Mark Bowe: Barnwood Builders / Barnwood Living
“It’s a mentality of adapt and overcome. As West Virginians we’ve either had to figure that out or we’ve taken the Hillbilly Highway somewhere else,” Mark Bowe says. These are the first words out of his mouth when I call to ask how he’s forged a life as an entrepreneur in the Greenbrier Valley.
As the story goes, he put himself through college at West Virginia University while working as a coal miner. It’s true. And, if you read the bio on his website, “He founded his company, Antique Cabins and Barns, in 1995. In 2016 he expanded that business into what is today known as Barnwood Living. He and his longtime crew have reclaimed more than 500 pioneer-era structures.” That’s also true, but it’s as airbrushed as the cover of Vogue.
The truer story is Mark has been adapting and overcoming for as long as he can remember. He’s a brilliant shapeshifter and, I think he’ll admit, he’s often scared as hell. But, being scared and standing still aren’t synonymous. What that bio doesn’t say is that in 2008 when the housing bubble burst, so did the booming business Mark had built. By then, he had a wife, a young son, employees, a home—in short, a lot of responsibilities.
After the market collapse, “I started thinking, what’s recession proof?” His quick answer was insurance, taxes and funeral services.
“I looked at all the barriers to all three markets and found out that insurance was the easiest one to get into,” he says.
Mark acquired an agency and then a second. Suddenly, the guy was an insurance agent. At the same time, the DIY Network was expressing interest in an old pilot for a television series based on his business Antique Cabins and Barns. That would become Barnwood Builders, a show that since 2013 has followed Mark and his crew across the country as they salvage antique, pioneer-era structures.
After the first couple years of juggling the two businesses and the show, Mark sold his agency. They’re shooting the tenth season now. These days he’s not just the main character on the show, he’s also a producer making decisions behind the camera.
Really though, the show provides an income stream so that Mark can explore new ideas without the risk of another collapse. He has franchised the Barnwood Living business in Texas. And, he, along with two partners, has a patent pending for a concept that will change the way affordable housing is built, particularly in disaster areas. Just this morning he’s formulated two more business concepts. That’s a joke, but not really.
“I’m all over the board. I’ll go to a restaurant and think, I can design that chair better. Or, it’d be nice if we could make those chairs in West Virginia,” Mark says.
For every idea of Mark’s that has stuck, at least 10 didn’t. There was pharmaceutical ginseng exporting and bamboo medical equipment and probably some he doesn’t even remember. It’s not that his early ideas were flawed; there are other people making fortunes in both arenas. His barriers were practical, and they’re the same barriers that prevent lots of people from making the leap from idea to form.
“I didn’t have the money, the relationships, or the mentors who said, ‘Here’s how you do it,’” he says.
Now he looks for opportunities to be the mentor he needed. His ideal tv show would be like Shark Tank, to help people start their own businesses “but in a kinder way.” Maybe he’ll pitch that idea when the timing is right.
It’s hard to say what Mark might do next. As unpredictable as he is, he’s not likely to change anytime soon. “I’m still a scared, poor kid inside with a blue-collar work ethic and a lot of big ideas.”