Looking in from the outside, you may think Jarrod Bone has everything. Beautiful family, a successful business, a big house with a pool out the back and shiny new cars in the driveway. But what you wouldn’t know is how hard-won all these things are; how many challenges and setbacks he has clawed through to achieve the life he has today.

Jarrod runs Broadway Building with his wife Elyce and a hand-picked team of 14. They specialise in boutique renovations & extensions around Adelaide. He’s a man who wears his heart on his sleeve; whose daily life is informed by a passion for his craft and a drive to help others.

Early challenges

While Jarrod enjoyed a happy-go-lucky childhood, he found school very difficult. What got him through was a burning ambition to become a carpenter. With building literally in his bones (his father and other extended family members ran South Australia’s oldest timber merchant, Bone Timber), Jarrod began his apprenticeship straight out of school, determined to continue the family legacy.

But somehow, the reality didn’t live up to the dream. ‘It was daunting and depressing – completely the opposite to what I had pictured in my head,’ he says. ‘I hated every minute of it. The first two years, I didn’t know how the hell I would get through it.’

Years later, a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) helped explain why he struggled during this period of his life. But at the time, it manifested as an inescapable dark cloud.

‘I stopped myself from learning because I had walls up,’ he says. But he did persevere, if only to save face. ‘Having the last name Bone and the link to Bone Timber, I didn't want to let down my family. ’

Doing it his way

In 2009, as a qualified carpenter, Jarrod set up a business called Bone Built, focusing on building decks and pergolas.

It was a revelation. ‘I had to problem-solve, which was so different to how I was being taught. I struggled with school as they were trying to teach me one way, but my brain was doing it a different way.

As Bone Built flourished, so did Jarrod: ‘I had all this weight off my shoulders because I didn't have to answer to anyone. I could finally do it my way. I was seeing my handiwork coming alive. I have happy clients. I'm getting paid. It was a huge turning point.’

Around this time, he became a subcompany of the core Bone Timber business. Over time, the manager of Bone Timber became a true mentor, actively helping Jarrod to grow Bone Built.

‘I was so happy; everything to this point has been worth it. Finally, I'm being seen. I just felt a part of the family business.’

Crisis point

Then, about eight years ago, two things happened that derailed everything. First, Jarrod discovered that something didn't look right within the timber business; that the management had been mishandling things.

‘I uncovered an absolute shitstorm,’ Jarrod says. A tense confrontation ensued; a few weeks later his uncle passed away suddenly from a heart attack. The second thing was what really broke Jarrod: family members blamed him for the death.

For a young man already dealing with grief and confusion, this terrible (and wildly inaccurate) accusation was devastating.

‘That has sat heavy with me ever since,’ says Jarrod. ‘It sent me on a spiral. I started drinking a lot, taking drugs. It was a rough time.

‘I tried so hard to focus on the work at hand. But in the background, there was all this noise.’ 

After living in an uncertain ‘limbo’ for three years, the business was sold but the financial outcome wasn’t favourable. By this time, Jarrod and Elyce were parents to a toddler and a newborn, and the pressure to provide for his family weighed heavily. 

‘I hit breaking point and had a mental nervous breakdown. I'd built all this up with Bone Built but it was gone.’ 

Like many men do, he supressed his feelings. He plastered on a smile, and established Broadway Building. ‘That whole time is a blur,’ he says. Outside work, he was ‘hanging out with the wrong crowd. I was hurting those around me that truly loved me.’ 

His personal torment, combined with the realities of running a building business in today’s tough market, eventually brought him to rock bottom and a trip to Flinders Hospital in Adelaide. Reaching out for help – and finally getting a diagnosis for his ADHD – was the ‘circuit breaker’ he needed.

‘I realised I’m the only one who can help myself,’ he says. ‘No-one is going to save me apart from me. It's going to be tough, but I owe this to my family for the last few years of putting them through hell.’

A new path forward

It took a lot of work and all his strength, but Jarrod says that ‘taking accountability for myself’ has turned things around. Broadway Building has gone from ‘strength to strength to strength’. He also believes that ‘without going through what I've been through, I couldn't have got to this point today.’ 

‘I still have hard times, but I've built up tools to deal with them better.’ He’s traded drinking for creating artwork and finds peace in spending time with Elyce and their kids, Scarlet, aged nine, and seven-year-old Nixon. 

He’s now driven by a higher purpose: he understands the challenges other builders face – such as being someone who ‘thinks outside the square’ and struggles with formal schooling; living with undiagnosed mental health conditions; or simply being part of this notoriously difficult industry. He’s mentored 11 young apprentices so far and is dedicated to giving his staff the support and positive experiences he didn’t have when he was young.

Most of all, Jarrod’s grateful: ‘I believe in myself 150%. The learning I have taken out of my hard times is the most important thing for me; without that I wouldn’t be where I am today.’

His advice for other HIA members who may find themselves struggling? ‘Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and learn from them,’ he says. ‘It'll get you to where you need to be in life. Without mistakes, we can't grow as human beings.’ 

If you need help

If you’re going through a hard time, the Beyond Blue Support Service is available 24/7 for brief counselling.

First published on 30 May 2025