Joshua Shane @j_s1984 had a grandpa who taught him a lot when he was growing up. In this story you will hear of the lasting impact he had on Joshua’s life and business.
Here’s a Taste Of What You’ll get:
- How Joshua Learned Life Lessons From Sports
- Of The Time In Solitude That Helped Him Gain Clarity And Direction
- Keys To Estimating and Pricing Your Jobs Accurately
- Why It’s Important To Adapt And Accept New Challenges
- …And Much More!
This Episode is Packed-FULL of Inspiration, Motivation, and Education. You’ll be inspired to be a better contractor and make a difference in your community.
>>>Here’s the Full Blog Post>>>
Joshua Shane was born in Ashland, Oregon, near the border of Oregon and California. He spent a lot of his childhood outdoors, and developed a love for sports early in his youth. This is where his personal brand of perfectionism began, because his experiences in sports taught him to consistently put in his all.
When he was young, Josh was able to experience the tangible rewards of a day’s hard work with his Father, a neurosurgeon who ran an excavation business on the side. By working alongside his father, Josh internalized the idea that with hard work, he could achieve anything, just like his father.
Josh says that he was a hardworking, dedicated student for most of his high school career, but soon realized that a university setting would not help him with his future plans. “Early on I realized that I didn’t have any problem working hard,” Josh admits.
He spent the summer after his high school graduation fighting wildfires in Oregon and California, before ultimately trying to make his way in construction. Having mostly worked within his family until then, Josh had difficulties finding the right job, especially when more desirable job openings required at least two years of experience he didn’t have.
A family friend eventually hired him as an apprentice. Here, Josh really got his first opportunity to learn how to use a myriad of tools. Josh worked under the same boss for a few years, until his father invited him to build a house with him (insert town name). It was a totally new place for Josh, and he didn’t yet have a network. While working on his father’s home, other builders would stop by their workspace and inquire about Josh and his work. At this point, Josh decided to get his contractor’s license in order to officially establish himself in (insert town).
He opened his own contracting business in 2006, and his first jobs consisted primarily of carpentry. A lot of this initial work included building house framing, until the housing market crashed, when Josh was pushed to do more remodeling work instead of full-fledged new construction. “I was staying busy,” Josh admits, “but I wasn’t growing at the same pace that I had been.”
In the summer of 2008, Joshua decided to do some traveling, and he spent about three months in Oregon doing odd jobs for people in his hometown. With the money he saved from that summer, Josh travelled to Europe.
While meandering through places such as Ireland, Spain, Italy, and France, Joshua was taken by the craftsmanship across the Atlantic. The examples of architecture and design Joshua encountered in Europe forced him to reflect on the meaning of craftsmanship back home in America. “For me, it’s always been more about the craft of building,” he says.
When he returned home to the States, Josh wanted to focus on being more of a “quality-based builder” in order to “leave something behind that’s more of an art form.” This mentality of quality over quantity defines his brand and business to this day. Josh moved to Portland in the fall of 2008, and at first he struggled yet another new city.
At the time he didn’t have a website, but he had a portfolio of work that he shared with as many people as possible. This approach lead him to work as a subcontractor for an existing contractor in Portland, doing some carpentry work and other tasks.
Soon after, they asked Josh to do some tile work, which he had plenty of experience doing back in Hoodriver. At this time, he began to focus primarily on custom tilework instead of general contracting. Josh believes that by concentrating on this particular skill, he became invaluable in a market where general contractors were common.
However, what Josh didn’t enjoy about this work was the fact that, as a tile setter, he had little control over the other aspects of design on a job. So, he worked his way into being a general contractor again so that he could take jobs where he could manage more of the finished product. “I felt like I was constantly trying to prove myself,” Josh says.
He felt that many potential clients perceived him as inexperienced because of his age, so he went above and beyond to legitimize himself and his brand. Josh focused on diversifying his skillset, especially during the recession.
During his time as a contractor, Josh has gained perspective on pricing and the worth of his time. Now, he bids all of his jobs, and provides a line item estimate along with the price of his markup as a contractor. This transparency of the breakdown of cost is something that Josh believes adds to the credibility of his brand, and feedback from his clients has helped him realize this.
You can find Josh and his work on several social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and his own website.
What Josh really appreciates about Instagram, outside of its marketing potential, is the ability to connect with other people in his trade from all over the globe.
Networking capabilities through social media have helped Josh gain momentum, but most of his jobs still come from word-of-mouth and referrals from other clients.