08/20/2026
Next up in our introduction to the people behind Exclusive Mountain Designs: meet Mark Coats
This one is a little different for me.
Because Mark isn’t someone I met through EMD.
We’ve already got some history.
Mark and I first worked together years ago at The Trade Group in Dallas, where he came in as a welder, fabricator and metal shop supervisor.
We hit it off pretty quickly.
Mark was talented, intelligent, mechanically inclined and one of those guys who could look at a problem, figure out what needed to happen and get moving.
We eventually both left TTG, but the friendship stuck.
Over the years Mark came up to Colorado a few times and talked about eventually moving here after his youngest son graduated.
I never really knew if it would happen.
Well…
Here we are.
And I’m pretty damn excited about what that means for EMD.
Mark grew up in DeRidder, Louisiana, before spending about 20 years in Texas. Hard work was instilled in him early by his parents, and straight out of high school he made a decision that would shape a big part of the man he became:
He joined the United States Navy.
Mark is a combat veteran and remains incredibly proud of his military service.
Eventually his career led him into welding and fabrication, and when Mark says he’s a welder, he doesn’t mean he bought a Harbor Freight machine last year and watched three YouTube videos.
The man has welded on damn near everything.
He’s also worked across a pretty wide range of construction—roofing, concrete, fascia and soffit, siding, dirt work and more.
And during COVID, when most of the world was trying to figure out what the hell was happening, Mark decided it was a good time to start a fencing company.
Because apparently life wasn’t complicated enough. 😂
And he made it successful.
So Mark brings something to EMD that you can’t shortcut:
Experience.
Not just experience doing the work.
Experience running jobs.
Experience running a business.
Experience reading blueprints, sequencing projects, solving problems, working with people and understanding what it actually takes to get something across the finish line.
We’ve already seen the impact.
At our mine project, Mark quickly helped organize the crew and gave Halie and Dylan another experienced person on site who could answer questions, provide direction and work right alongside them.
That’s important to me.
Leadership at EMD isn’t going to mean standing around telling everybody else what to do.
You’d better be willing to pick up the tools too.
Mark is.
Now, if you ask Mark what he’s really damn good at, he’ll tell you:
“I’m really damn good at welding.”
He then added that he can lay a good weld without a hood.
I’m going to assume OSHA isn’t following our page. 😂🤫
But welding is only part of what Mark brings.
He’s organized. He’s good with people. He can see the sequence of a project before everything starts happening. He understands drawings. He knows how to get work finished.
And when something matters, he won’t bulls**t you.
To be clear:
Mark is absolutely capable of bulls**tting you 😂
The man is loud as hell, rarely stops talking and has an endless supply of stories.
But when it’s time to work or make a decision, I trust his judgment.
That’s worth a lot to me.
And it’s going to matter even more as EMD grows.
Mark brings capabilities that allow us to start looking seriously at work we couldn’t—or shouldn’t—have taken on before.
Welding and metal fabrication.
More exterior work.
Larger and more complicated construction.
Commercial projects.
Structural work.
And eventually, as we continue building the team and developing our capabilities, moving further toward something we’ve talked about for a long time:
Building complete projects from the ground up.
Design through construction.
That’s where we’re headed.
And Mark sees it too.
On his questionnaire I asked everyone:
“Why EMD?”
Mark wrote:
“Because I believe in the owner and the vision you have. I know with the right puzzle pieces, the final picture will look great.”
I’ll admit…
That one got me a little.
Because building this company hasn’t always been easy, and there have certainly been times when I’ve questioned whether the picture in my head could actually become real.
Having someone I’ve known for years look at it and say,
“Yeah. I see it too.”
means something.
And the timing feels right.
We’re both older than we were during the TTG days.
Hopefully wiser.
Definitely grayer.
Our backs hurt more.
And apparently maturity finally starts kicking in somewhere around 50. 😂
We’ve both lived some life since then.
We’ve both taken some hits, learned some lessons and become different people.
Now we get to take all of that experience and see what we can build with it.
Mark wrote something else on his questionnaire that probably says more about why I’m excited to have him here than anything I could write:
“I’m hoping to finish up my construction career with EMD and eventually drive around and be proud of the many projects we have built.”
When I read that, my immediate thought was:
Well s**t, Mark…I think we share some goals.
Because that’s what I want too.
I don’t want us to simply finish a bunch of jobs.
I want to build things that are still standing decades from now.
Projects we can drive past and say:
“We built that.”
And be proud of it.
Outside of work, Mark is a huge dog guy, a former competitive water skier and the proud father of two sons, Jake and Colby, who he talks about constantly.
And apparently he can cook Cajun food “like nobody can believe.”
That’s his claim.
This will require independent verification 🕵️♂️
He’s also determined to eventually replace the Camaro he sold before moving to Colorado.
So we’ve established some priorities.
Mark finished his questionnaire with this:
“I believe in what I just built, or what I have done, and can have a proud moment of the accomplishment for just the day.”
I understand exactly what he means.
Build something.
Stand back.
Look at it.
Be proud of it.
Then tomorrow...
go build something better.
Welcome to Colorado, brother.
We’ve talked about doing some pretty big s**t.
Now let’s see what we can build.