Jeremy Barker

Tag: My Story

  • Well Being Walks: Discovery of Your True Self

    Most interviews chase numbers. This one chased nerves. On Well Being Walks with Kip Hollister, we left the factory and talked about identity after bankruptcy, the tension between ambition and presence, and what “calm beats chaos” looks like when you’re not standing on a shop floor. Success didn’t fix anything in me. Clarity did. Crew did. Doing the right things for the right reasons did.

    Kip asked about the year I lived in my car, and I told the part I usually skip: the shame. A lot of people had watched me make real money early. The same crowd watched the crash. That season taught me that the only way out is forward, but not frantic. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Call people first when the news is bad. Tell the truth while the problem is still ugly. You stop fearing failure when you keep your promises inside it.

    Work-life balance came up. I don’t measure it in equal daily blocks. I front-load my life—heavy on work during my strongest years—so the back half can be free and useful. That view rubs some people the wrong way, and that’s okay. Time compounds like money. Stack hours now and you buy decades later: decades for kids, grandkids, and projects that don’t need your pulse to keep beating.

    We talked about raising kids who understand money. When they were little we used a simple envelope system for long-term saving, short-term saving, giving, and spending. It wasn’t about being cheap; it was about being free. One daughter sells painted rocks by the roadside and saves like a CFO. Another wants the CEO chair. Both are learning that money is a tool you can master instead of a force that controls you.

    Culture matters just as much. At Murphy, mistakes are data. If we blow a tolerance, we fix the jig. If we miss a delivery window, we fix the router and the checklist. We keep stand-ups short, keep checklists long, and write down what works so the next crew wins by default. That habit lowers blood pressure in ways yoga never will. Do both, but start by fixing the process.

    If you are looking for a “well-being trick,” I don’t have one. I have a handful of rules that moved the needle: breathe before deciding because panic makes dumb decisions; put hard things on the calendar first and keep the appointment with yourself; choose crews who tell you the truth quickly and thank them when it stings; and spend wins on capability, not vanity, because capability makes tomorrow calmer.

    Walking with Kip reminded me why I’m building what I’m building. It’s not just about revenue; it is about room—space in people’s lives to do work they’re proud of and still have energy left for the rest. Calm beats chaos. Earn your momentum, and then keep earning it.


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    Source: https://hollistergroup.com/cultures/cultures-resources/jeremy-barker-discovery-of-your-true-self/

  • Lost $20M. Slept in a Truck. Built a Brand Anyway. (UtahPreneur)

    I don’t hide the losses. I lost $20 million before 22. Went bankrupt. Lived in my truck for a year. Went back to the firehouse and started over. On UtahPreneur, we got past the hero narrative and into the operator math that actually travels. Dreams are cheap. Discipline compounds. Define the end state. Attack one constraint at a time—machine, skill, supplier, cash. If it doesn’t move lead time or first-pass yield, it’s noise.

    We talked doors, sure. But mostly we talked utility. People don’t want to feel like they’re walking into a movie set. They want a bookcase door that carries real weight and doesn’t sag. They want a pantry door that stays quiet and square. That’s why Murphy Door works: utility first, then the magic. The best “design” disappears and earns its keep every day. When we forget that and ship cute instead of useful, the market corrects us. Quickly.

    The “first break” story matters because it shows the cost of learning. DIY Network put us on TV off a tiny builders-show booth. Orders hit a site that barely deserved customers. We shipped, learned, and rebuilt a bunch of early doors on our dime. Expensive tuition, priceless data. You don’t hide misses. You fix the jig, fix the checklist, and make it right. That habit is boring. Good. Boring wins.

    We also hit numbers because the internet loves numbers. The show page frames Murphy Door north of $50–60 million, and the trajectory tracks when you stack years of small process gains. I’m not a valuation guy. I’m a backlog / margin / returns / lead-time guy. When those four hold while I take a paycheck, the system is working. If they wobble, I go back on shift. Calm beats chaos. Process carries the load.

    Work-life came up. I don’t do 8/8/8. I front-load life. Seventeen hours a day for a decade so the back half is free and useful. People call that extreme. I call it arithmetic. Time compounds like money. Stack the hours while you’re strong and you buy decades later—decades with grandkids, not chasing benefits. That’s not moralizing. It’s a choice. It’s also not for everyone, and that’s fine.

    Hiring? I screen for a 10-year picture and a willingness to match effort to outcome. In interviews I ask for personal, professional, and financial goals. We draw them. We cost them. If you want 20 acres and a Ferrari on 20 hours a week, we’re misaligned. If you want to outwork everyone and be measured on output, welcome—let’s talk SLAs, not slogans.

    If you’re underwater, here’s the play we ended on: stop chasing ten ideas. Pick one constraint and fix it this week. Call people first when the news is bad. Spend wins on capability, not vanity. And when you blow a tolerance, don’t “make it work.” Find the root. Change the cut list, change the CAM, change the training—whatever actually removes the cause. Then write it down so the next crew doesn’t have to learn it twice.

    You don’t have to be special. You have to be consistent. I’m living proof.

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    Sources: UtahPreneur (Buzzsprout) episode page; companion YouTube clip.