Matthew Muller is a successful business owner and entrepreneur. With an undergraduate degree in History from Louisiana State University, Matthew first found success in the museum industry. Given his knowledge in history, Matthew also went on to pursue a career in education and worked as a teacher for several years before making a permanent shift to entrepreneurship. Combining his knowledge of American history with his family’s shared passion for construction and design Matthew partnered with his wife to found his current business, Tertiary Creations. As a highly successful business owner, Matthew takes pride in creating personalized spaces with top-quality materials.
How have you achieved success?
While I definitely learnt a lot from my experiences as both a museum manager and educator, I always had an unwavering passion for entrepreneurship. My wife initially came up with the idea for our business. She is a highly creative individual with a background in design. When we realized that we could combine her creativity with my practical skills, we knew we had something special.
What obstacles have you overcome in the process?
The transition from education to entrepreneurship presented a lot of challenges. As a result, my day-to-day was a lot of trial and error. One of the biggest obstacles for me was knowing what I was capable of and understanding how exactly I could grow my business. I was unsure of our limits and how much additional talent I would need to hire.
Over time our roles became clearer, but it all comes down to experience. No amount of research can prepare you for the struggles of the business world.
What drives you to succeed?
I consider myself a very fortunate individual in that I got the opportunity to start Tertiary Creations with my wife. We are a great team and our jobs are highly rewarding. We get to help people envision a space and then make that vision a reality.
How has your definition of success changed over the years?
I think when first starting out my primary concern was having enough capital to stay afloat for the first six months. While I knew we had a strong team of hard-working professionals behind us, businesses fail all the time. I needed to be sure that we had enough financial support to meet our end goals. Eventually, we started seeing more and more business and we were able to focus on where we wanted to take the company. Now, we get to take on projects that we are passionate about without having to worry about having sufficient resources.
What has success meant to you?
Success to us is playing an active role in our local community. We play an essential part in helping both individuals and businesses and we wouldn’t trade that for anything. Success is also having a high degree of creative freedom and continuously challenging the limits of what is possible.
Do you have advice for others on how to be successful?
My best piece of advice is always welcome constructive feedback. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the moment, but it’s also important to acknowledge your weaknesses. Take the time to understand areas that may need improving and come back stronger.