Lexington teen's flag-making business deserves credit

LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – Jacob Hightman is a skilled carpenter who learned to use all kinds of hand and power tools growing up simply by watching his father work in their basement. His father always enjoyed woodworking as a hobby and Jacob was his right-hand man. He started by making little trinkets on a child-sized workbench.

In February 2023, at the age of 17, Jacob decided to try his hand at woodworking to earn money. “I've always loved the American flag and its history, and we have a lot of veterans in my family, so I decided maybe I could make American flags out of wood,” he said .

After some trial and error, he made flags that looked “pretty good” and posted photos on social media. One of the first things he did was ask for names of veterans who would like to have one of his flags.

Since then, he estimates he has made at least 300 flags and sells them online at www.jhflagworks.com. He also donated 60 flags to veterans. Many people sent him donations to purchase wood and supplies to continue helping veterans.

“I didn’t think it would turn into this big of a business where I’m shipping a whole bunch every week and meeting veterans,” Jacob said.

Ray Estes, a Marine veteran, owns three of Jacob's flags. “I think they are great. They are exceptional,” he said.

Jacob recently gave one to Estes' neighbor Chris Campbell, who had a 30-year career in the Air Force. He is impressed by Jacob and his desire to show his appreciation to veterans.

He said it was evident that Jacob is someone who loves his country and his work reflects that. “It recognizes the sacrifice that people made on his behalf so that he could go to school and pursue his dreams, whatever they were,” Campbell said.

The traditional 50-star flag is Jacob's best seller, but he also makes historic flags, school flags and some state flags, as well as signs for businesses. “I want to try the Kentucky flag, but it’s two people shaking hands. It’s going to be hard, but I’m going to try one day,” he said.

He said he has gotten much better at making flags in recent months. “I look at the photos of some of the first ones I made and I said to these recipients, 'I'm going to replace them for you because they look so much better now.'”

Jacob, a recent graduate of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, is weighing his college offers but also plans to continue making flags.

“If I can make this my full-time adult job, I would love it.” I love doing what I do,” he said.

That's a lot of money, but he could get a bigger reward from the money he distributes to veterans. “You can often see that they don't get enough recognition,” he said. “I've seen some people get very emotional, and you know you're doing the right thing when that happens.”