Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Aldridge.
Taylor, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When my husband, Ryan, and I first got married and moved into our little one-room apartment, he surprised me by building a simple wood shelf to serve as our “mantle” because he knew having something to decorate was important to me. Throughout our first few years of marriage, he would humor me and build little projects here or there so that I could add character or something pretty for our home. It wasn’t until our daughter was born in 2015 that we happened upon creating home decor for others. The first piece I painted and sold was an old vintage window. Having someone see the work of my hands and actually love it for their home was so much fun. We then happened upon creating 40+ wooden pumpkin door hangers through a “Shop Small” Facebook group, which I never intended to do. At this point, we didn’t see ourselves as a business by any means. But with each order placed, we realized that we loved having a project to work on together, Ryan building and me painting, and that we could actually turn this hobby into a business that would bless others and our family.
We decided we needed to pick a name for this hobby-turned-business. Timber was chosen because we create everything out of wood. It represents Ryan’s part in the business and our family, a little rough around the edges, yet strong and the base of everything we do. Jane, honors our little girl and represents the feminine side of our work, my hand-painted words that bring beauty to the pieces we create. So, Timber & Jane was born.
That fall, we did a few local markets and learned a lot about what people like, what we were good at, and how we could get better at our craft. Fast forward to today where we are continuing to learn and grow in our love for what we create and the people we make our hand-built and hand-painted signs for. It is humbling that others would love what we create enough to hang it up in their homes. Our hope is that the signs we create are something that bring beauty and truth to the walls of other homes.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Absolutely not! We had no idea what we were getting into when we started taking orders. We have had to learn things like what sells, how much inventory to bring to a market, how to market ourselves, how much supply to buy so that we don’t have to make a million trips to the hardware store, etc… the list goes on and on. However, none of those things have been as challenging as learning how to handle the tension of running our new business from our home while still being fully invested in our full-time jobs. Ryan works full-time for a Young Life and I am a full-time mom; we agree that Timber&Jane should come after both of those commitments. But orders have to be filled and we want to honor our customers and our work itself. How to do it all well is something we wrestle daily, but we are thankful for the opportunities to grow in the way we conduct our business and our “every day lives”. We don’t believe there is such a thing as balance, but we do believe in a giving a lot of grace partnered with hard work, so we stick to that in the way we parent, in our marriage, in our jobs, and in our small business.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Timber & Jane – what should we know?
Timber&Jane is a hand-build, hand-painted home decor business, specializing in custom wood signs. We don’t use stencils or pre-built signs, but take pride in the fact that everything truly is handmade. Everything we create is built in our little garage and painted on our kitchen table. Each piece we create is customized to our client’s desires or needs. We know that this means our work is not “perfect”, but we do strive to create something beautiful and substantial for each client we encounter. It is always fun to hear someone say that they have been looking for something very specific for their home and then get to bring that to life for them. We know that there are a lot of sign-makers out there, but we take pride in our ability to truly customize each sign that goes from our home to another.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
While technically we are equal partners in ownership, my husband Ryan truly is my biggest supporter. There is literally no way I could do this without him. He works a full-time job and then comes home and works so hard to build signs for our business. He comes to every market, sets up and tears down and if we are honest, sells signs better than I do. Yet, he speaks of Timber&Jane as my business, giving me way too much credit.
Our families have also rallied around us to make it possible for us to get out into markets, while knowing our babies are being taken care of well. They have held down the home-front too many times to count so that we can go pursue the growth of our business. We are extremely grateful for their help and support.
Then lastly, our sweet customers. So many orders have been placed, and with each order, we are blown away that people want our work in their homes.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 682-333-6379
- Email: timberandjane@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/timberandjane/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/timberandjane/
Image Credits:
Avery Earl Photography
Lutz Studios
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