THE MEN’S ISSUE
Joe Smith
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Joe Smith is a veteran, native Clarksvilian, current Montgomery County Commissioner, and a local business owner. VIP recently got the chance to sit with Joe and chat about Clarksville, community, business, and what the future holds. What was it like to grow up in Clarksville? What are some of your fondest memories? Clarksville is unique in my opinion, I grew up on a farm, but we still had quite a bit of things to do in the city. For example, after working in tobacco all day out at the farm, we could go into town in the evening to go skating, bowling, or to see a movie. my fondest memories would be spending time on the farm, while it was hard work most of the time, it taught me work ethic and how to use my mind to solve problems. What accomplishment are you most proud of ? That’s a tough one, I would say when I left home at 17 years old and earned the title of United States Marine, that would have to be my proudest accomplishment. But I will say becoming a City of Clarksville Fire Fighter and becoming an Elected Official are right up there with it as well. Through your work as a firefighter, a County Commissioner, and active community member, you are always building ClarksvilleMontgomery County up. What aspect of our community are you most passionate about? I really love Clarksville and want to make sure we maintain that unique small-town charm,
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while it grows into a city that provides plenty of activities and family events for our youth. How long has Jodi’s Cabinets been in business? My mother started Jodi’s Cabinet Sales back in 2002 out of her garage, although my grandfather had started our family in the cabinet industry back in the mid-70’s. After he retired, she decided it was time to start her own business, so she would go measure a house first thing in the morning, then go deliver the cabinets to another house and install the cabinets that afternoon. She built the business from scratch, due to hard work and determination. It’s heartwarming to see generational businesses thrive. How was the transition for you? We talked about it initially when I decided to come back into the family business about 10 years ago. We discussed how we would build a business we could pass down to the next generations and we started planning for her to be able to retire within 10-15 years. She taught me everything I know about the cabinet part of the business, so I hope she feels that she has put it into good hands. I implemented what I knew about business structure and management to help the business become more sustainable. What does your day-to-day look like? My day typically starts around 5:30AM with sending out daily assignments to installers and delivery teams, then most of the morning is spent either measuring or checking on
installers to ensure they have everything they need on site. Then the later part of the days are spent doing paperwork and office work. We are processing about 40-50 kitchens per week, so the paperwork side can be time consuming. What has been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome? Our biggest challenge of the last year has been material availability, we had a shortage due to the government shutting down factories last year. This put us behind schedule on over 300 kitchens. It took quite a bit of time and patience to get caught up and back on schedule. We are still dealing with delays on some brands even now. What is your favorite part of the job? My favorite part of the job is the transformation. It does not matter how big or small the job was, but to see a space go from old and bleak, to new and beautiful is my favorite part. We even get hand written notes from many of our clients who are very satisfied with how their project turned out. What are your goals for the future? Our future goal is to open a new location, and that location will have our showroom, office, and warehouse space all in one location. We plan to be ready to serve Clarksville residents for many years to come. I am hoping one of my 5 children will be wanting to come back home and take over the business someday, after they have had plenty of time to travel and live a little.
