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The Dream Team. Heumiller standing, far right<\/p><\/div>\n
Daring to Dream <\/b> \u201cAt Martin\u2019s encouragement, I got the best possible guitar I could afford,\u201d Heumiller says; he bought a a Stefan Sobell instrument. \u201cAnd then I couldn\u2019t walk by it without grabbing it. My playing [ability] went through the roof thanks to that great guitar.\u201d And that planted the first seeds of an idea in his mind.<\/p>\n \u201cI was doing website work and training [Simpson] how to be better at business\u2014which most musicians need\u2014and he was training me in guitar,\u201d Heumiller recalls. The two would meet on weekends, either in New Jersey or at Simpson\u2019s place in New Orleans. Eventually the two began traveling together, putting on guitar workshops of their own. \u201cThat was a business idea I gave him,\u201d Paul explains.<\/p>\n Working with Simpson, Paul became quite familiar with some of the instruments the guitarist was using. \u201cHe had a lot of great guitars by custom builders,\u201d Heumiller says. \u201cWe would stop and visit their shops, too. There was a point at which I decided to start a web site offering guitars, and Martin encouraged me: \u2018Do just the very best. Just offer handmade, because there are so many shops that do everything else.\u2019\u201d From that idea, Dream Guitars was launched in 1999.<\/p>\n Heumiller\u2019s new venture was initially a part-time endeavor. \u201cI was phasing out of programming,\u201d he says. \u201cA big contract I had as a programmer ended and I realized, \u2018I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to get another one.\u2019 And then I sort of took a leap of faith.\u201d He soon embarked on another leap: moving from New Jersey. \u201cThis was a move I was making completely with my gut and my heart,\u201d he says. Having visited many cities and towns up and down the east coast, he thought he knew what most places had to offer.<\/p>\n \u201cI was tired of that rat race, and I wanted my kids to grow up somewhere a little slower, with a little bit more meaning,\u201d he explains. He visited a now long-defunct website, findyourspot.com; there, the results of an online quiz offered users suggestions on places potentially best suited for them. He eventually moved his family and business to Weaverville, North Carolina, a bedroom community some 20 minutes north of Asheville. It was there in his new home that he first opened a physical location for Dream Guitars.<\/p>\n Heumiller\u2019s business foundation would be built more upon common sense than on any kind of formal training. \u201cI\u2019m very much an organic businessman,\u201d he says. \u201cI was brought up in a family of hardworking folks and got a good work ethic from my mother, father and brothers.\u201d Having worked for a brother when he was young, Paul witnessed good business practices firsthand. \u201cI recognized what it would take to be a good business person: do a lot of good customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n The most important lesson Heumiller learned early on was a simple one: \u201cShut up and listen.\u201d He put that into practice when he started Dream Guitars. \u201cMy customers were smarter than me,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I was smart enough to listen and hear what they said about builders, guitars, why they\u2019re collecting this kind of thing or that kind of thing.\u201d And when he would meet professional musicians, he paid special attention. \u201cI would listen and learn what a pro looks for in a guitar,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had a chance to do that for 20 years; I\u2019ve learned a lot about how a pro\u2014versus an amateur\u2014tests out a guitar. And they\u2019re totally different things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAs the 20th<\/sup> century drew toward its end, Heumiller took part in something that changed the direction of his life. He signed up for a music camp in New York City called International Guitar Seminars, hosted by famed musicians Woody Mann and Bob Brozman. On the very first day of camp, he met award-winning English guitarist Martin Simpson. \u201cI heard his music,\u201d Paul recalls, \u201cand fell in love with his tone, his approach to music, and his arrangements.\u201d The two became fast friends and soon began working together on an informal basis.<\/p>\n