Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathaniel Beaulieu.
Hi Nathaniel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota within a household of 5! My mom, Julie, Dad, Dorian, and two brothers, Matt, and Phil. Throughout those years growing up, I was heavily involved with sports, playing soccer, basketball, baseball, football, rugby, hockey etc. Anything with a ball and a way to score points, you could find me playing! Having two brothers and very active and involved parents added to the competitiveness within our household! I later focused my efforts mostly on football and rugby, playing colligate football and international rugby for a while. My dreams at this point in my life (if you can’t tell already) were to pursue professional sports as a career! Little could persuade me out of that frame of thinking as I had grown into a very determined individual! However, trial after trial followed me later in my career as I kept experiencing injuries, lost opportunities, and “just” missing the cut. That was shortly after my college football career ended at UMD-Duluth.
With one path seeming to end, however, another opened! During college, I discovered education to be another interest of mine! More specifically, the sciences (biology, chemistry, exercise physiology, psychology, and a little bit of mathematics too). I shifted gears in my thinking and started to peruse a career in the medical sciences which turned into a desire to become a doctor! I Ended up going back to college at The College of Saints Scholastica where I spent a year fulfilling pre-requisites for medical school. I took my MCAT at the end of the year with the hopes of applying and getting into a medical school the following year. My expectations were high as (on paper) I felt my application was extremely attractive. However, my second dream of becoming a doctor was shattered by not getting into school right away. Due to a few unfortunate circumstances surrounding the reasons why I didn’t get into school, my desire to re-apply to school was challenged.
This leads me to where I’m at today! During the time when I was contemplating re-application to medical school, I decided to create a post on the Duluth Craigslist advertising handyman services to fill my time. I didn’t have any experience in the construction world as my main focus was sports and health care up to this point in my life. However, I did some painting for a landlord I knew in Duluth and interacted a lot with one of his handymen and ended up thinking to myself, “I can do that stuff too”! So, I decided to see if I could make a few extra bucks on my own. I remember my first ad, advertising my services for $20/hour! I remember walking away from my first project with $160 in cash, thinking I just robbed my customer. That was more money than I ever made in one sitting! All I did, was show up, and work hard! That was easy to me. Those values and characteristics were grounded in growing up and came naturally. Long story short, my plan was to keep doing handyman work as a side gig as I started the medical school re-application process. However, the more I worked for myself and started meeting new people in the business, my mind (again) started changing the direction it wanted to go. Over the next year or so after posting my first ad on Craigslist, I gathered enough construction knowledge and surrounded myself with enough entrepreneurial-minded people to start up my own business, Palisade Contracting! I could never, IN MY LIFE, have told you this would be where I would end up, owning a construction company. I had no prior construction experience and had no idea how to run a business. My entire life I was conditioned to think of becoming a good “employee” someday as an athlete for an organization, or a working professional in an institution. As that’s not a bad goal to have, discovering that entrepreneurship was an option for me, was life-changing! I was able to discover a whole new world of possibilities through owning a business and getting up on my own two feet.
There have been challenges…ohhhh yes! I’ve wanted to quit many times and change the course of my life’s direction when operating the company became too overwhelming! There have been many times when I said to myself, “I have no idea what to do, or where to go” as I’m sure every business owner has said one hundred times before me. However, the thought of going back to work for somebody else was more unappealing than trying to figure out what to do. Needless to say, “good people” kept showing up to help me through the struggles of operating my own company that I couldn’t be more thankful for! Owning a business has helped me grow (to the extreme) as a person and leader! The practicality of life and the principles I grew up learning have taken on a whole new meaning now I’ve had to implement some of them in a real way. Palisade as turned me into an extremely thankful and driven individual with a worldview that I can accomplish anything I want to put my heart into! A sports enthusiast, and science nerd, starting a construction company from the ground-up without any background in the industry, is just the beginning for Palisade! I’ve learned the value of following my heart to make my dreams a reality, on my own terms! I’ve learned to become independent of “something else” determining whether I’m worthy to have my dreams come true.
I’m full of thankfulness, joy, and confidence moving forward with Palisade Contracting in my career. I view the “process”, of continuing to grow though ups and downs in pursuit of what I love to do, as more important than achieving a desired outcome. Meaning, I’d rather appreciate and have joy today, in the moment, than waiting to have it in the future, which is unknown. Thankfully, opening a business and having, what It has seemed like, 1 million unknowns to tackle, has helped me appreciate my life and enjoy the moment! This makes me a better person, leader, and business owner!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, there have been many challenges following me through my journey as a General Contractor and opening a business.
- Some of the most pronounced challenges have been surrounding my lack of experience in the construction industry. Growing up focusing on my sports career and later my medical career, I didn’t leave much room to think about “construction”. I tell people, I just, “fell into it”. Unlike a young individual, who grew up around construction for a good portion or their entire life, I had to learn a lot, very fast.
- Another notable challenge was how to run a business from a logistical standpoint. For instance, how to form an LLC or S-CORP, what licenses I needed, how to bid on projects, how much I should charge, what should my contracts look like, how do I hire sub-contractors? The list goes on and on. I learned a lot about patience when facing these sets of challenges, as I had to learn slowly.
- I think this is the most notable challenge! Trying to align my heart’s desires into my company’s values. It’s very easy to “copy” other successful people or companies, especially when they reside in your field of focus or business. When you’re starting out, not knowing the “ins and outs”, it can seem logical to just copy the next person, The problem for me here was that I got out of “employment mold” to express my individuality and run things on my own terms! So, copying (although useful in some areas) wasn’t expressing “me”. The unfortunate side was, it was hard to capture what I desired to do with my business and so it seemed easier to just do what every other contracting company was going. This did NOT work for me and made me want to quit at times. Thankfully, a job coach came into my life who helped me understand my personality as a business owner. She helped me make sense of how to run my business in a way to compliment my desires as a person. One of these realizations was taking breaks. More specifically, breaks from scheduling projects back-to-back. I didn’t feel like it was expectable to take breaks if I wanted to be successful, “it was about completing as many projects as possible”. Well, that didn’t work, I got burned out and did not enjoy my life. I have since changed the way I run things and as a result we, as a company, have been more productive. The refining process is still ongoing, but I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to overcome a few other major challenges.
We’ve been impressed with Palisade Contracting, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Well, I guess you’ll just have to talk to me about it, or else I’ll be in this coffee shop for the next three days (haha)!
Basically, Palisade Contracting is a company that prides itself with adding personability back into the contracting world. The view of a lot of construction workers out there today may emulate the type of person who doesn’t show up, doesn’t get the job done on time, and or maybe is just a crass person etc. We aim to change that perception! When searching for a business name, I wanted something that represented me and the values I held and wanted to share with people. When I came across “Palisade” it was after months of searching and thinking about names! It was perfect. My good friend gave me the suggestion and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense! My grandparents own a house up the North Shore past Silver Bay, MN and happen to own a chunk of Palisade Head. The reason this is important to me is because it represents the place where I grew up, the North Shore. More importantly though, Palisade represents the process of growing up with my family and the values that were and are still instilled in me by my family. Commitment, respect, hard work, integrity, intensity, thoughtfulness, care, relationship, and love. I learned to value a good work ethic and to take pride in what I did. Chopping wood with my cousins up at Grandma and Nonni’s (“No-nee” – Italian for grandpa) house was one of my first lessons with that principle as a young man. There are countless other lessons and stories that have helped shape me into the person and business owner that I am today that all started with my family. Palisade captures that for me and I seek to share that story and experience with others through business and life.
Our services entail but are not limited to:
- Interior remodeling
Kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom, and basement facelifts/total
remodel. We like to take a 1900’s look and turn It into a 2020 look. - General construction is something we are getting more into. We enjoy building new structures into or onto existing structures. This includes new small additions to houses or decks and creating new spaces within in a house (framing in downstairs bedrooms and bathrooms to utilize the space better).
I’d say our bread and butter right now are smaller projects, like facelifts, instead of complete remodels which incorporate a lot of moving parts. We’re still a small company and don’t want to get too big too fast. We enjoy creating a more budget-friendly makeover to a space rather them completely changing the layout. This can simply look like opening up a wall from the kitchen to the living room to let more natural light in from the living room.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I’d love to collaborate with anyone who is willing to share their vision with me and listen to mine. The way I see it, the more people with the mindset of sharing their values with others are people I’d like to meet and talk with. A big focus of mine is to build the brand, Palisade. It’s not necessary all about contracting, but sharing the values I’ve gained from the experienced my life has given me. Right now, I’m achieving this though contracting/remodeling, who knows what it will turn into down the road!
I think the best way for people to work with me is to simply reach out! Let’s have a conversation! I want to hear what others have to say and share a piece of my story with them.
Money will come but I’m more excited to share what Palisade is all about and get people on board with my mission, my story, and my values!
Pricing:
- Project Dependent
Contact Info:
- Website: www.palisadecontractingllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Palisade_Contracting/
