Construction isn’t a field commonly associated with social media, but Jake Johnson’s successful business strategy relies heavily on his well-curated Instagram account. “No one even calls me by my last name,” Johnson says. “They know me as @JakeJohnsonDesigns.’ That’s when you know you’re doing it right—when people recognize you by your brand.”

The 33-year-old’s account functions as both his business card and website, keeping him top of mind among potential customers, whose feeds are regularly updated with snapshots of his life and latest projects. Images of Johnson smiling with friends and striking dramatic poses inside his newly constructed projects radiate his charismatic personality in a way a scrap of paper can’t.

“I recognized there was a niche there, and I’m grabbing at that with both hands,” Johnson says. “Obviously my generation might not have the money now to buy the homes that I’m building, but a lot of them might at some point, so they’ll know exactly who to go to.”

 

I’m huge on affirmations. To give life to something, you have to say it.

 

However, Johnson’s resourcefulness in the digital world and on the job site didn’t appear overnight. Growing up in a farming family in Spokane, Washington, he dropped out of high school his senior year and worked as a barista and a dishwasher before discovering his aptitude for construction. “I ended up learning very quickly,” Johnson says. “I was just built for it. I was really nimble, and I was fearless. It was the first time in my life that I actually stuck with something.”

In 2005, a year into his newfound passion, he was given 24 hours to accept a spot on a roofing crew destined for Princeville, Kaua‘i. Johnson packed his bags and, by 19, became one of the youngest and most dedicated members of American Tradition Homes’ construction crew. “People in their 40s typically don’t like to listen to a teenager,” Johnson says. “I was always the last one there—they would have to kick me off that job site. I would be there six days a week, and I would work Sundays if they’d let me.”

Projects led him to Maui and then O‘ahu. By 21 years old, he was making $100,000 a year. But by 2012, he had discovered something worth taking a 50 percent pay cut to pursue: constructing modern custom homes. His first was a Paiko Drive home designed by architect Jim Schmidt, who Johnson would watch sketching field changes on bar napkins. Johnson’s visual learning style helped him self-teach a lot of the skills he saw around him.

In a field requiring both innovation and practicality, Johnson’s construction background has its advantages. “It allows me to value-engineer things because I know exactly what it is going to take to do it in the field,” Johnson says. “I can really provide some creative insight because there are different ways to get the same outcome, and some avenues are a lot easier and cheaper than others.”

Johnson credits his mentor, Tom, with providing him the platform necessary to launch his career and considers him an investor, partner, mentor and father figure. “How many people are going to give a 28-year-old the keys to a $5 million project?” Johnson says. “I had never done anything like that.”

In the five years since building his first modern custom home, Johnson’s career has taken off. He’s tackled back-to-back projects, filmed a soon-to-be-aired episode of HGTV’s Aloha Builds and begun construction on his own shop.

But according to Johnson, his success comes with a responsibility to give back. He recently held his first fundraiser for the Aloha Cancer Project this past December and hopes to mentor struggling kids in the future. “I want to have the strength to be somebody of leadership in the community,” Johnson says. “To do those things that not everyone wants to do.”

Johnson’s achievements unexpectedly brought him full circle when his old high school invited him to speak at its graduation ceremony. “It’s funny, I thought ‘I didn’t graduate, I’ll definitely do this but I want a diploma, please!’” Johnson laughs. “You know you’re doing something right when that sort of thing happens.”

Though it’s obvious to his Instagram followers that 2018 has been good to Johnson, he has a specific intention behind his omnipresent hashtag #BestYearYet. “I am huge on affirmations,” Johnson says. “Sometimes it might come off a little cocky, but I’m actually just doing it to hear myself say it. To give life to something, you have to say it. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and that’s a good feeling.”