Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Wildermuth.
Heather, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
About four years ago, I was in charge of a Christmas event at our church, and there was no money available for decor for the main stage. I had my heart set on having a wood pallet style sign, so my handy husband offered to build me one, and I set out to paint it. After the dinner, someone asked to buy it, and then a few friends wanted to place Christmas orders, and thus our accidental side business turned full time job was born. A local coffee shop, Eli’s Coffee, offered to hang some of our work in their shop and coined us as Wild Racks & Pallets. We began to have a following on social media and more orders, so it just stuck! My husband’s grandpa had a barn with year and years’ worth of cool, old barn wood just being stored in it, and he told us we could take whatever we wanted Grandpa couldn’t believe anyone would actually want to hang it on their walls! We initially just started with the wood pallet style, and have expanded to now offer wood framed canvases, coir door mats, baby blankets, hanging scrolls, and paper signs. I’ve decided if I think I can paint it, I will give it a try! In the early days, we had just a few orders a month and that quickly turned into making anywhere from 75-100 in a normal month! At first, my husband just built all my orders, but he is pretty busy with farming part time and working a full time job, so we hired a friend to help with the building. I handle taking all of the orders, correspondence, social media, and do all of the hand painting of our products. We have been so blessed by all of the business we have gotten and all the wonderful customers and friends we have met along the way. This business was definitely not in my plan, but we have been so thankful for it, and had so many adventures and opportunities thanks to Wild Racks!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggle for me has been learning how to balance it all and feeling like I don’t have enough time in a day to get everything done that I would like to/need to. I am a mom to three young kiddos (7, 4, 2), help my husband with whatever I can with the farm, and then just opened another company with two business partners (decorative metal signs and parts). Sort of in the same family as our wood signs, the two are just structured differently and one has partners and one is all mine).
Some advice I would give to young women who are starting their journey, is learn to maximize your time and multitask, don’t be afraid to ask for help, prioritize, and be as flexible as possible! We are pretty busy most of the time, so
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Wild Racks & Pallets – what should we know?
We build, design, and then execute custom decor items. We specialize in wood signs, wood framed canvases, coir rugs, baby blankets, fabric scrolls, and paper signs. I would like to think we are known for our reasonable prices and being easy to work with. I’m most proud of the relationships we have formed with our customers who turn into friends. One of the most important things I strive for in our business is treating people right, and then working hard to bring them a quality, yet affordable item that is exactly what they were looking for.
Finding a mentor and building a network are often cited in studies as a major factor impacting one’s success. Do you have any advice or lessons to share regarding finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think just being really open especially with other women/moms who are in small businesses. You find out that you share a lot of the same struggles and they have advice or encouragement that you can apply to your process even if you’re in different fields. Sometimes, it helps just to know you’re not alone, and just have someone to bounce ideas off of. I think being friendly and approachable is huge, and have fun while forming relationships with those around you!
Pricing:
- Wood signs: $15/sq ft
- Wood Framed canvases: $12/sq ft
- Personalized Coir Rugs: $35
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildracksandpallets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildracksandpallets/
Image Credit:
Bitsy B Photography
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