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Thee Mr_jamez

@mr_jamez_

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Architectural & Design Rep
WASHINGTON
IDAHO ● MONTANA
@napavalley_cowboys
MZmasonryconsultantLLC
#cowboymason

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@mutualmaterials #mr_jamez by @mr_jamez_

Today I'm headed into LMN Architects in Seattle for their vendor convention, and the Mutual Materials tabletop is built, loaded, and ready to go.

This video is a little behind the scenes look at how I put the tabletop together, new products, samples, literature, and everything I need to talk masonry, design, and specifications.

This is the part of the job I love: getting face to face with architects and designers, explaining what masonry can do, introducing them to products they may not have seen before, and helping turn an idea on paper into something that gets SPEC’D and eventually built.

Every conversation is an opportunity to promote the trade, promote Mutual Materials, build relationships, and keep masonry in front of the people designing the future of the Pacific Northwest.

Proud to represent Mutual Materials as an Architectural & Design Rep across Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

Seattle, let’s go. Pacific Northwest, let’s go.
Beyond the Brick. 🧱
— Mr. James
#BeyondTheBrick #MutualMaterials #ArchitectureAndDesign #Masonry #PacificNorthwest by @mr_jamez_

My iterns gone for the night... 😎
Spent last weekend tearing this thing apart, wiring harness exposed, old lights coming off, and getting everything ready for the new LEDs. We shrunk down the taillights and blinkers, cleaned everything up, and started giving this ’98 Heritage a much sleeker look.

Then the workweek hit hard. I think I stepped into close to 20 different offices this week and barely saw my own.

Samples going out, jobs being discussed, jobsites being walked, architects and designers being visited just staying moving and doing what I do.

Now it’s Friday night, and it’s back to the Harley.

Pops helped me get everything to a good stopping point, but tonight I’m on my own. Time to actually learn the wiring, figure it out myself, and hopefully get these LEDs blinking, the taillight working, and this thing buttoned back up.

Bestie’s out of town, so there might not be a Brucie riding beside me tonight. That’s all right. Sometimes you wrench alone. Sometimes you ride alone.

Goal for tonight: get her wired, fire her up, and point that front wheel toward the cigar lounge.

A Harley, a little frustration, a little learning, and hopefully a good cigar waiting at the end of it.

Mr. Jamez.
Let’s go.
#MrJamez #HarleyDavidson #HeritageSoftail #Wrenching #RideYourOwnRide by @mr_jamez_

Here are a few clips from some of the testing we’ve been doing. I can’t show you everything, some of what we’re working on is proprietary, but I can show you a little bit of the process.

One of my favorite parts was getting some of the guys from the yard involved and showing them just how simple certain parts of the process can be.

More importantly, explaining why we do things a certain way. When somebody starts asking questions, getting their hands on the material, and understanding the “why” behind the product, that’s where education starts.

I love teaching. I love sharing what this trade has taught me over the years, especially with the next generation, whether they know they want that knowledge yet or not.

Masonry is a beautiful trade, and the more knowledge we pass down, the stronger the craft becomes.
I’m grateful to have been asked to participate with this small group, put my experience to work, test some new proprietary products, and bring a mason’s perspective to the table.

Mr. Jamez " Beyond the Brick". 🧱

#Architecture #Design #Masonry #MasonryHistory #EDUCATION by @mr_jamez_

“Look, Mom… got a trowel back in my hand.”

Now listen, the NDAs were signed, the proprietary stuff was discussed, but The NDAs were for me, for them to sign 😂 Warned them Masonry vocabulary is not the same as office 😉 Let me spread my wings.

😂 Office talk and wall talk are two completely different worlds. I spent decades around masons, so everybody got fair warning:

once the trowel hits my hand, the politically correct vocabulary might disappear.

All jokes aside, this was a great day. I got to step back into the role of a mason and test mortars while bringing a few different perspectives to the table, the guy who has actually used these products in the field, the guy who now represents and sells materials, and the guy who gets to sit down with the bosses and head cheeses and say, “Here’s what I’m seeing from the wall.”

As for the mixes? Proprietary means proprietary. We’re not talking formulas, ingredients, results, or the secret sauce. But getting to see what different mortars could do and where they behaved differently in real world applications, was pretty cool.

Nothing beats a crisp, cold Pacific Northwest morning with a trowel in your hand. Throw a little block down, put some stone up, lay a few brick non spec’d, right off that dry wood sucking the life out of my mortar like the good old days. 😂 A little morning banter, a little education.

From the wall to the office, and every once in a while, right back to the wall.
Mr. Jamez

Beyond the Brick
#Historymasonry #BeyondTheBrick #MasonryMatters #Masonry #architecturaldesign by @mr_jamez_

#Mr_Jamez @mutualmaterials by @mr_jamez_

I started out just giving a practice runme, the presentation, and an audience of nobody.

I left the camera rolling, and before I knew it, people started coming in, asking questions, and suddenly practice became the real thing.

I was standing there talking brick, explaining the extrusion process of thin brick and the very products we came to see being made.

Watching the video back, I realized I wasn’t practicing anymore, I was presenting, teaching, and sharing what I love.

Preparation can turn into opportunity when you least expect it.

In Canton Ohio alone. This was my last night of shenanigans.

Anybody can perform when people are watching. The real work happens when nobody’s watching, nobody’s paying, nobody’s clapping, and you’re still putting in the reps.

That’s practice. That’s preparation. That’s where you get better.

I’ve learned something along this journey: if you wait until you’re ready to prepare, you’re already too late. You prepare BEFORE you’re ready. You study the material. You practice the presentation. You learn the craft. You put yourself in uncomfortable situations until they become comfortable.

From laying masonry in the field to standing in front of architects and designers talking about why masonry matters, the principle hasn't changed, do the work before the opportunity shows up.

Preparation is the goal.

Opportunity is just where you get to prove it.

Mr. Jamez | Beyond the Brick

#BeyondTheBrick #ArchitecturalDesign #MasonryMatters #MasonryDesign #Historicalmasonry by @mr_jamez_

BIG NEWS FOR STONEKRAKEN!

We’ve officially landed in the Seattle area! 🔥

STONEKRAKEN is now available at @mutualmaterials in Bellevue, Washington!

A huge thank-you to the Mutual Materials team for welcoming Stonekraken into your showroom. We’re excited to kick off this partnership and make natural stone splitting easier for local pros!

Seattle-area masons, contractors, and hardscape professionals: Stop by Mutual Materials in Bellevue for a hands-on look at the Stonekraken hydraulic stone splitter.

No electricity. No sawdust. Just clean, precise, natural stone splits. 💪🪨

And this is only the beginning! by @mr_jamez_

At the end of the day, yeah, it’s competition. We all have our companies, our products, and our markets. But when you strip all that away, it’s BRICK. It’s American-made brick. It’s masonry. And that deserves respect. 🇺🇸🧱

As an Architectural & Design Rep, that’s the attitude I want to bring to every project I touch. I want architects, designers, contractors, masons, manufacturers, and reps to understand that there’s room to respect the entire industry. When another American manufacturer is producing hundreds of millions of brick and keeping this craft moving forward, you don’t walk past, you stop, shake a hand, say hello, tour the office, learn their history, and appreciate what they’ve built.

Because I’m not just here to sell a brick. I’m here to help sell BRICK. To keep masonry on our buildings, keep American manufacturing moving, keep masons working, and keep this incredible material in front of the next generation of architects and designers.

Different names on the brick—same respect for the craft.

Beyond the Brick. 🧱🇺🇸

#MrJamez #BeyondTheBrick #AmericanBrick #AmericanMade #MadeInAmerica by @mr_jamez_

What a day at the Metro Brick, Ironrock factory here in Canton, Ohio. Getting to see firsthand how their extruded thin brick is created, from raw material through an incredibly clean, efficient, and automated production system, was something else. Even the AI-powered robots have names tied into the owners and family.

Technology and generations of brickmaking all working together under one roof.

What really stood out was how efficiently the entire operation runs with such a small team. The equipment, automation, organization, and attention to detail show just how far brick manufacturing has come. As someone who spent years putting masonry on the wall and now gets to work on the architectural and design side, seeing where the product actually comes from brings the whole journey full circle.

The history might have been my favorite part. Seeing more than 130 years of Metropolitan brick represented on those shelves was incredible.
Then getting to see the Meredith collection, something that isn't produced anymore, and the handcrafted, hand-painted porcelain created by a member of the family was another level. That's not just product. That's craftsmanship, family history, and American manufacturing preserved for the next generation.

I love the new technology, but I have an even bigger appreciation for the history that got us here. From the hands that created it generations ago, to AI and automation producing today's thin brick, the craft keeps evolving.

From the wall, to the architect's table, to the factory floor, Mr. Jamez is following the brick all the way back to where it begins.

#metrobrick #BeyondTheBrick #MasonryMatters #ArchitecturalDesign #BrickManufacturing by @mr_jamez_

Tuesday night in Canton, Ohio with the Metro Brick / Ironrock crew & Mr_jamez, these guys know how to take care of people. Good food, live music, throwing some quarters in the machines, meeting new people, making new contacts, and creating memories along the way.

This business is built on relationships just as much as it’s built on brick.
Then today, getting onto the manufacturing floor and seeing the process firsthand, especially the extruded thin brick line, was incredible.

After more than 20 years of working with masonry from the installer side, I still get excited seeing where the material actually begins. The clay, the extrusion, the manufacturing, the people behind it, and eventually that brick ends up in the hands of a mason and becomes part of a building that could stand for generations.

That’s what makes this new chapter with Mutual Materials so exciting for Mr. Jamez.
I’ve gone from working on the wall, to talking with architects and designers, to walking the factory floor and learning how the brick itself is made. Every step gives me another piece of the story to take back to the architects, contractors, masons, and customers I work with in the Northwest.

From the wall ➡️ to the architect’s table ➡️ to the factory floor ➡️ and right back to getting masonry specified and built.

What a trip. What a trade. What a life masonry has given me.
Mr. Jamez, Beyond the Brick. 🧱

#metrobrick #MasonryMatters #BeyondTheBrick #ArchitecturalDesign #BrickIndustry by @mr_jamez_

@metrothinbrick @mutualmaterials #mr_jamez by @mr_jamez_