12/29/2022
Working by myself, coupled with the retrospective mood the end of the year brings, has given me a strong sense of accomplishment that I’d like to share. It’s hard to see the successes when I’m in the thick of managing orders, but I think it’s important to reflect and spike the football from time to time
It’s so crazy thinking about how much Shelf Expression has grown over the past few years. I made my first set of floating shelves for my home in 2018 and sold my first in 2019 to make some extra cash to help supplement my 9 to 5 job.
Lockdown, plus a job layoff, opened the door for me and allowed me to focus 100% of my energy on building my brand.
Since mid-2020, I’ve created and shipped nearly 4,000 shelves from my 2-car garage. My shelves hang on the walls of nearly 2,000 different homes in all 50 states and 7 different countries. All from my 350 square foot shop.
And most importantly, Shelf Expression has allowed me to chaperone 3 field trips, dropped off later and picked up earlier at daycare, walked home with my daughter nearly every day from the bus stop, been readily available all day for couch snuggles at home when my wife and I hear the ‘I don’t feel too good’ in the morning before school, and spontaneous lunch dates with my wife.
If you’ve purchased shelves from me. Thank you. Truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’ve allowed me to follow my dream which is to work for myself and be more present for my family. Making shelves is just the vehicle for that dream that I will never take for granted and will put as much care in the next 4,000 shelves as I did the first one.
Lastly, I want to thank my wife . Thank you for supporting me, especially when it’s needed, picking up my slack when I dropped it, and being everything to all of us, all the time. You’re Shelf Expression’s first employee. You’re our professional photographer, our copywriter and editor (especially good at picking out typos after I publish something), our stain matcher, and the one with the best interior design eye. To show my thanks, you’ll be getting a free shelf.
Happy New Year to you and yours, and see you in 2023!
-Ben
