Consumer Success - Jake VanHorn

>> Jake: Well the most rewarding part
of my home business is just the satisfaction of knowing
that it's mine, and the time that I --
the more time that I put into it,
the more reward I get out of it.
And having a little more time to spend with my family,
they can come in and help me too has --
has been a blessing.
I started in the tack and saddle business when I was working
on some different ranches
and there wasn't any saddle shop close.
So I started doing my own repairs, and the guys started --
I started getting some more tools, they started coming
and bringing their stuff to me.
And it's just kind of been a hobby until now.
>> Mary Ambrose: I'm Mary Ambrose.
I'm a counselor with Vocational Rehabilitation
for the state of Nebraska.
I've worked with Jake for almost two years now,
a little over two years.
First met Jake in January of '08.
When Jake came to us for vocational rehabilitation,
he already had a business idea.
He had been working primarily all of his adult life
as a cowboy, and had had several accidents and was unable
to continue doing that physically, but wanted to stay
in the same environment, the same field.
And he had an idea that he was very interested in,
in being a saddle maker, and doing repair of tack,
and then some leather working ideas.
In getting to know Jake, and after I got to know Jake I felt
that that was a very good match for him.
He's a very hard working individual,
would have no problem putting the amount of hours
into self employment that's needed
for self employment for a business.
He had a lot of contacts through his years of being a cowboy
that would lead to good business prospects, and just word
of mouth and networking already in place
because of his work experience.
Jake's very well organized, he thinks things through well,
he doesn't just jump into things, he researches things.
And all of those I felt --
qualities I felt would lend itself well to self employment.
>> Assistive Technology Partnership got a referral,
and got involved in Jake's business plan shortly
after Jake brought the plan to Voc Rehab.
Because he had already put together pretty much a business
plan, and so Voc Rehab had to -- just had to go through it.
And part of that process is
to get assistive technology involved in looking
at the worksite, or the equipment.
So that's pretty much, Mary --
We set the appointment up, came out to see Jake the same day.
And that's when I did my ergonomic assessment with him
for his saddle making business.
We always -- a technology specialist usually has an
interview process with the person they're working with,
to hear from them the disabilities,
but also the limitations in the worksite
that they're running into, that's holding them back
from working longer hours or doing the job efficiently.
So -- so that was part
of the interview process I did with Jake.
>> Jake: Well when Roxanne first came out,
she kind of interviewed me
to see what my -- my disabilities were.
And then we talked about different table heights
and chairs, and ergonomics of working I guess would be.
And we kind of -- we sat down and kind of put a plan together
about -- to make things easier for my body
for sitting long periods, or standing long periods.
Well, the Saddle Master 360
that Roxanne helped me get has been wonderful, because I --
you can do so many different things with it.
And -- and I have a bad back and hips, so I can stand up
and not have to bend over as much,
and it make it -- my work comes to me.
The little footstool when I'm sitting down tooling for hours,
just being able to get your feet up is --
is really good, along with -- well, for my hips and knees.
And this chair is wonderful.
>> Jake: I use it all the time.
[ banging ]
Probably the best piece of equipment in the shop.