top of page
Michelle Dosser

The Thought That Started It All


It all began with an inkling, an itch if you will. We had just moved from one house to another within the same military housing community. A house that had many walls that seemed so bare and unwelcoming, and a budget for decorating that was well beneath what we see on HGTV. My husband, the perpetual optimist out of the two of us, was the one to vocalize the idea ... "We can make these things ourselves." Now I am not going to lie, the first project was a piece of cake. However,

it was future projects down the road that had me questioning, "can we really do this?!?"

So there we were, the two of us, making our very first project that proudly hung on the wall right as you walked into our home (it now hangs in the office of our current home). This project was FUN!! And we could do it together (double bonus)! In the midst of this project, was when I wholeheartedly agreed with my husband that DIY projects were in fact awesome.

From that one simple project, more complex ideas came to fruition; folding tables, a shelving unit, bedroom furniture!! Honestly, you name it, and Justin could build it. It was while we lived in Great Lakes, IL that the itch to start a business began. A Facebook Page for the pieces we were making was created, and several posts to local sales pages got the ball rolling with the first few orders. We were busy! But most importantly, we were HAPPY making these things together.

Fast forward 9 months. Three cross country trips later (for me), a deployment (for him), and a move into a new home (for us). We were ready to get back in the garage and start working again. Only this time we were going to do it bigger and better. A few months after we were settled into our new location, and launched our Etsy page. This created a lot of traffic and we started gaining the recognition that was much deserved. Business picked up, more and more Challenge Coin Displays were made, and regular orders started coming through (yay us!). But we were still wanting MORE.

So here we are. Scratching that itch of wanting MORE. Building our little business from friends and family asking for projects to be made to launching our very own e-commerce website. Once again, I am not going to lie, scary as this may be it is also very exciting! I am beyond proud of all of the hard work that has gone into this, even more proud of Justin. This was his baby, his dream, and watching it all come together makes me happy beyond measure.

Please join us in welcoming our website. Subscribe! I promise to keep blogging on what we are doing and the adventures of J & M's Working Wood!

bottom of page