Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jess Hellmich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’ve known for a very long time that I wanted to own my own business. I didn’t necessarily know what that business would be, but I knew that an entrepreneurial path was for me. My approach was to get a college education (San Diego State University – Go Aztecs) and then get professional career experience, building and fine-tuning the skills and experiences I would need to eventually own something of my own. Thankfully, my entire professional career was in small business, which gave me a unique professional upbringing of always working directly with, and alongside, the owners of the companies I worked for. This was an invaluable experience and I encourage and even challenge all of you business leaders out there today to take the time to mentor your team members. You never know who you will influence to create the next big thing. This experience allowed me to be part of business-focused conversations, and debates on what decisions should be made in different situations, and then see the outcomes of those decisions. I was able to be hands-on in my role, as well as wear multiple hats so I experienced a breadth of responsibilities. I was close enough to the people at the top that I was asked my opinion and influenced decisions. I had a sense of ownership and pride.
After a successful start to my career in marketing/advertising/sales, I found myself in a position of really yearning to get out on my own and start a business. I just didn’t know what it was. In 2016, I decided to seriously start thinking about what I wanted to offer to my community, what would be the right fit for me, help me accomplish my goals, and make me happy. In early 2017 I was perusing LinkedIn and came across an article that was about healthy ways to relieve stress. The story focused on “rage rooms,” which is an activity you can do where you pay to go into a room and break things, throw plates at the wall, or take a sledgehammer to a TV set, etc. The rage room part of that story is what caught my attention because I had never heard of that as a thing to do before. It was different and interesting. It got my brain turning, but I quickly came to the conclusion that the business model involved wasn’t for me. However, it just so happens that the “suggested” reading after that article was about an axe throwing facility located in New Jersey. Again, this caught my attention. Axe Throwing? This is a commercial thing? Does it make sense? Are others doing it? It got me thinking.
In 2017, axe throwing was nearly non-existent in the United States, but had been around for several years in Canada and the UK. Some quick napkin math and sorting through some high-level business model ideas gave me the gusto to dig into this as a real business opportunity. After all, I had been hearing for years about the shift towards spending money on things to do and experiences, versus things to own and store. I thought this could make sense, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone. Cue my business partner, Paul Sherry.
Paul and I have worked with each other for several years in the past. His experience is largely in business operations, budgeting and forecasting, sales, policy/procedure, and business efficiency. He’s also incredibly good at math. In past positions, he and I helped our then-employer start a new business from scratch – and it was successful. Our strengths line up well in a very complimentary way and we’re a great team. I pitched him on the idea of opening an axe throwing venue and being part of Downtown Columbus’ nightlife and entertainment scene. Thankfully he was in a position to have interest and start picking apart the business model with me. We spent the next several months or so developing our business plan, with the goal of trying to talk ourselves out of such a crazy idea. As it turns out, we couldn’t. The next thing we knew we were looking at commercial real estate. As we were walking into our first commercial space to look at as a possible storefront, I even stopped and asked Paul, “Wait, we’re looking at real estate for a storefront. Does that mean we’re doing this? We’re going to open an axe throwing venue?”
We couldn’t talk ourselves out of this idea and determined that opening Dueling Axes was a viable business venture – so we went to work. Fortunately, both Paul and I have a construction background and felt very comfortable taking on some of the building needs required for our first location. Armed with a solid business plan and the know-how and guts of taking on a project of this size, we went to work. We secured a small business loan with the business plan we had put together and managed to talk a landlord into agreeing to a lease for our flagship location at 309 S 4th Street in Downtown Columbus. We began building what would become the first Dueling Axes. Outside of the projects where you must be licensed (HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing) we built out the entire space ourselves – erected the lanes, drove in every screw, laid the floor, painted, built the furniture… everything. We bootstrapped the start of our business and put in a lot of sweat equity. We were set to open and kicked everything off with a friends-and-family night, followed by an influencer night. Then, we were open to the public. We opened July 14, 2018, and just celebrated our 5-year anniversary last month.
One of the best parts of starting Dueling Axes is that after 5-years of operations, at the end of the day, we are still selling “fun” and we have such a great time doing it. We are so fortunate to be in this industry, where we get to see so many people smile and laugh, build bonds, create memories and partake in something they have never done before. It is exhilarating.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First and foremost I would say the ability to take action is the most important quality that I can attribute to my success. There are several cliche quotes that illustrate this such as, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” and “The answer is always ‘No’ if you never ask.” When I decided to begin taking action to start Dueling Axes I was working a full-time job and had my first child on the way. It could have been so easy to not take the steps to move the idea forward and I’m sure everyone around me would have understood. But nothing ever happens if you never start. It is also important to note that taking action doesn’t stop. Starting, operating, and growing a business takes tremendous amounts of action to continue moving forward. However, what most people don’t realize is that you don’t have to be right 100% of the time. But when you’re wrong, you do have to reevaluate and try again until you are right. You HAVE to keep moving.
The second skill or quality I find very important is the ability to plan. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place to shoot from the hip, and sometimes making a final decision in the moment is the best time to make it, but coming up with the big picture plan – the vision – is an incredibly important part of success. Being able to do this gives you a sense of direction, and makes decision making easier because you always know that the decisions you make should take you closer to your end goal rather than moving away from it. The second part of this is staying focused on the vision as you build your smaller, more focused plans. That said, the bigger vision should guide all of this.
The third quality is knowing, and being comfortable, with your strengths and weaknesses. There are things you REALLY excel at. At the same time, there are things you are only mediocre at, and then there are things that just aren’t for you. All of that is okay, but understanding what’s what as it pertains to your skill set is some important knowledge to have. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying just accept your shortcomings. I do believe we should always be trying to improve ourselves, but at the same time, Pele couldn’t have scored all of those spectacular goals without all the hard work and amazing assists from his teammates. What I’m saying is, by understanding who you are and what you are capable of (and what you’re not capable of) allows you to find other amazing people who are good at those things. Find and surround yourself with other amazing people and build an incredible team. When you find your A-Team you will be unstoppable.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
An important figure in my life, who unfortunately I didn’t get to fully appreciate and know before he passed away, was my grandfather. He was a World War II veteran earning the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, a carpenter, a father, and a doer. He built his own house from scratch and lived in it until his end. He kept great care of the material possessions he had and came from a time when you maintained and repaired your own stuff. He, unfortunately, passed away from cancer when I was just a boy, and my memories of him are few and fleeting. Thankfully I was old enough to have a very clear and vivid memory of something he did toward the end of his life though, which was taking the time to individually counsel each one of his grandchildren. I’m not sure what he told my siblings or cousins, but for me, his words have had a lasting effect and have guided my actions through life ever since. I attribute much of my success to this guiding principle I learned so many years ago, and this memory of sitting on his lap all those years ago is one I hold dear. I remember him sitting in the dining room on a simple chair. I was in the family room entertaining myself however 10-year-olds do. He called me over and I sat on his lap. He was a pretty quiet guy and the patriarch of the family. As a young kid, being in his presence was intimidating, and knowing he was sick was uncomfortable, but there was still a feeling of calm that I felt. As I sat there, he spoke softly and directly to me. He let me know he was talking with all the individual grandchildren and that it was my turn and that there was something important he wanted to tell me. He said, that no matter what you are doing in life, from the simplest to the greatest of tasks, do that thing to the best of your ability, and then go the extra mile and do a little bit more that no one expected or asked you to do. That’s it. That was his life advice for me. While simple, it has had the most profound effect on how I operate on a regular basis. This simple principle, in retrospect, has created opportunity, opened doors, set me apart from others, given me an advantage over the competition, and given me a mindset that average is not enough for me to be fulfilled. This 5-minute conversation with my grandfather, decades ago, has been the foundation of a life’s worth of experiences and actions that lets me face challenges head-on so I can chase and accomplish the success I want to see for myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theduelingaxes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duelingaxes
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DuelingAxes/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dueling-axes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKKE3Ch0T5fYy3G_THHZCjA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dueling-axes-columbus
Image Credits
All photos were taken and belong to Dueling Axes.
