Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Dean.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2007, I started helping my brother with his cabinet business. I knew absolutely nothing about the trade and was starting out learning basic carpentry skills. My brother had built his company in Albuquerque, NM and in 2009, my wife and I relocated to Austin. In Austin, I decided to continue to make a living in the millwork industry as I had learned that I enjoyed building things. I was fortunate enough to land a few jobs with a few big named builders in the luxury residential millwork world, and from there, my passion for woodworking blossomed. In 2013, I decided I wanted to explore another aspect of the industry and find a position that would advance my skill level behind the scenes. I began working for a local commercial millwork company as an estimator, pricing large projects and landing contracts.
At the same time, I attended ACC to receive my AUTOCAD certification. Spending eight years as an estimator, I started to miss the creativity and began to desire to build things again outside of what my “honey-do” list was at home. My wife and I started posting little side projects here and there on social media, and after a few orders we felt like we could grow the business to be something more. We had recently just did a living room built-in project in our new home and thought how could we offer the same thing to other homeowners in our community. We hadn’t really seen any other woodworking businesses in our area share built-in projects like we were doing, and we knew with the skillset from the years of work in the industry that we could do something really special. In March, I decided to take the leap of faith and step out of the comfort of my office job to pursue the business full-time. We are so grateful we did. The community has embraced us and has really shown us the need for a luxury residential millwork company that focuses on quality and provides a one of a kind piece of art from wood!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Building a business from scratch takes a lot of time and energy. I am constantly in work mode now, so balancing our family life has been difficult at times. My family will always be my top priority, but we have also used this as a lesson for them. Our kids see us in the thick of building our future and making an impact on our community. It’s a good life lesson for all of us.
We’ve been impressed with Hill Country Board and Beam, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Hill Country Board & Beam is a family-owned and operated small business that resides right here in Central Texas. For the last 15 years, Josh has been in the millwork industry- he has done everything from commercial to luxury residential architectural millwork. In just the last few months, we’ve made the leap to do this small business thing full-time and here is our why…
We love our community and the fact that it is growing. We welcome all you lovely people! With growth though, comes new housing developments. And what we are finding is that all of these new homes that are being built in our area are B.A.S.I.C. – you pay high dollar for four walls, a ceiling, and a floor with NOTHING in between. These homes are lacking the uniqueness and character that was once just a given with every new build. Think about a home from the 1930s…all the attention to detail in every corner of every room from the crown molding to the window trim to built-in nooks, it was designed with sophistication. Our inspiration and goal behind Hill Country Board & Beam is to turn BASIC into CRAFTSMAN- bringing that character back into our neighborhoods with fine woodwork that you just don’t get any more from your large corporate builders. We want our clients to have something different than their neighbor next door and down the street. The desire to have homes in our community be more than just the average builder-grade home will not only help with home values but will also bring a sense of pride in that we are preserving a lost art. Our community deserves homes with character, and we have big plans to bring it to you!
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Team
Kendall Dean – Wife/Marketing Director/VP Operations
It truly is a team effort. We talk through every single project together. From the initial contact, design, formal bid, and build. I like to say, “I handle the sawdust, Kendall handles most everything else.”
Our motto at home is TEAMWORK makes the DREAMWORK and that couldn’t be more true with our family business as well.
We definitely credit our faith in directing our every single step with this business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hillcountryboardandbeam.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/hillcountryboardandbeam
- Facebook: Www.facebook.com/hillcountryboardandbeam
Image Credits
Carrin Lewis Photography for the headshot and family photo
