Jonathan Davis shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Jonathan, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
Oh man. All right, I think that the most misunderstood part of my business, is just how much effort and time goes into building furniture. I think that a lot of people have gotten so used to flat-pack furniture and wayfair, that it boggles the mind to learn about how much effort, skill, and knowledge goes into using real wood to build something. Or the amount of effort and time is needed to weld something together without it warping from the heat of the weld. A lot of it may not necessarily be difficult, but it definitely takes a lot of effort, and a lot of time.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jonathan Davis. I am the owner of Iron Moose Co. a custom furniture shop based in San Antonio Texas. My shop specializes in one-off custom furniture pieces, and other unique fabrications. I don’t make a lot of the same pieces over and over again; every piece is unique. If you have a particular vision in mind for a table, or a cabinet, desk, chest of drawers etc. I can figure out a way to make it exist. I have helped artists realize their visions for works of art. I’ve designed custom brackets and hangers to help people mount objects to their walls that maybe shouldn’t be able to go there, and I’ve done all of it in a way in which it looks good. I’ve done residential and commercial projects, and I’m always looking for a new challenge.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Trust is always the most important bond between people. Setting poor expectations, and poor communication can pretty quickly erode it. Restoring trust requires integrity and communication. As it relates to working relationships between myself and my clients? I want to have my client’s trust, but in many cases, people are working with me for the first time. Trust is earned, and the only way to earn it is the same as what it takes to restore broken trust. It takes Integrity and communication.
I try to be as up-front about time-frames and costs as I can be. I’m not perfect, but I do a pretty good job of estimating these things most of the time. I also see it as very important to be as communicative as I can be. I don’t have a tried and true method for most of the projects I’m building. I only have tried and true methods for aspects of the projects I’m building. If something is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated, then I let my client know, so that I can set expectations as realistic as I can manage. Through good communication, and the setting of realistic expectations, I am able to earn a degree of trust from my clients that I will do what I say I’m going to do.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I almost gave up in 2020. I started doing fabrication work for myself in 2015 and started Iron Moose Co. in 2018. I never had an excess of projects to work on back then. I was scraping by and putting everything I had into my work. Even still, it wasn’t really enough. I was going to stop doing fabrication work and try to figure out something else, but without realizing it, I had hit on the right combination of luck, effort, and skill. The clients I had been doing work for had been spreading the word about the stuff I was making, and I suddenly started getting more, and more interesting work in. I had apparently been building a reputation as a “problem-solver” of sorts, for fabrication projects. It takes a while for that kind of stuff come back to you. I almost quit before it came back to me.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes. For better or worse, I am always me. It’s too much effort to create another persona. I talk to too much, I get excited about lots of different subjects, and will talk your ear off about them if you don’t stop me. I get tunnel-focus and I’m a little bit OCD. I’m sure I have some good qualities too, but those aren’t for me to describe.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
I am always out of my depth. I seek out projects that are weird and complicated, because I like a challenge. I was once told “If something is confusing to you, and stick with it and practice until it isn’t confusing anymore, then you have made yourself smarter.” I live by that adage every day.
Tell me what you want, and I will figure out what needs to happen to make it exist, and then I will research if your project’s needs can be met. There is almost always a way to make it happen. That being said, sometimes the way to make it happen is cost-prohibitive.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @iron.moose.co
Image Credits
Jonathan Davis
