Taylor Lund: Hey everyone. Welcome to Home Service Headquarters. We’re so excited today to have Hannah Venema joining us from Hannah Venema. Formerly the Handy Woman Eclectic I. we’re excited to talk to her about her journey to becoming a handy woman, what it’s like building a business from scratch and so much more.

We’re so excited. If you’re just starting your business or have been in business for 20 years, I think there’s a nugget for you in our conversation with Hannah today. So come on. Join us at Home Service Headquarters as we dive into this conversation.

Welcome to the podcast, everybody. Today. We are so excited to have Hannah Venema with us from Walls and Whatnot. Hannah, thanks for being on the show. How are you doing today?

[00:00:50] Hannah Venema: I am doing great. Thanks for having me. It’s my day off, so I’m, doing great.

[00:00:56] Taylor Lund: thanks so much for taking an hour to be with us on your day off.

I know those days off are precious ’cause you are a busy person lately, running a business, rebranding your business and recently purchasing, was it a 1920s craftsman that you’re doing a ton of projects on.

[00:01:17] Hannah Venema: that was our old house. 

[00:01:20] Taylor Lund: So your old one. Okay.

[00:01:21] Hannah Venema: We did a ton of, this is new. it’s a 1949, so it’s basically brand new

[00:01:28] Taylor Lund: Yeah.

Compared to your 1920s. Yeah. This is a new house.

[00:01:32] Hannah Venema: There’s a lot more outlets. but it’s also an old horse farm that’s in the city, so it’s, like three and a half acres. And so navigating. all the gardening that we’re trying to do with this new house versus the old house. there’s a lot going on, like you said, so you got

[00:01:56] Taylor Lund: more inside and more outside stuff to do at your new house.

Totally. But we love it That’s awesome. thank you so much for taking the time and your busy, life to, come on the podcast and talk a little bit about you and your business. so yeah, last time we talked, your business had not gone through the rebrand and now you are Walls and Whatnot.

How was the rebrand process and how is business going? Can you tell us a little bit about your new business or. Yeah. Rebranded business.

[00:02:28] Hannah Venema: Totally. it’s going really well. it’s definitely helped streamline how. I do my business, what I take on and what people see when they see it. Now, it used to be the handy woman eclectic and that was really hard for people because they didn’t know what the word eclectic was, and they also thought, yeah,

[00:02:53] Taylor Lund: they, the handy woman, electric, eclectic, what?

[00:02:57] Hannah Venema: Constantly wanting me to do electric and can’t do that. And then a handy woman also was great because it showed how I stood apart, at least gender wise. And I think a lot of people were looking for just. Alternatives and that was wonderful. But they also thought maybe I would come and do 24 hour appliance repair and everything and Oh wow.

then the more, as I continued with this job, it’s been almost four years now, I’ve just really had mostly people asking me to do wallpaper installation and yeah. Interior painting and those have really become. What I’m the most comfortable with my expertise in at this point. So that was what created that shift to Walls and Whatnot, just better, again, represented what I do, what I want to do.

[00:04:05] Taylor Lund: totally. That makes a lot of sense. ’cause your passion now you came from, an arts background, right? A design and arts background.

[00:04:13] Hannah Venema: Yeah. I have a bachelor’s in fine Arts painting. so cool. Yeah. I actually feel like I’m using it for the first time Yeah. In my careers.

[00:04:27] Taylor Lund: totally. if people are coming to you and it’s this is the wall or this is the room, you’re probably coming at it with that perspective of, how is this going to flow with the rest of your house?

What do you want this room to feel like? And you can actually have that conversation, not just show up and do. just plain work for people you can actually insert yourself and help them with that design conversation with your skillset.

[00:04:53] Hannah Venema: Yeah. a little bit for sure. Yeah, it’s definitely, and just doing it for the amount of time I have helps, but I’m not an interior decorator, so I have to create those founders.

[00:05:09] Taylor Lund: Yes.

[00:05:10] Hannah Venema: And give that caveat, like this, I can guide you. This is what I see and it looks good, and what I’ve seen that doesn’t look good. So it has definitely helped.

[00:05:20] Taylor Lund: Yeah, I’ve seen some of your stuff on Instagram and it turns out beautifully. So I think you, your attention to detail is really good and your eye is really good.

So with walls, you have that walls portion of your brand, and then you have the what not. So does that mean that you’re still able to do some of those non wall side projects or small things that people need?

[00:05:42] Hannah Venema: Yeah, for sure. I can, install some trim and cord around and help with. Also, there’s a lot of people who are intimidated by little things, like I, like building flat pack furniture and bookcases and things like that.

[00:06:06] Hannah Venema: I just did a, I just did one in our house and it didn’t come with instructions. I figured, I was like, whatever, I’m gonna figure it out.

[00:06:15] Taylor Lund: Use a bag of parts and a box of pieces, put ’em together.

[00:06:19] Hannah Venema: So many pieces. Oh. But, but that’s where I’m more mechanically inclined in that way, that I’m really resourceful.

I’m really, I can look at something and figure out how it’s done. So yeah, that obviously comes in handy in a lot of what I do, in my home and, in my business.

[00:06:47] Taylor Lund: And now for our audience members that might be near you, what, what area are you in Michigan and what are some of the top services that you offer?

[00:06:59] Hannah Venema: I’m located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I’ll do, the greater Grand Rapids area. cool. I’m very fortunate where I don’t really have to travel. There’s enough population in need that Yeah. I can stay within a half hour of my home. nice. Which is awesome. Yeah, it’s really nice. Yeah.

I’ve had a couple of people reach out for wallpaper installation ’cause it’s just. Not a service that a lot of people offer. Yes. And if they do, they offer it more, it sounds like on a commercial scale than just An accent wall in my nursery or my bathroom or anything like that.

[00:07:42] Taylor Lund: and it’s trending, right?

We’re getting a little bit more, where wallpaper’s in design again.

[00:07:48] Hannah Venema: Yes. Yeah, definitely. and I’ve seen a lot of changes with some quality of wallpaper, but we,

[00:08:00] Taylor Lund: my wife and I are talking about, wallpapering a. We were chatting about how it’s marketed that it’s a lot easier to take down and change a wall than maybe our parents’ wallpaper was.

Is that true?

[00:08:15] Hannah Venema: I do agree with that. Okay. And I think that helps, relieve some of that stigma with the traditional, especially because what I’ve seen with peel and stick over the last. five years or so is the quality has really gone down since it’s started trending up. Yeah. and most wallpaper that I’ve seen installed myself, starts coming down and it can come down as quickly as a week, a month, four months.

and it hasn’t seemed like it’s that much. Cheaper, less expensive than a traditional format wallpaper. So it’s much more worth it to go with the traditional wallpaper, especially since. The pace and priming that you would do beforehand is a lot stuck around.

[00:09:18] Taylor Lund: totally. And it’s gonna last as long as you need it to.

[00:09:21] Hannah Venema: Yeah. in our old 19th twenties home, there were seven layers of wallpaper every wall. And so they just wallpaper,

[00:09:31] Taylor Lund: on wallpaper, uhhuh

[00:09:33] Hannah Venema: with paint in between, to press the wall. It was a lot, and that’s why at this time I do not offer wallpaper removal as a service. Yes. Because still dealing with the trauma of that, and on the ceilings.

But, I think as I’ve seen more of the newer wallpapers going up, those are easier to come down for sure.

[00:10:03] Taylor Lund: Cool. if you live in the Grand Rapids area, check out Hannah’s website@thathandywoman.com. there’s a contact form on there if you’re interested in her services for all thing Walls and Whatnot.

Following up, How did you get into the Handy services space and Walls and Whatnot after, graduating with that, design degree?

[00:10:31] Hannah Venema: Sure. for me it was a culmination of my entire life because my family owned a hardware store when I was growing up, okay. They purchased it when I was about five years old, and by seven years old, I was on a step stool ringing people up and I, wow.

The bus dropped me off. There I was there, it was just family. So it was pretty much my dad, my sister and I, and sometimes my mom when she wasn’t working. So that was really. Our life and my dad never, he never said we couldn’t do something because we were girls. So

[00:11:23] Taylor Lund: yeah, he empowered you to learn whatever,

[00:11:27] Hannah Venema: whether we wanted to or not.

And I really didn’t realize until after graduating and getting into the work field how much of a work ethic that created for me. Yeah. and so I’m grateful for it now, but it was

[00:11:45] Taylor Lund: at the time. You’re like, dad, I’m only seven.

[00:11:48] Hannah Venema: Yeah. But I just sacrifice a lot of childhood for.

[00:11:54] Taylor Lund: Little did you know he was slowly training you to run your own business after observing and helping in the family business for so long.

[00:12:03] Hannah Venema: Yeah, completely. and that’s we, the first things we did were inventory and that was a yearly thing and all, it was a lot in seeing my dad working on the computer and us, and even when I was little, he had me. Work with, the toy salesman and what toys that I wanted in the kids aisle, which was just saying, oh, that’s so cool.

[00:12:31] Taylor Lund: That’s like a kid’s dream. Yeah.

[00:12:33] Hannah Venema: Yeah. yeah, it was great and it really set me up. ’cause after I graduated from art college, I ended up getting a, job at the university bookstore and I was in charge of. Grand Valley’s, school supplies, art supplies, and their gifts imprinted and not imprinted. So I used a little bit of design work with there.

[00:13:02] Taylor Lund: Yep. Also some of your knowledge on that inventory and aisle placements.

[00:13:07] Hannah Venema: Yeah. So I did that for about four years and then I. Moved over to, grand Rapids Public Museum’s gift shop, and I was the manager there. So then it was more of a solo Yep. Operation and that was great for several years.

And then I needed a change. cultures change. Your passions changed. Yeah. And I actually ended up working. I said, I just want, A low stress job, but of course I ended up working at Sherwin Williams when they had no employees. So even though I was a part-time employee, I think I ended up working like 45 hour weeks, at least 45 hours

[00:13:54] Taylor Lund: part-time employee.

[00:13:57] Hannah Venema: Yep. And, but I learned a lot and it was trial by fire, I spent a short amount of time there, but I learned a ton about their products and the industry. And then I moved on to back into a desk job as accounting specialist at a. Company that actually did do some wallpaper printing.

So I do understand how wallpaper is created. So things, all came up together. And then, lockdown happened and I spent a lot of time working on our house, finishing all those remodeling projects that. Couldn’t get to because we were both working 50 hour weeks and, for years. So that was great.

Finished a bunch of those projects, started working on some landscaping, found a new passion there. And then in September they called and asked me to come back and I couldn’t, I just couldn’t. Yeah. I said, I can’t do.

[00:15:13] Hannah Venema: and I was constantly having friends like, come over, can you help me fix this? Do this. Yeah. And it just occurred to me like, why I should do this and get paid for it. ’cause I really love to do this and I wanna make a job out of it. And my husband’s really supportive and he was like, totally go for it.

[00:15:35] Taylor Lund: that’s so cool.

[00:15:37] Hannah Venema: So it was great. So within three days I had created my business name. So cured my URL, registered my business through the state and right away had the support of a friend who was moving and said, Hey, come paint my house. We’re leaving. I need help. And it’s been like that ever since.

[00:16:01] Taylor Lund: So in one week you set up your business, you got it legal, you got it online, and you had your first client.

[00:16:09] Hannah Venema: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That’s amazing.

[00:16:12] Taylor Lund: What a journey. That’s so cool to see how all of your experiences led to the next step, which led to the next step, and then that last step, you just had to have the boldness to say, I’m gonna go for it.

Was that a scary step for you?

[00:16:28] Hannah Venema: It. I didn’t have time to be scared of it.

[00:16:33] Taylor Lund: Yeah.

[00:16:34] Hannah Venema: You had to make a

[00:16:34] Taylor Lund: decision pretty quickly and you knew that going back was the wrong decision, so it almost made you feel like, I know what the right decision is then.

[00:16:44] Hannah Venema: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. There was a moment between when I said, I’m not gonna take this job and.

Us as a married couple saying, you need to like, take some kind of job. And I, just applied again for a 10 hour, $10 an hour, just a part-time. I just wanna get into the field, of a landscaping business and while I’m there. For my just, I just want a cashier, just, I just want a cashier because I knew I had other things going in my mind.

Yeah. I knew there was something else and I didn’t wanna get bogged down again. And during my interview, they switched it and said, you’ve got so much background in management, let’s make. We need you to apply right now for a management position. Oh my goodness. And so everything that I had like that going in switched and, after leaving that, it just, I didn’t want, I didn’t wanna do that again.

I’ve been trying to get out of. Management of retail. Yeah. For years. I just keep getting pigeonholed in because of the 17 years experience in the hardware store and all the things after that. So I’m super happy. I’ve never been happier. I. In my life with my job, with everything, it really, has been the right move for me. Everything I needed. 

[00:18:19] Taylor Lund: That’s so cool. And I think so important for our audience to hear those that are thinking about, starting a business or switching careers where they don’t feel quite right where they’re at, or they’ve always had this desire that maybe. maybe working for themselves is, the right thing for them.

so to just hear your testimony of how happy you are is I think super cool for all of us to hear. Thanks for sharing. yeah, so for those people who are, thinking, I feel handy. I feel like this might be something that I might wanna spin off and do, but they’re not quite ready. To maybe make a full leap or leave their job full time.

one of our segments like that we like to do on the podcast is, can it side hustle? So here’s my question for you. If someone’s not ready to quit their full-time job, can they start a business like yours as a side hustle?

[00:19:21] Hannah Venema: Yeah. I think it just depends on how much of your personal time you wanna give away.

yeah. That’s really okay. Nights and weekends, most people probably aren’t really gonna want you to come in and do anything at night unless they’re not living in their house currently. Yeah. and then weekends and, yeah. So I think yes, but it’s What sacrifices do you wanna make to transition? If you’re like, this is where I wanna get, but I’m not comfortable leaving.

my health insurance, my, all those things that I have with your full time then yeah. you can hustle.

[00:20:05] Taylor Lund: Totally.

[00:20:06] Hannah Venema: Yeah.

[00:20:07] Taylor Lund: in your experience, does it seem like most people want you there during that nine to five window? either while they’re home working or gone at work?

[00:20:18] Hannah Venema: Yeah, for sure. Right now how I operate, Is pretty much, I’m getting there at nine 30 and I’m leaving sometime between four and five and Okay. For me, that’s fantastic. anytime I, when I first started I was like, do you want me there at eight or whatever? Most people are like, no, I gotta take my kids to school.

I gotta do this. I have this nine 30 has worked out really great for most people. ’cause a lot of people do work at home now. They still work at home. and if they don’t, I’m very fortunate where they’re, they tell me how to get in or, leave it accessible for me. And yeah, there’s times where I might not ever really meet the person.

Yeah. Like I’ll communicate through email. I’ll go in, I’ll do my thing, I’ll keep them updated. And then, And then that’s it. And then they call me back totally. They want me to come do more work. So

[00:21:24] Taylor Lund: that’s awesome. You get that repeat business from them. So it sounds if you are not going to carve out time in your current nine to five, it might be harder to get clients, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people willing to have you do jobs on weekends.

How much of my extra time, if I’m already working 40 hours, am I willing to pour into this? And maybe it’s a good question to ask, is it worth it to just rip off the bandaid, and take that risk, to start your business? have that decision. I think one of the things that I know in Minneapolis, and I’d love your perspective on if it’s true in Grand Rapids. 

Quality handy People are in really high demand right now. there’s a big need. One of my favorite ones in Minneapolis isn’t even taking business right now ’cause they have so much business lined up that they’ve had to pause all inquiries. and so that’s what that says to me is that there’s room in the industry for people.

if they’re handy and they’re ready to run their business, there’s a need there. would you say that’s true in Grand Rapids as well?

[00:22:42] Hannah Venema: Yeah, definitely. Somebody who’s reliable. Communicative, approachable. it, they’re all qualities that I think that people are really looking for. and that’s where I was able to carve out my part of the market being a female or just not a male in the industry, for safety concerns and things like that.

Trust. That, not to say men aren’t, but if you’ve had bad experiences or you just wanna support a minority, it’s really, it’s been really great. I, Haven’t had to do any marketing outside of just posting on my social media. So I think that in and itself shows how much there is a need for it.

[00:23:41] Taylor Lund: That’s amazing. Would you say that a lot of your business has come from your immediate circle first and then word of mouth, that ripple effect beyond? Oh, absolutely. Yep. Absolutely. That’s so cool. It’s all, and it only works if you’re doing quality work and people trust you.

[00:24:01] Hannah Venema: Yeah, definitely. It’s all been word of mouth and I’ve been consistently booked out, about two or three months at a time since the beginning. There are times where, okay. It starts to slow down and I look at my calendar and, sorry, I’m looking at my physical calendar that, I’m like, oh man, I don’t have anything after this month or after a couple weeks, and that’s when I get 12.

People reach out and then I’m booked up for months at a time. and that was a really big. Thing for me, my first year, it was really hard to say no to things that I wasn’t comfortable with because I was afraid like, what if there’s not another job around the corner?

[00:24:56] Taylor Lund: Yeah.

[00:24:57] Hannah Venema: And now obviously I’ve slimmed down what I’m even offering and it hasn’t.

Put a hold on my work and anytime there’s schedule changes, if I can fill them by with other people, that’s great. And otherwise I’m gonna take my day off. Yeah, it’s one of the best things about owning my own business is making my own schedule and not having to limit how much of my life I, have on hold or not.

[00:25:32] Taylor Lund: That’s really interesting and I love that you said that. so what would you say to someone who’s just getting off the ground? They’re just starting and maybe they have, a handful of services that they really doing and then a few services that they just, they dread, they can do them, it’s fine, but they really don’t like it.

It drains their day. It drains them of their energy. what would you say about, when is the right time to say no to services or to say no to jobs? Does that change as you get established? is it common to say yes to everything right away and then, say no to more once you have that confidence?

Or would you encourage people to No, say yes to the things you wanna do and set that precedence right away?

[00:26:20] Hannah Venema: I would say no. Don’t do things that you’re not comfortable with. People aren’t looking for hack jobs, they’re looking for quality work like we were talking about. So if you are not comfortable with it and you’re not gonna give them the best product. Yeah, then and say no. 

If other people, refer to the other people, if it’s a low impact job and you don’t need to. Worry about if I don’t do this right, I can redo it and it’s not a huge cut in my profit or time or, availability. Yeah, if you can go at it and try it and you also are really open about that with your, clients.

Say, Hey, I haven’t done this before. I’ve seen it a lot. I have a good idea of it. I’ll wanna do some more research. Are you okay with me having you as my Guinea pig? And if they say, Hey, price is right, go for it, then you know, that can be low risk.

[00:27:29] Taylor Lund: Yes. Low risk. There you go.

[00:27:32] Hannah Venema: I love that you just

[00:27:33] Taylor Lund: gave two fantastic pointers right there.

I just wanna call out that first one. Is having referrals in your back pocket. hey, I don’t, I don’t specialize that. but I have a buddy that does and I really trust him. People. Love that. And that will make them think fondly of you when they think of their experience, even if you didn’t do the service, if you referred them to a reputable company to do it.

And then that second thing is just honesty and transparency. maybe giving them a deal or being upfront, Hey, this is the first time I’ve done this project. I think I can do it. but maybe I’ll give you 20% off just, because I’m acknowledging that this is my first time doing this specific service.

[00:28:17] Hannah Venema: Yeah, for sure. Both

[00:28:19] Taylor Lund: of those suggestions.

[00:28:21] Hannah Venema: Thanks. I think that I tried a lot of that when I first started and it cost a lot of time on my computer. I. Yeah. Which I don’t wanna do, because I’m doing a lot of research. And you’re not getting

[00:28:38] Taylor Lund: Paid for that research time, are you?

[00:28:41] Hannah Venema: no. I watched a lot of YouTubes went to that university, just trying to get better ideas of like how to approach projects.

Yeah. and then it was a lot of time creating a quote out of Nest. I’m imagining it’s gonna take this amount of time. Yes. and that was something that I really wanted to get away from with my rebrand and. It’s allowed me to Yeah. Totally streamline my quote, my quoting, my inventory or invoicing.

And, I’m super happy about all of that, but I do think that there’s gotta be some learning curves when you’re first starting out. Yeah. But that’s the advice that I would give is learning to say no. yeah. And, that has been really hard for me and I get better with it every year.

[00:29:48] Taylor Lund: Totally.

That’s some fantastic advice, Hannah, and I love that little nugget at the end is you’re probably gonna make a mistake. You might have a project where you lose time and money on and have grace for that when you’re starting out. because wisdom will come with that experience. So I think just that, leaving people with the advice of.

At the end of the day, be gracious towards yourself as you’re learning. yeah, such good advice. we talked briefly about this for a moment, a couple minutes ago, but can you, just describe your journey and experience being a female in the handy industry?

[00:30:31] Hannah Venema: Yeah. I think I touched on a lot of that during, how did I get here? But I think it really came down to I had to get a Facebook. Yeah. I didn’t want one. I had to get one. You do have to really announce yourself, Hey, I’m starting this. and that’s where having that inner circle helps spread the news. Yeah. I’m a female in the industry, so this is new.

When I first started, or, yeah, it was when I first started, I would say, ’cause I only had gave myself days to go into

[00:31:18] Taylor Lund: it.

[00:31:20] Hannah Venema: but I had mentioned it to, Of a few older men in my life, and they didn’t understand it. They didn’t get it. They say, why? Why would we? Why would anyone want a female in the industry?

Why is, why do you think that’s going to be a selling point?

[00:31:44] Taylor Lund: maybe their, ignorance in the matter is exactly proving the point.

[00:31:49] Hannah Venema: Totally. I don’t wanna bring it down, but I just. I think that was like, you don’t even, you don’t even know. You don’t know. Because as much as I don’t know your side of the story, and, on my side, we, there’s a lot of want for that.

Yeah. And again, like the amount of stories that I’ve heard where people aren’t comfortable with, with guys or contractors who were just, mansplaining. And coming in really arrogant and really, rudely, and that’s why I always offer free consultations. I want to go there. I want to hear what you have to say.

I wanna see what I can do and what I can’t do, and be really open and honest about what I can offer and how we can work together one way or another. If I can’t. So

[00:32:52] Taylor Lund: I love that. And I think you even touched on, not just serving females, but serving clients in general. Coming in with humility, coming in with patients and not arrogance, how important that is, to not.

Make your clients feel small, like Yeah. To establish that trust and relationship. thanks for sharing that. I think that’s super important for people to hear and super important, to know that, if you’re a female in the space, there’s a need. It’s not just that there is, it’s not just that there’s room, it’s that there’s an actual need for you to be here in this space, and there’s a desire.

out there for you to be in the space and, a lot of clients are going to not just want, but prefer, you to be serving them.

[00:33:47] Hannah Venema: I calling out. I need a woodworker, I need an electrician. I need all these emails to come forward. and anytime that I have had anyone reach out, I, yeah, I always keep them as a referral.

I don’t know if you’re doing this, if you’re doing this still part-time or anything, but there’s,

[00:34:09] Taylor Lund: you’re building your list. Cool. Yeah. let’s move into a fun segment we like to do, which is the hit or miss rapid fire. So I’m gonna shoot a quote at you and all you’re gonna say is, it’s a hit, it’s dead on, or it’s a miss.

You totally disagree. and a little explanation why are you ready for this? Okay.

[00:34:34] Hannah Venema: Sure. Hit me. Alright.

[00:34:37] Taylor Lund: all right. First question, hit or miss. You need to go to business school to start a business.

[00:34:45] Hannah Venema: miss. ’cause I didn’t, I don’t think so. and I think with this being a trade industry. I didn’t need to, I’m not building a, a corporation.

I don’t even wanna hire an employee because again, I don’t wanna manage anyone right now. Yes. so no, I’d say no. You just need to, secure your, business name through the state and, yep. How you go from then on. It’s up to you.

[00:35:23] Taylor Lund: Hannah Venema is proof that you do not, and you can have a very successful business without that business degree.

That’s amazing. And I love that people are starting to realize that. learn your skill, learn your trade, do it well for people, and a business can be formed around that. all thanks Hannah. So hit or miss, question number two. You need a lot of money upfront in order to start your business.

[00:35:54] Hannah Venema: I’d say miss, because in order to create start a business, it’s really registering your business name on, for me, state Michigan again, and I can’t remember if it was 25 or 35 or maybe $50, but that was upfront all I had to spend, And again, for me, I was mostly starting in painting. And so some of those supplies I already had from doing work on my own house. but there, there were minimal supplies. and then when I secured my URL, that took some money. But I know a lot of businesses that don’t even. Don’t even operate beyond a Facebook page.

Yep. with that. Totally. It was important for me that I had my own website because I wanted to showcase my work and have a clear content form, contact form. And I also, I always have issues with Facebook anyways, so it was better for me that something directly went to my email. yep. But otherwise, yeah, I started off in my, I had a Pontiac Vibe station wagon and it worked great for me for years.

And, I’ve more recently upgraded to a work van. Nice. I just wanna make sure I didn’t get it too big because I didn’t want, I didn’t want people thinking I could bring drywall over or anything. Yeah, there’s things that you need to know yes, I can do it, but it’s not gonna be great. And, yeah, totally.

And yeah, I’d say not to go on more about it, but yeah, I’d say no. You don’t need a lot to start a business. Financially,

[00:37:53] Taylor Lund: yes, a few bucks to register your business. You can start with a free Facebook page. You can bill your, a lot of those materials for every project onto your client. And then for your initial tools, just hop on Facebook and Craigslist.

You don’t need brand new tools. Those can come with time. Awesome. Yeah, that’s a miss. Hit or miss. Question number three, and we’ve already talked about this for a little bit, but there can be benefits to being a female in the handy industry.

[00:38:29] Hannah Venema: hit yes. I, gotta, I know that there’s always exceptions to everything, but, having worked with a, lot of people in past.

Jobs, there’s something to say about the eye detail and consistency and, drive that a lot of females can have to help prove themselves. again, I grew up in that hardware store. I had. Old men coming in every day ask, not wanting to ask me where something was located. And I was like, try me because I’ve been here just about as long as my dad has working.

And I can tell you that romex connector is all the way down aisle three at your hip on the right. yeah, I can help. So, I was always constantly trying to prove my worth. Growing up, and I think that’s pretty common throughout, females and, non-binary and everything.

[00:39:45] Taylor Lund: yeah,

[00:39:46] Hannah Venema: so I think that there’s a need and there’s a good one for us. Awesome.

[00:39:53] Taylor Lund: Great answer, Hannah. and last one, and I know this can be a bit of a controversial one in the handy space, but. Hit or miss. It is a waste of time taking on small jobs for people.

[00:40:09] Hannah Venema: I say that’s a miss because that’s all I do.

That’s all I wanna do. I don’t wanna spend more than five days at your house. if I can spend one afternoon at your house and move on, that’s great. I think for me, with, with my attention, I like to bounce around. I like to have something new every day. so I, I. I’m doing well. Yeah, I’m doing well with small jobs.

I like it. They’re a lot less stressful for me, and again, it allows me to continue to work solo. yeah, so I have full control over quality and output, and so I know that there’s also a huge need for people who wanna do small jobs because. Oh, like you said, it’s controversial. There’s a lot of companies that won’t and yeah, so if you can find somebody that comes and, wall wallpapers one wall or paints this or that, I, yeah, I think it’s you filling, it’s everything for me, so Totally.

[00:41:20] Taylor Lund: So a big miss from Hannah and proof in the pudding that it works out and you can build a very successful business doing small jobs. Yeah. What are, a few must have, tools, whether digital or physical, that, you as a handy woman must have in your tool belt. we talked about, Van being a really nice to have, but not a need to have.

You can start out of your family station wagon day one,

[00:41:54] Hannah Venema: right? yeah, I’d say social media, was a really great way to at least start out. I will say this summer I’ve been busy and I have not been posting, and I just remind myself that I’m not a content creator. Yep. This is my job. So I’m not trying to be an influencer.

I’m just trying to showcase my work and and I will, anytime I do post, I get a lot of people that reach out that say, oh, this is great. Reminds me, I do, I’ve been meaning to reach out. so I would say social media has, been a big tool for me. Again, I don’t do any advertising. It’s word of mouth or, some people find me through Reddit, which I think is so interesting because I’m just, I’m not, I don’t know.

And it’s, and it’s a lot of the demographic that I wouldn’t expect to find me through Reddit. So having those things out there has been huge. a good accounting system, QuickBooks, whatever you need to keep your system going and having all your expenses and your income accounted for is huge.

Yeah. And then the rest you can figure out.

[00:43:28] Taylor Lund: That’s awesome. I love that. It’s not a huge list. I think it just speaks to the fact that you can do this, you can spin it up. You don’t, there’s not 20 must have tools to start a business. Yeah. getting, you talked about this a little bit, but, getting that first customer, if someone’s just starting up in the handy space.

They are ready to get their first client. What would you say to them?

[00:44:00] Hannah Venema: I would say yes, be honest, open. Are you saying how do I get that first client or Yeah. Where do they

[00:44:07] Taylor Lund: look if you’re just starting out, maybe you don’t have a URL yet, but you just, I just need, yeah. A job that I can take a picture of that I can share with the world who, who’s their, circle first for their first part.

Yeah.

[00:44:24] Hannah Venema: Friends and family for sure, because if it doesn’t go well, you don’t have to say anything, But if it does, they’ll tell everyone they know and they’ll tell everyone they know and it. It’s literally how I continue working. so I would say, yeah, stick to someone that you trust who’s gonna be honest, and who’s a big supporter of you already.

Yeah. In general. So if you’ve got somebody who’s in your corner and loves you and or has somebody that they want, need help with. So that’s what I would say Inner circle, for sure.

[00:45:05] Taylor Lund: I love that. Sending out a Facebook blast or text blast to some of your closest friends. Say, Hey, I’m starting this.

I’ll give you, I’ll give you a deal if you have a small project for me to do and take pictures of afterwards. And then people come and they see that, they ask, Hey, who did that? And then all of a sudden your circle expands past your friends and family. What a good strategy. ’cause we all have that inner circle that we could shoot a text to.

[00:45:31] Hannah Venema: Because they already know you, so they know at I’m sure it’s not coming completely out of nowhere, that you’re going into this career choice. And so you’re gonna have some, and experiences that overlap there.

[00:45:50] Taylor Lund: I also liked how you said, with just as your business grows, it’s important to have some form of social media or some form of.

a way to display your work where people can see pictures and the quality that you do, but I love that caveat that you said that, but I’m not trying to be an influencer. And so if you compare your social media following to an influencers It’s gonna be so different ’cause they’re posting once a day, three times a day, five times a day.

Because their content is their service. Yeah. It might look like their service is handy services, but at that point, they’re actually trying to make their content their primary form of income. And so you can’t compare your social media to theirs because. Your social media is just trying to get you clients.

Their social media is trying to get them an audience. And so that’s why they’re gonna be posting so frequently. And so I loved how you said, I need to recognize I’m not in this to be an influencer.

[00:46:53] Hannah Venema: Yeah. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I just cannot, I can’t, again, I spent way too much time behind a computer screen throughout the last 20 years.

I, I can’t, I. I don’t want that to be what I’m doing. What I love is the hands-on part of it, the changing on the spaces, the instant gratification of seeing a wall go from I. Whatever this room was to pink, my favorite. So so really that’s what, yeah, exactly. So

[00:47:31] Taylor Lund: I love that. Hannah, it’s been so fun chatting with you.

If you had one piece of advice for someone entering into this space, what would that one piece of advice or encouragement be?

[00:47:46] Hannah Venema: yeah, I would say take those first steps. and whether that is create, a free account online, a Facebook or Instagram, something, that you can direct people to, to showcase what product you’re selling.

Then also maybe creating a space for that in your home so that you have an area that you can go to, and this is where you go to focus on your side hustle, your, your next big project, whatever you want this line of work to look like. In your, life, just so that you have a dedicated area, a dedicated space online, to really just start putting yourself out there.

Yeah. Is what. I would recommend.

[00:48:48] Taylor Lund: I love that. That is, just awesome and practical advice for people who are just starting out. Hannah, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. If people want to find your business, or you online, what is your URL? What are your social tags?

[00:49:08] Hannah Venema: yeah, since I went through the rebrand, they’re all grouped together.

So you can go to that handy woman.com. you can go to walls and whatnot.com, all the same, Facebook’s walls, whatnot, Instagram Walls and Whatnot. I try to keep it all, make it all the same. Makes sense. But not at Gmail. yeah, and that’s where it’s I’m just using Gmail. this is how.

Low that you need, that you can be on how much you’re spending. Like lot a freezing email,

[00:49:43] Taylor Lund: a Facebook thing. Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah,

[00:49:46] Hannah Venema: there’s a lot of free services and I’m sure there’s even more and there’s grants and there’s all these other ways that you can find support to help excel your passion and so I think there’s a lot of avenues.

[00:50:04] Taylor Lund: That’s so cool. if you’re in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan and you need some handy work done, head over to walls and whatnot.com. if you’re not in Grand Rapids, but you just wanna see some really cool projects, take shape and follow. Hannah and her journey can follow her on Instagram at Walls and Whatnot.

Or Walls and Whatnot on Facebook as well. that’s all we have for our podcast today. Hannah, thank you so much for joining us. It was an absolute delight chatting with.

[00:50:35] Hannah Venema: Thank you. I guess I love talking about myself, my business skills. It’s a passion and I want everything else to know that they can pursue theirs too.

They don’t have to be, miserable at a desk job if there’s something else that they really love and there’s a way you can find. To make some money off of it and at least try to supplement some happiness back into your life.

[00:51:02] Taylor Lund: What good news, that’s a fantastic kick.