Evolution of an Enterprise, Chapter 16: Family Support

Jason Mitchell has been living with business partners Michael and Natalie Mardis in their 1,600-square-foot home since before they opened design firm theworkshop 308 LLC in January.

However, the unconventional living arrangement doesn’t bother Natalie Mardis, who said Mitchell is free to stay as long as he wants.

“(Jason) wakes Michael and I up every morning with a song and then yells ‘Yea for the day,’” she said. “We really are all three together most of the time. It even surprises the three of us that we don’t get sick of each other, (but) this is … our family. I love our family.”

Strong family support has been critical to getting theworkshop 308 open and steadily progressing. Mitchell and Michael Mardis recently signed a $4,700 contract to build two workstations and a front counter for the soon-to-open Prix Tattoo in downtown Springfield, and they sold the first two pieces of furniture off their showroom floor. They’ve also received orders within the last couple of weeks to build four pieces of custom furniture.

“None of this would be possible without Nat’s support,” Michael Mardis said. “She gives me strength and encouragement to keep pushing forward and working hard.”

Natalie Mardis has known Mitchell for as long as she’s known her husband. The three met in 1997 as students in Drury University’s architecture program. The Mardises began dating in 2000 and married in 2002. After graduation, the trio stayed friends even though the Mardises moved to South Carolina and Mitchell moved to Chicago.

Last year, Mitchell and Michael Mardis gave up jobs at commercial architecture firms and returned to Springfield to open theworkshop 308. Natalie Mardis said she was on-board with that plan from the beginning.

“It felt like what we were supposed to do – what we were intended to do,” she said. “I believe in it.”

Even though Mitchell and Michael Mardis work 70 hours per week, the entrepreneurs only pay themselves $125 each per month. That leaves Natalie Mardis paying the bulk of personal bills, though she said Mitchell pays his own way.

To make money, Natalie Mardis, a graphic designer by trade, makes custom stationary and invitations that she sells through her husband’s office at 308 W. Commercial St. She also has a full-time consulting job for a South Carolina law firm. She’s worked for that company for five years, providing research for bankruptcy cases.

“The loss of income has been really hard,” she said. “Michael and I went from a very comfortable two-income family to a very tight one-income family. We almost feel like we are back in college sometimes.”

Of course, the family support doesn’t stop with Natalie Mardis. Mitchell and Mardis credit supportive parents, too.

“If there is ever a time of question or struggle, they’re there to reassure me that this is the right direction for my life,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s father, Terry Mitchell, said he’s proud of his son and his business partners. He said he feels “anxious” about his son’s business risks, but that’s negated by his confidence in his son’s determination and abilities.

“It’s great,” said Terry Mitchell, a retired pharmaceutical sales representative of 26 years. “I’m fascinated by all of their work over there.”[[In-content Ad]]