January of this year marked Jarman Homes’ 25^th year in business and earlier this week marked Neil and I’s 31^st wedding anniversary.  The biggest deal about that is Neil and I have been working together and have managed to stay married at the same time.  That’s no small feat!  I could write a novel telling all about the good, the bad, and the ugly, but due to time, I thought I would approach today’s blog post by answering some of the questions we have gotten over the years on “How we do it”. 

Q: What is the hardest part about working with your spouse?

A: When I started working for JH full time I had a hard time separating work from home.  My brain doesn’t switch things off just because it’s after 5pm.  So in the beginning when Neil came to the dinner table or settled down for the evening,  I would start asking questions about our jobs, etc. and that didn’t go so well.  Over time I got the hang of it and we have since set perimeters of business matters being off limits during “home” time.  It’s not 100% full proof in all circumstances, but I feel like I’ve learned over the years which work topics are best waiting until the next morning to discuss. 

Q:  What was your most challenging year?

                A: As a whole, after 25 years in business, we have been through the hi’s and lows of the Building Industry.  In addition to our 25 years in business, Neil is a second generation builder, so he also lived through his Father’s hi’s and lows within the industry as well so there have been many challenging times throughout the many years.  But overall, I personally can recall two distinct time periods that were the most difficult. 

                2008-09:  I am willing to bet that every builder working during this period would include this as one of those challenging times we would never forget.   Not only did we have to survive through the “housing market collapse” but I also personally made a major life change that compounded the challenges.    After 10 years of my own career and having our third son, we decided for me to stop working full time and help Neil more with JH.  Before the market collapse, we had an office in town, an Office Manager, a Superintendent, and a Warranty Specialist.  However, in order to survive, we had to scale back; ended up renting out our office space and moved Neil’s office into our home.  It became just Neil and I.  Our business plan changed at that moment and has pretty much been just the two of us until this past year.  ALL of that time was challenging but we made it through it and became more reliant on each other through the process.  I’ve always said, if Neil and I could make it through that year, we could make it through anything.  

                2020-21:  Covid changed everything.  Honestly, it’s never been the same since.  Not only did building materials rise to unprecedented levels but getting the materials seemed almost impossible for a time.  I won’t ever forget the night we had to call three current presale clients with the news there framing package cost just tripled in price almost overnight.  Thankfully, two out of the three clients stuck it out with us and we turned the third one into a spec that sold pretty quickly.  We are so thankful, because that was a very scary time for so many reasons.  But, again, I feel very fortunate we weathered another storm and came out a little stronger and learned to never take things for granted (including toilet paper, lol).

Q: What was our most memorable home we’ve ever built?

                A: The first one that comes to mind was a midcentury modern house plan that was designed for an artist and a musician.  What was so cool about the home is from the first day we met, the client had showed me a charcoal sketch she had drawn of her vision.  And at conclusion, it turned out just like her drawing.  One of the favorite parts of my job is helping our client’s vision and style become reality.  And this project was a perfect example of that.  The project was also very memorable because it gave Neil a run for his money.  The site work alone proved to test his engineering skills to come up with a basement home basically on the side of a mountain.   But the finished result turned out even better than the client had hoped for with a basement ceiling height at 12’ for her art studio space.   To this day, it’s one of our most memorable projects from start to finish.

Q: Where do you see JH in the next 10 years?

                A: Last May, our middle son Caleb, graduated college and ended up working with us as a Superintendent.  His addition to our Team has been such a blessing.  Now that Caleb has taken on keeping our jobsites running, it has freed Neil up to finally do something he has been talking about for years but never had the time.. .  Developing.  We recently purchased 100 acres about 10 minutes from our current home & office and Neil has been like a kid in a candy store ever since.  He is eager to get that project under way and we both look forward to adding one more “hat” to our repertoire.  And we couldn’t do without Caleb.  Caleb has been a nice addition also because he’s our comic relief around here when we get a little too serious (most days).  We look forward to him continuing to grow and learn the business and open up even more doors in the future. 

I hope you have enjoyed our little trip down memory lane.  Neil and I both feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to build beautiful homes for our clients for these past 25 years and look forward to servicing and supporting Johnston County for many years ahead. 

Meanwhile, we are still pushing forward with all intentions on meeting our “judging” deadline on April 17^th (only 13 days away!! ).  Follow us on our Facebook or Instagram for updates.  It’s going to be down to the wire, so stay tuned in to see if we make it.