Turning Passion into Profit: Flipping Unbelievable's Journey to Success

Join Brad in this engaging podcast episode as he chats with Jessica Wollin, the creative force behind Flipping Unbelievable, a remarkable cabinetry and furniture refinishing business based in Green Bay.

Discover how Jessica's passion for transforming old furniture and cabinets into stunning pieces led her to turn her hobby into a thriving business. From her early inspirations to the challenges she faced, Jessica shares valuable insights on growing a business you love.

Learn why building a community, setting realistic expectations, and embracing hard work are the keys to entrepreneurial success. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or simply love DIY projects, this episode offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of Flipping Unbelievable.

Early Inspirations (00:00:00 - 00:02:00):

• Jessica talks about what inspired her to start her business, refinishing her own home and enjoying the process.

Segment 2: Getting Started (00:02:00 - 00:06:00):

• Jessica discusses her initial foray into selling refinished furniture. She shares her first sale experience and the nerves that came with it.

Segment 3: Growing the Business (00:06:00 - 00:10:00):

• How her business shifted from selling furniture to custom refinishing projects.

Segment 4: Challenges and Future Plans (00:10:00 - 00:15:00):

• Insights on the importance of having a supportive community. Plus a look at Jessica's plans for the future

Segment 5: Advice for Entrepreneurs (00:15:00 - 00:22:00):

• You’ll hear Jessica’s emphasis on the importance of building a business you enjoy and being prepared for the hard work and dedication it requires.

Learn more about Flipping Unbelievable
https://www.facebook.com/flippingunbelievable
https://www.instagram.com/flipping.unbelievable/

Need a little guidance in your own business? We're here for you!
https://www.actionfinancials.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ActionFinancialS/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuE31mXf6_Nf4yhpuZRHI6Q

Transcript

Brad: [00:00:00] I'm Brad Ruh, owner of Action Financial Strategies, and today we have the privilege of interviewing our first female business owner, which is awesome, Ms. Jessica Wollin, who is the awesome creator and owner of Flipping Unbelievable, a professional cabinetry and furniture refinishing business. Here locally in the great city of Green Bay.

And we're going to start off today by having Jessica take us back to her early days of even picking up a piece of sandpaper or spray gun or what have you and taking us back to the beginning of what inspired you to start your business. 

Jessica: Sure. What actually inspired me in the beginning is when we bought our first house together, my husband and I, and it was built 20 some years ago.

So it needed updating, like every room needed updating, [00:01:00] including woodwork. So I got started on that and I found that I really enjoyed it. I bought a paint sprayer. Painted all of the doors, all of the cabinetry, all of the walls, of course 

Brad: All in your garage, right? 

Jessica: Yeah, I did this all from my garage.

My husband helped a little bit, but really this was my baby that I wanted to do. And not only that, I found furniture in our basement, but especially my husband's parent's basement. There was a dresser down there that used to be my husband's. Like when he was a kid? Yes. And I was like, can I have this?

And they looked at me like, why would you want that old ugly dresser, right? And I refinished it, and I love the process, and I refinished it for my daughter, and now it's in her bedroom still to this day, after eight years, and it was Ben's dresser as a kid. Yes, it was his dresser as a kid, now it's our daughter's dresser, and that's the best thing about old furniture, is it'll last forever, I'm hoping it'll get [00:02:00] passed down again someday.

Yeah.

Brad: . So you got on this kick of going, okay, I want to make this place this house my home. And swap out stuff, refinish, repaint. Like where did it go from there then after you, started that process and then you obviously finished your daughter's dresser.

Sure. What happened next? 

Jessica: After I finished the house, then I needed another outlet for the creativity that I really enjoyed doing. Sure. So I actually bought a dresser with the intent to refinish it and sell it. So this was going to be my first piece.

Cool. And it was, a lot of pressure, but I enjoyed the process. I bought it, I painted it primed it, prepped it, painted it. And then I took nice pictures in my house. I staged it. That was, the big thing. 

Brad: Ben was the muscle like moving all this furniture around for you.

Jessica: A lot of people think all the guys do the work. I really promote girl power in my business.[00:03:00] Women can do it too. They can use power tools. So I listed it and then I, You have that nervous feeling of, is anyone going to want to buy this? And finally, somebody messaged me and said they wanted to take a look.

And when they came and saw it, they bought it right away and then later messaged me and said, that they loved it and they were so happy with it. Cool. And it's that experience of, loving the refinishing part of it, but also knowing that you made someone else happy. Yeah. That was what got me hooked.

Brad: So was that a, like a marketplace find that you snagged this old piece of furniture and then you obviously did your work to it and then resold it on marketplace or kind of what was the process for? 

Jessica: Believe it or not, Marketplace was just in its beginning stages back then, which kind of seems crazy because it's so prevalent now.

But back then, a lot of it was Craigslist, which always comes with some risks of its own. But yeah, it was, so I can't [00:04:00] remember if it was Craigslist or Marketplace, but it was listed there. Marketplace and craigslist and then wait and see. 

Brad: How did you know I guess what was your initial attempt at? What do I even price this thing at?

Jessica: That's always the hardest part. I mean because it is my it was my first piece I probably priced it really low, I was doing all the refinishing for myself and for the house, so I had made no money at that point. So to make anything I guess was amazing.

So yeah, it was definitely priced low. I sprayed it. I'm curious to see how it is today, but Yeah, so i'm sure it was low. Everybody starts out low. That's how you start 

Brad: It's a labor of love at first.

Jessica: It is. Yeah, it's a hobby still. Right. 

Brad: So you started procuring these pieces off of Marketplace.

And, doing your creative elements to it, whether it was stripping and keeping the [00:05:00] natural wood on some parts or painting, right? And and then what took it to the next level, if you will, within Flipping Unbelievable's different things you guys do?

Jessica: I started out with furniture, so I guess to give you a timeline, it started with furniture that I was buying and refinishing to sell, so that was the basis of my business. And this was all done in my garage, it's a three stall garage, we had one stall dedicated to my business. And then as I started getting more involved, I was doing pieces for friends and family and word was getting out. Pretty soon clients were reaching out to me. So I thought it was going to be a business where I was just painting stuff to sell and then it flipped and clients are contacting me and I was getting all of this custom work. So they had something they wanted to refinish and I would refinish it for them. 

So that made it easier in the sense that [00:06:00] I had the client, but then it was done the way they wanted to do it versus being done how I wanted to do it when I was refinishing to sell, but it's still a good trade off. And then from there I got into really a painting cabinetry and getting involved with clients that wanted their cabinets painted.

So I'd already painted my own cabinets. I could attest to the finish, the durability, how it looks. Especially with, and I know people don't agree sometimes with painting oak cabinets. But people always wonder what the grain is going to look like. And I think it looks really good and I could show examples of that.

So then I got into painting cabinets for clients and that was where the business is at today. I do a lot more cabinet work. Probably than I do furniture, even though furniture is really my passion. But, so many clients want their cabinets painted.

Brad: Did you trial some of different finishes? Or, like, how did you go from, [00:07:00] I'm a newbie, I sprayed my own cabinets, first time ever, to now doing -- and, shameless plug -- you did a fantastic job for us. 

And, yeah, you 

did. So full disclosure, she did paint my cabinets which is actually my wife's idea, so I can't even take credit for it.

Going, going through that process of going, okay, these finishes are, going to put me out there in a professional quality. How did you come across getting better, so to speak, at your craft. 

Jessica: I think the huge turning point was in 2000, I want to say 17. I was first introduced to General Finishes, which they're local to Wisconsin and they make wood finishes. Water based, oil based, stain, top coat, paint, that kind of thing. But they're right here in Wisconsin and most people don't know that, but that's, what's nice about keeping it local.

I found out that General Finishes was having a paint conference, not even just paint. It was for growing your business and then learning new techniques, new finishes, how to use their products, the [00:08:00] science behind their products. So I went to that conference in Indianapolis, they're based in Wisconsin. The conference was central to the United States because they have, clients from all over. So I went to that conference and it was " these are my people." These are... Other creators. Yes, other creators. They were obsessed with paint like I was. And you don't find a lot of people like that, that like to talk paint and finishes.

And so I really fell in love with it there. And I learned... So much about growing my business, about the paint finishes, and then about the brand itself, which is important because, if you're going to stand behind a product, you want to know everything that goes into it. I stand behind.

When I paint cabinets or furniture because I know the paint that I'm using is good quality paint. I know how they make it. I've been to the factory now several times. Yeah, who can say that? Yeah, so I know how they come, [00:09:00] and they've been in business for decades, at least 30 years. They know what they're doing.

And they share that information and there's no better place to find knowledge like going to the actual people who have made the product. 

Brad: That's awesome. Yeah, so that almost springboarded you, in a sense, because you had the knowledge and the sort of the business side to understand what to do and how to price your product and keep going.

That's awesome. 

Jessica: They don't do that conference anymore, which is too bad. 

Brad: Was it a pre COVID conference? 

Jessica: It was in 2017, but also because it just wasn't a huge moneymaker for them and they brought in temporary spray booths. Oh, wow. All of their paint. And they brought in other people to cross promote items like hardware, companies, that kind of thing.

 Unfortunately, if you're looking to get to go to this conference, it no longer exists. 

Brad: So what have been some challenges would you say that [00:10:00] you've had with growing or scaling your business?

Jessica: The hardest part for every entrepreneur that tries to sell things is you don't just start off with a huge customer base. I think that's the most difficult is how do you grow your customers and how do you find clients and good clients? That's what's most important. And starting out, like I mentioned, I was listing on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. And that comes with a lot of disadvantages because there's people who will make lowball offers. They'll offer you half of the price that you listed and you just poured your heart and soul into this piece. And these people are coming back with half the price and you just think to yourself, that's so insulting. But is there a reason that they think that? I mean is it only worth that? And it's worth yeah that's hard.

It's really hard in the beginning, [00:11:00] but you just have to either know that is not your client that is offering that. The right person will come along and love what you have. It just takes that one person to love that particular piece. So you're looking for the right clients and also maybe they don't know, a lot of people don't know. You know if you think you're gonna get your cabinets refinished for $500- maybe they don't know what goes into it.

So once you explain your process and what's all behind it and how much a gallon of paint costs, because I think people are surprised to hear that. So then they have more of a knowledge or understanding and then maybe they become your client. So maybe this dresser that I listed at whatever price, it isn't for my client, but they say. Oh, I have a dresser in my basement that's just sitting there. Can you refinish that for me? And then. I did turn a lot of people into clients that way that already had something and then it saves on your [00:12:00] price a little bit. I guess what I'm trying to say is building your client base because I have the most amazing clients and my business is all referrals, word of mouth. I don't do a lot of advertising and I think that's because I just have the best clients and they advertise for me and my work shows it too.

Brad: Do you have a lot of repeat like where maybe, you refinished a piece of furniture and now they're like, can you do our cabinets too? 

Jessica: Yes, that happens a lot. I'll start out in somebody's bathroom and then they love it and they want to move and get their kitchen cabinets done. Or they have friends that come over and see their kitchen cabinets and now they think oh that looks so good, I remember what it used to look like, and it looks amazing now. Who did your cabinets? That word of mouth and people see it for themselves and I guess that's probably the best advertising that I can do.

Brad: I saw as of today, you had over 5,000 likes on your business page [00:13:00] on Facebook and over 5,600 on Instagram followers. That's pretty awesome for a startup cabinet and furniture business. Really. 

Jessica: It is, although I try not to look at the numbers. I know that seems silly, but with the numbers, the thing is, sometimes you wonder if they're actually your clients.

Sometimes those numbers don't translate to actual clients; maybe they're just following you because they want to copy your work, which is fine. If somebody is copying you, that's like the best form of flattery, right? Yeah. But having high numbers on Instagram or Facebook does not automatically translate to having a clientele.

So I mean somebody could have low numbers and they could have so many clients that they don't need to bump up their social media. 

Brad: That's a really good insight for a lot of the entrepreneurs out there trying to either grow their business or scale it and thinking that by increasing their follower base online is [00:14:00] lockstep with revenue.

And it's not always the case, especially in how much goes into all, like you said, the different types of followers and people that might be just or following you to try to cross sell you on some of their services. It's not really a genuine consumer of yours. 

Could be misleading. Yeah. That's that's for sure. 

Yeah. Have there been any big milestones or other challenges that you have had, again, trying to scale your business aside from getting new clients? 

Jessica: Getting new clients, it's all a timing thing. How do you have time to do your hobby? 

When I started this, I was working full time, and I was a new mom of twins. And, I had weekends and nights when I put the kids to bed to really work on this business. And that's taken away from family time as well. That's where it gets tricky. At what point do you transition your hobby into your career?

I got my toes wet a little bit by going part time at my job. That really [00:15:00] allowed me to work more on the business. And then I made the leap. Just four years ago, I think that I went full time into the business and I haven't looked back. 

Brad: It's nice that you had a position where you could kind of transition versus breaking something right? Cold turkey. Something's got to go and jump in with both feet and hope you don't sink. 

Jessica: To be an entrepreneur and not have a steady paycheck or benefits. That's scary. That is really scary. Not knowing the future of what your business is really going to be. So to just jump into that, it's risky and that's what you get when you're an entrepreneur. 

Brad: There's definitely some risk. So what would you say if we were moving into where your business is today. You obviously moved out of your garage. And that's awesome. What does it look like today for you?[00:16:00] 

Jessica: A couple years ago, three years ago, I decided that I had outgrown my garage space. When you're not able to park cars in your garage because your furniture is taking over, that's a problem. I knew I needed a bigger space and just something to separate work from home because that's important, too. I started searching. It's a long process because I was picky and what I needed and wanted. I finally found, to me, the perfect place and It took a while to get there. But it's been over two years that I've been in that space and it just it feels like home whenever I go there even still to this day it feels like My place.

And I like that. I enjoy that. 

Brad: It's got that new car smell? New paint smell?

Jessica: Yeah, it definitely has a paint smell. I picked this space and it's in an industrial retail area [00:17:00] because I do have a commercial grade spray booth. I can't just you know, be right downtown. It has to be in an industrial type area, but I have a lot of neighbors that are super helpful. They all have their own businesses too, so they'll help me if we need to exchange tools or machinery. When I got that spray booth, it came on a huge semi truck. I needed a forklift to get it off. There's definitely a business challenge. Yes. How am I gonna get this huge spray booth off of a semi? And it was heavy and huge. So the neighbor had a forklift and he helped me get it off. I would not have been able to do that in my garage or even in my own space if I had no neighbors.

So that was really important. I think some of my business solutions have come from just my neighbors. 

Brad: It pays to have a community around you, other business owners and people. 

Jessica: It does. You can bounce ideas off, or meet up five o'clock for an [00:18:00] after work drink. It's nice to have that community and then I can use their services, like my next door neighbor is a cabinet builder. No kidding. So that really works out well. He helps me if I need help cutting things, or building a door, or replacing a drawer, things like that. I've done some work for him as well, and it's just a nice exchange. 

Brad: Looking into the future now, where would you say, on the horizon you see your business?

What's the next stage for you, would you say? 

Jessica: I think eventually, so how I do all of my advertising, is through social media, Facebook and Instagram. And I know we talked numbers and that's great, but someday these platforms will sunset and I need my own way of advertising. So I need to get a website, that is on my list.

Brad: Successful, yet no website.

Jessica: Especially with an IT background, it is [00:19:00] shameful that I don't have that. So that's definitely on my list right now. I'm getting the work done without it, so it feels like I don't need it, but I know someday it will be nice to interact with my clients there, do billing there, show my work there. That's definitely on my list 

Then more into cabinetry. I do a lot of cabinet work now, but in the future, I'm going to be offering more options for clients. Like in a kitchen, if you have exposed hinges, we can switch them out to hidden hinges. Oh, nice. If you want to change up the look, but not replace all your cabinets, we can get new doors like my shop neighbor that I had mentioned before. He does build new doors or he can get new doors. So I can swap out the doors in your kitchen for something more updated. So these kinds of things are where I see the business going. Just adding more options [00:20:00] into what I currently have. And I do work with a couple of interior designers as well. They're amazing at what they do. I always tell my clients, if you're going to change your kitchen and want ideas, interior designer will give you a different perspective in the way that they can pull everything together. Then it makes my job easier because they pick the colors. Finding a color is so challenging. So working more with interior designers and cabinet builders, that's how I see the business in the future. 

Brad: Multiple locations? Crews and crews of people running around? Franchising? 

Jessica: Probably not on my list. I've definitely thought about it. I can't say for sure that's something I am going to do, but, you never know. The business is still young, there's still time for it to grow. 

Brad: You gave

Jessica: some insights, through our conversation to would-be entrepreneurs. Good example: don't chase the numbers when it comes to social [00:21:00] media and advertising, it's not going to necessarily grow your business if you're pouring all your time into posting, right? And trying to gain followers. And that you mentioned another couple of good things with having a work life balance that you want to maintain and that you're not A) bringing all your work home and, B) trying to juggle maybe another job and family and all that at the same time.

We know there's a grind to it and we know that there's, more hours, it's not a nine to five typically. But what other advice, if you will, would you give to other entrepreneurs? 

I know it sounds simple, but just do what you love.

Turning a hobby into a career is probably the best choice you can make, because you actually enjoy what you do. So don't chase the money. If you build your business correctly, the money will be there. And just... Obviously, like you said, with the flexibility, don't think that you're going to leave your nine to five job or whatever because you want to have more flexibility. I think I work [00:22:00] more now at the business than I ever did at my other full time job, but I enjoy it. I do it because I want to not because somebody's telling me to. You're always going to be on call, if you will. Vacations, wherever you are, you're still answering emails or questions from clients. Don't think that it's going to be glamorous being a business owner either because you know if your client or if your helpers don't get the work done, it falls on you. You're the business owner. You step in and you do all of the tasks from whatever it is. Most days I'm sweaty and covered in sawdust and paint, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Brad: Thank you so much for your time today.

Jessica: Thank you for having me.

Brad: Be sure to check out Flipping Unbelievable online.

Stay tuned for our next Podcast coming up here in another week or so. Thank you, everyone.

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This material is for general informational purposes only and was produced by Action Financial Strategies, LLC.  Life insurance is subject to underwriting. No coverage exists unless a policy is issued and the required premium is paid. Neither Action Financial Strategies nor NYLIFE Securities LLC or its affiliates provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. For advice on such matters, consult your own professional counsel.

Brian Ruh is a Member Agent of the Nautilus Group®, a Service of New York Life Insurance Company.  Brian Ruh CA insurance license #OB66341.  Brian and Bradley Ruh are collectively Registered Representatives of and offer securities products and services through NYLIFE Securities LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC, a Licensed Insurance Agency 999 Fourier Drive, Suite 300, Madison, WI 53717. (608)831-4416.  Brian and Bradley Ruh are also collectively registered as Investment Adviser Representatives with Eagle Strategies LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser.  Action Financial Strategies, Fox Cities Embroidery, and NVR Branding are not owned or operated by NYLIFE Securities or its affiliates.