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

Hi Jaime, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work Life Balance is such a hot topic! There are so many different theories around it, tutorials on how to maximize time, boundaries on saying Yes and No to create balance etc. and the list goes on. Our thoughts on it though might not be the most popular! We realistically believe that majority of the population (ourselves included), can not compartmentalize our brains in that way, nor should we, as it’s not natural! Work is important aspect to life, but family and friends and downtime is equally as important! When we are going through something hard personally, we don’t necessarily agree with the narrative that is pushed in the work force that you have to ‘leave that at home’ and vice versa when work is hard and as a society we are pushed to ‘leave that at work’. I think that might be why the conversation (especially after the Pandemic) around mental health and well being is at the forefront these days. My balance hasn’t necessarily changed over time, I have just learned to lean into it. A mentor of ours told us once ” DO Not confuse busyness with progress.” Work is busy, and home life is busy. There is no way around it. That being said, it has helped me to create new habits that naturally help slow down both lanes, so we can enjoy both work and life outside of work symbiotically!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We started our company Tinker Tin in 2012! We were the very first mobile vintage trailer rental company in the United States. We love and are passionate about American history and preservation, so our mission was to rescue and restore as many forgotten trailers as we could! We began by restoring and renting out vintage camping trailers solely! We would deliver and set them up at campgrounds across the US. Within the first year we started getting calls from clients looking to use the vintage campers as a VIP suite at a concert or a Bridal lounge at a wedding or a bar. Our next transition happened organically, as we had quite a few trailers in our yard that we had rescued with missing interiors. Next, we began converting those rescued trailers that were missing their original interiors, into bar trailers or photo booth trailers or lounges for events! We are located on the Central Coast of California so exactly half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Naturally, I think because of our location, we started receiving a lot of interest from production companies or brands that wanted to use the trailers for branded activations, commercials, movies and film! At this point we already had an awesome build team in place that were professionals in hard to navigate build spaces (aka the small trailers with compound curves) as well as professionals in building within impossible timelines and deadlines haha. The clients who were renting the trailers started asking us regularly to build custom bars, or shelving, or add a fun lounge to their rental. The evolution of our business thus continued when the brands and production companies started asking for our builds solely, without the trailer rentals at all. We then launched Made By x Tinker Tin! Made By specializes in design, engineering, and manufacturing of retail displays and full retail store design and build, as well as trade show booths and experiential marketing builds. Made By x Tinker Tin manufactures custom large quantity orders domestically as well as internationally with facilities in California, Mexico and China! We are so proud of everything that we do! I am especially proud of our ability to adapt and scale and change with what are clients changing needs, without compromising who we are!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my bestie was in town visiting, our itinerary would be packed to the gills! We would start by taking the scenic drive to Cayucos, CA! We would do a hike on the bluffs, walk the beach or jump in the water, then eat at The Hidden Kitchen! We would then head back home grab the horses, and trailer to Cass winery! We would ride the vineyard and riverbed. Afterwards we would tie up the horses at Cass, and then have a late lunch with wine! On the way home we stop by Negrantis Creamery in downtown Paso for sheeps milk ice cream! After putting the horses away and relaxing at home for a bit- that evening we would then head to our favorite local secret at The Halfway Station on Hwy 41 west (on way towards Morro Bay) for farm to table dinner and live bluegrass music! Their Ahi Salad and buffalo cauliflower wings are our absolute favorite!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family is my largest supporter and who I dedicate most all my success to! When my husband Carl and I started our first business Tinker Tin 10 years ago, in the beginning when we were solely renovating and renting vintage travel trailers, both my mom and dad helped! They did everything from sanding and helping paint the trailers, to hauling and setting up at events! When we opened The Trailer Pond (the vintage trailer campground at a winery in Paso Robles) my folks would even come help clean the trailers after guests checked out, and my Dad would even paddle around in a canoe to scoop out the moss in the Pond so it looked more majestic for Pond guests haha! My oldest brother Brian has been an attorney and NFL agent for almost 15 years. He helped us set up so much of our business contracts and operating agreements and trademarks and still does to this day! In the first handful of years when he would have breaks in the football season, we would rope him into coming and helping us build (he’s a great builder to- which is unfair the amount of skills he has haha) and also haul trailers and work events! My little sister spent many years at Coachella/Stagecoach helping us run the art installations/ backstage lounges and activations! Then my youngest brother Matthew (who has since become an owner of Tinker Tin) started by assisting us with restoring trailers and running events, to helping us scale our business into the large scale retail fixture and manufacturing company that we are today! My whole family is so encouraging and inspiring and I feel so incredibly blessed and fortunate! I know that having all family help from the beginning is not common and we do not take it for granted!

Website: www.tinkertin.com // www.madebytinkertin.com // www.thepennyslo.com

Instagram: @tinkertincompany

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaime-holm-752795112

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ReMtv5qGBlAtGgdNd1tXQ

Other: https://www.madebytinkertin.com/about

Image Credits
All photos are owned by Tinker Tin! You can credit Elizabeth Hay for the 2 airstream ones.

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