hi. hello. nice to meet you.

hello trumpet friends... 

my name is jennifer sandquist. i have been working for harrelson trumpets in every capacity possible... except building them... since day 1. i have watched this business grow from a picnic table, tool box and half an office in a tiny apartment. at that time the other half of the apartment was devoted to the computer and storage. from there, the business moved to a small one car garage with broken windows and a drafty door.... my office was in a closet... and all of the photos we took were staged in the bathroom... because it had the best light. i have spent more hours than i can count shopping for tools and supplies. i have taught myself countless software applications. i know how to pack and ship trumpets, order boxes, file postal claims and deal with just about any customs form the post office  can throw at me. i taught myself web design to build an ever evolving web presence for harrelson trumpets. currently our shop space is... in my opinion... the perfect size. there are 3 of us that share the office now... our first "shop" could fit into the space our office occupies now- 10 times- easily. small business is alive and well in america. i know, because i have lived it. when we started this company... jason and i both had full time jobs. i was just out of college (advertising major) and jason was working as a music teacher and performing. he worked late hours and we barely saw each other. even before the business took off. we had drive. a drive to do something bigger than ourselves. sometimes it seems to me, that was all we had. every step of the way, we were met with obstacles. money... money was always an obstacle. we made choices between our life and and business on a daily basis. would we get new tires, or a new sander. would we save for a vacation or a lathe. in daily life, the business won. but, i can tell you this... i never once regretted that. i think of Harrelson Trumpets as a child... and that seems to be the only way most people can understand what i mean when i say... we loved it... have always loved it.... and can't do anything without considering it's welfare. it is easy to sacrifice your own simple pleasures for the welfare of your children. (or so i have heard) the same is true with this business. it was built on hope. a hope, much like that with a child... that it will one day... make us proud. that all the hours will come back to us... it already has in so many ways. for me anyway, the best days are those when clients call or email us with a gleaming review... a success story... praises to make what it is we do all worth while. every little success- to us has been a major victory. i remember so many times... literally jumping up and down... or screaming with glee.... things like one big order that helped to propel us with new equipment. moving to a new space. our first real brochure. our first big name clients. buying the vmc. all of them... big and small victories... to us a pat on the back for hours of thankless work. work that at times made us question our own sanity.... was it all worth it? 


the business is thriving in a way it never has before. mostly due to feedback and word of mouth advertising from our clients worldwide. this makes me very happy. currently my position... ever evolving as i mentioned earlier... is primarily social networking, pr, advertising and web design. so, i see first, when clients rave about our horns. it means so much... not just to me, but to jason and to the business. 

the focus of my blog here is going to be on the human aspects of the business... these are the things that matter most to me... and those that are in the front of my mind on a daily basis. i hope to offer a unique and personal view of what it is we hope to do and where we are going. 

what else is there to say about me... i grew up in rural minnesota. in a working class family. on a dead end gravel road. my graduating class had 80 kids in it. i knew everyone in my small town. i love music and art. when i am not at harrelson trumpets, i am usually painting. i am a working professional artist with shows around the country and many in the minneapolis area. this is a link to my website

www.jenniferdsandquist.com

i maintain a blog there as well, about my art and my work... and here is a link to that: http://www.jenniferdsandquist.com/studio-blog.html

i care so much for this company and have invested my own time, money and tears along the way. i am excited for the future and am ready to see the Harrelson baby go on to bigger and better things. thank you to everyone who has expressed true interest and inspiration.

i am going to try to dig up some old shop photos... early ones... i think everyone would get a kick out of them.