Every business has a beginning, but the story of 1914 Designs began during one of the most difficult seasons of our lives.

In the middle of 2008, my family and I made a big move. We packed up everything we owned and relocated to the quiet town of Dallas, Georgia. At the time, I was working for an architecture firm in downtown Atlanta. I had spent years building my career around design and construction—two things I truly loved. Life felt stable, and I believed the future was full of opportunity.

Then the housing market crashed.

What once felt secure suddenly became uncertain. The construction industry slowed almost overnight, and before long the firm I worked for could no longer keep people on. I remember the day I realized I no longer had a job. The drive home felt longer than usual, and my mind raced with questions I didn’t have answers to.

How would I provide for my family?
What would I do next?
Where would we go from here?

Weeks passed, and the job market only grew worse. The building industry—everything I knew and had experience in—had nearly come to a standstill. Every door I knocked on seemed closed. The stress began to build, and the weight of uncertainty grew heavier each day.

Those were hard times… very hard times.

There were moments when it felt like everything we had worked for might slip away. Bills piled up, savings grew smaller, and the pressure to provide weighed heavily on my heart. I didn’t want to ask anyone for help. Instead, my wife and our two daughters stood beside me, stronger than I ever realized. Together, we pushed through those difficult days as a family.

Even with their support, there were nights when the house was quiet and my thoughts were loud. Doubt crept in. Fear settled in. Slowly, depression began to take hold, and I started to feel like a completely broken man. The confidence I once had in my work and abilities seemed to disappear.

But in the middle of those dark moments, something kept coming back to my mind.

Every Sunday after his sermon, a wise man at church would repeat the same words:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

During those difficult months, that verse began to mean more to me than it ever had before.

“My Rock.”

Those two words stuck with me. A rock is strong. It doesn’t move when storms come. And that thought gave me hope. Even when everything around me felt unstable, I realized that my faith could be the one thing that stayed firm.

I began to remind myself daily that I wasn’t walking through this alone. God was still guiding my steps—even when the path ahead looked unclear.

Slowly, my perspective began to change. Instead of focusing on everything I had lost, I began thinking about the skills and gifts I still had. Design had always been part of who I was. Creating, building, and imagining new possibilities had always come naturally to me.

Maybe this difficult season wasn’t the end of my story.
Maybe it was the beginning of something new.

With faith leading the way and my family supporting me, I started to take small steps forward. What started as simple ideas and small projects slowly began to grow into something bigger.

Out of one of the hardest times in our lives, 1914 Designs was born.

What began as uncertainty became purpose. What started in struggle became a foundation. And every step of the journey has been a reminder that even when life feels like it’s falling apart, God can use those moments to build something stronger than we ever imagined.