When Joe Mullet first built a teardrop trailer in the early 2000s, he admits it was “a disaster.” But for Joe, that was just the start of an extraordinary journey. What began as a rough experiment laid the foundation for nuCamp — now one of the most respected RV manufacturers in North America.
This year, nuCamp proudly celebrates its 20th anniversary — two decades of innovation, craftsmanship, and a commitment to building not just trailers, but a passionate community. The milestone is marked with gratitude for the customers, team members, and partners who have helped shape nuCamp into the industry leader it is today.
Founded in 2005 as Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers, Joe’s vision was simple: create exceptional products, build an outstanding team, and have fun doing it.
“I always thought if I have 20 employees and we can have a lot of fun together and grow, I’d love that,” Joe recalled. “But I never dreamt that it could become what it is today.”
The Silver Shadow (pictured above) was one of the first models Joe produced after he founded Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers in 2005.
The Spark That Started It All
The idea to build teardrop campers came unexpectedly. Joe, an entrepreneur from Sugarcreek, Ohio, was working on a steel building when the owner suggested he try his hand at building teardrop trailers. Joe had never even heard of a teardrop trailer before. But true to his entrepreneurial spirit, he grabbed a piece of cardboard, sketched a design, and got to work cutting plywood.
Those first models were basic — 4×8 trailers with a flat door.
“I think every one of them leaked,” Joe remembered with a chuckle.
Venturing into the teardrop industry was a learning curve for Joe, who had a background in plumbing and crafting lawn furniture, steel buildings, and gazebos.
Through trial and error, he figured out how to seal the hinge, a solution nuCamp still uses today. Joe credits the success to his drive to keep pursuing solutions until he found one that worked. Joe quickly earned a reputation as “the person that could seal a hatch door that didn’t leak.”
Surviving Hard Times
Pleasant Valley grew steadily, briefly expanding into truck campers and designing iconic models like the Ciro Scotty and the Silver Shadow. But when the 2008 recession hit, the company was nearly wiped out. Joe remembers the painful moment he called his sales team to say he was closing the doors. Yet just two days later, opportunity came knocking: a phone call from Little Guy Worldwide, a company in North Canton that needed help building trailers. Joe answered the call — and it saved the business.
By 2009, the company was back on its feet, building 75 trailers. A year later, production jumped to 457 units — a “miracle,” Joe calls it. The company moved from a small, rented building to a 12,000-square-foot facility in 2011, and within six months, they had outgrown it.
Pleasant Valley moved out of Joe’s garage to a small blue building that used to be an apple storage. The business quickly outgrew the space, moving into a larger building by 2011.
The Game-Changing TAB
The turning point came with the introduction of the TAB camper. Originally seen as a risky move, the TAB opened new doors by offering something Pleasant Valley had never built before: a stand-up trailer with space for a bathroom. Acquiring the TAB from Dutchmen RV in 2011 tripled their product line and transformed the company’s future.
When Pleasant Valley purchased the rights, Joe said he could see TABs of all sizes lined up and imagined them filling the production line. That vision eventually came to fruition with nuCamp producing four TAB styles and three TAG styles in 2025.
Back then, the company made small 4×8 trailers — essentially a bed with storage. The TAB changed everything, ushering in Pleasant Valley’s first self-contained unit.
“We were starting something that they said couldn’t be done,” Joe recalled. “And so, when you say that to me, ‘You can’t make money building these,’ I’m going to find a way. There’s got to be a way to build these. Because we were just a small company, and the TAB was so much bigger, so much more potential.”
A Family Legacy
In 2012, Joe’s son, Jesse Mullet, officially joined the company. Jesse, who had grown up helping his dad build steel buildings and horse barns from a young age, started on the production line to learn the business from the ground up.
“I don’t believe in just giving a free ride to my children,” Joe said. “I loved to watch him being disciplined. … I was excited to bring him in, because I knew he could, he would change nuCamp.”
Jesse’s leadership quickly became apparent. He worked across roles — from inventory and operations to human resources — before becoming president and CEO. In 2021, during the company’s annual Christmas banquet, Joe officially passed ownership to Jesse.
“I just became more and more interested in the business and what the teardrop community and the product was,” Jesse recalled.
Now, Jesse is focused on the future, passing along the same values of hard work and leadership to his sons. Whether it’s sweeping the production floor or picking up trash, he’s teaching them the importance of humility and putting service before self.
“I’m really excited to continue that legacy of building a high-quality product that’s unmatched in our industry,” Jesse said.
Growth and Innovation
Since Jesse came on board, nuCamp has continued to expand, moving into a state-of-the-art facility on Belden Parkway in 2015.
Kyle Beachy, now production manager, has been with the company for 11 years. He recalled the early days cutting cabinetry parts with a rip table and chop saw when the company was in a smaller building.
Moving into a larger facility opened up new possibilities for the company by allowing them to streamline some of their processes, Beachy explained. He cited CNC machines and a lamination station as two major milestones for production that greatly improved efficiency. Doing more in-house allows us to control the quality and increase efficiency, Beachy said.
“You can control the quality a lot better,” Beachy explained. “If the control is in your hands and you’re not at the mercy of a vendor, you can control what is good enough and what isn’t.”
A photo of the team in 2010 and a Silver Shadow produced in 2010 at Little Guy Worldwide headquarters in Canton, Ohio. The white TAB is one of the first TABs built in 2011 along with the interior.
A New Name, A Renewed Mission
As the company expanded, it became clear that it was time to separate from Little Guy, the company doing the distributing and marketing for Pleasant Valley’s teardrops. This decision sparked conversations about rebranding. Many people still knew the company as “Little Guy” and were unfamiliar with the name Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers. Joe and the team wanted a name that distanced them from their former distributor and better reflected their roots and vision.
They chose nuCamp — with “nu” and umlauts inspired by the German spelling — to represent their fresh approach to camping.
“Our separation from little guys simply was we were too big to have a distributor. Bottom line, that was the problem,” Joe explained. “… They did a great job for us. But looking back, I think was the right move. It was absolutely the best thing we could have done at the time.”
Expanding the Product Line
Dropping “trailers” from the name opened the door to new products. nuCamp officially launched the Cirrus Truck Camper line in 2016, debuting the Cirrus 800 (now the Cirrus 820). Today, the lineup includes the Cirrus 620, 820, and 920.
Service technician David Miller recalled the development of the Cirrus 620. At the time, David was part of the Research and Development Team — known as Engineering and Implementation today.
The first attempt, the Cirrus 720, missed the mark as a half-ton truck camper. The market wanted a lighter truck camper, David said, adding he loved the design on the 720, which had a bathroom and shower. The team’s persistence paid off, and the lessons learned paved the way for the 620’s success.
“It was really exciting to be able to take the fail from the first one and turn it into a success for the second one,” David recalled.
Since then, nuCamp has introduced the TAB 400 (the largest teardrop trailer) in 2017, the AVIA in 2020, the retro-styled Barefoot in 2022, and the TAB 360 and TAB 360 CS in 2025.
Jesse credits the company’s success to the team. nuCamp has built its foundation on four core values: care genuinely, service over self, always do the right thing, and work hard. Having team members who practice these values every day makes nuCamp who it is.
“Having the correct people in the right places that’s been the key to our success,” he said. “…It comes back to our team and our vision for the future, not settling for status quo, doing things differently, learning and taking feedback from our customers — that has been a huge part of our success.”
Today, nuCamp is the world’s largest teardrop trailer manufacturer. nuCamp attributes its success to its dedicated team, committed dealers, and the unwavering support of the nuCamp community.
Over the years, nuCamp has expanded its lineup, bringing in new products like the Barefoot and the TAB 360, and saying goodbye to other models, including the Cirrus 800 (left, now the Cirrus 820), the AVIA, and the TAB 320 Clamshell.
Celebrating 20 Years
Now marking its 20th anniversary, nuCamp is about more than just trailers — it’s about community.
“It’s so much bigger than just one person,” Jesse said. “It’s about the team pulling together.”
Looking back, Joe reflects on the many moments he could have walked away. But resilience carried him through, and today, nuCamp stands as one of the world’s largest manufacturers in its category, with a passionate community of owners who treat each other like family.
“In my 20 years, as often I could have given up, often I could have walked away, and often I thought this is not worth it, but I look back and it’s worth it. It’s worth the journey,” Joe said.
That journey — built on faith, innovation, and dedication — has shaped nuCamp into the company it is today.
Joe sums it up best: “My passion was always to develop product that inspires people.” Two decades later, that passion is stronger than ever.
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