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Exclusive Mountain Designs, 123 N Fourth Street Unit A #654, Victor, CO (2026)

09/25/2026

We recently announced that Mark Coats joined the Exclusive Mountain Designs team…..now it’s time to show you everything he brings with him! 💪

Before moving to Colorado, Mark owned Coats Fencing & Handyman in Denton, Texas, where he specialized in privacy fencing, split-rail fencing, pipe fencing and custom-built solutions.

He’s also a certified welder and fabricator with 30 years of experience. And he didn’t exactly show up empty-handed—Mark brought his TIG welder, MIG welder, stick welder, plasma cutter and a whole pile of specialized tools that Jason can’t even identify. 😂

That means EMD can now take on:

🔹 Privacy, split-rail and pipe fencing
🔹 Custom gates and railings
🔹 Metal repairs and modifications
🔹 Structural and decorative welding
🔹 One-of-a-kind metal fabrication
🔹 Those unusual projects that require some creativity and serious know-how

Between Mark’s experience, equipment and ability to build just about anything, EMD now has some serious fencing and metal-fabrication capabilities—and we’re ready to put them to work!

Please give Jason a call or text at 719-627-1371 to schedule an estimate.

And seriously…somebody hire this man for a welding or fencing project. If we make him lay much more flooring, he may pack up his welders and head back to Texas! 🤣

09/17/2026

One of our favorite custom showers is officially complete! 🚿🔥

Well… almost complete. We’re just waiting on the final glass enclosure from Judd’s, but we couldn’t wait any longer to show this one off. 😎

This was definitely not your average shower project.

From the full Schluter waterproofing system behind the scenes to the marble accents you see in the finished product, this shower was built with quality in mind from start to finish. The homeowners selected some beautiful finishes, and Houston, with some help from Halie, made sure those materials looked their absolute best. 💪

There are a LOT of details packed into this one:

🔹 Full-height tiled shower walls
🔹 Custom-sized recessed niche
🔹 Marble accents and floating bench
🔹 Epoxy grout
🔹 FloFX drain system
🔹 Corner shelving
🔹 And that incredible hand-laid pebble floor 🤩

That floor deserves a closer look. Every pebble was individually laid to create the custom flowing pattern you see—no sheet mosaic or cookie-cutter layout here. It’s one of those details that takes a shower from something you can buy to something that is truly one of a kind.

I’m incredibly proud of the work the EMD team put into this project. Houston took a lot of ownership in the details, Halie was right there helping and continuing to build her skills, and the finished product speaks for itself.

This is the kind of work we love doing. Taking an idea, working through the details, and creating something you aren’t going to find in everybody else’s house.

And after all… if you’re looking for something truly exclusive, we might know a company. 😉⛰️

Have a remodel, custom shower, or unique project you’ve been thinking about?

📞 Give Jason a call at 719-627-1371
Let’s see what we can build.

08/29/2026

🚿 Shower progress — and this one is really starting to come together.

Take a close look at those corners. 👀

With a staggered pattern like this, wrapping an inside corner cleanly takes planning. The cuts and grout lines need to visually continue around the corner so the pattern looks intentional instead of like three separate walls. And this is also where all the time spent getting that enclosure square and plumb really shows!

Houston absolutely nailed it. 💪

He was pretty proud of those corners yesterday, and he should be. Halie has been right there helping with this one too, continuing to learn the process and adding another skill to an already growing list.

The full-height mosaic feature wall and niche are also coming together beautifully, and next up is finishing the floating bench.

A little explanation on that bench: our original design called for a solid marble floating bench, but availability forced a change. We’re now using a foam base that will be wrapped with marble and bonded to the finished tile with KERDI-FIX, avoiding penetrations through the waterproofing system behind it.

Normally we’d install the foam bench during waterproofing and KERDI-BAND it directly into the wall system before tile. Since this was a design change after the walls were underway, we’re adapting the installation while maintaining the integrity of the waterproofing system behind the tile.

Still plenty left to do, but this one is starting to look a whole lot like the drawing. 😎

I’m proud of how this shower is turning out, but I’m even more proud of the people doing the work. Watching people learn, improve, take ownership of what they’re building—and then stand back and be proud of it themselves—is pretty damn rewarding.

Craftsmanship isn’t just making something fit. It’s caring enough to make it look like it was always supposed to be there. And I’m fortunate to have people who care. 💪

08/21/2026

Next up in our introduction to the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs: meet Houston Roberson.

Houston, there’s something I’ve never told you.

Actually, I don’t think I completely understood it myself until I started writing this.

You saved EMD.

Neither one of us knew it was happening.

But you did.

And the funny thing is, I didn’t really hire Houston.

The universe pretty much dropped him in my lap.

Houston was working for another local contractor, Jason Taylor with TaylorBuilt. Jason and I are technically competitors, but we’ve also collaborated, subcontracted to one another and become friends over the years.

I needed some help plowing and borrowed Houston. Later, during a lull in Jason’s schedule, I borrowed him again for a construction project.

I was immediately impressed.

The guy came with a ridiculous collection of skills.

Welding. Mechanics. Framing. Drywall. Finish carpentry. Electrical. Fabrication.

Honestly, Houston knows how to do so many things that sometimes I forget what he knows until something breaks and he says:

“Oh yeah, I can fix that.”

Of course you can. 😂

Eventually Jason’s workload slowed and he called me.

“Can you give Houston a job?”

He knew Houston had bills to pay and wanted to make sure his guy was taken care of.

That phone call says a lot about Jason.

The plan was simple: I’d keep Houston busy through winter and eventually he’d go back.

Except that’s not what happened.

And here’s the part Houston probably doesn’t know.

I was pretty damn close to being done with EMD.

I’d been through a difficult period with the business. My confidence was shot, my attention was somewhere else, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to build the company again.

I had work to finish.

Houston could help me finish it.

That was about as far ahead as I was thinking.

Then he kept surprising me.

While my attention was elsewhere, Houston essentially finished remodeling our Ghost Lounge rental himself.

At one point he ran into an electrical problem he couldn’t solve. His dad was an electrician and had taught him a lot, so Houston called him.

They spent hours troubleshooting until they figured it out.

I remember thinking:

I can’t lose this guy.

Not because Houston knew everything.

Because when he didn’t know something, he wouldn’t stop until he figured it out.

That’s Houston.

If something catches his interest, he doesn’t casually learn about it.

He deep dives.

Cars. Motorcycles. Welding. Computers. Construction. Mechanics.

He researches. Experiments. Asks questions. Takes things apart.

And eventually…

he figures s**t out.

Plow season gave me a chance to really get to know him.

Spend 12 hours sitting next to someone in a plow truck and you’ll either become friends or never speak to each other again. 😂

We talked about damn near everything.

That’s when I learned just how passionate Houston is.

About learning.

About building things.

About his hobbies.

And especially about his people.

Family and friends mean everything to him.

The more I got to know Houston, the more I started investing in him.

And the more Houston grew, the more he forced me to grow with him.

I had to become a better teacher and a better leader.

I had to learn to give responsibility instead of just tasks.

I had to let somebody make mistakes without immediately taking over.

And I had to learn to trust someone else’s judgment.

Turns out I wasn’t just developing Houston.

He was developing me too.

We also had to learn how to communicate with each other.

I’ll say:

“This is taking too long. Think about how we can improve it.”

What I mean is:

You’re capable of finding a better way.

Houston hears:

“YOU’RE SLOW.”

😂

We’ve both made mistakes.

We’ve both adjusted.

We’ve both grown.

And somewhere along the way something happened that I really didn’t expect.

I started enjoying EMD again.

Houston challenged the way I thought. He made me more flexible. He made me trust more. He made me a better teacher, leader and employer.

And while I thought I was investing in him…

Houston was investing in me too.

Today, I’m handing him entire jobs.

He’s teaching newer people.

He fixes our trucks and equipment.

He welds.

He builds.

He troubleshoots.

He’s becoming a leader.

He still asks for my opinion, but more and more often I find myself telling him that he was already headed exactly where he needed to go.

And I don’t think we’re anywhere close to seeing what he’s capable of yet.

I can see Houston leading his own crew and running his own projects.

Maybe even developing his own division someday.

But whatever title eventually gets attached to him, I think he’ll always have one particular role around here:

“Give it to Houston. He’ll figure it out.”

That’s not a bad reputation to have.

Now, the man is not perfect.

For example, Houston has absolutely zero concept of time.

“I’m five minutes down the road.”

Translated from Houston Standard Time:

“I’ll see you in approximately 20 minutes.”

He’d probably be late to his own funeral. 😂

But when something truly matters?

Houston is there.

I’ve watched him finish 12–16 hour workdays and still drive an hour and a half to help remodel his sister’s house before her twins arrived, or sacrifice sleep to rebuild a transmission with his dad.

Houston gives too much sometimes.

But that’s Houston.

His people matter to him.

And the guy knows something about fighting through hard things himself.

Years ago, Houston was involved in a serious accident and had to learn to walk again.

When we asked what accomplishment he’s most proud of, that was his answer.

Not something he built.

Not a skill he learned.

Getting himself back.

There’s a lot more depth to this goofy, motorcycle-riding, computer-building, welding, wrench-turning nerd than you’ll ever get from meeting him once.

And Houston, there’s one last thing I want you to know.

On your questionnaire, you listed me as one of your mentors.

That got me.

Because I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I can teach you.

I hadn’t spent nearly enough time thinking about everything you’ve taught me.

I believe in you.

I’m incredibly proud of you.

And I genuinely don’t think you realize yet what you’re capable of.

I want EMD to give you the room to find out.

I want you challenged.

Creating.

Leading.

Teaching.

Solving the problems nobody else wants.

And most importantly, I want you fulfilled and proud of whatever you build with your life.

You’ve become one of the cornerstones of what we’re building here.

And it turns out that while I thought I was giving you a place to land when you needed one…

you were helping save the company I didn’t realize I still wanted to build.

Thank you, Houston.

For what you’ve done for EMD.

And for what you’ve done for me.

Now please…

just try to be on time tomorrow. 😂

08/20/2026

Next up in our introduction to the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs: meet Mark Coats

This one is a little different for me.

Because Mark isn’t someone I met through EMD.

We’ve already got some history.

Mark and I first worked together years ago at The Trade Group in Dallas, where he came in as a welder, fabricator and metal shop supervisor.

We hit it off pretty quickly.

Mark was talented, intelligent, mechanically inclined and one of those guys who could look at a problem, figure out what needed to happen and get moving.

We eventually both left TTG, but the friendship stuck.

Over the years Mark came up to Colorado a few times and talked about eventually moving here after his youngest son graduated.

I never really knew if it would happen.

Well…

Here we are.

And I’m pretty damn excited about what that means for EMD.

Mark grew up in DeRidder, Louisiana, before spending about 20 years in Texas. Hard work was instilled in him early by his parents, and straight out of high school he made a decision that would shape a big part of the man he became:

He joined the United States Navy.

Mark is a combat veteran and remains incredibly proud of his military service.

Eventually his career led him into welding and fabrication, and when Mark says he’s a welder, he doesn’t mean he bought a Harbor Freight machine last year and watched three YouTube videos.

The man has welded on damn near everything.

He’s also worked across a pretty wide range of construction—roofing, concrete, fascia and soffit, siding, dirt work and more.

And during COVID, when most of the world was trying to figure out what the hell was happening, Mark decided it was a good time to start a fencing company.

Because apparently life wasn’t complicated enough. 😂

And he made it successful.

So Mark brings something to EMD that you can’t shortcut:

Experience.

Not just experience doing the work.

Experience running jobs.

Experience running a business.

Experience reading blueprints, sequencing projects, solving problems, working with people and understanding what it actually takes to get something across the finish line.

We’ve already seen the impact.

At our mine project, Mark quickly helped organize the crew and gave Halie and Dylan another experienced person on site who could answer questions, provide direction and work right alongside them.

That’s important to me.

Leadership at EMD isn’t going to mean standing around telling everybody else what to do.

You’d better be willing to pick up the tools too.

Mark is.

Now, if you ask Mark what he’s really damn good at, he’ll tell you:

“I’m really damn good at welding.”

He then added that he can lay a good weld without a hood.

I’m going to assume OSHA isn’t following our page. 😂🤫

But welding is only part of what Mark brings.

He’s organized. He’s good with people. He can see the sequence of a project before everything starts happening. He understands drawings. He knows how to get work finished.

And when something matters, he won’t bulls**t you.

To be clear:

Mark is absolutely capable of bulls**tting you 😂

The man is loud as hell, rarely stops talking and has an endless supply of stories.

But when it’s time to work or make a decision, I trust his judgment.

That’s worth a lot to me.

And it’s going to matter even more as EMD grows.

Mark brings capabilities that allow us to start looking seriously at work we couldn’t—or shouldn’t—have taken on before.

Welding and metal fabrication.

More exterior work.

Larger and more complicated construction.

Commercial projects.

Structural work.

And eventually, as we continue building the team and developing our capabilities, moving further toward something we’ve talked about for a long time:

Building complete projects from the ground up.

Design through construction.

That’s where we’re headed.

And Mark sees it too.

On his questionnaire I asked everyone:

“Why EMD?”

Mark wrote:

“Because I believe in the owner and the vision you have. I know with the right puzzle pieces, the final picture will look great.”

I’ll admit…

That one got me a little.

Because building this company hasn’t always been easy, and there have certainly been times when I’ve questioned whether the picture in my head could actually become real.

Having someone I’ve known for years look at it and say,

“Yeah. I see it too.”

means something.

And the timing feels right.

We’re both older than we were during the TTG days.

Hopefully wiser.

Definitely grayer.

Our backs hurt more.

And apparently maturity finally starts kicking in somewhere around 50. 😂

We’ve both lived some life since then.

We’ve both taken some hits, learned some lessons and become different people.

Now we get to take all of that experience and see what we can build with it.

Mark wrote something else on his questionnaire that probably says more about why I’m excited to have him here than anything I could write:

“I’m hoping to finish up my construction career with EMD and eventually drive around and be proud of the many projects we have built.”

When I read that, my immediate thought was:

Well s**t, Mark…I think we share some goals.

Because that’s what I want too.

I don’t want us to simply finish a bunch of jobs.

I want to build things that are still standing decades from now.

Projects we can drive past and say:

“We built that.”

And be proud of it.

Outside of work, Mark is a huge dog guy, a former competitive water skier and the proud father of two sons, Jake and Colby, who he talks about constantly.

And apparently he can cook Cajun food “like nobody can believe.”

That’s his claim.

This will require independent verification 🕵️‍♂️

He’s also determined to eventually replace the Camaro he sold before moving to Colorado.

So we’ve established some priorities.

Mark finished his questionnaire with this:

“I believe in what I just built, or what I have done, and can have a proud moment of the accomplishment for just the day.”

I understand exactly what he means.

Build something.

Stand back.

Look at it.

Be proud of it.

Then tomorrow...

go build something better.

Welcome to Colorado, brother.

We’ve talked about doing some pretty big s**t.

Now let’s see what we can build.

08/19/2026

Next up in our introduction to the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs: meet Mr. Dylan Reyes.

Dylan is 18.

So when we asked everyone:

“What’s your work background?”

His answer was:

“I’m only 18.”

Fair enough. 😂

Dylan came to EMD after his parents saw the help-wanted ad I posted. He was looking for temporary work while waiting for the opportunity to head to basic training with the United States Air Force, where he plans to become a mechanic.

That alone got my attention.

At 18, Dylan already has a goal and a plan for getting there.

I sure as hell didn’t at 18.

He showed up about 15 minutes early the first time we met. Looked me in the eye, shook my hand, introduced himself and carried himself with a level of confidence and maturity I wasn’t necessarily expecting from an 18-year-old young man.

I figured we could give him some work, teach him a few things and help him along until it was time for the Air Force.

Turns out, he’s been teaching us a few things too.

Mostly what the world looks like through the eyes of an 18-year-old.

And apparently how often the word “stupid” can be worked into a normal conversation.

Dylan is smart.

Really smart, actually.

He graduated as salutatorian, earned All-State honors in baseball and credits sports with developing much of his work ethic and discipline.

And that absolutely carries over to the jobsite.

He shows up. He works. He stays off his phone. He listens. He absorbs information quickly, and when he doesn’t understand something, he asks.

He’s mechanically inclined, naturally curious and thinks his way through problems instead of just standing there waiting for somebody to give him the answer.

For somebody with very little actual construction experience, he’s handled pretty much everything we’ve thrown at him.

There’s a lot of raw ability there.

His mom has been a big influence in his life, and Dylan also credits his grandfather and his woodshop classes with helping develop his love for working with his hands and the trades.

Although I think Dylan himself summarized his passion for the trades a little more eloquently on his questionnaire:

“I like to build s**t. And destroy s**t.”

Future Air Force mechanic.

Yep.

Checks out. 😂

Then we asked:

“Why EMD?”

Halie gave us a thoughtful answer about growth, opportunity and becoming more.

Dylan wrote:

“I need money.”

I appreciate honesty in an employee. 😂

He did eventually elaborate that he enjoys building things, brings happiness to the team and apparently considers making fun of Halie one of his official EMD responsibilities.

Those two have developed something resembling a brother/sister relationship.

Which mostly means Dylan lives to torment her.

He’s also got a very dry sense of humor. He’ll quietly throw something into a conversation, keep working, and two minutes later you find yourself thinking:

**Wait…what did that little 💩 just say? **😂

Then you hear him laughing somewhere.

But underneath all of that smartass is a genuinely impressive young man.

He’s respectful. He works well with everyone. He takes pride in what he does. He wants to do things correctly and says doing a job “the right way” means always giving your best and constantly trying to improve.

And that’s really what we’re trying to give him while he’s here.

I know EMD isn’t Dylan’s destination.

It’s one stop along the way.

So while we’ve got him, we’re going to teach him everything we can.

Construction. Tools. Mechanical skills. Problem solving.

But I also talk to him about the stuff beyond the jobsite - how businesses operate, what things cost, financials, investing, real estate and whatever else he happens to absorb while I’m jabbering at him.

Maybe ten years from now he remembers 5% of it.

Maybe one conversation makes him invest his first $1,000.

Maybe someday it makes him think differently about buying his first rental or starting a business.

That’s enough for me.

Because eventually we’re going to lose this one.

And I’m okay with that.

Dylan has chosen to serve his country, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for that decision.

If he takes the same intelligence, curiosity, discipline, mechanical ability and work ethic I’ve seen at EMD into the Air Force, I have absolutely no doubt he’ll do well.

I hate that he’s eventually leaving us.

But I’m proud of where he’s going.

At the end of his questionnaire we asked:

“At the end of the day, the thing that matters most to me is…”

For all the smartass answers he gave us everywhere else, this one was simple:

“My family.”

That tells you quite a bit about the young man.

Oh—and we asked everyone to send us a good picture of themselves wearing EMD gear.

Dylan drew one.

Complete with an EMD hat and an arrow pointing to himself labeled:

“ME!!”

Of course he did. 🤦‍♂️😂

Mr. Reyes, we’re damn glad EMD gets to be a small part of your story.

Keep working hard. Keep asking questions. Keep chasing the plan.

And maybe give Halie a break once in a while.

Actually, never mind.

Just keep being Dylan.

08/19/2026

Next up in our introduction to the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs: meet Halie.

And Halie’s story with EMD actually started with her.

She was working at the local Ace Hardware when she approached me and asked if we were hiring.

I was intrigued, we talked, and ultimately decided to give it a shot.

It didn’t take long for Halie to prove she belonged right there working alongside the guys.

Halie grew up in the small town of De Soto, Kansas. She became a mom young, something she says forced her to grow up a little faster than most.

She and her husband eventually made the decision to pursue higher education and start building the kind of life they wanted for their daughter. That journey eventually brought them to the mountains of Colorado, where they’re now homeowners, living off-grid and building a life that Halie says has been one of the most positive, shaping experiences she’s had.

Her path into the trades hasn’t exactly been conventional either.

Halie went through Job Corps for plumbing and became a shop foreman within her first month. She’s worked as a safety lead for the City of Colorado Springs, completed OSHA 40 training, and has experience operating forklifts, scissor lifts and boom lifts.

But those aren’t the things that have impressed me most.

It’s the way she learns.

Halie is naturally curious. She asks questions. She listens to feedback. If she doesn’t understand something, she’ll ask again instead of pretending she does.

And then she gets after it.

One of the first times that really stood out to me was on our mine project.

We were installing underlayment plywood, something she’d never done before. She asked the right questions, made sure she understood what we were trying to accomplish and jumped in.

Before long she was making her own cuts, working through difficult areas around doorways and approaching the job like someone who had done it plenty of times before.

And she did a great job.

That’s pretty much been my experience with Halie so far.

Everything I’ve asked her to tackle, she’s either met or exceeded my expectations.

If you ask Halie what she’s proud of, she’ll tell you that she’s reliable, dependable and hardworking. She’s proud of the relationships she’s built, the family she’s created and the fact that she and her husband own their home and live off-grid.

If you ask me what I’m proud of?

I’m proud that she had enough confidence in herself to walk into EMD and ask for an opportunity.

And I’m even more proud of what she’s done with it.

She takes pride in her work. She’s positive, she’s a quick learner, and she’s usually a bit of a goofball 🙃 which keeps the rest of us laughing and makes the long days a little lighter.

She’s also not afraid to tell me what she wants out of this job, and I appreciate that.

Right now, I don’t know exactly what Halie’s role at EMD will ultimately become.

And I’m completely okay with that.

Right now the goal is to expose her to as much as possible - flooring, tile, construction, tools, equipment, outdoor projects and whatever new challenges come our way.

Then we’ll figure out where the things she’s naturally good at intersect with the things she genuinely enjoys doing.

She’s about to start getting into tile work, and I have a feeling she’s going to take to that pretty quickly too.

Halie wrote something on her questionnaire that probably explains a lot about why she’s here:

“I know I am worth more.”

She wanted work that was challenging and rewarding. She wanted an opportunity to learn, grow and see what she was capable of.

That’s exactly the kind of person we want to make room for at EMD.

When she’s not working, she’s usually spending time with her husband and daughter, playing on her computer, making art or working in her garden.

Her dream is to eventually have a greenhouse where she can grow food year-round.

So apparently while I’m dreaming about designing crazy houses, Halie just wants me to help her figure out how to grow tomatoes through a Colorado winter. 😂

We’ll work on it.

At the end of her questionnaire, we asked everyone to finish one sentence:

“At the end of the day, the thing that matters most to me is…”

Halie’s answer:

“Having a happy family and even happier customers.”

I think she’ll fit in just fine around here.

We’re glad you took the chance, Halie.

08/18/2026

I figured if we’re going to start introducing the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs, I should probably start with myself.

I’m Jason, founder of EMD.

I was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but my dad’s job kept us moving when I was young. I eventually landed in Arlington, Texas, where I spent most of the next 28 years before moving to the Cripple Creek/Victor area in 2018.

Building things has pretty much always been part of my life.

My grandfather owned a construction company and had a farm. I spent a lot of time on jobsites with him growing up. He was also one of those guys who didn’t buy something just because he needed it. He’d look around, figure out how it worked, and build it himself, usually improving it along the way.

My dad apparently couldn’t live in a house without tearing down a wall somewhere, and my mom loved the design side of remodeling but had absolutely no problem picking up a paintbrush or some drywall mud and doing the work herself.

So I guess I didn’t have much of a chance. 😂

Professionally, I spent most of my career in commercial woodworking, millwork, fabrication and the trade-show industry.

I’ve been shop help, carpenter, painter, estimator, supervisor, engineer, project manager, drafter, designer, department manager and eventually an owner.

Along the way, I got to work on some incredible projects.

At Applied Art Studios, Neiman Marcus was our largest account. Their projects weren’t just “build some cabinets.” We built window displays, Christmas installations and special environments - including transforming the downtown Dallas store into an Italian village for Fiesta de’ Italia.

Later came commercial cabinetry, Chippenhook, Disney Store projects, jewelry displays and eventually The Trade Group, where I managed an engineering/drafting team and helped oversee the wood and metal shops.

The trade-show world exposed me to projects for companies and brands like Pokémon, Wargaming, Twitch, Aerometals, Motel 6 and many others.

That world taught me something that’s still a huge part of how I approach EMD:

There isn’t always an instruction manual.

Sometimes you’ve got a concept, a deadline and a pile of problems between the two.

Figure it out.

That’s probably what I’m best at.

I love CAD, CAM programming, engineering and design. I can usually see something broken down into its individual parts in my head before I ever start drawing it. Years of installations also taught me how to think on my feet when something doesn’t fit, arrives damaged, can’t get through the door or simply doesn’t work the way somebody thought it would.

Then I moved to Colorado.

EMD was originally supposed to be a woodworking shop - custom cabinets, fixtures, woodworking and handyman projects.

Then I fell in love with the buildings here.

The houses. The commercial buildings. The architecture. The history.

Barbara, who we rented space in a building from, gave me opportunities to get involved with some of them, learn and prove what we could do.

And EMD started becoming something completely different.

It hasn’t been easy.

Owning a business rarely is. There have been plenty of mistakes, challenges, difficult projects and people problems along the way. I’m probably more proud of simply sticking with EMD through all of that than I am of any single project we’ve completed.

But I’m especially proud of what it’s becoming now.

I don’t want EMD to be another remodeling company.

There are plenty of people who can install tile, hang drywall or paint a room.

I want us to be the company you call when you have a crazy idea.

The company you call when you want somebody who can take a project from design and engineering all the way through construction and completion.

The company you call when three other contractors looked at it and said:

“Yeah…we don’t want to touch that.”

Those are usually the projects that get us excited.

Billy from Texas Metal once described his own business in a way that stuck with me:

People don’t come to us for what they need. They come to us for what they want.

That’s where I want EMD to go.

Bigger structural projects. Commercial work. Specialty construction. Unique builds. And eventually designing and building homes from the ground up.

Not 50 cookie-cutter houses a year.

I’d be pretty damn happy designing and building 3-5 incredible projects a year that make people stop and look.

And I’m building a team around EMD now that I believe can help us get there.

I don’t want this to just be another job for the people who work here, either. I want to build something that creates careers, teaches skills, provides opportunities and continues producing for the employees and owners long after I’m no longer the guy answering every question or chasing materials across town.

My goal is to spend less time being the answer to everything and more time doing what I’m best at:

Designing. Engineering. Solving problems. Developing ideas. And building the business.

Over the next few days, I’m going to introduce you to some of the people who are becoming a big part of that next chapter of EMD.

You’ll get to know where they came from, what they’re good at, what they bring to the company and, more importantly, who they are outside of work.

And apparently we’re sharing weird facts too, so here’s mine:

I’m a math nerd.

As a kid I competed in math competitions - sometimes against college students.

I also collected restaurant menus and would ask the owner or manager to autograph them.

I have absolutely no idea why.

Apparently nine-year-old Jason thought signed menus were going to be a hot collectible someday. 😂

I’ve had a lot of people influence me along the way - my grandparents, my parents, Victor and Jeanette, Bob, Barbara, Gary and many others. Some taught me how to build things. Some taught me business. Some taught me patience, craftsmanship and what it means to take pride in your work.

And some taught me how to be a better human.

There’s still a hell of a lot I want to build.

But at the end of the day, what matters most to me really isn’t complicated.

My family and my peace.

Everything else we’re building is supposed to help protect those two things.

This is EMD.

And I’m pretty damn excited about where we’re headed.

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