Meet Jaime Olivares Jr. | Carpenter & designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jaime Olivares Jr. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jaime, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
So, I actually am a parent and. I have a 5 year old daughter named Aurora. I think the most important thing I’ve done that has impacted my child is her knowing how many issues and problems I run into as a carpenter/designer and constantly having to figure out solutions. That’s part of it. The other part is that when these issues occur and I’m going through the trail and error, I’m always smiling. I’m pretty optimistic so I’m very positive when I get stuck on something. Is it frustrating? Yes. Do I sometimes get upset? Yes. But I’m always working on trying to find that solution for that one problem that I’m stuck on and I don’t give up because I know she’s watching. That’s very big for me and very motivating. She thinks the world of her mother and I so we try to be very aware of our actions and decisions.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Well, any kind of art is always different from others and that goes for most things in life. Woodworking is a very special thing. So many people do it and they have for thousands of years which always blows my mind. But what sets me apart from other is that everything I do comes out of the love of carpentry. I’m sure others do it out of love as well but no one loves any one thing the same. No one builds the same thing the exact same way. For some it’s fun and a hobby and for some it a stress reliever but for me, it’s my life. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else but this. The thing that I’m most proud of is that I’ve been doing this for 18 years and all my hard work is starting to pay off. All I want in my life, as far as my career goes, is to do what I love. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m very thankful that I stuck with this. I could have went in a lot of wrong directions in life that wouldn’t have been good for me but I decided to take this road. I feel like building things was always apart of my life though. My parents didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up but they did notice I was the creative type at a young age. A lot of my gift growing up were art sets, Legos, Steel Tech and working on my bicycle whenever it broke. So them seeing that in me was really great because as I got older I started building ramps and always wanting to fix things around the house and at 18 years old I started my first job in a wood shop. And part of me wants to say that some of it was hard but it only was because I made it hard.

When I first started, I loved what I was doing but I was also not focused like should have been. I was running around a lot and partying with friends and making dumb choices that really made my life harder than it should have been. These choices led to addiction and a lot of ups and downs in my life. And I feel like my biggest challenge was always me being in my own way. I was really good at self sabotage and I think it was because I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I was going anywhere in life but that was also partly due to the people I surrounded myself with.

The great thing is, at 27 years old I found Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and it helped me kick my addiction. I straightened my life out and lucky I got a job opportunity in Oregon in 2014. So I packed up with a few dollars in my pocket, took a chance and it was the best decision I have ever made in my life. The best thing that I took away from this part of my life is, be careful of who you keep around you because they will always reflect who you are. That, and the best way to get out of a bad situation is, take a chance and start all over. It’s never too late to recreate who you are as a person.

What the world should know about me is that it took a lot of work to be the person that I am today. The father, the friend, the carpenter and I’m very proud of who I am and I love myself very much. We are always changing and evolving, and the same goes for my craft. I will be a forever student of life and the arts so expect very cool things coming up with Olive Tree Creations because the learning isn’t over yet.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, luckily my best friend did visit for about 5 days in May because he might move his family out this way so I was really trying to sell him on it. He owned a tap room in Cheney, Washington called North Star Taps so when he got in I took him too a few tap rooms in Alpharetta, where I live. Just about every morning he was here, we went to The Nest Cafe in Alpharetta for breakfast because I wanted him to try it. I get my coffee there everyday and me and my daughter have breakfast there once a week and have been since she was about a year old. We checked out a few Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gyms because he trains as well. We become friends because we met during a class in Portland, Oregon at Nemesis BJJ. Instantly became BFF’s. Hahaha. But our first stop was 10th Plant Atlanta which is owned by Sean Applegate, who is an absolute genius on the mats. He’s such a good dude and his school is one of the best in Atlanta. So taking my Buddy there was a no brainer. After that was a couple of cold ones at Pontoon Brewery in Sandy Springs. We weaver our way through the area and ended up at Alpharetta Eats. Which is a food festival in our great city that is so much fun and was such a blast to attend. Would recommend to any in the area visiting in May. Was also dropped into my home gym, Unit 2 in Decatur which is ran by my good friend Jeffery Boudreaux. This man is the best instructor I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning under and also that day we were there, I actually got my black belt. Which was really rad to have my best friend there. He was there in Portland when i received my purple as well as my brown and just so happen to be in town for my black belt. Pretty cool. We did a few hikes: Indian Seats Trail in Cumming and we also went to Duke Falls in Helen, Ga. I also took him to BB’s Bagels for breakfast one morning and to Smoke Jacks for lunch. We had dinner at Jekyll Brewery one night as well as Fairway social. To any visiting Alpharetta, you’ll be all set in places to eat. If there was more time, we definitely would have adventured more but for the time he was he, we all had a blast.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh my goodness, this is a great question! Yes, there is. There are very specific people and there’s a group. I’d like to start with the group. All of my friends Dads growing up and mine as well. When people say it takes a village to raise a child, it couldn’t be more true. I’ve always watched and learned lessons from every man in my life growing up whether it was negative or positive. Both lessons are absolutely necessary to a child and I was heavily influenced by them all picking up and putting down certain information. I appreciate every single one of them for feeding my brain, even if they didn’t know they were.

The 2 people that motivated me to be a wood worker is my childhood friends dad, Ken Morgan. He was a construction worker and I always thought he was the coolest dude ever because he was always building things for his kids and at home and watching that when I was a kid was so awesome. I’ve actually had the opportunity to cross paths with him about 10 years ago while I was walking into Home Depot. I hadn’t seen him in years at that point but we got to talking and I actually thanked him for being a big part of me wanting to be a carpenter. It was very emotional for the both of us but it felt really good to let him know that he had such a positive impact on my life and he was really appreciative of it as well.

The other gentleman is still to this day a huge guide for me and if it wasn’t for him I never would have thought of or probably wanted to build things for a living. Mr. Nate Rudolph. I met him in 2009 or 2010 I believe and this man is such an amazing woodworker. I worked at a shop across from his and we became very good friends and watching him work and provide such an amazing service to people was beautiful. I also had a chance to work for him for a short time and no matter what, he always gave me such great advice, knowledge, tips and was just a great example of a smart business owner, husband, father and friend. So to all of those that helped get me to where I am now, I will always love and appreciate you. Especially Nate. I have nothing but love and respect for that man.

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