About

Hi, I’m Marten

It all began for me straight out of high school, when I landed a job in a warehouse where it became common knowledge that Marten did 2 for every 1 of everyone else’s production. I’m not special, just crazy enough to want to give the extra effort to get “S” done.

 

After 4 years of that, I decided to try my hand at my own business, so I left in search of learning what it took to run a company. With no real direction or industry in mind, I jumped at the chance to join my sister and partner up on a landscaping venture.

We did immaculate work, and after 5 years we built a solid clientele list. We could have taken the business in a few different directions but decided to let it go when she wanted to start a family. And I didn’t feel like landscaping was the business I wanted to make a career out of.

Learning from a “Master Craftsman” on how to paint the interior of new homes and renos was what I had been doing for work in the landscaping off-season. No surprise, that’s what I jumped into next. It was fantastic because I could put in ridiculous hours, especially on new construction houses, and nobody cared! I had one largely established contractor say to me that the hours I put in weren’t human…in a good but “you’re nuts” way.

I spent 13 years in that industry until I felt I wanted something more, so I switched it up for a house framing business. I had done a bunch of framing off and on since high school and knew a few framing business owners, so with my own company, I took on the challenge. 5 years of that…still not the one.

Doubling back a few years, I had had a passion for writing since about grade 5. I never really pursued it until somewhere in my painting days when I started to write silly things to amuse myself and my friends (e.g., Musings of a Painter & Musings of a Painter Part Deux).  I also started attending writing seminars, where I gained a lot of valuable information.

The funny thing about the silly writings is how I formulated the text. An English teacher at a seminar told me most people write a whole bunch of stuff with very little meat, whereas I wrote very little with a TON of meat. It turns out I was copywriting in my own WILD, UNTAMED fashion 15 years before I knew what professional copywriting was. Looks like I found the “WINNER!!”

I learned my writing and related business strategies from THE best “Copywriting Teacher” out there (‘Sup J-Dawg). https://jacobmcmillen.com/professional-copywriter/ is the creator of my favorite group of supportive people https://jacobmcmillen.com/write-minds/. The more I dug into the lessons, the more I knew this was where I belonged and where I wanted to stay. HALLELUJAH! PRAISE BE!!

Hobbies in preference order: Skiing/Dirt Biking (I love exploring Mountains) (And they’re exhilarating activities)

                                                   : Golf

                                                   : A Bunch of Other Stuff

I have employed 150-200 people over the years. If you add in the ones that were placed in my care by my employer (because I am almost always put in a leadership role wherever I work), you would easily be north of 300 people following my leadership. Lots by some standards, not much by others, but 96.7643% of them would STILL consider me a friend.

I hope you like this TEASER!