Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Russell.
Hi Christopher, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We started in 2020 when covid ramped up. Our youngest son was born 4 years earlier. He came into the world 2 months premature with underdeveloped lungs and had to spend the first 2 months of his life in the NICU. When he finally came home he was on a machine to monitor his breathing and heart rate. Over the next few years he was diagnosed with asthma and we would find our selves in the hospital getting a breathing treatment every couple of months. Leading up to early 2020 we went in for another breathing treatment like several times before but this time, after several treatments, his oxygen levels wouldn’t come back from the 80’s. We were admitted to the local children’s hospital for 2-3 days until he recovered. Again this was in February of 2020. Before they claimed covid made it into the U.S. I personally think it was already here and Lincoln got it.
Fast forward a couple months and covid has gotten to us and lockdowns are in full force. I was currently working for a company that built and maintained conveyors and robotic systems. I had been there going on 3 years and was rising up in the company. It was a great job and I enjoyed it. But with all the covid crazy, us not knowing what to make of it and our sons health in the back of our minds… I told my job that I just couldn’t risk coming in and bringing something home to my boy. They were able to put me on their PPP plan which allowed them to pay me a percentage of my 40 hour check every week while I was out. This lasted for 2 or 3 months. While it was nice to have some income it wasn’t enough to pay the bills and with all that extra time on my hands, I found myself watching a lot of YouTube videos.
Now I’ve been in some form of construction pretty much since I was 10 years old or so. My dad would drag me along to help him with old jobs on the weekends and during the summers. After high school I served 4 years with the army then went back into the construction field. Ive done everything from residential construction, building windmills all over the US. I worked as a millwright, iron worker, sheet metal worker, carpenter, plumber. You name it and I’ve pretty much done it. Jack of all trades. And im not good at sitting around doing nothing for very long. So back to watching all that YouTube with my extra time. Most of my video feed is, you guessed it, construction based videos. I stumbled across a specific YouTuber Matt with 731woodworks. He made views showing you how to build and sale different items on Facebook. I kept watching his and others videos and thought to myself. (I can do this!). So i borrow a skill saw, and I had an old ragged table saw drill my dad gave me and a speed square. My first build was an American flag for my father in law for father’s day. I let the kids help me with the torching and staining so it could be from everyone. It was an American flag but I definitely needed to work on it. So I took pictures and posted to FB. A friend asked if I could make one into a table for your husband. My first commissioned piece. I decided while I’m building this flag table. Why not build a few more flags with it. Over the next few months I made several flags and occasionally a customer would ask for something a little different. Or my wife would see something on Pinterest. So I started making stove top covers, step stools, corn hole boards, adirondack chairs, cedar planters, custom signs and lots and lots of American flags. It took about a year or so to get enough of a following on Facebook that orders came in pretty regularly. Without the help of that PPP plan and the stimulus checks given out, I’m not sure the business would have made it. As I was the sole income in our family at the time. During that year I was doubted by family and friends telling me I was crazy trying to support a family of 6 like this. I needed job security. I had doubts myself but I prayed to God and told him I would get up everyday and do my part. If he keeps putting work in front of me then I’ll keep doing this until he takes me another path. Plus Anyone who truly knows me knows, you dont tell me what I can or can not do. Ill do it just to prove you wrong and that motivated me to push hard. That first year I work nights in my little carport shop to fill orders. Built up stock when I didnt have orders to take and pan handle on the side of the road to make sales. I bought new tools to make me faster and more accurate. I worked my butt off to get my name out there.
About 3 years in I decided to start offering handyman services then eventually I got licensed and insured so I could take on bigger jobs. That’s also about the time we moved to Bartlett Tn. The city of Bartlett and its amazing community have really allowed me to grow as a company. We have continued to grow each year and this year looks to be the same way unless God sends us another directions.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest obstacle getting my name out there enough to create enough word of mouth traffic that I could sustain the business year round. That and learning how to run a business on the fly. And all this with all the fear that I wouldn’t be able to get to that point. So I prayed to God.
I asked him to “put the sales in front of me if this is your plan for me. Ill do my part. Ill get up and do something to grow the business everyday and if you keep putting it in my path then I’ll keep going and know thats where I’m supposed to do.
The finance side of it was covered with all the stimulus money they gave out. With 4 kids we got large checks. So instead of blowing it on some fancy vacation or something. I took it as a business loan and it became my start up capital. That seems to be the biggest hurdle for most small businesses that fail.
With that covered all I had to do was over come the fear and get my name out there.
The first few months I just built things I thought would sale eventually all day every day in my open carport shop space. Occasionally an order would come through and I’d make that as well. Once I had a descent stock of a few different items I would pan handle at a popular intersection somewhere. Sometimes the cops would run me off. Learned I needed a permit that day. I also did a few craft shows, give aways on our FB page and making things for family.
When I made enough money with my sales I would buy a new tool that would help me make accurate repeatable cuts more rapidly. By Christmas that year I had several orders for my American flags and the following spring my cedar planters went viral. It got to where I was working nights in the shop to keep up with the orders coming in. We had a goal of 1000 followers on our fb page in the first year. We fell short with between 7-800 i think.
The stimulus money was pretty much gone at this point. This is when I would see if this was God plan for me. I kept at it everyday. I’d build something if I had it, make a post on fb, do a giveaway, load up my stock and pan handle. Something to move the business forward. My plan of attack each day didnt always bring in business and sometimes the bank account would get really low. Sometimes after days of doing my part and nothing coming in, with the account as low as it was, I would start to think maybe I’m not supposed to be doing this. Maybe I should quit and go back to working for someone else’s. But then God would come through in the way only he can. A flood of orders would coming almost all at once. There are ups and downs in this trade and you need faith to ride the waves. God has always provided enough for me to provide for my family. Sometimes we had enough to do a little extra with and sometimes it was just enough with only pennies left in the bank but he always provided me with the jobs to make a living for me and family.
What’s next?
I am trying to grow the company. I’d like to hire several employees, have a fleet of trucks and an actual commercial shop space. I want something to hand down to my kids.
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