| FFA Nation

Janna Oxford builds and sells custom plaques, podiums and signs

Blair Thomas | 05/01/2011 |

Janna Oxford wears many hats. For her business, Barnyard Designs, she is one part supply purchaser, one part designer, one part builder, one part marketer, one part sales analyst and all parts businesswoman.

She has to be. Janna is the sole owner and operator of a woodworking business that builds and sells custom plaques, podiums and signs to FFA chapters and small businesses across her home state of Indiana.

Today, Janna is finishing up her year of service as the Indiana FFA treasurer and will begin her sophomore year at Purdue University in the fall. But the idea for Barnyard Designs came about in 2006 while she was a member of the Cloverdale, Ind. FFA chapter.

“I had a sheep production placement SAE (supervised agricultural experience program), but I decided it was time for something new,” Janna recalls. “I needed a new SAE avenue.”

It was Janna’s father who suggested she use the Shopbot Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Router that he had in his wood shop to carve designs into wood products to sell.

“I thought it was a ridiculous idea and that no one would even think about buying the products,” Janna says. “But I found out I was wrong.”

Janna took that ridiculous idea and turned it into a small business, and soon she was learning about marketing and management and how to run the tools in her father’s shop. “I cut the wood, run the CNC Router to carve the wood, sand, paint, stain, construct and finish products,” Janna says. “And then I print invoices and use Excel spreadsheets to track sales.”

Janna follows each project from start to finish, from taking the order until the last coat of finish seals the final product.

Her process starts with drawing up the design using Artcam Pro software, selecting a router bit for the Shopbot and generating its tool path. Once the design is transferred from the computer and into the CNC Router, Janna says it’s time to start cutting. She then aligns and mounts the carving material to the router and the machine is ready to carve the design. After the design is carved, Janna sands and seals the product and then paints it according to the customer’s specifications.

Janna makes plaques, podiums and signs out of wood and Plexiglas materials. She has permission to use the FFA emblem on products that she sells within Indiana, and a lot of her products are purchased by FFA chapters throughout the state or by individuals involved with FFA.

“I send and hand out brochures, business cards and just use word of mouth,” Janna says of her marketing strategies. She also hopes to build a website to continue to grow her business.

Janna plans to keep Barnyard Designs going while she continues to pursue her degree in agriculture education from Purdue. The money generated from the business helps pay for her school.

And while Janna will complete her term as Indiana FFA treasurer this summer, she says her experience with FFA has
been the time of her life.

“FFA has taught me so many things and given me the experience of a lifetime,” Janna says. “From leadership to responsibility, from time management to building friendships, and from strengthening my passion to never giving up.”

Barn-Again Materials

Some of Janna’s creations have incorporated a bit of history in them.

“I’ve used barnwood we have from tearing down an old barn or any that’s given to me,” she says. “The old barnwood adds a cool effect to some of my products.”

So far, Janna has made some signs and other items for her family to use around the house, but she sees it as an opportunity to expand her business even more – in a highly sustainable, earth-friendly way.