Here at 12-Point SignWorks, we are excited to announce our promising transition of ownership from our founder Murray Johns to Natalie and Patrick Owings — who are overjoyed to have found a place of business that shares the same values and love for creativity and community involvement.

The Owings are no strangers to southern living in Music City. The Owings felt right at home in Nashville after their first visit to the city on a family vacation back in 2005. The culture was everything they wanted to raise their young family. Less than 1 year later, they were moving to the city they knew would be the greatest place to live quietly and provide a close-knit community for their children. 

When discussing how these high school sweethearts came across the opportunity to join the sign industry, Natalie explained, "We have given multiple years to supporting other small business owners and are grateful for the experiences and knowledge we have gained through them. However, we were ready for something more! So, we made the conscious decision in early 2020 to start looking for our own business to nurture and grow."

As fate would have it, Murray and the Owings shared the same business broker.  At the end of December 2020, the broker introduced them, being convinced they were a match for making the perfect transition to new ownership for our small company. Luckily, the meeting went fantastically well as they hit it off right away!

Besides sharing a similar love for creativity, building relationships within the community, and work experience, Murray immediately connected with the Owings’ shared personal morals and values.  

"As a family, we already held each of the 12 points of the Scout Law to high standards before having a child who wanted to become a Boy Scout. When we found there was a man with a business that created his work environment around those principles, it was further confirmation we were in the right place with the right company! In short, we value hard work, we value family, we value religion, and we value strong morals and ethics," Natalie.

Murray, Natalie, and Patrick share big smiles and laughs after closing on the business.

"For reasons related to family health, I had to relocate to the Denver area in August of 2018. I have commuted back-and-forth since then and managed the company from Colorado with the outstanding support of my team at 12-Point," Murray explained in a recent statement about his decision. "I came to realize that the best outcome for my family, for 12-Point, and for our wonderful customers would be for me to find leaders local to Nashville who would care for our company and customers as much as I have. The results of my search for these new leaders are, in my mind and heart, quite miraculous!" 

The Owings’ years of experience operating small companies, working in creative environments, and a history of effectively communicating with customers and staff sets them up for success at 12-Point. Patrick stated recently to the 12-Point team, "We are excited! We have the basics of running small and large businesses, but what we get to do now is learn from the team and Murray. We hope to expand on what the company has accomplished and learn more about our clients' needs so that we can take the company to the next level."

Here’s a little background about our new owners! 

Natalie received her bachelor's degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Accounting from California State University, Northridge.  She followed this with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license for the state and trained in the Certification Program in the Business and Management of Entertainment at the University of California, Los Angeles.  With a heart for creativity, she quickly moved from the structured public accounting life into some well-known household names in entertainment.  After a stint at Paramount Studios, she spent a large portion of her career at The Walt Disney Company. It was at The Walt Disney Company where she got her first taste for “start-ups”.  She was a key team member in setting up animation studios internationally and fell in love with the multifaceted dimensions of forming new companies. When the Owings moved to Tennessee, she became enamored with a start-up advertising agency setting up roots in Nashville, and it was only natural she should help them establish their roots in Music City. Over her career, her roles in business expanded from audit to financial reporting, to operations, and ultimately to Executive Vice President of Finance and Operations.

Patrick’s work roots start with signs, back when he worked for his father at a large corporation in their marketing department. He found himself on the shop floor loving every minute of the excitement of production and bringing brands and stories to life.  During that time, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, with a master's in Materials (engineering) from the University of California, Northridge. He later obtained his bachelor’s in Accounting from Lipscomb University to enhance his business knowledge. He spent 15 years in technical sales, selling everything from heatsinks to connectors to high-end oscillators into the worlds of telecommunication, consumer electronics, and the military. Eleven years ago, Patrick had the opportunity to venture into the entrepreneurial space and become a partner in a transportation company. From there, he went on to help start and grow an inbound marketing company, a healthcare software as a service (or SAAS) company, another oscillator company, an event company, an association management company, and a bookkeeping company.  

The Owings have two sons, Michael (19) and Alexander (16). Michael is currently studying mechanical engineering, and Alexander is attending high school locally and is a Life Scout— currently working on his Eagle project.

"Natalie and Pat are a genuine answer to my prayers. I'm so thankful to be able to transition 12-Point to them with my complete confidence, and I sincerely expect that things will run even better with them at the helm. Our team is fortunate to work with the Owings, and the Owings are fortunate to work with such a great team!," Murray stated.

A representation of how we looked after receiving the news of Murray’s departure. (We were soon back to normal and in good spirits after the Owings brought us our favorite snacks— doughnuts. 

Although we at 12-Point are sad to see Murray go, we respect his decision and promise to uphold the reputation he worked tirelessly to build. We are thrilled to welcome the Owings to our 12-Point family,  and can't wait to see what achievements we will accomplish together.

In Murray’s farewell statement he noted, "To all of our customers, vendor partners and fans, I want to express my sincere gratitude for 12 fulfilling years of work together. We've accomplished a lot of good! I won't let anyone put me out to pasture quite yet, so maybe I'll be fortunate enough to cross paths with you again in the near future. Until then... be good, be kind, and work hard to leave a lasting and positive legacy in your own spheres of influence." 

"We wish Murray much success and much happiness in the future days to come! It has been such a pleasure to get to know him, and what a positive impact he has already made in our lives by just being himself," Patrick stated joyfully.

The Owings are eager to build long-lasting relationships with our current and new clients. If you would like to stop by and welcome our new owners to the Williamson County community, don't hesitate to come by anytime during our business hours— Monday through Friday (8 a.m to 5 p.m). If you would like to schedule a specific meeting time with them, you can fill out the contact form at the link below.