or table for them as well as restoring their boats. I did an airstream for myself and that took off. I haven’t looked back. We now have 7 employees and stay booked out about 5-10 months. It was scary at first wondering when the phone would ring. In fact, it still is scary. There have been too many lean months where I’m left wondering how my bills were going to be paid. Things have shifted from growing pains to a general groove where my guys have a good understanding of what’s in my head. Pricing and profitability is still the biggest challenge. Charging enough is something i struggle with. It would’ve been nice to understand that in the beginning. One other thing is saying no to some jobs.

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.

It all started as my hobby. I’ve always needed a creative outlet. I don’t sit still very well. Tinkering and futzing around with things came from my parents. I was self taught at the school of hard knocks. In fact, I think I have at least the equivalent of a masters degree and now working on my phd. Somehow, I was gifted with vision if seeing what the end product is supposed to look like. That has been a blessing and a curse. Leading to “is it good enough?” Or, “it needs to be better!” I’ve instilled perfectionism in my team and we are extremely guarded with the end result. When we are finished with a project, no detail is overlooked. From interiors that no one will see but a repair tech, to a gleaming varnished frame section out of plain sight. When our work is deconstructed years from now, I want people scratching their heads as to how we made it so beautiful. Hard work and persistence is the key to that question.

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

The lesson is self worth! You have to know that your work is important to a certain audience. The goal is to find your clientele and market to them. I’m still learning. My work is not for everyone. And not everyone can afford my work. It takes thousands of hours to perfect a project. We work diligently to make sure a coat of varnish is perfect. Sometimes redoing it several times to get it right. In the end that takes diligence and persistence There are only a handful of folks that understand and have the financial means to pay for this. I often don’t charge for these redo’s, but there is still a cost associated with all the work. On my dime or theirs, I’m very aware of the bottom line and how it affects profitability.

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

Pivot. It seems like we do this every ten years or so. I used to say yes to handful of work just to stay busy or keep my guys hooked up. Needless to say, I was just buying work. Costing me 100’s to 1000’s of dollars so the guys would have something to do. Once I started saying no or pricing work so high that if we did get it, I would at least make money at it, things shifted to better work coming our way. I can’t stress enough how important it is to feel good enough about what you do to tell people about it. Pivoting to the right audience has been a game changer

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.highprairiedesigns.com
• Linkedin: Kyle Jamar

Image Credits

Elaine Sweeny for the picture of me and my dog