Good Wood Nola

Michael Dalle in his work space. Photo by Ryan Rivet

On a sunny fall afternoon in the Bywater area of New Orleans, I had the genuine pleasure of meeting and getting to know the two men behind Good Wood Nola; a very exciting and fast growing small business that was quite literally started out of a garage. These two men are Michael Dalle and Jordan Gurren. Good Wood Nola was established in 2014, its mission statement describes itself as a custom design and fabrication firm specializing in commercial design with a focus in custom woodworking, metal working, finish carpentry and furniture design, among other specialized creative endeavors. Their work can be found in small business and restaurants all over the city. Their story is at the same time very typical of the New Orleans entrepreneur and very unique in the struggles they have overcome to reach the point they have now.

I met Mike and Jordan at their current location, 1523 Ferdinand St. It is a very, very large warehouse (7,500 square feet) that is home to over 80 different artists, working in seemingly every medium one can imagine. The building is owned by a renowned artist who will remain nameless, but this individual purchased the space with the intention of giving local artists an affordable and nurturing place to create.

The pair built themselves out a segment of this large building in which they have a small office that connects to a larger work space with two garage doors open to the world let in fresh air and sunlight. In the workspace lies the tools of their trade. They have all they need on site; table saws, welding equipment, four fully working shop tables, and high ceilings to ensure there is enough room for any project they decide to take on.

Mike and Jordan were kind enough to take some time out of their busy day and share their story with me. They were generous, honest and candid, detailing all of their ups and downs. I greatly appreciated how open and forthright they were willing to be about their business endeavor.

Establishing Yourself

It began, as all small business do, with getting the LLC. This in fact, seemed to be the easiest step in the entire project. As Mike explained, the paper work was readily available and approval came quickly. After the LLC came the logo, which is actually much more consequential than it often gets credit for. Branding is everything for a new small business in a small city where personalities matter so much. As I will get into more detail later, the decision to work with a business is often one made at a personal level, this is even more true in a small big city like New Orleans. Mike had the original idea for the overall shape of the logo, as well as the aesthetic feel he was hoping to attain. They both agreed it needed to include the phrase “Nola” and they worked with a local artist to come up with what is now becoming a very recognizable brand.

As I mentioned, they began working in a smaller garage, along with two other founding partners who are no longer part of the team for varying personal reasons. This group of builders met while working for a much larger group in the city, for whom they were working on some of the most prominent and notable attractions in the area. However, they did not feel they were getting the credit they deserved financially or artistically, and decided to branch out. Both men agreed that being able to put your name on something after so much effort has been put in is crucial to the artistic process.

Hurdles in an Older Man’s Game

After a short while they left the small gallery/garage shop and moved into a new space upon the recommendation of fellow artists, people who they thought were their friends. However, these friends turned out to be deceitful and bitter of their new found success. They were in the same general industry and had been around for a while, they were surprised to see that these two younger men had been able to stir up so much attention for their growing business and in turn start to get work all over the city. Mike and Jordan eventually learned that these individuals were attempting to sabotage their business, stealing rent money from them over the course of many months and then giving them three days notice before they had to move their entire 2,000 square foot shop. Both Jordan and Mike were completely straight forward about the fact that this was very nearly the end of Good Wood Nola. They were out on the street, they had lost almost everything, and as they put it “were no more than a week away from throwing in the towel completely.” However, instead of letting this knock them down for good, they kicked it into high gear.

The pair went all over town, scrambling to save their skins, preaching the good word of Good Wood Nola. They were not pitching a contracting service, they were pitching a Life Style brand. Although that may sound like a bit of a stretch, I believe it is absolutely spot on. They are two young men, both college educated in Louisiana, both choosing to stay in the state after getting their diplomas. They both worked for large companies within the state, and now have started their own business in New Orleans that works closely with other local businesses, helping each other grow and succeed. They are through and through a major part of the cultural and creative economy of New Orleans.The Life Style they are selling is one of community, culture and togetherness. Everything they have done has given back to the community in some way. They have an excellent outreach program. Good Wood Nola gives back to the collective in many ways including mentoring troubled students from the Sy Academy several times a week, among other charitable endeavors.

Mike and Jordan are creative and daring young men who are in an older mans game. Their peers in the industry mostly consists of the classic contractor business model, with little artistic quality and almost no personality. That is what sets them apart. They are willing to do things others won’t, and during this crunch period after losing their second space they were selling themselves more than anything else. As I mentioned earlier, the decision to work with a company and give them your business is often a decision that is made for personal reasons. This is especially true in New Orleans, really a small town with a big city name, where people want to work with respectable, honest, and outgoing individuals who are interested in the prosperity of the community as a whole. In the interview both men attribute approachability as a major factor in the success they have found so far. “People in this city want to work with good people, it is that simple.” By showing face, making eye contact, being straightforward and honest, Good Wood Nola was able to establish itself as a reputable and exciting business that people actually wanted to work with.

On top of the fact that they were very personable and likeable, Mike had worked tirelessly on developing a social media presence that is a force to be reckoned with. Their website is as professional as any, and gives them the appearance of a brand that has been well established for a very long time (they are currently in their 9th month of business). Their instagram is in the 99th percentile of all instagram accounts as far as following vs. followers. These are excellent tools that they used in order to prove themselves worthy of the business they were seeking.

Backing Charm up with Hard Work

Lastly, and certainly not least, they believed in themselves and what they were doing. They believed in their product, they believed in their brand, they believed in each other and in their ability to deliver. They exuded confidence and people fed off of this energy in a very major way. They were then able to back up this confidence with solid products. The pair does not throw in the towel until they are certain that the final product is up to snuff. They make sure that they deliver on all of their promises, and recalled many sleepless nights working to ensure that the level of quality was there. They deliver on their word.

Soon this combination of approachability, professional presence online and confidence in their own ability led them to the business they so desperately needed. As Mike describes this chapter of their relatively tumultuous history, “It’s not how hard the dog bites but how loud the dog barks.” Their aggressive marketing campaign paid off and they began to take on projects for small businesses all over the city, in many varying forms. You can see their earlier work in District Donuts, Chateau Sew & Sew, and Romney Gym among many others.

Continued Success

Success in these endeavors lead them to relationships with major players in the city including the Besh Group and the Legendary Restaurant Group. Once again these companies did not want to work with the average contractor seeking a quick profit not interested in cultivating relationships, but instead appreciated the fact that these were real genuine people at Good Wood Nola who were working hard to produce quality products exactly the way you wanted them.

I asked about work load and if they had ever turned a project down. I was surprised to hear that they had in fact turned down many projects, their best guess was at least thirty separate offers. Although this may seem odd for a small business, they were turning business away with good sense. While it must have taken a lot for them to do so, they were not willing to put the Good Wood Nola name at risk. They were not willing to take on projects that did not intrigue them artistically or go along with their mission statement. They were also careful to only take on what they were sure they could handle, to ensure that the quality of their products did not suffer (and with it their name). They are focused on scalability, making sure that they grow incrementally and continue to produce the Good Wood Nola end results that they can be proud of. By continuing to deliver on all of their promises, and never over stating their own abilities, Good Wood has continued to develop positive and fruitful relationships all around the city.

All In

Neither Mike nor Jordan have a side job, this is their full time career. Mike has always been more focused on the business aspect of things, which includes everything from building/maintain the aforementioned social media presence to seeking out new business, to handling the massive load of red tape that goes along with their type of business. This red tape includes many different forms of insurance (as they are working with dangerous tools on a daily basis), a lawyer who is constantly kept in the loop (as they are working with dangerous tools on a daily basis), a CPA to keep the books, etc. etc.

Jordan spends more time building and creating in the shop and prides himself on being the better builder of the pair. With many more years of experience in the industry he brings an excellent calming presence to the all important production side of the business. I would trust him with any project he was willing and able to take on. It is an excellent balance the two have struck, both are able to focus on the areas where their greatest strengths lie and they complement each other beautifully.

As more projects have come through the door they have had to increase their work force. Instead of taking on more full time employees they have decided to go the route of hiring part time skilled artisans. These skilled artists are very serious about what they do, but Jordan still pokes his head in every now and again to make sure they are maintaining the Good Wood Nola quality of product (the bar is set very high). They are listed as 1099 employees, paid on a part time basis when there is work for them to do.

What is extremely impressive is that Good Wood Nola has managed to get to this point with no debts, no loans and no outside investors. They are very proud of this fact, and rightfully so. New Orleans, as they described it, is a big small town, and through word of mouth and quality work they have been able to build themselves up while always retaining control of their brand and staying in the black. This took guts, there was major risk involved in what they were doing. They put in a tremendous amount of sweat equity, and were keen to emphasize that that is the only way to build a small business that is still your own at the end of the day.