For Jen and Forrest Harmel, their entrepreneurial journeys are a family affair.
The creative West Texas duo support their family with three businesses out of Abilene — A People Party Productions, an event and marketing company geared towards small businesses, Forrest Woodworks, custom woodworking and The Food Park, a food truck lot in downtown Abilene.
Balancing these creative endeavors, on top of raising two small children has proven to be a challenge; but it’s a challenge they’ve managed to tackle head-on. For Jen, starting A People Party Productions wasn’t initially the plan. “I never thought I’d be brave enough to step away from that guaranteed pay check.”
While they each run their own individual businesses (aside from their joint venture, The Food Park), the pair balance each other out and understand how the other works best. “Our gifts our really different. I can’t multitask AT ALL and she’s over here typing five emails and having three phone calls while holding a baby and eating a sandwich.”
No matter what project they’re working on, family comes first for these two and is the reason they’re doing what they’re doing.
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What were you each doing before starting your businesses?
Jen: I was actually working as a special education teacher – which in and of itself is crazy because my degree is in Graphic Design. But it was a blessing to take the path of a teacher for a season. Not only did I get a large chunk of my student loans forgiven, I also learned so much about management and planning which definitely helps me as a business owner, event planner, and parent. I’ve always had freelance projects since I was a college student, but I never thought I’d be brave enough to step away from that guaranteed pay check.
Forrest: For several years I worked for different guys doing home remodeling and carpentry stuff and then worked for a really skilled cabinet maker for about a year and a half. Right before I branched off on my own I worked for a local non profit where I wore a lot of hats — overseeing different neighborhood mentoring programs for kids, a free meal every Sunday for homeless folks, and then also building a large deck/stage in the backyard to be used for neighborhood events. What essentially kicked off my business was building a 12 foot table for the non profit so that all the kids could sit around a table and feel like family, because a lot of our programs centered around eating together. I put a picture up on Facebook and people were like “I want one!” I finally reached a tipping point where I had enough work to merit quitting that job and going to work for myself full time.
What motivated you to start A People Party Productions?
Jen: It kinda just evolved. I mean, I honestly wasn’t aware I was creating a business. I was still teaching when I put on my first handful of A People Party Craft Fairs. But once I started to realize it was an actual marketing event that was helping others make money, I knew I had to catch up with the demand. I quickly created a website with my first set of FAQs, and became a DBA. What APPP offers continues to evolve, but I can honestly say all the things I offer, such as our craft fairs, cloth swaps, live music events, and promotions, is because those are all things I genuinely love.
What is it like working with your spouse?
Jen: We’ve really had to work on understanding the nature of how the other person’s day goes, as far as the nature of our work loads. Forrest Woodworks involves a lot of manual labor, while I can work remote at times. I’d say the biggest way we work together is the way we coordinate our week days and decide who works when. While one of us stays home with the kids, the other gets a full day to do our thing. Personally, I had to come to a place of realizing working from home with kids is almost impossible. We have a 10 month old son and 5 year old daughter, and they are the reason we do what we do, ya know? So we try our very best to make sure our work doesn’t get in the way of having that balanced time to rest with each other.
Forrest: Working with Jen has been an awesome adventure! We approach things very differently; I’m an internal processor, she’s an external one. When she’s going a hundred miles an hour you know it, but with me it’s kinda all in my head. But I think we’re really complementary; it’s just been a journey learning how to harness all of that. I think a big part of it is just giving each other room to be who we’re called to be and trusting that I’m not created to do what she does and vice versa. But I can help build/create what she needs for her events, and she can help promote my work, etc.
What has been the most unexpected part about starting a business?
Jen: Each of the three different businesses has had their own unexpected challenges. The Food Park isn’t the bread and butter we thought it would be. It’s been a blessing for our community for sure, but we had no idea the trucks were going to be so mobile or that scheduling would be so crazy. As far as A People Party, I didn’t ever expect it to be a business, and here I am, networking with Austin creatives like yourself. While APPP still isn’t generating a livelihood, it’s undeniably growing with each event we host. Forrest Woodworks has really taken off with some great clients to keep the work flow. It’s been exciting to see all the fun small businesses that have hired him to furnish their spaces. So to answer your question…I guess I had no idea we’d be working way more than when we were employed by someone else. The flexibility is great to have with kids in the picture, but it’s definitely hard to keep the balance of work and rest.
Forrest: I’d say just how much mental energy it takes. When you’re working a 9-5 for someone else, you’re getting all your direction, your pay, everything from them. And when that 5 o’clock comes around you can pretty much leave the job where it is. With our own businesses, it’s hard to shut your brain off. I feel like I’ve been really stretched (but in good ways) to handle the demands of my own business, which maybe a lot of folks don’t see. It could potentially seem super glamorous like “oh wow, she just posts stuff on instagram and throws parties and they have food trucks park at their lot and he just makes furniture…” but there’s so much more. Late nights, early mornings, bidding jobs, scheduling jobs, meeting deadlines, making sure you charged enough to actually make money and not just cover expenses. It’s all worth it, but it’s a huge time investment — way more than 40 hours a week.
You guys are big advocates for small businesses. What do you love most about the local community of entrepreneurs?
Jen: Yes! We love seeing all the small businesses that are popping up all over our town. I’ve always loved walking into a locally owned gem or hole-in-the-wall rather than a store you could find anywhere. I’m definitely grateful for the corporate business that provides jobs and affordable products for a community, but there’s nothing like getting to experience the hand-picked, handmade, made-with-love kind of service or product. As far as the community of entrepreneurs, I love that it’s alive and well here in Austin and definitely catching on like wildfire in Abilene. In fact, my daughter is always pretending to own a clothing store, or bakery, or is putting on an event with signs taped all over the house. I love it!
Forrest: I just love seeing people do at least in part what they were created to do; it’s so life-giving. We have so many friends that are doing amazing things — opening restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques, doing graphic design, photography, other woodworkers; seeing people tap into their creative side and thrive is really special.
“It’s all worth it, but it’s a huge time investment — way more than 40 hours a week.”
Do you feel like you have a healthy work/life balance? If so, how do you maintain that?
Jen: Gosh, that is the constant struggle. Because the nature of our work comes and goes in waves of intense deadlines, there are times we’ll feel really balanced with a healthy rhythm of work and rest, but when a really stressful projects comes along we try to give each other the grace to do what they gotta do to make things work. But it’s tricky with a family and kids, especially. There’s a fine balance of making sure we don’t put our clients before each other. The best balance we have is when we are able to work our allotted days and both be home by dinner to help with the kids, catch some Netflix occasionally, and make sure we are 100% committed to resting on Sunday.
Forrest: I wish! I think it’s getting better, it just takes a lot of upfront work or “sweat equity” to start a business of any sort, but vision gives the pain a purpose! We have been a lot more disciplined about guarding our sabbath day, so keeping Sundays free from work, but also using that day to rest as a family and feed our spirits. I think you gotta have at least one day of true rest.
Favorite thing to do after a long week?
Jen: Honestly, I’ve grown to love our Sundays. We have learned to guard that day from any other plans but to stay home. Unfortunately, there are times we’ll have to go a month without it because of weddings or travel or something (which are also special), but we’ve really noticed a big difference in our overall connection and ability to maintain joy when we take this day to just chill with each other over several cups of coffee, and time reading encouraging verses from the Bible that remind us what it’s all about, and also provide hope when things feel like they haven’t been working out.
Forrest: Well we have two young kids so I’d say sleep but that doesn’t really exist anymore. So second choice would be…brunch?
How do you see your businesses growing over the next five years?
Jen: I hope A People Party will be in a place that is finally generating enough revenue to pay our bills and then some. We’d really love to experience more travel, and be able to invest more in our home. I also hope I will have a strong and clear brand that clearly ties in all the things I’m passionate about such as social media, content creation, events, and networking for small businesses, artists, and musicians. I’d also love for A People Party to launch a store that provided another avenue for small shops to generate revenue. I think it would be so much fun curating a store of small shops and creatives!
Forrest: Personally, I just want to continue to hone my skills as a craftsman and push myself into making more unique pieces of furniture. It would be really cool to design some custom pieces that I could hire some guys to crank out in larger numbers.
To follow along with the Harmel’s entrepreneurial adventures, you can find them on Instagram at @apeoplepartyproductions, @forrestwoodworks and @thefoodpark.
Images by @megandgibbs (2), @takenbya_felts (1, 4, 5) and @dosaproductions (3).