A beautifully designed, customized kitchen is an out-of-reach dream for many homeowners on a budget. It’s why many people end up choosing options like IKEA products to fill their space with modern designs that serve a utilitarian purpose, even if it means sacrificing the flair that custom designs can bring to a home.
Like many clever business origin stories, Wesley James saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between affordability and unique designs that add character and intention to living spaces. He didn’t set out to start his own company, but once he saw how many people wanted his exact services, he seized the opportunity and launched Brave Element. Now, he spends his days designing and installing custom furniture, both on its own or with an IKEA base.
To get a better understanding of what it means to run a niche business within custom cabinetry, I spoke with James about his background and current business operations.
SSB: Can you tell me the abridged version of your origin story? How did Brave Element come to be?
WJ: In all honesty I had no intention of starting a business… I was working for IKEA as a kitchen installer and my long term plan was to be the best company man I could be, while constantly improving my craft and proving my value to the company… As someone with a solution oriented brain, I often made suggestions to my boss about how our work flow could be improved and pointed out areas where they were leaving money on the table, or hemorrhaging money in other places…. One day he got tired of my suggestions and emailed me with HIS bosses copied, in an attempt to silence and/or embarrass me, stating “You are nothing but a cabinet installer. You will never be more than a cabinet installer. Please just do your job and stop giving me your ideas”
Naturally I was in fact embarrassed, and offended, so I did what any normal anti-authority punk rock blooded person would do and replied with “Thank you for all of the opportunities you’ve given me over the years, please consider this my 2 week notice.” Not having any back up plan, I applied to a few jobs to no avail, and in a panic, I started posting on Instagram that I was available for hire to install IKEA cabinets and that I could customize projects beyond IKEA installer capabilities…Much to my surprise, turns out there was BIG need for exactly that in Seattle, and things just kind of evolved from there!
SSB: How big is your business (employee-wise) and how would you describe the space you operate out of?
WJ: We are VERY small, and have an incredibly unique work flow, employee-wise. While this number fluctuates, we currently have a core group of four people with only two of us in Seattle and the other two are out of state, working remotely. I also have a small handful of local, dependable part-time help that I often call on to relieve some of my workload on job sites. While most of our work is done either by phone, email, and of course physically in the homes of our clients, we DO have a beautiful space that I am proud to call our HQ in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. It mostly serves as a by-appointment-only showroom, where clients can come see all the possibilities that we can conjure up for them, as well as a part time office space, but I also have big plans to open our space for events like art shows, networking mixers, etc…
SSB: What’s been your most successful way of marketing Brave Element? Has your marketing strategy evolved since you first launched the business?
WJ: Instagram, hands down…. More than any other method, I have earned most of my business through posting on Instagram… Not too shabby for something that I honestly have a lot of fun doing… Of course like anything, marketing has evolved over the last seven years of me running this business, and I'm always spinning my wheels thinking of new ways to stay relevant without being an absolute punisher to the people I'm marketing to. I of course have a website, and because I am so passionate about my work, word of mouth has become a priceless source of marketing for me… But especially in the early years, I relied almost solely on Instagram. What a time to be alive.
SSB: How has your approach to your work evolved over the years? Are there any business practices you’ve added or removed over time?
WJ: As a Leo through and through, the most difficult evolution for me in business practice has been accepting the fact that I am not the center of the world in the eyes of everyone I work with. I have learned to be more patient, more empathetic and show more gratitude for anything and everything someone does to help me make my vision a reality… To be perfectly honest, I'm not the most business-minded person, and tend to focus more on my craft and always looking to perfect what I do with my hands…. My hope is that the people I hire for the back-end things can add or remove business practices as needed for the overall betterment of Brave Element. Probably not the best way to live but hey, here we are.
SSB: Can you walk me through what an average week looks like for you?
WJ: I start almost every day with at least 2-3 phone calls with my team, recapping the previous day and discussing upcoming tasks while I'm drinking coffee in my van en-route to my job site. We serve nearly all of Washington and Northern Oregon so sometimes those phone calls can be pretty lengthy… I'm typically on a jobsite from 10am-6pm every day installing cabinets, then in the evenings after I walk my dog George, I'm either heading to Georgetown to meet a client at my studio, or on the computer writing bids. All things considered I work on average 60 hours per week, and only VERY recently started taking Sundays off.
SSB: Your work centers on creating beautiful designs without luxury-style prices. How do you strike the right balance?
WJ: It's one of my favorite aspects of this little niche I have carved out for myself…. I can't tell you how happy it makes me when we complete a project, and have a very happy client who then shares with me how much money they saved by going my route as opposed to more traditional cabinetry shops… the savings is usually astounding… Using IKEA materials as a foundation and adding custom fronts/trim/etc has revolutionized the remodeling industry (admittedly I didn't invent this model) - finding the balance though, isn’t as easy as I make it sound. The most difficult part is aligning client expectations with the reality of materials cost as well as the cost of my labor… Often folks will get a quote from a traditional custom cabinet shop that is far beyond their means, which makes them turn to IKEA. Unfortunately a lot of times when they land on us for help, their cost expectations are too far skewed in the other direction… for example I have had someone come to us with a quote for $65k for a cabinet package… our model drives it down to $30k and that savings of $35k still does not satisfy them… You’d actually be blown away by the amount of educating clients we have to do, to get them to understand that while IKEA cabinetry is significantly more affordable, it's still not free and my physical labor is not a charity.
SSB: How has operating in Seattle shaped your business? Are there any unique aspects to operating here that you might not get in other cities?
WJ: IKEA moved me here from San Diego in 2017 and for my specific career/industry, it was a God send. The amount of opportunity here was overwhelming… In San Diego I was working maybe 35 hours per week… When I moved here they gave me free reign of unlimited overtime since there was just so much work to be had… The same rings true now that I operate Brave Element. There’s a large desire in the eyes of home owners for what I do, and not a ton of people doing what I do (and no one is as good as me at it) - so my biggest challenge isn’t finding work, it's finding time to rest. That's different from any other place I have lived throughout my life. Of course, the Seattle weather was a change for me, and is still a constant challenge…. I keep a pop-up canopy with me at all times to protect me and my tools from the rain, and they get destroyed pretty easily, especially when we get one of our classic wind storms…. But the biggest challenge I have faced is not specific to Seattle, but the PNW in general…. I swear as soon as the outside temperature drops below 70, it seems the entire PNW turns their heaters to the “rage” setting.
SSB: You recently moved the business to Georgetown. What has that change brought?
WJ: OMG so much positive change…. My last space was in Burien, and as someone who is not a Seattle native, I had no idea what kind of negative past Burien has had and even though I think Burien is a pretty neat place, turns out most of Seattle does not share that opinion with me, and does not want to drive “all the way” down there to see our space… Georgetown, on the other hand, seems to be loved by all (and for good reason) and not only are folks more willing to visit us there, but I'd say they are even excited to come to the neighborhood, and visit us along with the other attractions they love about Georgetown. We are also strategically located directly across the street from the Seattle Design Center, which makes for great networking. I'm so happy about the move and don’t plan to leave anytime soon.
SSB: Have you picked up on any Seattle-specific design trends over the years?
WJ: Seattle LOOOOOVES Mid Century Modern design FOR SURE… Also big on Scandinavian as well as Japandi…. This all scratches the itch for me as I love all these styles and IKEA seamlessly translates however you need for each style… Something else I love about Seattle specific design is that a lot of clients want to pay homage to their lush surroundings by bringing in lots of green cabinetry mixed with wood tones… It's absolutely different from the style I mostly installed in Southern California which was almost always either traditional white and gray shakers or very sterile modern.
SSB: What parts of your personality are reflected in your work?
WJ: Literally every single aspect of my personality, for better or worse. I made a conscious decision early on that if I'm going to own a business, I have to be 100% authentic or it's not worth doing. I don’t bend my personality in any way shape or form to try and win the approval of anyone, even if it means I won’t win their business… Fortunately for everyone involved, I'm an absolute delight to be around! But no, seriously, Brave Element is me to the core. My branding/marketing nods to music I listen to, street wear brands I loved as a kid, and even my love for tattoos. The DIY mentality I learned from playing in touring punk bands as a young adult shines through in my work every time I face a challenge and I'm proud to say that I successfully win the hearts of just about every single client that allows me into their home.
SSB: Are there any favorite projects you’ve completed, and why do they stand out to you?
WJ: This is a loaded question because I’m constantly telling myself “ok now THIS is my favorite project to date” - over and over again hahaha.. Which I think is a really good sign that not only do I love what I do, but we are consistently improving our designs, improving my craft and always pushing the limit of what we can do… truth is, I cannot pick any favorite projects, and I'm really proud of that.
SSB: You’ve talked about growing up with a father in the cabinetry business. Can you speak to how his work has influenced your approach to business?
WJ: Yeah! From the ripe young age of 13 I have been working in cabinetry…. I grew up in a really small town between San Diego and Orange County… My dad started a garage cabinet business out of our little 800 sq ft house, picking up sheet goods in his truck, milling all the parts on our driveway, storing the parts in our garage and then installing them on the weekends. Of course, it started for me as a way to spend time with my dad… Which then turned into a job that I “had” to do…. After spending 10 years trying to be a full time musician, I unexpectedly found my way back to cabinetry with my dad, installing for IKEA… Turns out I just needed a break, and it was then that I really fell in love with it…. Today, my dad still works with me and for that I'm truly grateful. Not only do we get to spend time together but I'm constantly getting to pick his brain, bounce ideas off each other and celebrate our wins.
SSB: What’s the best way for people to get in touch to work with you?
WJ: We prefer a website submission form found at braveelement.com/contact but of course an email at: [email protected] works great, as well as dm’ing me on instagram - @braveelement