Meet Jason and Kellie Sartain | Custom Wood Shoppe

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason and Kellie Sartain and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason and Kellie, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The single-handed most important factor in our success has been our faith. We prayed for God to lead us through the entire journey and we held loosely to the journey itself. We put this business in his hands from the start. He continues to lead the way today and guides us every single step.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets us apart from others is our ability to bring old pieces of wood to life. We can look at a tree and mold it into pretty much anything. Jason spent years in the summers with his uncle in Yakima, Washington chopping trees and learning the craft as a young teen and this is where his love for woodworking began. We particularly have skills in working with live-edge pieces. With that said, we went through many challenges in learning the processes that wood goes through naturally and how the different stages it goes through can determine what a finished product looks like. In Texas, we fight through extreme temperatures and humidity. That can be hard to deal with in a warehouse-type setting that initially did not have air conditioning. Built in 1943, the building we restored was a challenge itself and is an ongoing project- however we were determined to restore the history of the building vs tear it down! Some of our mistakes have turned into small specialized treasures. In particular, Kellie was painting a custom farmhouse table and quickly realized it was to be stained instead. Paint isn’t easy to get off so she began to stain over it to see what would happen. It is now one of our most popular custom finishes! Believing in yourself and your brand is one of the major keys to success. If you do not believe that your product is awesome…. Others will not believe it either. We have learned that confidence is everything. Customers that come to us only want the best and we can say that every project we do is our best and it’s only getting better. We never stop learning. A couple of fun facts about our place is inside of the showroom is a sweet shoppe that consists of a candy bar and features local artisans that provide our baked goods. We also love to support our youth and have two different teens whom make items for our shop. Jaylen’s Creations whose specialty is custom cards for every occasion and Petite Macarons Cherie who makes Macarons for our sweet shoppe. Both are young entrepreneurs and are high schoolers!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If this question was asked to Kellie 15 years ago… She would have said there’s not much to do in little Bellville, TX! 15 years later, this town and surrounding areas is growing. It’s the beginning of hill country and the town has remained quaint, but definitely happening these days! On Friday evening come out to Sartain’s Awesome Shoppe for a free, live concert on our large outdoor space. When we purchased our building two years ago, we knew it was more than a wood shoppe. We knew it would be used for community and we love to give back! The music is live worship music and we have concerts once a month. On Saturday, breakfast at Newman’s Bakery and from there we point you to Newman’s Castle. Yes, you heard it right- there is a real Castle in Bellville, TX! The woodworking and craftsmanship is incredible! After the castle tour, just a few miles away, head out to a fun environment and a great lunch to The Kenney store for a lunch date where there is a variety of foods from salads, to steak bites, to burgers, to street tacos. They have an awesome drink menu that has our favorite- Jalapeño margaritas! From there, head back to Bellville to the one and only blade smith at Phoenix Knives. Cowboy at the blacksmith shop just happens to be the one along with his wife Ilena, who organizes the Forged and Fire event every year. Finish the day at 22 North Holland for a divine meal.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our inspiration comes from Carol Hicks Bolton. We took a trip to Fredricksburg, Tx one weekend and stayed in a quaint little place called The SugarBerry Inn. We fell in love with the decor and just happened to mention that to the registration desk who told us we should check out Carol Hicks Bolton Antiques downtown. We did, and were just in aw at the environment she created. A year later we took another trip back to get some inspiration and we had just purchased our storefront building. That day, Carol was there and we had never personally met her. We told her our story and she was so gracious spending time with us and she asked if she could pray with us and for our business. It was truly a blessing. She is a supporter of ours to this day. We also have Tony and Rita Krueger out of Kenney and they own The Kenney Store. Like us, they turned a run down landmark into a place of gathering and fellowship. They continue to be supporters and have given us great business advice that has helped us along the way. Finally, our staff, family, and friends. None of this would be possible without their hands.

Instagram: @sartainsawesomeshoppe

Facebook: Sartains Awesome Shoppe

Other: (No apostrophe on the FB page… for some reason it doesn’t let us put one on the title)