Written by Doug Goodnough
Despite growing up in the elevations of the Rocky Mountains, Jacob Mueller, ’13, started at the ground level while beginning his education at Hillsdale College.
A standout high school student with a 33 ACT score, Mueller learned quickly that academics at Hillsdale were not going to be easy; in fact, he soon found himself in the bottom half of his freshman class.
“I got a C minus with Dr. Somerville in my freshman English class, and it was a shock to me,” Mueller said. “So, I started studying harder than I ever had before. That’s what I did a lot of my freshman year, is learn the habits, learn how to read fast. I learned from a few other students who were really good speed readers, and that was a huge benefit to get through the load.”
The Colorado native was first set to attend Grove City College to participate in men’s swimming when he decided to follow through on a promise to visit Hillsdale, where his brother, Paul, ’09, had attended.
He enjoyed the visit but still wasn’t going to change his mind until Hillsdale made him a scholarship offer he couldn’t refuse. He took Hillsdale’s deal, which was the first of many he has made as an entrepreneur. Now running a successful property management business in the Colorado Springs area, Mueller said the beginnings of that entrepreneurial success started in the classrooms of Hillsdale.
Planning to become an economics major, he and classmate Jon Lewis, ’13, decided to take an entrepreneurship class at the end of their sophomore year. One of the main class assignments was developing a business that would work in the Hillsdale area. Mueller partnered with Lewis and came up with an idea that eventually turned into a real digital marketing business.
“We were halfway through the project, and we thought, ‘Wait, this could actually work,’” Mueller said. “By the end of the semester, we launched a business from that class.”
Tosler, a digital viewbook concept, was built off an Apple software platform. In fact, when Mueller left for summer break to work at an internship back in Colorado Springs, Lewis remained on campus and called a couple of weeks later with an update.
“He said, ‘Jacob, we landed our first contract!’ And it was a significant contract,” Mueller said. “So I flew back to Hillsdale in the middle of that summer, and Jon and I worked in a sweaty classroom.”
By the end of that summer, they had several more contracts and a business that was quickly growing faster than they could manage. In fact, Mueller decided to accelerate his coursework and graduate early from Hillsdale. He even approached Hillsdale President Dr. Larry Arnn and asked for advice on graduate school since that was his original plan.
“He said, ‘Only go to graduate school if you want to truly know about economics. If you don’t want to know, don’t go,’” Mueller said of Dr. Arnn’s advice. “It was great advice.”
Mueller and Lewis eventually decided to sell their company.
“We were not making consistent income, and Jon needed something steadier,” Mueller recalled. “He had a family, and I did not, so it was easier for me to go between big contracts.”
Mueller stuck around Hillsdale and worked in the College’s Marketing Department, helping to establish Hillsdale’s early social media presence with Kokko Tso, ’12.
“I was the first Twitter warrior at Hillsdale,” Mueller fondly recalled.
But the mountains came calling, and after a few months, Mueller moved back to Colorado Springs to work as a marketing manager for Cherwell Software. In fact, he turned down a major job opportunity in San Francisco to stay in the area he calls home.
After a few years, he moved to the mountains, worked as a barista at a coffee shop, and lived out of his truck.
“Yes, it’s pretty weird,” Mueller admitted. “I wouldn’t recommend my path to many people. I learned a lot. It was great. It was actually awesome. I would drive into town, work my shift, hang out, then drive back into the mountains and stay someplace new every night. I was living out of the back of my pickup. I would have a fire every night, drink some whiskey, and read great books.”
He eventually bought that coffee shop, and then another, beginning the start of his second entrepreneurial career. Mueller met his wife, Mishea, during that time, who was an aspiring chiropractor. She decided to open a practice in the mountains, and soon after they were married and started a family.
But Mueller still had some things to figure out.
“One of the big questions I’m still honestly wrestling with a little bit is what to do with ambition?” he said. “Ambition is this really tricky thing, and I have a lot of ambition. And to some degree, I feel like I was running away from it when I moved to the mountains. Instead of recognizing who God made me to be, I just ran to the mountains and wanted to do my own thing. It was good. It was formative. It was important.”
He knew he wanted to work for himself, as well as have the freedom to raise a family and enjoy life. So, he went into real estate. For a few years he worked as a Realtor, helping investors buy and sell rental properties for Atlas, one of Denver’s top real estate companies. He was a top agent and “learned a lot about how investors think.” He even started to buy a handful of his own properties along the way.
Four years ago, he co-founded Renjoy, a property management company that handles short-term rentals. The business currently has about 45 employees and manages around 200 properties in Colorado, Florida, and Arizona. Mueller currently serves as CEO.
“We have clients who own real estate. They rent it out to guests through online travel agencies like Airbnb, VRBO, or booking.com, or directly through us,” Mueller explained. “We acquire those guests, rent out the house for them, manage the stay, manage the property, and give that owner a check. We take a commission. That’s how our business works.”
As far as his next venture, Mueller said he is undecided but loves working with investors.
“How far can I go?” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m going to own businesses. And I’m going to help develop people into leaders who can run these businesses and grow them, because I think we need a lot more of that.
“I think I have a responsibility that goes far beyond what I do with my life, and that comes from that higher calling,” Mueller said of his Christian faith. “It’s not just about creating value. It’s about creating value in the right way and for the right purpose. Because making money is not good in and of itself. It’s what you do with money and how you use it, why you’re making it. That philosophy infuses how I want to lead and teach people.”
In the meantime, he is enjoying raising their young son, as well as running, skiing, and gravel bike racing. And he credits much of his success to his Hillsdale education.
“I always just wanted to be an educated person,” Mueller said. “And I received that. When you leave Hillsdale, you’re going to be a leader because you’re much more well-formed and have much deeper connections to why things are the way they are, and why they ought to be the way they ought to be. Hillsdale is exceptionally good at that. And I am forever thankful for my time there.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in January 2026
