Meet JP Parker | #thebenchmaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with JP Parker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi JP, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I was an Event Manager for Trade Shows across the country and looking to place benches in a newly designed main aisle of 20′. It was a large show and customer feedback always demanded more seating options: for elderly, for eating breaks, and those with children.
we wanted something that looked nice, fit the venue, fit a lot of butts, and was sustainable (we figured it important to go environmentally friendly).
So enter #thebenchmaster. A construction project manager (my husband) who constructed the design. He single-handedly built 10. (He wanted to invent, experiment and see what would work best).
He used solid wood for longevity and beauty. Stained to preserve with a natural wood grain flavor.
Everybody loved them.

We had several requests for them from other Show Managers and venues so to make researching & ordering easier I built a website for convenience and access.

Once that was up and running, we had suppliers of wood products that wanted to be a part of it, so we added their collections to the mix. It all came together nicely.

We’ve since branched off into sustainable living with simple/easy steps that work for pretty much anyone. We educate people on this topic and strive to make it easy and fun to take just first steps toward living a more sustainable lifestyle.
People can handle that so they’ve jumped on board.

We also educate business owners with tips, tricks, advice and ideas for their businesses including exhibiting in trade shows to build their brand and sell their products/services.

We’re having fun with it.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Benchmaster WoodworX started because of a need and grew from there. Our advice to those who want to begin, grow and develop something is to take your idea, get up every morning, and work on it. Just do something every day as you think, research and the ideas come.

Don’t think you have to know everything before you start because you won’t! Take your first step, then the next step and then the next. You’ll wake up one day and you’ll have a business! A brand! Or something.

This is what we did. We just started with an idea and let it take on a life of its own.
We totally enjoy the people that have joined us! They are our brand followers and we love hearing from them, making them happy and really just working on this thing together.

We’re different in that we aren’t a bunch of tree huggers (though we love those that are), but rather we just want to make a difference with small steps, one step, knowing that as a whole if we each just do one thing we can make a difference in our world.

It wasn’t easy getting to where we are today. There was SO much to learn about managing a store online! We worked and learned, then jumped in. That was great advice that we received–don’t wait until you’re perfect to start! Just start and keep moving–change as you see you need it. But start asap.

We also found that if we were tired or had worked on too many problems at one time, we felt like throwing in the towel.
So be mindful that each problem you work on will take time, research and probably talking to others to get it solved. That can be taxing. Wait until your outlook and strength are renewed before starting work on your next issue.

As we state on our content pieces and responses of who we are:
“Our brand is a group of people who love life, outdoors, RV life, cabin living and endeavoring to make a difference in the world simply one step at a time. We’re every age and we often get excited viewing new products that come out during happy hour on Friday evenings!
We’d love to have you join us!”

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being that we are an online retail store only, we do not have a storefront. That makes us remote workers! We camp in Northern MN in the summer, travel around in the Fall a bit and then make Piedmont, OK our permanent residence.
We can suggest rustic campgrounds, fun resorts to have happy hour at and also recommend downtown OKC for the finest in entertainment: restaurants along the canal, the Thunder games, minor league baseball team games, college ball! breweries & wineries.
Give us a shout if you’re coming into town and we’ll be tour guides!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We’ve met several talented people along the way–our content writers, other exhibit companies, and the EOS system of processes to run a business. Family and friends have really jumped on board to contribute: with wood products (Barb & Larry=Barblar pallet wood signs), and others who have supported us on social media.

Website: benchmasterwoodworx.com

Instagram: instagram.com/benchmasterwoodworx/

Facebook: facebook.com/benchmasterwoodworx/

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCfrYLPqCloqQy2W9ZIXRy1g

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/benchmasterwoodworx/