Why? A Story of Family & Business

• Why is the company called "Jayel Solutions Network"?

• Why do you do what you do?

When I was a kid, I was lucky to spend a significant part of every summer with my grandparents. I got to do a lot of fun stuff, but some of my favorite memories were working with my grandpa, Lou Golka. He was a serial entrepreneur in his day, including road construction, equipment and vehicle dealership, land, farming, building community, and so much more. 

When I was a kid, grandpa Lou was the kind of “retired” where he woke up at 4 or 5 am to check cattle. For a rancher, moving from cow-calf operations to only having yearlings on pasture in the summer is retirement!

Lou and Jarrett - lunch break in the sand pit

He’d wake me up before dawn, and we’d drive out to a distant pasture, checking cows, fixing fences, or cleaning up the old feedlot. Some tasks were a little repetitive, but for the most part, every day was different. I’d often have to ask a lot of questions: What’s the plan? What are we doing? How do I start? Why are we doing this? Why are we doing it this way? Often the answer was a version of  “The plan is this, but plans go wrong, and then we’ll figure it out as we go, with the tools we have available”.

(One time, the haybine broke down, and I had to stop cutting hay. You literally do have to make hay when the sun shines, so we were on a deadline! We went back to the shop, and he cut up an empty can of WD-40 to use as a temporary bushing. We installed the band-aid fix, I cut hay for a few more hours, and in the morning, he drove 2 hours each way to the next town to get the proper part.)

I’ve realized that many people don’t enjoy the chaos of building something as you go. I’m grateful to Lou for a lot of things. He instilled in me a mindset that anything is solvable, that plans are important, but you have to adapt to whatever happens. To me, that chaos is a great opportunity to smooth it out.

I’m passionate about working with entrepreneurs, because you remind me of grandpa Lou.

Jayel was originally a partnership between Lou, and his brother John. (JL = Jayel)

They had a GM dealership together, and financed farmers, taking land or cattle in trade. Their cattle brand was called Anchor Bar, which was a JL forming the “anchor”, and a line underneath, the “bar”.

Today, Jayel Solutions Network’s purpose is to honour John and Lou’s legacy: 

We Build Purposeful, Lasting Businesses that are Great Places to Work.

If this story resonates, and you want to work with me to build your legacy, I'd love to hear your story.