I’ve gone down many, many roads over the years, some of which were considered (at least at the time) unconventional, even a bit nuts. But each stop along my journey, in hindsight, gave me something invaluable—incrementally contributing to my business philosophy—coming from places I’d least expect.
Primary Example: going to wallpaper-hanging school. Yes, I’m a certified graduate of the U.S. School of Professional Paperhanging, ‘class of ’84. No, I’m not kidding. And actually, it wasn’t all that random. I wanted to pursue the performing arts and I needed a way to feed myself. Why not wallpapering? Decent pay, short hours. I could even be my own boss.
My college buddies, who were starting at major architectural firms, attending medical school, or becoming engineers, would ask: “so what are you up to, Jord?”
“Um, I’m in wallpaper-hanging school.”
“What?!?”
Judgment was palpable, at least in my circle. But again, in hindsight, like all of my travels, wallpapering gave me a boatload of crucial insights. The core principles I learned continue to guide my approach to life and business each and every day. For Example:
Assumptions can be perilous. I assumed paperhanging would be a breeze compared to statistics, calculus and James Joyce. It wasn’t. It was hard. Really hard. I wasn’t the “natural” I assumed I’d be. I’d accidentally leave soiled fingermarks on ultra-pricey Shiki silk ($1500 per strip). I once hung a mural upside-down. (I pretended I thought it looked better that way.) And those friggin’ air bubbles … I thought they’d disappear with minor effort, but they would never come out of vinyl wall coverings!
Respect process. One day, I made the connection that every time I took a shortcut I’d pay for it later— big time. “Heck, if one sheet of wallpaper is a tiny bit crooked, no one will notice, right?”
Wrong.
When the job was finished, that “slightly crooked” sheet caused each subsequent sheet to be even more crooked, resulting in an absolute catastrophe. The Flemish clamming vessels appeared to be sinking. The lovely backdrop of snow-capped mountains tilted right, creating a look that screamed “earthquake.” “You do more damage than good!” a ‘delighted’ customer once told me. Real confidence-builder!
Tenacity generates breakthroughs. Alas! Seemingly overnight, it all somehow jelled. After years of trial and error, it was as if the wallpapering craft suddenly infused into my DNA, and I became one badass paperhanger. Again, it seemed to happen overnight—but of course, it didn’t. I simply kept at it and was willing to get my nose bloodied along the journey.
Avoiding ill-conceived assumptions, respecting process, and staying the course are the universal tenets behind anything worth accomplishing—and they are among the core guiding principles driving our meticulous approach at Moonrocks.
Next blog: What I learned the day my python escaped and ate my neighbor’s goat.