On Jan. 2, 2022, seniors Andrew Powell and Kaiden Walter became some of the first  FHN students to register and get a license for a business. The pair officially opened their company, Simply Remodeled, a residential remodeling company. However, despite only officially being in business since January of this year, the pair has years of experience in the remodeling business before.

“The first day we started flipping was Nov. 15, 2020,” Powell said. “Before January, [Simply Remodeled] was not a legal business, but we have worked on multiple houses before becoming an LLC.”

Simply Remodeled primarily works on renovation and flipping houses. Renovation is the act of improving or restoring a part of a house. Flipping is similar, but is a renovation of the entire house. The pair has completely flipped three houses and has worked on renovations in about 15 other houses. 

“[Flipping] basically means taking a house that’s not good, ugly, trashy, hated, renovating it and making it something that’s really nice that someone will pay a lot more money for,” Walter said. 

As sophomores, Powell and Walter both knew that they’d like to start working for themselves and running a business, rather than working for someone else. Both also shared an interest in real estate. They both decided to team up and start working towards being their own bosses when the opportunity to work on a house presented itself. 

We’ve always had an interest in working in the real estate field,” Walter said. “I’ve been wanting to do it about half my life. [In order] to not be limited in the amount of money we make, and to work on commission.”

The pair both had to use skills they’ve learned and learn new skills in order to successfully renovate homes. From using power tools to laying down drywall, the business of remodeling requires technical finesse in order to properly restore and improve a house. Thankfully, they had resources to help them along the way.

“Mentors, YouTube, and practice,” Powell answered when asked what he used to learn how to renovate. “I’d learned a lot from family members who also worked on houses.” 

Renovation also requires a lot of manual labor. Fixing up entire houses is a group effort, not something done by just a few people. Fortunately for the pair, friends such as senior Ben Wisdom were there to help them when it was needed.

“Andrew and Kaiden are some of my closest friends,” Wisdom said. “Before [working with Andrew and Kaiden], I would come here and there to help them if needed, now I’d say I’m part of their team.”

Wisdom has helped Powell and Walter with multiple houses. Being part of their business has taught him a lot about remodeling, but has also been inspiring to him personally.

“Before, honestly I had no idea about anything with house renovation,” Wisdom said. I hardly even knew how to use most tools, but now I have a pretty good idea of how to use most stuff. I think it’s really neat how you don’t have to be super old to do stuff like that. I just think it’s cool.”

With the pair being out of school since the end of first semester, they have looked ahead and have started preparing to expand their business. Though they may not make Simply Remodeled their main job, Powell and Walter hope to continue working on houses. 

“I would say [we want] to scale to multiple states and hire more employees,” Powell said. “Not as a main job, but as another source of income.”