Meet Joe Barron | Owner & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joe Barron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joe, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Let’s start with where I’m from. If you would have asked me that question when I was 10, I wouldn’t know how to answer that question… Being that my dad was in the service so we moved a lot. By the looks of it, through pictures, I could have easily said I’m European. But we had moved to the states and stayed ever since. But back to the question. Where am I from? I would say I’m from Brownsville, Texas. Brown-town as some people call it. The most southern tip of Texas.

I would say several factors, characteristics, and people have shaped me and who I am today. As far as characteristics are concerned, resiliency and stubbornness would be at the top my list. For one, I’m naturally stubborn as my wife puts it. Early in my life, resiliency came hand-in-hand as certain circumstances resulted in being in a single family home. Being the oldest of two it was rough in the beginning, stubbornness and resiliency became my backbone through all the up’s and down’s…

If it wasn’t for my mother’s ever persistence in promoting education, not sure where I would be. I guess at some point early my life I took my mother’s importance in education to heart and it hasn’t never left me. The other people in my life that have shaped me are my two grandfathers’. Whether it be coming to the states to make a better life for their family or having a business of their own and commitment to their beliefs are interwoven in me.

Factors, being poor is a humbling experience. Certainly the word “poor” has many negative connotations, but at the same time it can be liberating. The environment in ones life is raw and transparent. Growing up fast, being the oldest, in a single family home wasn’t a smooth process but like most things it grows on you.  With also being the oldest comes responsibility and in many ways (whether knowingly or unknowingly) creating pathways for those coming up after you.

Who am I today? Till this point in my life I would say I am a resilient, stubborn (at times), creative, and above all else I am someone who is reminded of those who have paved the pathway before me.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Soltara Design Solutions is a design service business. We provide our local, and at times regional, clients with preconstruction, design, and 3d design and visual services ranges from remodels to new builds.

What sets us apart… I would say what makes us unique is our understanding that we are only part of the process, a partnership, with our clients/contractors that share in the responsibility of the success of each project. We know that each design we do is much more than the tangible of just being a design.  We know that many designs will improve someone’s health/lifestyle, or provide an opportunity to bring family closer together. So in many ways we are more communal than apart that sets us apart.

Certainty what excites us the most is when the project is completed and the clients are in love with the outcome. However, beyond that point is how it improves their lives.

By coincidence I am where I am today. Being fired at the same time changing my mindset lead me to pursue my business venture. The process hasn’t been easy and should never be. Business is about juggling solutions and problems. That is what makes it exciting. But when you get comfortable and pompous eventually leads to either a dead-end or the end of the road.

What I’ve learned is that I am not “alone.” That each colleague you meet or work with struggles in one way or another. That leaning on each other in the end leads to greater results.

For us at Soltara Design Solutions, we hope that at the end of the day we realize we are not here for ourselves, that we are not alone, but we are just a part of a whole system that either makes the world better or worse through each decision or action.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
For a week long trip, I would divide the week with outdoor activities, eating, and relaxing.

Nothing really specific… Outdoor activities would certainly include hiking in natural preserves, water activities like swimming in Barton Springs. Eating, I would savior all the food trucks in Austin and the surrounding areas have to offer, or gathering food items for a picnic at one of Austin’s public scenic parks. Relaxing, possibly all-in-inclusive spa resort to end the weekend.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout goes out to my mother.

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