Today we’d like to introduce you to Russell Odom
Hi Russell, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve had a very interesting career path over the years. I’ve held a lot of different jobs in very different fields. My first job was in food service as a dishwasher, and in my late teens I earned an associates degree in culinary arts. But after a few years in the profession, I really started getting burnt out and didn’t see a fulfilling future in it. I wanted to go back to college to earn a bachelors degree and change career paths, thats right about when I passed an Army recruiting center that had a sign offering $50,000 for college. I was in basic training 3 months later, getting my head shaved and being yelled at for living. After 4 years in the military and having the honor of leading soldiers as sergeant, I separated and went to college in San Diego. I was hoping for a career in real estate investment and land development, but as luck would have it I graduated college right at the end of 2008 when the real estate market crashed. It was really hard finding a job that paid the bills. The best I could find were commission only sales jobs. After a couple years of struggling with that, I eventually landed a job as a management trainee with Sherwin-Williams.
I’ve got to be honest, I have never been satisfied working for anyone else. What I learned about myself is that I have absolutely no interest in trying to find my personal fulfillment in a job or career that made another person wealthy. I wanted the American Dream. I wanted to build my own wealth, and hopefully have the time to enjoy the things in life that I want to spend my time doing, not wasting away while working in a position that I find absolutely unenjoyable.
I began to develop an interest in starting my own business. After serving a lot of people in the trades, I really started to see that there was such a great opportunity in the trades, especially as a business owner. So by the time I was 40 years old, I quit my job, liquidated my retirement, what little there was of it, and started at the ground level working for a bathroom and kitchen remodeling company. I learned everything from building and installing cabinets to trim work, drywall, painting, you name it. I decided to earn a residential builder’s license and spent nights and weekends for months studying for the exam. From there, I started my own company in the outbuilding space, and have been building sheds ever since.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My biggest challenge since starting my own business has been learning the multiple roles needed to keep everything running. I’ve had to be a builder, marketer, manager, salesman, accountant, and so much more. With each new role, I have experienced growing pains, but perseverance through struggle has allowed me to achieve my goals. The more I struggle, the more I learn, and the more I can refine my systems to make the business run more efficiently.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Shedscape?
During my cabinetry and remodeling days, I developed an eye for detail. I care about doing all the little things right with our sheds. Over time the little details add up and create an almost unexplainable beauty to even our simplest sheds. This, and our on-site build model makes us stand out. I am also proud of how we care for our customers. I do my best to give a personal touch to any interaction and provide the best experience possible to anyone who interacts with us. I consult every customer during the planning stage to best meet their needs, and customize the build to meet those needs. Let’s face it, there are always headaches when it comes to building, but I try to make our process easy and stress free for our customers.
We currently build utility sheds with tons of customizable features. We pride ourselves in being able to build in difficult locations and often without a level pad to build on top of. I will soon venture into other auxiliary buildings such as outdoor office/studio spaces, detached garages, barns, post-frame buildings, and who knows what else. It is an underserved need and a natural next step for me.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Utility sheds, especially in our area, will be in demand for a long time. People are moving in and staying, and they want to improve their long-term homes or simply clean out the garage. Since 2020, there has been an explosion in demand for work-from-home offices and other “outbuildings” such as garages and storage spaces. As the world shifts to more remote work environments, and more people fall in love with Greenville, I see demand for high-quality outbuildings sticking around. You will see us serving this market for years to come!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shedscape.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shedscapesc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/shedscape
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Shedscape
- Yelp: https://yelp.com/biz/shedscape-greenville
