This is Us.
These are the bones behind this business. We’re about people, about creating awesome spaces and about finding the joy in it all.
Our business was born in 2009, just before the birth of our second child. We took the “now or never” approach, left our current jobs and took a giant leap of faith. That first year had a huge learning curve. While our son was taking his first steps, we were taking ours as new business owners. It wasn’t all rash decisions. The idea of our own contracting company had been simmering for a long time. We’ve been married 12 years, and I’ve known Ladd half my life. He has always wanted to work with wood. Ladd spent his younger days framing houses during the summer. When we were first married he came home every day covered in wood dust from a day of building furniture and custom built-ins for a local woodworking company. He built his first piece of furniture in Australia from wood he salvaged while working in the Daintree.
(He still talks about that piece.)
Ladd Suydam
I am a proud father of two inquisitive, hilarious children, husband to my wife, and creator and business owner. I started Ladd Suydam Contracting, LLC after a life long lover of building. I studied Biology in college but chose to focus on my love for the trade instead. I've spent time traveling, living in Australia for a year, guiding canoe trips in Canada and living in Colorado, New York and Virginia. I decided to set roots here in the Midwest, building a life and a business.
Jen Suydam
I am a mother of two, wife of my incomparable partner in life, Ladd, who I cannot imagine traversing life without, and last but not least, a business owner and creator. I have a background in Biology and passion for design and photography. I chose the safer route for degrees, but cannot ignore the creative side. I work to bring this personality into our business. We love rehabbing, refurbishing and building from scratch. I love documenting it and making it our own.
I am in love with design and have firsthand experience in the nature of self-employment. My father was an artist and graphic designer and I remember the countless late nights of deadlines and the sounds of the squeaking of his office chair, the swishing of paintbrush in water and the classical music drifting up from the basement studio as he worked. I knew first-hand the commitment and time it would take. I knew this would be a lot of hard work. And with two little ones at home, I knew it would require a lot of balance. We took the plunge and the risk has been so very rewarding.
We look at things differently, which makes us a good team. But one thing we agree on is our passion for creating and our love for building a home. Everything we do is for our family. Everything we do stems from a love of creating. We hope in the process we strike a balance in life. And we hope you see the evidence of our love for this work in our work.
Jen and Ladd Suydam
Ladd- Owner, Carpenter, General Contractor, Sales,
Operational Manager, Estimator
Jen- Office manager, Marketing Coordinator