When most people think of career pivots, they don’t imagine a criminal defense attorney becoming the owner of a commercial carpentry firm. But for Paul Edlund, owner of J. Benson Construction, opportunity doesn’t always travel along a predictable path – it arrives when you’re paying attention.

The pivot began when he met J. Benson’s previous owner and asked about his succession strategy, and the answer opened a door to becoming a small business owner. He began working inside the business, learning its operations from the ground up, and took over full ownership in 2020. Paul shifted the company from residential to commercial work, from non-union to union, and from general contracting to subcontracting. That last move proved to be the breakthrough. Revenues tripled and headcount climbed from 21 to 80.