The Woodpreneur Podcast

Paul Mencel: Philadelphia Table Company

Paul Mencel: Philadelphia Table Company

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 05:17:49 +0000

“It started kind of like everybody else does, kind of starts as a hobby or a side hustle. I graduated with a degree in chemistry and physics. And I was like, kind of like substitute teaching, but also, at the same time, I was in a rock band that ended up getting signed to RCA Records.

So, between touring and recording, we made some money upfront, but not a ton. So in between touring and recording, I'd build furniture. It started with just one piece for my house. And then friends would come over, and then it was friends and friends of friends. And then I'd be on tour, and I'd get an order or two from Etsy, and I'd be like,

“Sweet, I could make rent this month.”

- Paul Mencel

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Paul Mencel from Philadelphia Table Company.

Like everyone else, Paul began making furniture as a hobby or a side business. He earned a degree in physics and chemistry. He was a member of a rock band that eventually reached a record deal with RCA Records while still working as a substitute teacher. They earned some money upfront, but not much, while making furniture between tours and recording. It all began with only one item for his house. After that, friends would drop by, followed by friends of friends. Then, while on tour, he would receive one or two orders from Etsy and say, "Sweet, I could make rent this month."

In this episode, Paul shares the initial product they were producing, the current state of his business, the number of people he currently has, and how he spread the news about the company when it was still in the beginning stages. Listen now and get the whole story!

Steve Larosiliere: Best Business Models For Woodpreneurs

Steve Larosiliere: Best Business Models For Woodpreneurs

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 06:58:00 +0000

“You need to have the ability to focus on one to two things. You can't focus on five different things, right? Focus on five different things. It's going to be really, really hard. It's learning new processes, doing things over and over again, like starting from scratch.”

- Steve Larosiliere

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere will be talking about the best business models for Woodpreneurs. Whether you work in lumber, construction, sawmill, furniture, or any other industry where you build, produce materials, or sell wood items, then this is for you. Steve will discuss the best business models. This is based on his interviews with guests for the Woodpreneur Podcast and clients he has worked with. Listen now and get the whole story!

Will Phillips: Sandtown Furniture Co.

Will Phillips: Sandtown Furniture Co.

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 03:56:25 +0000

“My background, I sort of learned everything that I know, through a career at Under Armor. So, I spent a long time working there. And I started Sand Town in 2010. I continued to work at Under Armor. It was my side hustle for eight years until I made that leap that you often talk about and talk to your clients about.

So anyway, I found a partner. I found a wood shop. We designed a collection. We started taking it to the farmer's market, the big farmer's market in Baltimore. And we left it really rustic. We wanted it to be this story of Baltimore, and we wanted you to be able to look at the piece and understand that this was salvage material.”

- Will Phillips

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Will Phillips from Sandtown Furniture Company.

Will acquired all of his knowledge while working with Under Armour. He stayed there for a while until starting Sand Town in 2010. Before making the leap we frequently discuss with our clients, he worked at Under Armour for eight years as a side gig.

He discovered a wood shop and a partner. They designed a collection. They began bringing it to Baltimore's large farmer's market while yet keeping it in its natural state. They wanted it to tell the tale of Baltimore and to be apparent to the customers that it was salvaged material when they looked at it.

In this episode, Will discusses his customer demographic, how selling at Baltimore's market became a thing and the huge AHA moment that led him to resign from Under Armour and concentrate on his company.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Jordan Messick: Coastal Building Supply

Jordan Messick: Coastal Building Supply

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:42:58 +0000

“I had about 15 years of experience in different corporate jobs in sales, management, and director of sales in various industries, and felt that I had gained the knowledge and business experience to go out on my own.”

Jordan Messick

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Steve Larosiliere, the founder of Acres of Timber, engages in a fascinating conversation with Jordan Messick from Coastal Building Supply in Wilmington, North Carolina. The episode begins with Jordan sharing the background of Coastal Building Supply, formerly known as Fitzgerald Wood Products.

The company was established in 1994 by Patrick Fitzgerald, a lifelong Woodpreneur specializing in imported tropical hardwoods, particularly teak, for marine and boating applications. Jordan explains how the company's focus gradually shifted toward the residential use of tropical hardwoods over the years. He further reveals that he purchased the company in January 2022 and subsequently rebranded it as Coastal Building Supply in June 2023.

Matt Lucero: Lucero & Co.

Matt Lucero: Lucero & Co.

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 22:24:43 +0000

“Well, we make tung oil wood finishes and we press our own tung oil here in Vietnam. So, I'm located in Vietnam and we manufacture our products here.

And we sell to the market here for furniture production also retail. And we export. We just started selling retail in the US and we have plans to expand, we have a lot of different types of products. They're very easy to use. I think you've even used them. They can't be simpler.”

- Matt Lucero

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Matt Lucero from Lucero & Company.

Matt's company produces tung oil wood finishes and presses their own tung oil in Vietnam, where he is currently based. They produce their products and sell them to the market for furniture production. They also engage in retail and exporting. They recently began selling retail in the US, and they intend to grow!

In this episode, Matt shares his journey to Vietnam, his time spent working with a nonprofit organization, and the target market that their tung oil products are aimed at, and a lot more!

Listen now and get the whole story!

Nathan Porter: Goodview Woodworks

Nathan Porter: Goodview Woodworks

Fri, 26 May 2023 00:29:15 +0000

“Why is it called “GoodView”? It's super simple. I live on Buena Vista Road, so that's the English translation of, Buena Vista's. “GoodView”. Not as cool as you might think, but business, as to woodworking business. It actually started out as a YouTube channel. Wasn't really a full-on business.”

- Nathan Porter

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Nathan Porter, the founder of GoodView Woodworks.

Nathan's business name is called "GoodView" for the simple reason that he resides on Buena Vista Road, which is Buena Vista's English translation. The company actually began as a YouTube channel. Nathan wanted to share some videos and he wanted to learn how to do river tables, and this was five years ago, back when hardly anybody knew about river tables. He built a coffee table for a friend, and documented the process, as a result, the videos quickly gained popularity. Each episode of his five-part series received 300,000 views.

This episode will be a bit different because Steve will be interviewing a successful coaching client who is also a Woodpreneur. They will discuss Nathan's financial situation as a business owner prior to working with Steve and/or enrolling in his coaching program, the process of working with Steve coming straight from one of his students, and tune in as they reflect on the inspiration behind the creation of GoodView.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Clinton & Kerry: CK Wall Designs LLC

Clinton & Kerry: CK Wall Designs LLC

Thu, 18 May 2023 20:40:59 +0000

“One of our favorite past times was going to the model homes and looking at model homes.

And look at the core and the accent walls that they have there. And we would, sometimes ask, where could we find someone to do something like this in our house? But we met with the same answer. It's custom. But custom companies are usually expensive.

So, we couldn't find anyone to do it. And one day she just asked me, she went on Pinterest and found something. Asked me to do it because I have an artist background, but no woodworking background. So, I just took it on, got it done, and got it looking even better than the one that she showed me with just hand tools. I didn't even have power tools at the time. So, I used the hacksaw actually.”

- Clinton & Kerry

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Clinton & Kerry, founders of CK Wall Designs LLC.

Going to model homes to check out the accent walls was one of Clinton and Kerry's favorite past times. And occasionally, they would inquire where they might find someone to carry out such tasks in their home. However, they received the same response, "It's custom." But customized businesses are frequently pricey. And one day, Kerry searched Pinterest for a project, found something, and asked Clinton to complete it because he had experience as an artist (but not as a woodworker). Clinton just took on the task, finished it, and improved upon the one Kerry had shown him using only hand tools. Clinton used a hacksaw because he lacked power tools at the time.

In this episode, Clinton and Kerry share how they spread the word from the start, how they built the brand that elevated the art of accent walls that clients are flying them to different locations to complete a project, and the biggest hurdle they faced in running their business.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Rocky Levy: Icon Modern

Rocky Levy: Icon Modern

Thu, 11 May 2023 16:45:29 +0000

“Icon Modern is the culmination of a concept I had in the early 2000s. So, I was a multi-line sales rep in the commercial industry, so I sold desks and chairs and laid everything for commercial clients. I called on designers, and, at the time, sustainability in the industry was minimal at best.

So, a sustainable message was a very difficult thing to achieve.”

- Rocky Levy

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Rocky Levy, Owner & Sales/Marketing of Icon Modern.

Icon Modern is the culmination of Rocky's concept in the early 2000s. He thus worked as a multi-line sales representative for the commercial sector, selling chairs and desks. He laid everything to commercial clients, and he called on designers, and at the time, there was, at most, a meager amount of sustainability in the industry. Creating a sustainable message requires a lot of effort. Therefore, Icon Modern is a combination of a side hustle, entrepreneurial power, and a desire for sustainability.

In this episode, Rocky shares how they won a project with Starbucks and Twitter, acquired a space and built a showroom with items related to their wood shop, and the primary type of furniture they produce.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Brad Huebner: Hammer & Grind

Brad Huebner: Hammer & Grind

Thu, 04 May 2023 16:41:33 +0000

“The people that are going to be good employees, they're not sitting at home unemployed on a couch searching the Indeed job boards, and this happens to find, they're working for someone else.

And you have to steal them away. I mean, dude, you really have to steal them away from the company.”

- Brad Huebner

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today's episode will be a bit different from the norm as your host Steve Larosiliere will be interviewing not just a woodworker, but also a contractor coach and a podcaster. We will be joined by Brad Huebner from Hammer & Grind.

After graduating high school, Brad worked various jobs while contemplating his plans. And during his junior and senior years of high school, he studied architectural drawing for two years. After realizing in his senior year that being an architect required outstanding marks, Brad decided to join the military instead of pursuing his dream profession. To cut a long story short, he found himself working for a construction management company some years after getting out of the military.

In this episode, Brad discusses the most profitable jobs he did before, the difficulties he faced while starting his handyman business, and his opinions on whether it is better to stay small or expand into an actual business.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Brad McDonald: McDonald Cabinet & Furniture

Brad McDonald: McDonald Cabinet & Furniture

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 05:00:10 +0000

“I've been in construction since 2006. And then I started working in a couple of local cabinet shops and got the bug to build kitchens, furniture, and stuff. And I just wound up having enough side work that it would make sense to go out on my own.

Right now, I've been doing a lot of countertops and bar tops.”

- Brad McDonald

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Brad McDonald from McDonald Cabinet & Furniture.

Since 2006, Brad has worked in the construction industry. He later began working at a few nearby cabinet shops to gain experience in producing kitchens, furniture, and other items. He eventually had enough side work that going independently made sense. Brad is currently working on numerous countertops and bartops.

In this episode, Brad shares the challenges facing his company, the kind of customers who prefer custom kitchens versus store-bought items, and how his business has been doing over the past year.

We all require assistance at some point. Brad says he'd prefer to work with someone like him, even if it's a retired older man looking for something to do a few days a week or a summertime college student. However, he is still determining if he can afford that. But the objective is to get a foreman who can manage the shop daily, after which Brad will handle customer relations and some design, perhaps with the help standing by his side. Brad will be free to concentrate on some of his more creative goals.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Zach Jernigan: Jernigan Woodworking

Zach Jernigan: Jernigan Woodworking

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 05:00:15 +0000

“My dad kind of taught me the way when I got out of high school and then when COVID happened, I just kind of started doing other people's houses and it’s kind of boomed from there.

A lot of built-ins, kind of specialty stuff. Trying to get into the custom fish tanks because we just did one.”

- Zach Jernigan

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by the award-winning Zach Jernigan of Jernigan Woodworking.

When Zach graduated from high school, his father taught him the craft of woodworking. After COVID, Zach began working on other people's homes, and business took off from there. His company currently concentrates on specialty items, mainly custom fish tanks.

In this episode, Zach shares his experience on how he started a business amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, his preferred woodworking materials, and who are his ideal clientele.

Trying to decide whether we should move forward is always challenging. Zach said that although everything is currently a bit expensive, he is still trying to figure out how to open a shop. Zach is still determining if he can pull it off, especially if he hires another guy. Although his business has been successful, is it time for him to move forward, grow, open his own shop, and bear the risk?

Listen now and get the whole story!

Kevin Donner: Treesmith USA

Kevin Donner: Treesmith USA

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 05:00:12 +0000

“So, we are a small tree company.

I'm an arborist. I've been an arborist primarily for 10 years or more now. Always with a passion for, not seeing things go to waste after we bring trees to the ground. So, 90% of our work is pruning and removal, and general tree assessment. Providing people with guidance as far as caring for their trees and their properties.”

- Kevin Donner

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Kevin Donner, owner of Treesmith USA.

Kevin has worked mainly as an arborist for the past ten years. He is constantly driven by a desire to prevent things from being wasted once they have felled trees. Pruning, removal, and general tree evaluation make up 90% of their job, which involves advising clients on how to take care of their trees and property.

In this episode, Kevin talks about the moment he realized he could run his own business, the difficult lesson he learned the hard way when he first got going, and the key pieces of equipment he bought that helped him get started.

It all began as a hobby, as per Kevin. Word gets around, and guys just start hitting him up. And for him, it feels right that he is turning materials into usable ones, as it's difficult for an existing tree company to incorporate that because it's relatively new in the market.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Tyler Booth: Temecula Yard Games

Tyler Booth: Temecula Yard Games

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 05:00:16 +0000

“I started making custom cornhole works, which was just a kind of a shot in the dark and it really took off, probably did about 20 sets the first year and then, about 50 the second year and about a hundred last year or kind of in between years, not necessarily 12 months.

So, I tried to kind of create this experiment in business. And so, I've added since then the Etsy pages, the kind of, content creation side. And make a little money off each one of these streams, which is really helpful in terms of supporting the new tools and the other projects that I want to do.”

- Tyler Booth

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Tyler Booth of Temecula Yard Games.

Tyler began creating unique cornhole pieces and it quickly gained popularity. He likely produced around 20 sets his first year, followed by 50 sets his second year, and roughly 100 sets his third year. Tyler then added the Etsy pages and content creation and generated a small profit from each of these sources, which is very beneficial for funding the new tools and furthering the projects he wants to work on.

In this episode, Tyler discusses how creating an online community has benefited him, the time he started designing furniture, and his bestselling product at the moment aside from cornhole pieces.

Tyler has been ringing in the new year gradually. He reveals that he has modified his design as he begins the new season of corn boards. He now has a 12-by-24-inch mini-board, which Tyler characterizes as a fun kid-friendly travel companion.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Sebastien Desmarais: Hollywood Woodwork

Sebastien Desmarais: Hollywood Woodwork

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 05:00:10 +0000

“We're an architectural woodwork company, founded in 1968 by my grandfather at the time we were a small two-person shop and we started doing different things, and we grew up and eventually we focused on commercial architectural woodworking, and by 1999 we've grown to maybe a 20-million a year company.

And we started heading down a path of employee ownership. So, we're an ESOP, we're partially employee-owned, and since then, just been growing the business and now we're diversified a little bit. We do woodworking, we do metalwork, and we're also into residential as well.”

- Sebastien Desmarais

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Sebastien Desmarais from Hollywood Woodwork.

Sebastien's grandfather established Hollywood Woodwork in 1968, specializing in architectural woodwork. At the time, they had a small, two-person staff. By 1999, they had developed into a 20 million-dollar firm as a result of their focus on commercial architectural woodworking. The business then began to move in the direction of employee ownership. They are an ESOP member, which means they are partially employee-owned. Sebastien has been expanding the company and recently began to diversify. They work with metal, wood, and even residential clients.

In this episode, Sebastien shares where most of their assignments come from, who their biggest client is, and how he keeps in touch and maintains a good relationship with them long after the project has concluded.

Keeping up excellent client relations after the project is finished can be difficult. Nonetheless, Sebastien said it's as easy as picking up the phone when people call, completing the task, and handling the issues.

"The individual who dives deeply into problems and seeks out solutions."

That, in his opinion, is what keeps their customers coming back.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Haeden Secor: Truett & Grace Construction

Haeden Secor: Truett & Grace Construction

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 07:00:12 +0000

“You're catching us in the very early stages. We probably went into business about seven months ago. So, we're definitely in the growing stage, mostly just making connections, networking, and stuff like that. The long-term goal is we're more of a general contractor.

That's what the goal is. So, being in Lake Harwell, we're here on the lake. So, our long-term goal is, we want to start building custom lake homes, kind of designated more towards the higher-end homes is what my end goal is, but for right now, just getting started, I'm not turning down any projects.”

- Haeden Secor

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Haeden Secor from Truett & Grace, a professional contracting company, Located in Hartwell, Georgia.

Haeden launched his company roughly seven months ago. They were undoubtedly in the growing stage and were mainly networking and forming relationships. Situated in Lake Harwell, their long-term ambition is to build unique lake homes oriented more towards higher-end properties. However, as they are only beginning, Haeden is not rejecting any projects at this time.

In this episode, Haeden discusses his first six months of business ownership, how he transitioned from his day job to make his side hustle a full-blown business, and the most profitable projects his team has completed thus far, and more!

It's challenging to work a full-time job plus a side gig. Haeden's company's initial marketing strategy consisted only of yard signs and word-of-mouth, but he had to approach it slightly different. After all, he had a full-time job and was working from 6:00 AM to 5:00 PM, so he could put only so much time into it. He also wanted to avoid overloading himself by advertising too vigorously. But how did Haeden handle it?

Listen now and get the whole story!

Tim Mills: Lakes Region Woodworking

Tim Mills: Lakes Region Woodworking

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 05:00:12 +0000

“I started off in high school, absolutely fell in love with woodworking, working with my hands, and it's just kind of grown from there. I'd never really gotten into the actual woodworking aspect of it until I moved into the house that I have now. Now, my basement is huge, so I took over part of that as my actual wood shop.

I've just been acquiring tools and stuff over the years. And being a trim carpenter, you kind of learn a lot of things about different woods, how to do different things, and I've always just liked creating. I get these ideas in my head and then I just want to bring them to life. So that's what really sparked it all.”

- Tim Mills

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Tim Mills from Lakes Region Woodworking.

Tim started in high school and immediately fell in love with woodworking and creative work. From there, it just continued to expand. He hadn't actually begun woodworking until he moved into the home he currently resides in. He converted a portion of his spacious basement into his actual woodworking space. Tim has amassed a variety of equipment over the years, and as a trim carpenter, he learned a lot about various kinds of wood and other skills, and he has always enjoyed making things. He has these thoughts and wants to make them into reality. That is what ignited it all!

In this episode, Tim discusses his most recent business venture—starting a handyman service—as well as his objectives for 2023 and his intentions to pivot his business to do more carpentry and built-in work.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Matt Williams: Mr. Toolbelt

Matt Williams: Mr. Toolbelt

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 06:00:13 +0000

“I started it when I was working for somebody else doing it at nights and weekends until I made enough to make it on my own or felt like I could. So, it started in 2011. About 2013, I took the plunge to go full on.”

- Matt Williams

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Matt Williams, also known as Mr. Toolbelt.

Matt started doing woodworking while he was employed by another person, working nights and weekends until he had enough money to support his own business. In 2011, he began his small side hustle, and in or around 2013, he decided to go full-time. Ten fruitful years after it started as a side gig, his firm is still going strong!

In this episode, Matt talks about his company's internal dynamics, his early years in management, and how he advertised their services ten years ago when they first opened for business. For most business owners, reaching a milestone of ten years is difficult. But he explains that it was a careful balancing act between trying to perform the work, managing behind the scenes, and doing all that SEO. Sure, it was a lot, and it took a lot of work, but things got a little easier once he hired his first employee. After that, it was more accessible and easier to work ON the business rather than IN it.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Bridgette & Dillon: Farmhouse Woodworking

Bridgette & Dillon: Farmhouse Woodworking

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 06:00:12 +0000

“We started dating, I think it was like in 2019, and like she kind of said, we just started building things together for our own house and we kind of loved how we were a great team.

We worked really well together, and we really liked what we were making. And then some of our friends started reaching out and they're like,

“Hey, I love that. Could you build that for us?”

And yeah, we started realizing people wanted this stuff that we were making.”

- Dillon

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Bridget and Dillon of Farmhouse Woodworking.

Since Bridget's father was a contractor, she was constantly exposed to the world of woodworking as a child. She majored in engineering in college, worked as an engineer for a while, and discovered her passion when she and Dillan bought their home and began DIY home improvements. Dillon, on the other hand, was a teacher before starting the business. The woodworking crafts they made along the way and how well they got along with one another won them over. When some of their pals requested to create things for them, they learned that people actually wanted the stuff they were producing.

In this episode, Bridget and Dillon talked about their most significant project, how they made it through quitting their day jobs to focus on their woodworking business, and their promotional strategy to draw in customers.

Listen now and get the whole story!

John Miller: Busby Cabinets

John Miller: Busby Cabinets

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 06:00:08 +0000

“So, I started talking with Jack Busby, who was the founder of this company and had been running it for almost 40 plus years when I came across it. So, he and his wife started it in his dad's goat barn here in Alachua County in Florida and we've got four locations throughout the state of Florida, which have just under 70 employees.

Have 35,000 square foot facility here in Alachua where we produce everything. And he had really built himself a very nice niche in the luxury residential, cabinetry, and millwork world. And, it checked all the boxes when I was looking for a company, one that had been started by somebody, run by someone, and had reached a point where then I could come in and apply the things that I've learned in my career to help grow this business as well.”

- John Miller

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by John Miller, the present CEO of Busby Cabinets.

John founded the corporation with the goal of establishing his own company to manage and oversee. Before he purchased Busby Cabinets, he began his search roughly three years prior. When he discovered Busby Cabinets, which was founded by Jack Busby and had been in operation for about 40 years, he immediately struck up a conversation with him. Jack really carved out a pretty beautiful place for himself in the area of luxury residences, cabinetry, and millwork. It met all of John's criteria for a company, including being in a position where he could join and use the skills he had acquired over his career to advance the company.

In this episode, John discusses his ideal client, what brought him to this particular manufacturing sector, and the moment in his business when he realized he needed INNERGY, all that, and a lot more!

Listen now and get the whole story!

For more information on INNERGY or to book a demo please check out https://woodpreneur.com/innergy

Joe Keller: RCS Millwork

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 06:00:13 +0000

Joe Keller: RCS Millwork

“I realized maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be my own boss. I went and bought into RCS with my dad and now we've got about 86 employees. And so, we do commercial millwork all over the United States. Sort of primarily focused here in the Midwest, in very specific markets but we'll follow our favorite customers just about anywhere that they want to go.”

- Joe Keller

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Joe Keller, the president of RCS Millwork.

Joe's dad founded RCS Millwork as a family business. As things improved, his father grew the business from 3 employees to 60. After finishing college, Joe worked for a general contractor until he realized that being his own boss wasn't all that horrible. He thus moved in and joined the family business alongside his father, and the two of them managed to grow it from 60 to 85 employees. They currently carry out commercial millwork across the country. It is mainly concentrated in the Midwest, in certain markets. However, they will generally follow their favorite clients wherever they go.

In this episode, Joe talks about their key projects, how they work well with general contractors, and how they use INNERGY, a new ERP system, to keep everything organized.

Listen now and get the whole story!

For more information on INNERGY or to book a demo, please check out https://woodpreneur.com/innergy

Kris Reynolds: Reynolds Custom Woodworks

Kris Reynolds: Reynolds Custom Woodworks

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 12:12:57 +0000

“We wanted a table in one of the hallways upstairs in the house, and we couldn't find one that would fit. So, I thought, I'll try to make one. And that was it for me. I was hooked, and it kind of came naturally. I was able to sort out design, I was able to come up with joinery, and I was hooked.

So, it started off kind of as a furniture-making operation. A lot of the items in our house. And, of course, then friends want stuff. And then I got asked to build a kitchen for a friend of mine in 2004, and I was like, I want to build cabinets. And then here we are today; we do about 35 to 40 a year.”

- Kris Reynolds

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Kris Reynolds, owner of Reynolds Custom Woodworks. Kris started by attempting to build a table for his family after they struggled to locate one that would fit in one of their home's corridors. And it was because of that event that Kris found his calling. He got hooked, designing and building things came naturally to him. Consequently, he finally created a furniture-making operation in their home, and after that, friends started asking him to do something for them, like building kitchens. And fast forward to today; they do 35 to 40 services annually.

In this episode, we'll find out where Kris gets most of his clients, the difficulties he faces in his current business space, and how he transitioned from being a full-time physics teacher to becoming a full-fledged Woodpreneur.

Additionally, Kris discusses some of his ideas for company expansion, his responsibilities in light of his team's growth, and how he feels about his company today as opposed to when he first started.

Get the complete story by listening right away!

Austin Waldo: Austin School of Furniture

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 18:19:27 +0000

Austin Waldo: Austin School of Furniture

“I want to get more into woodworking, so as soon as I get to Austin, I'm going to look up a woodworking club and see what they're all about. And found a club that's no longer around and went to the club meeting, which was pretty terrible. As a furniture maker, I was bored.

I want to meet more woodworkers and be much more social around it. So, I took some classes at the community college, met some great folks there, and we started brainstorming, what do we like to do? Well, we like good craft beer, and we like woodworking, so let's start a club that's about that.”

-Austin Waldo

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Austin Waldo, the managing director of Austin School of Furniture.

Austin started school when he went to a woodworking club, but he felt it could have been more thrilling and better. Because of it, he consequently made more friends and met more woodworkers. He enrolled in a few classes at the community college, where he met some wonderful people, and they got to work on concepts. The group decided to form a club after discovering a shared passion for woodworking, and the rest is history.

In this episode, we'll learn how Austin was inspired to start a new school by a group of pals with a healthy carpentry passion and a background in marketing and technology. We'll discover the school's beginnings, successful reorientations to change, and future goals.

Austin also talks about the Texas Woodworking Festival, which will be held in Austin on August 26th and 27th of this year, celebrating everything woodworking!

Listen now and get the whole story!

Mike Jones: Mike Jones Made It

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 06:00:11 +0000

Mike Jones: Mike Jones Made It

“Around 2019, I just kind of started building stuff for myself as a hobby and just didn't realize how much I enjoyed it now that it wasn't like, just demanded or just forced upon me. Just having the opportunity to build things that I wanted to build versus what my dad had ever tasked me with for that particular day.

So basically, I started building stuff for myself and posting it online, and originally, I started like selling a lot of my stuff on Facebook, kind of just to fund my habit.”

-Mike Jones

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Mike Jones, the founder of Mike Jones Made It. Having a mom who's into real estate and a do-it-yourselfer dad, Mike grew up always helping his dad renovate things, like her mom's daycare and some of their rental properties. Mike began creating stuff for himself as a hobby in 2019 and later realized how much he enjoyed it because he was doing it for himself now rather than because his dad required or pushed him to when he was younger. As he started constructing things for himself, he thought of posting his creations online and selling them on Facebook to support his hobby.

In this episode, Mike recalls his office career as a Tax-Exempt Bond Finance at an Affordable Housing Finance before becoming a full-time Woodpreneur and the things that led him to leave his job and focus solely on his wood business. He also shares how having entrepreneurial roots inspired him to follow in their footsteps.

Listen now and get the whole story!

Mike McGarry: Urban Lumber MB

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 06:00:08 +0000

Mike McGarry: Urban Lumber MB

“So, I mean, it took a lot of lobbying and a lot of convincing to eventually get to the point where I could run a pilot project, basically just to convince the city that this is a feasible option. So, I borrowed as much money as I possibly could. I think I had, at the time, I think I had 50K to try and pull together a full sawmill facility.

And I found a nice landlord that gave me a building to rent for cheap. Founded a used forklift, found an old sawmill that I rebuilt into an electric sawmill, bought an edger, and it just started milling. Just really figuring it out as I went every step of the way. The mechanical side especially was the first challenge.”

-Mike McGarry

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Mike McGarry, the Co-Founder of Urban Lumber MB.

Mike has been at the urban lumber game since about 2018. In Winnipeg, they were losing a ton of trees in their urban canopy, primarily due to Dutch Elm Disease and Emerald Ash Borer. Because of this, Mike decided, "Hey, I've seen other companies pull this off in other locations (recycle trees); why can't we do this here in Winnipeg?" However, there was a lot of red tape at the time, mainly because three levels of government were saying, "There is no way that we can allow you to run a sawmill using these trees."

In this episode, Mike recounts how much lobbying and persuasion it took him to get to the point where he could launch a pilot project and persuade the city that his proposal was viable. And how he borrowed as much money and got scammed in the way just to try and pull together an entire sawmill facility.

It's time to hear the complete story now!

Steve Larosiliere: Solo Episode

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 20:49:21 +0000

Steve Larosiliere: Solo Episode

“When I first started, I didn't really care about downloads, and I still kind of don't care about downloads. I care more about providing really great stories and insights and lessons for the Woodpreneur Community.

And so, I would say that I probably took last year the most seriously that I ever have with the podcast. I did my best to find good guests. And I know that a lot of you find a lot of value in the consulting sessions that I provide for folks.”

-Steve Larosiliere

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today's guest is none other than Steve Larosiliere himself! Hear him as he recaps 2022, discusses his goals for 2023, and shares a handful list of trends and other stuff that Woodpreneurs should know this 2023.

For the Woodpreneur Community, Steve started the podcast to share inspiring stories, insightful thoughts, and life lessons. Before he knew it, 20,000 people were already listening to the podcast without him ever glancing at the statistics. As a result, Steve diligently searched for quality guests and treated the show seriously. His efforts were well-spent, as many listeners found a lot of value in the consulting sessions he provided for folks.

In this episode, Steve discusses his love of helping people with their businesses and the reason behind the company's rebranding (Acres of Timber). Also, watch out as he talks about launching a brand-new podcast specifically just for builders with an old guest Yelitza Mora and don’t miss the most awaited marketing tips for this year 2023!

It's time to hear the complete story now!

Landon Knopf: LK Custom Woodworking

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 06:11:09 +0000

Landon Knopf: LK Custom Woodworking

“I started in high school doing construction. That was kind of everything. But I got a lot of really good basics down doing that. My parents built a cabin down in Southern Missouri. Kind of like where it all started, they built a cabin. I was in college at the time. Me and my dad decided that we were going to finish the entire interior of the cabin ourselves. And with that, I was able to accumulate all these tools, because it was kind of my idea.”

-Landon Knopf

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Landon Knopf, the owner of LK Custom Woodworking. Landon's humble beginnings began when he worked in construction throughout high school when he first acquired all the fundamentals. When he turned college, his father decided they would complete the interior of the cabin they had built in Southern Missouri all by themselves. And so, Landon was able to gather all the equipment required for woodworking.

In this episode, Landon discusses his intentions to construct a home for himself, how good it is to have your brand in people's homes, and his love of making custom furniture like coffee tables and dressers.

Early exposure to carpentry and woodworking led Landon to decide that he wanted to work for himself and establish a woodworking company rather than for a company. He longs for the ability to choose his path and to carry out his work wherever and whenever he pleases.

Now is the time to hear the entire story!

Jon Heyesen: Arbor Wood Co.

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 06:25:19 +0000

Jon Heyesen: Arbor Wood Co.

“Arbor Wood Co. We're Minnesota based. We produce thermally modified wood, siding, decking dimensional lumber, millwork, and all that stuff. We have been around for a decade, 10 years exactly. And the Arbor Wood story really starts from an intersection of a love of building materials, a love of specifically, sustainably produced building materials, design, and an intersection, a connection with the academic world.”

-Jon Heyesen

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Jon Heyesen, the CEO of Arbor Wood Co. Jon's journey began at the point where his passion for design, his connection to academia, and his love of building materials—more specifically, building materials produced sustainably—met. Because of where they are, the natural resources they have, and their incredibly strong natural resources research section, they have a rather active partnership with the University of Minnesota. As a result, relevant research people who want to take good care of the natural resources they have, such as freshwater, forests, a variety of soils, and varied terrains, are collaborating with them.

In this episode, Jon discusses the benefits of thermal modification and the science behind it, his well-known product line of thermally modified wood furniture, and how steam stabilizes the wood to prevent warping. He also discusses how Thermally Modified Wood targets less environmentally friendly alternatives.

It's time to hear the full story now!

Mike Hoy: Rocky Mountain Wood Slabs

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 06:00:11 +0000

Mike Hoy: Rocky Mountain Wood Slabs

“Rocky Mountain Wood Slabs, how it became was, it started back when I was a little kid just being interested in working with my hands, being interested in building things. At 12 years of age, my mom's ex-husband had a welder and he taught me how to weld. And then I just really took off from there. I got into construction. I worked with one home builder and he was awesome. Because I told him my goal was, I wanted to do built-ins, I wanted to do cabinetry, I wanted to build furniture.”

-Mike Hoy

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Here with us today, together with your host Steve Larosiliere is Mike Hoy, owner of Rocky Mountain Wood Slabs & Handmade Bespoke Furnishings. Mike's humble beginnings began when he was just a young child who enjoyed crafting things using his hands. With time, Mike got into construction while building himself some capital, and now, as he gains a lot of experience, his focus is to do more built-ins and build more furniture.

In this episode, Mike shares how he understood that every piece of wood has a tale to tell, and it is the artist's job to make that narrative come to life. Mike believes his mission is to fulfill the goal of each tree being cut down. His most excellent satisfaction comes from infusing new life into the wood and revealing its hidden beauty. It's his passion, not just work or leisure.

Now is the time to hear the whole story!

Craig DeCicco: DeCicco Woodshop

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 18:00:10 +0000

Craig DeCicco: DeCicco Woodshop

"I've been sort of building furniture or building things for most of my life. I was in the Marine Corps, my first time living in a house, and I was just building some crappy furniture for myself. And then slowly started building slightly better furniture for myself.

And then, a few years passed, and some friends started asking me if I could build some furniture for them. A couple more years go by that and I'm just, "Does anybody else wants any furniture?"

-Craig DeCicco

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Craig DeCicco, the proprietor of the custom furniture firm, ‘DeCicco Woodshop,’ is here today with your host Steve Larosiliere.

When Craig and his family purchased their home, he began working on some modest furniture pieces. Friends and relatives began to notice and inquire whether he might construct something for them. Over the ensuing few years, Craig started creating a proper workshop and developing his talents. Every now and then, he would accept requests for custom furniture. Eventually, when those orders got more regular, he launched his firm as a side gig first before becoming a full-time endeavor.

In this episode, Craig shares how his side hustle developed, the reasons he began to reevaluate his full-time position, and his plans for his business which started as a hobby but is now a full-fledged custom furniture business.

Listen now to hear the complete story!

Layane Maximiliano: Unique Wood Furniture

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 06:00:15 +0000

Layane Maximiliano: Unique Wood Furniture

“Max started flipping houses, so that’s how he started his tools collection. And I was working as a designer in a high-end cabinetry company for kitchens and bass. I loved it. I loved the designing process and customizing. But then, after a few years, we decided to come back to Texas.

We’d missed it. So, we came back, and Max opened a home remodeling company here. So, with interior design love, I just wanted to decorate my house. So that’s how we basically started.”

– Layane Maximiliano

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. With your host Steve Larosiliere today is Layane Maximiliano, an Interior Designer and founder of Unique Wood Furniture, together with her husband, Max. Layane and her other half Max are both immigrants from Brazil who are now residing in Texas for 13 long years! Layane did something worthwhile while waiting for the approval of their green card; she completed her Interior Design degree – which in turn will be the gateway to this well-established furniture company.

In this episode, Layane discusses how their first project was actually an accident that ended up being a huge blessing in disguise, their risk-taking experiences moving from Brazil to California to Florida to Texas, and the challenges of being an expatriate in a foreign country where the language serves as the primary barrier.

“No man is an island.” We rely on one another to survive and get through this thing called life. This saying rings true for the power couple, Layane and Max. Layane shares how they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how it helped grow their business.

To hear the entire story, listen right now!

Nathan Zirkel: A to Z Man Construction

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 06:00:11 +0000

Nathan Zirkel: A to Z Man Construction

“I used to be a fireman and I got started, I built my house, or I remodeled our house that we live in currently. And that kind of just started everything and then I was doing it on my days off. And eventually, I got hurt here about three years ago and had to step away from the fire department.

And so, this went into full-time. It was always full-time, but it went into even more full-time.”

– Nathan Zirkel

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Nathan Zirkel, owner of A to Z-Man Construction LLC, is here today with your host Steve Larosiliere. Nathan was a fireman before starting his own company. Remodeling their very own humble abode during his days off was his first project. When his full-time job as a firefighter hit a rough patch, he eventually became a round-the-clock Woodpreneur.

In this episode, Nathan talks about the challenge of growing his business for those people whose not into the “technical” side of it. How his wife is a significant help to his company (as the saying goes, “behind every great man is a great woman,” and we couldn’t agree more!), and the power of word of mouth, the most effective form of traditional marketing.

Change is the only thing constant in this world, and Nathan’s clients served as living proof, from “we want to remodel our bathroom, show us once done” to being very focused and hands-on “this is what we want and how we want it done.”

Now is the time to listen and hear the whole story!

Brad Leavitt: AFT Construction

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 04:01:14 +0000

“As I graduated high school I was like, “this is it! I love this career!” I was fortunate to work on some great projects and decided to pursue custom home building, which, definitely at the time, seems a lot easier than it is until you undertake that task.

And then you got to realize, “Okay, well, one thing’s, having the entrepreneur mindset and going out on your own and maybe having a skill set in your expertise but running a business is another thing.” Unfortunately, those are two completely different things.”

- Brad Leavitt

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Brad Leavitt, President, and Founder of AFT Construction, a business that provides custom home-building services, is here today with your host Steve Larosiliere. Brad began building in 2005 and worked for a company for six years before deciding to go into business for himself. Brad describes how he got started during the recession and met Dave Clark, his business partner and mentor.

Check out our Blog for More

Nathan Nowak: Wyco Wood Co.

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 06:00:14 +0000

Nathan Nowak: Wyco Wood Co.

“It’s probably been about five years ago now.

With the idea of just taking trees that had no other purpose and turning them in into something other than firewood. Never really thought it would materialize into more than that. But as time went on, we learned how much we really enjoy, opening up a log and seeing what’s inside of it.”

Nathan Nowak

Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Nathan Nowak, the co-founder of WYCO Wood Co. Company. Nathan started the company with the idea of taking trees and turning them into firewood. With time, they ventured into milling dimensional lumber after realizing it could be turned into a business. In this episode, Nathan shares the most rewarding parts of starting and running a woodworking business, his vision, and some of the challenges he faces. Being employed as a firefighter and running the company can be a huge task, but he shares how he balances his work time and still runs the business. Since it is a business that only relies on providing services to clients, they share some of the investment plans that could see the company generate more from developing products and not just their services. Listen now and get the whole story!

Nate Matlack: Matlack Fine Woodworking

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 03:44:03 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Nate Matlack, owner of Matlack Fine Woodworking. Nate’s beginnings in woodworking started with a pocket knife given to him by his father to carve things and keep him out of trouble.

Despite that humble beginning, Nate continued to carve things whenever he got bored, and in high school he took an intro class to furniture making, and things progressed from there. From discussions about starting young, getting his first commission, and much more, you won’t want to miss this episode.

Check it out!

Walt Primrose: Primrose Woodworks

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 04:19:28 +0000

Walt Primrose: Primrose Woodworks

“I decided to move back to Rhode Island.

I saw more opportunities for the type of work I wanted to do. You know, just bigger and better things out here. Rhode Island is pretty affluent. I don't fall into that category, but it's a place where they value the work I wanted to do. I figured I needed to be in a place like this to flourish in that line of work.”

∙ Walt Primrose

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Walt Primrose, the owner of Primrose Woodworks. The transition from working with his father-in-law as a contractor to becoming an independent craftsman wasn't easy at first—it took a lot of time and effort for Walt to get his business off the ground. But now, nine years later, it seems like all that hard work paid off; Primrose Woodworks is still going strong!

“I would literally drive around and find job sites that were houses being built. I'm 10 minutes from the ocean here, and along the shoreline, there’s one giant monstrosity house after the next, they're all over the place with constant building going on.

Jeremy Howard: Nyle Systems

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 02:23:02 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Jeremy Howard, President of Nyle Systems. In this episode we discuss everything from meeting customers' specific needs, the importance of having a niche for growing and scaling, and how to operate a top-tier business model. With all that and more, you won’t want to miss it!

Jeff Krug & Rob Barone: Greene Street Joinery

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 04:34:40 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Jeff Krug and Rob Barone of Greene Street Joinery. Jeff and Rob’s shop is a custom design and build focused shop located in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Between discussing moving into being a full-time wood business quickly, developing sustainable ecological practices, and finding the right customer base, there is a lot to get into with this episode. Check out the full episode, and don’t forget to take a look at Greene Street Joinery at their socials below!

Website: https://www.greenestreetjoinery.com

Instagram: @greene_st_joinery

https://www.woodpreneurlife.com/jeff-krug-rob-barone-greene-street-joinery

Steve Larosiliere: Acres of Timber

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 02:30:58 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down on his own to provide an update on how things have been going since the last solo episode of the podcast! Between Woodpreneur Podcast origins, travel stories, and plans to make your fourth quarter a profitable one, you won’t want to miss this episode. Check it out!

Tom Fox: TruCut Mills & Fox Forestry LLC

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 06:16:08 +0000

Tom Fox: TruCut

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Tom Fox, owner of TruCut Mills and Fox Forestry LLC. This is Tom's second appearance on the Woodpreneur Podcast, and a lot has changed since his last visit. You won't want to miss this one. Check it out!

Instagram: @trucutmills

Instagram: @foxforestryllc

Greg Wilson: HempWood

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 04:59:08 +0000

“We are the only ones in the world doing it. We follow you on Instagram and I listen to your podcast from time to time and it just gives me a little bit of inspiration. So reaching out to you was just a matter of time when we had our act together.

Hemp wood is a derivative of several different technologies that have come up through the years, which started with skriver in the 1970s in Australia.“

Greg Wilson

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Greg Wilson, who is the founder of HempWood. Greg designed materials from various fibers derived from the controversial hemp wood to promote sustainable building. To those who are not familiar, hemp is related to and often lumped together with cannabis. Check out this episode where Greg talks about the background story of his creation, HempWood, and its parent company, Fibonacci.

https://www.woodpreneur.com/greg-wilson-hempwood

Cagen Chaney: Coach’s Custom Woodworking

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 03:26:31 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Cagen Chaney of Coach's Custom Woodworking. Cagan is one of the recent members of a particularly impressive club, which is woodworkers who have gone full time as Woodpreneurs! Focusing on high-end tables and dining sets and progressing from a long waitlist of custom orders you won’t want to miss this episode.

Justin & Olga: Cowtown Wood Co

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 04:42:10 +0000

Justin & Olga: Cowtown Wood Co.

"Justin needed to be to become the master sawyer, and I needed to be a hardcore woodworking networker, and a social media expert, basically. Adding a whole other thing was just going to bog us down."

Olga

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Olga and Justin from Cowtown Wood Co. Justin and Olga are part of the newer wave of Woodpreneurs, as they started their business two and a half years ago doing small woodworking projects. Around that point they started listening to the podcast, which inspired the pair to invest in their own sawmill!

“It's almost kind of like you start to become more serious. We got the sawmill and right off the bat, I'm gonna have to just get on this thing and just tear stuff up for a while. I'm gonna have to mess some stuff up, I'm gonna have to figure out what I'm doing.

I don't come from a long line of sawyers or anything like that. I'm completely new. So that's what I did for the first month. I was still working full time and in my spare time, I would just grab whatever I could and just put it on the mill and just see how it runs. Like ‘Okay, this is kind of how this pushes vs this pushes.’

After that, after I felt more experienced with it, we decided to start taking on customers and stuff like that. It was almost instantly that we went from hobbyist to me quitting my job. The week of us going live with it, it was appointment after appointment after appointment. It was also overwhelming. Honestly, I wasn't ready for the full swing to happen that fast. But it was intentional, it was all planned. I mean, we put everything in place to make it happen that way.”

Justin

Nick Price: Valley View Industries

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 04:33:48 +0000

Nick Price: Valley View Industries

“We’re well-known in town for what we do because we do a good quality product, so it’s an easy sell.”

Nick Price

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Nick Price from Valley View Industries. From ambitious beginnings to the story of a long-held family business, you won’t want to miss this one!

“Our origin story is that my dad started the business well over 30 years ago. When I graduated high school in 2009, I started working for my dad; I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll get rich, and it will be awesome.’ But that was not the case. My dad’s a pretty stern old man, and I got quite the whoopin’ and learned how actually to work. So it was a pretty good opportunity for me.

As the years went on working for him, I was like, ‘Hey, I liked this. I love working with cedar.’ That’s the wood we work with primarily, and it just went on and on. Then he started going away in the winters going to Thailand. So I naturally took over parts of the business and started learning more about business and marketing. And I was like, ‘Oh, I really like that.’

So in 2017, I purchased the business from him. We were a six-figure business then, I took it over in 2017, and now we’re into the seven figures. So doing great and growing the business, and yeah, it’s awesome.”

Steve Larosiliere

Katrina Amaral: Timberdoodle Farm

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 05:30:38 +0000

Katrina Amaral: Timberdoodle Sawmill

“They'll put us in touch with the landowner if they’re like ‘Well, I've never thought of this. We could use it’”

Katrina Amaral

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Katrina from Timberdoodle Sawmill. Katrina and Miles began custom sawmilling with a homemade chainsaw mill way back in 2010. Since then, the business has grown enough for both of them to focus their time and energy heavily on the business, and what a journey it has been!

“We have a nonsensical origin story: Miles built a sawmill, it snowballed aggressively, and that’s what we’re doing now. So we are currently a vertically integrated sawmill business in rural New Hampshire. We have the capacity to cut down trees and handle the chain of custody all the way through milling and post-processing, which means that we do like a very geographically circular product.

When we were still sawmilling out of the duplex apartment that we were renting near the college town that we went to. I came home from my day job, I do conservation work, and miles had been milling. I was coming home early to help him, and I was like, ‘Oh, I can tell by the smell of the sawdust that you’ve been milling a lot of red oak today.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, we were doing boards.’ I was like, ‘Okay, if I am deep in this enough to identify wood species by the smell of its sawdust, it feels like we’ve been doing a lot of it.’”

Katrina Amaral

Steve Thomson: Happy Life Wood

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 05:31:55 +0000

Steve Thomson: Happy Life Wood

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Steve Thomson from Happy Life Wood. Larosiliere and Thomson connected almost two years ago when Thomson purchased a Woodpreneur sweatshirt. It was then that Thomson was able to show off the incredibly unique work that he does with Happy Life Wood.

“Yeah, I do a form of intarsia, where I take different species of wood, and basically utilize them in a fashion that replicates a photograph or an object. So I take pieces of different species of wood, I glue them all together, and build what I call a foundation. Then I sculpt and carve it.

That's really the basics at its root of intarsia, but if you look at Tarja, and you look at my process, there are some subtle differences. The end result is quite a bit different because I end up with something that's a little bit more realistic than your typical intarsia. They tend to just round over the edges and put it together like a puzzle, whereas I get them all together, and then I sculpt the whole thing as one unit.”

Steve Thomson

Ron Dyrcz: Ronders

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 05:15:53 +0000

"People will come to me and say, 'Well, do you think you could like make a bowl out of that?' We can make like 15 tables; we could make your entire hardwood flooring. Showing people how much wood is actually in a tree's trunk is eye-opening for many people."

Ron Dyrcz

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Ron Dyrcz from Ronders wood and metal works in Illinois. Ron is a rare type of Woodpreneur, A chainsaw miller. Steve is fascinated with chainsaw milling because it is a very accessible form of milling but requires a lot of hard work.

"It all started with being in the art world all my life, lots of family members, carpenters, trade people, you name it. So I've always been in the industry, but I never really saw the tree or the arborist industry. Then I got diagnosed with Crohn's, got sick, and lost my way. I didn't know where I would head or what job I would do.

I started taking down trees in my own yard because they were old and dead trees and garbage. So I started cutting that stuff down and realizing we could do something more with this. From there, it just snowballed, I kept going more and more with the arborists and realized that here in Chicagoland, there's a crazy market for firewood and mulch, and that's the only thing the arborists in the area can afford to do.

Since their overhead is so high, they can't spend time wondering what they will do with these logs. They have to chip it, dump that truck, and get onto the next job. Suddenly, I realized there was a little market for someone to come take those logs from these arborists, and that's when I started cutting my own lumber by just taking the logs from them. It's now to the point where I have more logs than I have time to cut."

Ron Dyrcz

Erika Horigan: Horigan Urban Forest Products

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 04:17:36 +0000

Erika Horigan: Horigan Urban Forest Products

“It's this product that does everything that you sort of want it to. It's beautiful, sustainable, at this point, it's plentiful. We can keep on producing it; there's so many good things in it.”

Erika Horigan

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Erika Horigan of Horigan Urban Forest Products. Erika is a rare Woodpreneur interview for Steve because she is also located in Chicago, not an area with an abundance of urban lumber involvement.

“Horigan Urban Forest Products got started in 2003, so it's been a while. Prior to that we had a tree business. It was my husband, Bruce, who had seen these trees going into the landfill at first, and then into firewood or mulch and he thought that there's got to be a better way.

Taking them to a higher use was the beginning thought and we started to look into milling and kiln drying, it took quite a while. Then in 2003, we sold Horigan Tree Industries, we started the wood business, and the rest is history. Since then, we have gotten back into tree care. After our non-compete came up, we just decided to jump back in; it was sort of a natural combination between the mill and the trees.”

Erika Horigan

Justin Ephraim: Reduxwood

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 05:01:04 +0000

Justin Ephraim: Reduxwood

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Justin Ephraim from Reduxwood! Justin is part of the returning guests club, and a lot has happened since Justin was on the podcast last. Over the nearly two years since Justin and Steve have spoken, an entire pandemic and massive growth for Reduxwood has occurred. So you won’t want to miss this one!

“A lot has happened in the last year and a bit. When we spoke last time, we had just opened our first location with the J. Edward Group in California and San Diego. Since then, we’ve been expanding. First was Vancouver Reduxwood West about three and a half years ago. Then the J. Edward Group opened, and they got their first container just before California locked down. It’s been a wild couple of years.

We were quite aggressive many years ago, acquiring many of the logs we got from the lakes. I flew down there a decade ago, and over eight years, we acquired hundreds of trees from the lakes. So I saw it as a unique opportunity. Something that had some history and a real genuine story. We were one of the first companies in Vietnam to import some of the species into Vietnam; they had not even been registered. Over the past ten years, I’ve had some very big dealers, lumber retailers, and people in the industry come to our facility.”

Justin Ephraim

Adam Beasley: Lazy Guy DIY

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 04:46:10 +0000

Adam Beasley: Lazy Guy DIY

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Adam Beasley, who goes by the name Lazy Guy DIY. Steve and Adam met up in person just before the start of the pandemic at WORKBENCHcon in 2019.

“First and foremost, my channel Lazy Guy DIY started in 2016 focused on woodworking, DIY, and tool reviews, and that's been going pretty strong. I also run social media for several companies, I have a consulting company where I consult with brands, and we set up Ambassador programs.

I work with a few makers here and there and I do a maker show, which is online woodworking, competition, art and furniture flipping. I'm a co-owner of that, and it’s one of the biggest online competitions out there right now. Lastly, I am a carpenter on a TV show that's getting ready to air this winter. We're filming episodes, and I actually leave here in a few weeks for another location, and that's going to be on the Outdoor Channel in December.”

Adam Beasley

Jacob Dennill: The Bearded Ox

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 05:45:03 +0000

“We sell and retail in all kinds of dimensional and live edge slabs. I think we probably have one of the largest selections of kiln dried live edge slabs in Alberta.”

Jacob Dennill

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Jacob Dennill from The Bearded Ox. Jacob has been an entrepreneur for about 14 years and was very successful in the company he started previously, but it didn’t give him the feeling he needed to keep going.

“I was making good money, and all that was great, but a little piece of my soul died every day. So I decided I had to do something different. I went and did a lifelong dream and got my commercial helicopter pilot’s license, and I was going to start a helicopter company. But in the meantime, I need to do something to make money because you can’t just fire up a helicopter company the next day.

So I told my wife that I’d be a pretty grumpy guy if I had to keep doing what I was doing, so let’s start another company. She was like, ‘Sure thing, let’s go.’ I started doing some research, and at the same time, a friend of mine was working on the business plan for the helicopter company and trying to make that go. Then I realized that to get into what I wanted to do, there was no middle ground to spend 12,000 bucks on a small mill, put it in my backyard, and do it on the weekends or jump all the way in. I’m not a halfway kind of guy, so we jumped all the way in.”

Jacob Dennill

Yelitza Mora: BuildTX Solutions

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 06:35:34 +0000

Yelitza Mora: BuildTX Solutions

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Yelitza Mora from BuildTX Solutions. Steve and Yelita met at a mastermind in San Diego, where Yelitza explained that she operates a construction company.

She may not be your typical Woodpreneur, but wood is one of the many mediums that Yelitza works with. Additionally, the brand and lifestyle she has built around herself paint her as a stellar example of what Woodpreneurs can be capable of.

“We started about five years ago here in Dallas, Texas, because there was a need. I was consulting before we started the company, and then I wanted to start investing in real estate. When we tried to find good and reliable contractors, we couldn’t find any; it was just like the horror stories.

Everyone has this idea that contractors are terrible, they’re going to go ahead and run off with your money, and they’re not going to do things the right way. So I told my business partner, a civil engineer, I was like, ‘Hey, you have a lot of experience in the construction part of things in Venezuela, where we’re from, on the commercial side. Why don’t we collaborate?

I’m good at sales, consulting, looking at problems, and creating solutions. And you’re good at doing, boots on the ground, running the crews, making sure everything is supposed to go how it is supposed to go. Then we see if we’re a good fit for the community and the marketplace.’” That’s how we launched the business in 2017, and since then, it’s been rapid growth for us.”

Yelitza Mora

Tom Hamilton: Lumber Cycle

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 04:47:17 +0000

“I think in order to understand how urban forestry can be successful, I think it's really important for people in the community to see what the process is like to get from a tree to lumber.”

Tom Hamilton

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Tom Hamilton from Lumbercycle in San Diego. Steve and Tom just recently hosted a Woodpreneur meet up at Tom’s shop in National City, which allowed so many familiar and new faces to get a chance to meet up, network, and share ideas!

“We do things a little bit differently from most sawmills because we are a 501C3 non-profit. We started back in 2016 down here in San Diego and we have a community college called Palomar College, which has one of the greatest woodworking programs in the nation. You can learn to make literally anything you want there and they have so much community and staff that's ready to help you with any project you want to do.

They also have a sawmill urban forestry program, where they accept logs, and they'll cut and dry the wood and then sell it to their students for a super crazy discount. After I volunteered with them for a couple of years, when I was getting out of the program, I wanted to try and continue the mission that they were doing by salvaging logs and finding ways to affect people's lives with it by making the logs affordable and accessible for as many people as possible. I want to try and do that for the public.

In San Diego, trying to find urban wood in this area, it is really expensive stuff because there's not a lot of people that are doing it. I know the goal is to try and save as many trees from going into landfill as possible, but it seemed like it would make more sense to save more trees if we could do more volume. And by doing more volume, you can lower your costs, and if you can make it accessible and affordable for low income and disadvantaged communities, then you can try and make that more systemic organic movement on the working man's level to make long term changes for urban forestry sustainability.”

Tom Hamilton

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John Christensen: Native Lumber

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 07:04:08 +0000

John Christensen: Native Lumber

“I don’t want to branch out and try to have all these other little avenues. I want to focus on what the mill is good at and make it ten times more efficient.”

John Christensen

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with John Christensen from Native Lumber. With discussion about multi-generational woodworking, how things change over time, and the challenges facing businesses in today’s marketplace, you won’t want to miss this episode!

“We’ve had a little sawmill on our family ranch for just about every generation, which my little girls will be the fifth generation on the place. The first mill was right after the turn of the century, a little steam-powered circle mill that my grandfather and his brothers used to build their house. Their father actually worked in a bigger production mill not far from here.

They grew a little bit bigger on an American Number One that they ran in the 40s and 50s. My dad took that over, and my mom and dad ran that into the 90s until they went a different direction because of a partner leaving. So we haven’t had an operational mill since then. My wife and I and best friend Curtis Baker put our heads together to rebuild that circle mill.

After some research, we purchased a Cooks sawmill and edger five years ago to take care of our own needs and hopefully sell some boards here and there. Since then, it’s blown into a full-scale operation. So now there’s three of us full-time and two more guys that come in part-time and help us at the end of the week.”

John Christensen

Miles Lanier: Tall Pine Outfitters & Lanier Lumber Co

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 05:20:40 +0000

Miles Lanier: Tall Pine Outfitters & Lanier Lumber Co

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Miles Lanier of Tall Pine Outfitters & Lanier Lumber Co. Miles started the tree service company Tall Pine Outfitters with his brother and then vertically integrated another company, Lanier Lumber Co, into their business when they saw the need and opportunity.

"My brother and I have a background in landscaping. We were doing landscaping for a while, landscaping installs, and maintenance until we transitioned over and started our tree service company. So we went full-time residential tree service and land clearing land management.

In the first couple of years in business, we produced so much material through the tree service that it became a no-brainer to integrate vertically. Then we could turn this raw material into something workable that we could bring to market instead of just burning it or disposing of it."

-Miles Lanier

Bao Loi: Design Craft Workshop

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 06:51:40 +0000

Bao Loi: DesignCraft Workshop

"That's a good point, because social media can be a good tool for you or it could just be a life draining mess. If you're always thinking about the views, subscriber counts, if that's what you're in this for, you'll probably get burnt out real quick."

Bao Loi

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Bao Loi from DesignCraft Workshop. Bao started as an architect, went to architecture school, got his license and everything. But not long after graduating, he found himself missing working with his hands, so Bao found that he needed to make a change.

“Being able to go out there on a daily basis, working on your models, working on building stuff. I definitely missed that. So after school, I stayed in town to save a little money, and I was able to work on our projects and build stuff. When I entered the workforce, there was a huge disconnect between what architects do and what they teach you in college.

Many new graduates might have that shock of going through college and into the workforce; it’s totally different. That affected me a lot. So I purchased my first table saw to sell stuff because, in college, that’s what we did. That started my journey on woodworking part-time, just doing cutting boards starting out. From there, it went towards more commissioned work, furniture builds, built-ins, etc.”

Bao Loi

Ben Christensen & Paul Timmins: Cambium Carbon

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 04:20:07 +0000

“We set out on a path to learn as much as we could to make local material be as good if not better than the traditional supply chains.”

Paul Timmins

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Ben Christensen and Paul Timmins of Cambium Carbon. Ben is the CEO and co-founder of Cambium Carbon, and Paul is the Director of Wood Products at the company. At Cambium Carbon, their priorities go beyond just selling wood products; their mission is to create a solution for significant problems such as climate change.

"I wanted to take it to the next level and tie that into addressing climate change. We’re a public benefit company, and we focus on helping the communities that we work with, our milling partners, and the different supply partners we work with across the country. Then we reinvest in the forests where we see that salvage wood comes from. We have a 15% tree planting commitment. We work with many amazing local planting organizations, and anytime we sell the table or wood product or flooring, we put that directly back into community planting. That’s what we’re all about.”

Ben Christensen

ps. join our personal branding workshop coming up at the end of June!

Build Your Wood Brand Organically to Sell More Wood Products & Services without having to Spend More on Ads!

3 Day Personal Branding Workshop For Wood Entrepreneurs

Live - June 20 - 22, 2022

This is for Woodworkers, Carpenters, Furniture Makers, and Sawmills.

Justin Bailey: Campfire Woodworks

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 05:16:28 +0000

Justin Bailey: Campfire Woodworks

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Justin Bailey from Campfire Woodworks. Justin had the idea to start Campfire Woodworks many years ago based on his love of building and creating. However, at the time, he had no outlet for that creative energy. Follow along as Steve and Justin discuss growing up, finding your path, and the inspiration behind his company’s brand.

“I've always been a crafty person, high school shop class and all that, but I sort of got away from it. I went to college in New York City, and I've lived in New York City for about 14-15 years. Then five years ago, my wife and I decided to move out to the suburbs, so we bought a house in Rahway, New Jersey.

That house came with a garage and one of the agreements that we had when we first moved here was that anything that needed to be made or fixed or done around the house, we would try to do it ourselves before we paid someone else to try and do it. So out of necessity, I ended up building a kitchen island for our kitchen with a couple of tools in the yard, on a folding table from Costco. Then I kind of caught the bug again, I remembered how much I enjoyed doing crafty stuff.

One project turned into two, then three, until eventually I built a cutting board and I moved all my tools into the garage. We had never parked a car in there and had been empty for the first year we had the house. So I cleaned up the garage, put a little Workbench and a couple of tools in there, did some projects, and a bunch of my friends reached out to me asking, ‘Hey, can you make me this? Can you make me that?’”

Justin Bailey

Derrick Radford: Radford Woodworks

Thu, 26 May 2022 05:34:14 +0000

Derrick Radford: Radford Woodworks

“I sold a table for $2,300. I’m turning this raw material into this. It took me maybe a week to produce, and I was happy every moment of doing that.”

-Derrick Radford

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Derrick Radford from Radford Woodworks. Like many other Woodpreneurs, Derrick started his woodworking journey when he bought his first house and was looking for furniture.

Early on, Derrick wanted to acquire a lot of items for himself and his fiance, but they were not necessarily affordable options. So Derrick felt inspired by the idea that he could probably create the kind of furniture his fiance wanted himself.

Colton Rosman: Bearded Moose Woodworking

Thu, 19 May 2022 04:52:21 +0000

Colton Rosman: Bearded Moose Woodworking

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Colton Rosman from Bearded Moose Woodworking. Colton and his company operate just outside of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he is very at home out in the country.

“I grew up in Michigan out in the country, and my parents had about 100 acres. So I grew up doing a lot of outdoor stuff. After graduating from college to be an engineer, I moved to Portland, Oregon, where I worked for a very large company in the city for about six years.

My now wife and I moved out and did apartment living for a while, but I got really stir crazy. So we decided to buy a house in Oregon and get a little bit of space. As soon as we moved into the house, I was back into hands-on stuff and DIY upgrades.

Then when COVID hit, my wife also had our daughter at the same time, so we were locked in our house. I spent a ton of time on YouTube and went down the rabbit hole of furniture. I had a decent amount of tools from the DIY stuff, and I told my wife, ‘Hey, I’m gonna start building some furniture.’”

Colton Rosman

Bud Farmer: Forrest Design Co.

Thu, 12 May 2022 06:21:21 +0000

Bud Farmer: Forrest Design Co.

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Bud Farmer, owner of the Jacksonville, Texas-based Forrest Design Company.

Bud has established himself as something of a social media posting expert. Highlighting the entire build process in his reels and perfectly incorporating the right music and the right vibe for every video means that he has an ideal visual representation of his products and his company.

Check out this episode and listen to learn all about Bud’s social media expertise, his company’s history, the details of his most recent builds, and much more.

Bo Shepherd: Woodward Throwbacks

Thu, 05 May 2022 06:00:09 +0000

Bo Shepherd: Woodward Throwbacks

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Bo Shepherd from Woodward Throwbacks. Steve’s wife has followed Bo online, and last summer Steve had the opportunity to go to Bo’s store when she was running a big sale.

Woodward Throwbacks has a phenomenal brand, exceptional content, and unique products with a distinctly Detroit feel to them. Check out this episode and listen to Bo talk about how she has brought this business to where it is today!

A Reclaimed Origin

“So Woodward Throwbacks is a sustainable design studio that focuses on designing furniture, buildings, and spaces using primary reclaimed materials. We started in 2014 organically, in a way where, in Detroit there was a lot of illegal dumping around that time which is material that's been discarded on the street.

So being at a college, being on a budget, we're gathering those materials while we bike around the city and making furniture for ourselves. Fast forward a couple of years, we started selling that furniture to friends and family, and at the local farmer's market. We got our big break when we started selling for Nordstrom. So we got into a couple of like, big box companies.

Then our business kind of started to evolve, where instead of doing smaller home decor, we started doing larger scale furniture. Now we're in our 24,000 square foot old Dodge dealership, which is our workshop, our warehouse, and our showroom. It was partly trying to clean up our neighborhood, but also just working on a budget and wanting to make really cool things for our house.”

-Bo Shepherd

Zach Wedekind: Rustic Lumber Store

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 06:00:14 +0000

Zach Wedekind: Rustic Lumber Store

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Zach Wedekind from Rustic Lumber Store, based out of Louisville, Nebraska.

For a unique piece of podcast trivia, in over 200 episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast, Zach is only the second guest from Nebraska to be featured on the show!

In its current form, Rustic Lumber Store has been in operation for three years now, but they have operated in the wood industry since about 2010 with their Timber King sawmill.

Originally the intention was for the business to focus on cutting up logs and timber beams for construction. However, over the last few years, the slab and woodworking industry has exploded in popularity, which has shifted the focus of the business.

Austin Aaron: Dancing Grains Woodworks

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 04:47:14 +0000

Austin Aaron: Dancing Grains Woodworks

“I’ve been trying to get to a point where we get to really build our furniture lines. I feel like I’ve put a lot of effort and had a lot of inspiration around the designs. And that’s what I’ve really wanted to do and spend time on; it’s about the craft.”

Austin Aaron

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Austin Aaron from Dancing Grains Woodworks, based out of Boulder, Colorado.

Steve and Austin met at the recent Woodpreneur meetup in Denver, and Steve took interest immediately. Austin started his business in 2008, right during the recession, but that wasn’t able to keep this Woodpreneur down, and he has grown his business successfully in the years since then.

Robert Rising: NY City Slab

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 06:00:16 +0000

At NY City Slab, Robert and his team mill urban lumber from what might seem an unlikely source. The idea began when Robert was building a house and wanted to use local wood. Robert found that trees in his locality were being used for mulch and wanted to put those cut-down trees to better use.

Robert started off using a Lucas mill but it found it slow in terms of production. At a woodsmen show, Robert bought the biggest mill he could buy with his money at the time. He went for a 14 inch bandsaw mill and built a 50ft track to go with it that enabled him to cut through 6-8 logs in a day.

Sean Harmer: Sean Harmer Woodworking

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 04:57:35 +0000

Sean Harmer: Sean Harmer Woodworking

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Sean Harmer from Sean Harmer Woodworking. Steve and Sean met at the Denver, Colorado, Woodpreneur meetup, and Sean is now bringing his knowledge and expertise to the Woodpreneur Podcast.

Sean is coming up on the five-year anniversary of his woodworking journey. Like many other woodworkers, Sean gets a great deal of inspiration from his parents. Both his father and mother were artists and creators, and they have passed on that passion to Sean.

“In 2018, I was working at a startup in Boulder, kind of like a commercial real estate thing, until I got laid off. So I took some of that severance money and invested in some tools and a CNC machine, and I wanted to expand it to like a whole new thing; I wanted to be creative.

Fast forward a couple of years, the pandemic hit in 2020. At that point, I was a couple of months into having a little boy, and I still wasn’t working and was having a hard time finding a job. I looked around at my friends and the opportunities they were looking for, which led me to create my company, Hardwood Climbing, where I made hang boards, which are like a training board that you mount above your door for rock climbers.”

Sean Harmer

Carmen Rodriguez: Eutree Inc.

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 07:01:33 +0000

Carmen Rodriguez: Eutree

“I’ve heard ‘no’ so many times with architects and designers. But don’t be shy about bringing a brand out there and being proud of what you do.”

Carmen Rodriguez

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Carmen Rodriguez from the Atlanta, Georgia-based wood company Eutree. The company’s founder Sims Acuff was formerly an arborist and part of a tree service business. Eutree was a project he started while attending Georgia Tech and something he continued to grow after leaving.

In the early stages of the business, Sims worked primarily in the Atlanta metro area, handling the removal of old-growth trees, especially white oak, which is prevalent in Atlanta. He grew frustrated with throwing the trees away in these early stages, whether to a landfill or a chipper, which led him to purchase a small portable sawmill.

This purchase marked the beginning of Eutree and helped establish the core tenants of the business. Sims and Carmen believe firmly in protecting old-growth trees and utilizing every possible piece of lumber removed from people’s yards and properties.

Marc Spagnuolo: The Wood Whisperer

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 05:20:35 +0000

Marc Spagnuolo: The Wood Whisperer

“I found this woodworking thing to be incredibly appealing. It’s so much fun to do, and it was great therapy for me when I would come home from basically an hour and 10-minute commute each way.”

Marc Spagnuolo

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Marc Spagnuolo, also known as The Wood Whisperer. Marc used to work in the biotech industry in Southern California, and he eventually reached a point where he was very disenchanted with his job, so he started woodworking as a hobby on the side.

This path is shared by many woodworkers who discover a passion for woodworking after starting it as a hobby. Like other Woodpreneurs, Marc found not only a knack for woodworking but a genuine passion and a skill for the discipline. Through moving states to better his business, finding his niche within the industry, and much more, Marc has had an exceptional journey.

Nick Hunsaker: Hunski Hardwoods

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 06:04:55 +0000

Nick Hunsaker: Hunski Hardwoods “It's tough finding the time to balance working, making furniture, wrapping products up, surfacing, milling, just trying to balance all of that because it’s just my dad and I that do it.”

Nick Hunsaker

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Nick Hunsaker of Hunski Hardwoods.

Steve has been following Nick’s work since about 2015 when The Woodmizer Way did an article on Hunski Hardwoods. Nick started Hunski Hardwoods with his father, who has been in the wood business in one form or another for almost fifty years.

Due to his father’s early involvement in the wood industry, Nick has been surrounded by and involved in it for his whole life.

Brendan Vande Kamp: Log to Lumber

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 07:00:52 +0000

“I never intended to go down this path. If you’d have told me five years ago that I’d quit a six-figure government job and a desk and work for myself, I’d have said you were crazy.”

Brendan Vande Kamp

Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Brendan Vande Kamp from Log to Lumber. Steve and Brian met initially on Facebook about three years ago while Brendan was still working for the government and he had just purchased his sawmill.

Brendan never meant to go down the woodworking path. Five years ago, he never would have believed that he would leave his six-figure government job to pursue a career in woodworking, where he owned his own business. At this point, Brendan has just recently ordered his fourth sawmill and has purchased a debarker and edger, and he loves what he does every day.

Megan Offner: New York Heartwood

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 06:32:50 +0000

"Finding the right people. You can find people that are capable and talented, but finding people that are passionate and loyal, especially with woodworking, that's why we have a cooperative model."

Megan Offner

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve sits down with Megan Offner from New York Heartwoods! Megan was one of the first ten podcast guests ever and the first female Woodpreneur to join the podcast guest list.

When the Woodpreneur Podcast was called the Sawmill Business Podcast, Megan was primarily a milling business. However, in the six years since her first appearance, her business has grown exponentially. She has diversified her company's focus, and an enormous amount of change has occurred.

Who They are Today

"Today, we are a fabricator of sustainable wood furniture. As you know, we started off milling and selling lumber and slabs, and very early on, people started asking for furniture. So initially, I was subbing that out and then gradually put a team together. Now it's more of a cooperative or collective business at this point; all women.

We do a lot of furniture made from local wood and our clients' trees. Because of the milling and drying background, I work with clients who are either doing new construction or have removed trees because they are dying or diseased, or they're afraid they're going to fall on their house. Still, they want to have that material incorporated into their home.

So I now just project manage the milling and drying process, work with the client on the designs with my team, and we return the wood from that tree to the client in the form of primarily furniture, but we do all sorts of surfaces."

Megan Offner

Ethan & Steve: 200th Episode!

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 06:34:53 +0000

200th Episode with Steve and Ethan

“One of my favorite quotes ever that has been really a big driver for me is one by Jay-Z. He said, ‘Nine to five is how you survive; I ain’t trying to survive, I’m trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot.’ That’s been a huge motivator for me.”

Steve Larosiliere

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. This is our 200th episode, and today we’re going to switch things up a little bit! Today Steve is joined by Ethan Abramson, host of the Building a Furniture Brand Podcast, the fastest-growing podcast for furniture designers and makers out right now.

Ethan is also a fantastic interviewer and a great person, so for the 200th episode, Ethan will be interviewing Steve about his life and career. In episode 100, Steve had his very first guest on the podcast interview him, so episode 200 is a return to form. Check it out!

“I started the podcast six years ago. My background before that was in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. I had a marketing company, my first career that I ran for three or four years, and then I started working in the nonprofit field. I did that until earlier this month, but I ran that for 18 years.

So I have a lot of experience with Marketing and Entrepreneurship and starting businesses. The organization that I started mentors kids; I grew it nationally and helped over 10,000 kids. I raised lots of money, I built networks and marketed each part, so I did a lot of stuff.”

Steve Larosiliere

Mike and Cindy: MikCin Creations

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 07:53:18 +0000

“Woodworking is very emotional; it just calms me down. We’ve been through a lot in life, and it’s the one thing where I feel focused and free. So it’s just something that I always want to be doing.”

Mike Leas

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Mike and Cindy from MikCin Creations. Recently, when Steve gets asked how to get started in the business by aspiring Woodpreneurs, he refers them to listen to the Woodpreneur Podcast, and Mike and Cindy took that advice and ran with it.

While Steve was working on his woodworking projects in Michigan, Mike reached out to mention that he had been listening to the Woodpreneur Podcast and had been applying the lessons to make money. Steve immediately pulled Mike and his family into an Instagram Live conversation to talk about the process they went through to get where they are now.

A Long Hard Road

“It’s a long story, but the short part of it is we started doing this, just like a lot of other makers and woodworkers, out of necessity. We didn’t have a lot of money, and we moved around a lot, and we were having a hard time financially at the beginning of our marriage.

So we’ve had like three cars stolen within our first four years of marriage, our house flooded, we literally had to swim out of our home, and things like that. We were always struggling financially, but we finally got ourselves to a point where we were starting to pick back up.”

Mike Leas

“We were living in a rental, but the lady we were renting from let us paint, so I started painting the walls. Then I started painting our furniture, and I started painting artwork. And that led to like, ‘Can you make me this? Can you make me that?’

We needed some stuff around the house like shelves built and stuff like that. I was tired of the same stuff that I had from college that I got from dumpsters or hand-me-downs, and I was just tired of the same boring gold, copper, and burgundy colors. I need something fresh, so we just painted everything that we had.”

Cindy Leas

Although they didn’t have a garage or a proper space to work in, Mike and Cindy used their carport to great effect with a cheap sander and a circular saw. Mike would pick up pallets from work, look on Pinterest to see how to do the projects, and start working on them.

Corné and Aaron: Makers Reusable Mold

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 07:14:54 +0000

“It’s not just for resin. I didn’t want resin in the actual name because you can use it for concrete, you can use anything on it, and it doesn’t bond. So I didn’t want to restrict it to only resin or epoxy as it has multiple purposes.”

Corné

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast; today, your host Steve sits down with Corné and Aaron, owners of Makers Reusable Mold (MRM). Recently the Woodpreneur community has been taken by storm by the incredible quality and usability of Corné and Aaron’s ingenious molds.

Part of what makes MRM so capable of delivering quality products is that Corné and Aaron have their own maker business, Arisan Wood, as well. Corné has a long career as an artist, and Aaron has around 15 years of experience making wood products, primarily furniture.

When epoxy began to take the wood industry by storm, Corné and Aaron joined in the excitement and began using epoxy almost five years ago. However, they quickly grew tired of making poor quality molds to pour the resin into their pieces, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.

Brian Presnell: Indy Urban Hardwood Co.

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 08:50:32 +0000

Brian Presnell: Indy Urban Hardwood Co.

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Brian Presnell from Indy Urban Hardwood Co. Born and raised in Indianapolis Indiana, Brian studied at the Herron School of Art and Design and studied furniture and sculpture back in the 90s.

Brian worked in a variety of museum positions, building things and recycling materials for exhibits and developing his own understanding of urban wood before the term had been coined. In 2000, the museum he was working at underwent some renovations and cleared a load of trees out from the property. Brian then had the idea to bring in a Woodmizer to cut up some of the logs into usable timber. Now 20 years later, it’s an incredible story.

“They were renovating the building, and when they cut some of these big trees down to make space for a new parking garage, I ran over to the horticultural people and said ‘Hey, can we recycle the logs?’ And they're like, ‘What are you talking about?’

Really, the first time I thought there might be a use for this stuff was back then I was just getting going. I had a studio, I studied furniture design, and so I mean, by virtue of being a starving artist, in a way was how I started finding reclaimed and recycling material.

There was a furniture factory on the east side. And I used to dumpster dive and get maple and cherry and other stuff to make some of my early projects with.”

Brian Presnell

Matt Ruben: Ruben Custom Sawmill & Woodworking Revisited

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 06:10:00 +0000

Welcome back to another episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast.

Today, we are revisiting our episode with Matt Ruben from Ruben Custom Sawmilling and Woodworks.

Matt started about three years ago when he decided to buy a Woodmizer IT 40 standard. When he began, he watched many YouTube videos learning about the potential profit that he could earn from running an independent sawmill as a one-person operation.

Currently, Matt is focusing primarily on portable sawmill work, selling live edge slabs, and developing the custom projects part of his company. Matt explains that he had almost no woodworking experience outside of high school woodshop, but he didn't let that stop him as he fell in love with the experience of opening up logs to see the many different types of beauty that they contain.

Brent Jarvis: Clean Cut Woodworking

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 06:14:26 +0000

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve sits down with Brent Jarvis of Clean Cut Woodworking. Unlike most of the other guests on the podcast, Brent is a manufacturing company, not solely a woodworker.

Brent is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, where woodworkers are a bit of a rare breed. Despite, or perhaps because of that fact, Brent really enjoys working and selling his products in the region.

“It all started about seven or eight years ago, something like that. My daughter said she wanted a bed for Christmas. I built her a bed with a jigsaw and our palm sander basically, so that was where the woodworking pretty much started. I got the bug and went from there. I did custom orders for about two years just building a shop, getting tools, doing that. Then I thought, hey, I can make some money off of this.”

Brent Jarvis

Jake Latvala: Ol Loggin Epoxy

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 06:28:01 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve sits down with the first three-peat guest Jake Latvala from Ol Loggin Sawmill and Ol Loggin Epoxy.

Jake's Woodpreneur journey has been chronicled through the podcast. During his first appearance, he was just beginning his business; he hadn't even quit his day job at the time.

By his second appearance at the podcast, he was well into full-time working on his own business. At this point, Jake has been developing his business for years now.

He has been creating content and building furniture and has already dug deep into branding and developing his epoxy brand as well!

Steve Larosiliere: How to Finance Your Wood Company

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 06:10:29 +0000

This week on the podcast we talk about different financing options for your wood company.

Many woodpreneurs are working part-time in their wood company before they transition into being a full-time business owner. Others decide to jump right into being full-time and bet on themselves or work from their savings.

In this episode, we will talk about some of the options for funding your start-up wood company. From private loans to business plans and grants, this isn't one you want to miss.

Tune in and join us for another great episode!

Year-End Episode

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 05:39:02 +0000

This is the last podcast episode of 2021. If I think back to this past year, this was a record-breaking year for my agency and me, and a lot of my clients. I've had three people go full time this year, like quitting their job during a pandemic to go all-in on their passion, their Woodpreneur business. I'm super proud.

Some of my brand clients just had great years. And it reminded me that the outside world shouldn't dictate what happens in your inside world and your business. You only fail when you decide to give up.

I've encountered a lot of Woodpreneurs that are afraid of failure. But I've found that the more risks you take, especially calculated risks, the more successful you become.

Justin Ephraim: Reduxwood Revisited

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 04:22:06 +0000

Justin Ephraim: Reduxwood Revisited

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur podcast. It's not really a brand new episode, it's actually a repeat episode! To end off the year we're going through some of my favorite interviews.

This one is with Justin from Reduxwood out in Vietnam. Talk about a big vision! He gets his stuff from the bottom of the Panama Canal, and all-over Asia. He's got a showroom in Canada, San Diego, and also the UK.

So if you want to get inspired, check out Reduxwood.

We'll have brand new episodes of the podcast starting in 2022. I can't believe it. I hope you all are having a good holiday season, and I'm excited to continue to serve you all next year.

Mara Harding: Mara Designs Revisited

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 07:34:52 +0000

Mara Harding: Mara Designs

On today’s episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, we re-visit a favorite from our last season of the podcast, our sit down with Mara Harding. Mara began her journey into the wood industry when she was 41, because when her children began to reach the double-digit ages, she began to wonder what her purpose was on the planet. At the time, she owned and ran an advertising agency, and while she had several big clients she felt that it was not her calling, so she shut the agency down at the age of 40.

After that point, Mara took about four months to decide what she wanted to, and she had an opportunity to create some Christmas designs out of wood, which led to her “aha moment.” This revelation caused her some issues as she had no training, no passport, no experience, and no access to mentors in Jamaica that could teach her woodworking.

Laura Sissoko: Atlantic Fine Woods

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 06:27:04 +0000

Laura Sissoko: Atlantic Fine Woods

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Laura Sissoko from Atlantic Fine Woods. Laura's story and the story of Atlantic Fine Woods began about ten years ago.

"I studied architecture in school, and I was interested in furniture design. And I had been working for a furniture designer in New York City for a while. My father saw an opportunity when Gibson Guitars was getting raided for having allegedly illegally sourced ebony and other exotic woods.

The country where I was born, the Central African Republic, had recently started a managed forest system with neighboring countries, The Congo and Cameroon. So we knew that we had a single chain of custody source for exotic woods, and that's how we started.

Several years into it, there was a coup d'etat in the Central African Republic, and we were no longer able to export ethically. That's when we had to switch to domestic wood, and that's when we also started hearing about urban lumber. So that was our next step, and it's thriving and doing great."

Laura Sissoko

Adapting and Changing

From the time they started the company to now, a lot has changed. Not only have they swapped from importing exotic woods to harvesting domestic, but Atlantic Fine Woods has also been doing a lot more furniture projects over the last five years.

Since they are located in the urban center of Atlanta, they recognize that not everybody has the knowledge, tools, or space to make their own tables. So they have been doing a lot of custom work for their client base.

Currently, their main products are kiln-dried live edge slabs that they sell to other woodworkers and DIYers. Laura notes that the first few years of selling exotic woods were relatively slow since it was a new business. However, when they pivoted the company to selling domestic wood, they could use it as a marketing opportunity and go to all of the local papers and design blogs.

Knowing their Audience

As a result of pivoting their business model, Laura has found that their client base is far more interested in urban lumber than exotics. Additionally, Atlantic Fine Woods has managed to become the primary destination for people within the central area of Atlanta.

"Atlanta has this ring highway around it, and it's considered inside the perimeter and outside the perimeter are the kinds of cultures of Atlanta. For the most part, our customers are inside the perimeter, sort of city people.

I believe outside of the perimeter; there is access to sawmills and that kind of thing if you go maybe an hour and a half, two hours out of town. So we're mostly the city people, and our custom business has been growing beautifully.

What we'd like to do is open a retail store with tops and do work with a blacksmith. So we'd like to have people just kind of choose their tops and bases and do like that in a beautiful retail setting that is not a dusty warehouse."

Laura Sissoko

Steve Larosiliere: Acres of Timber

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 05:59:01 +0000

This week on the podcast it's a note from your host Steve!

As we move into the holiday season, don't forget to keep your foot on the gas pedal! Steve also catches us up on the news for Acres of Timber, Purpose Wood Co., and unveils his new Woodpreneur Mastermind and conference plans for 2022.

Check it out and we hope you are going into the new year excited to keep making big moves in your wood business!

Zachary Wicks: Wood By Wicks

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 08:10:28 +0000

Hey everyone! Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur podcast. Today's guest is Zach Wicks From Wood By Wicks, based in Edmond, Oklahoma. Zach has been working for himself for thirteen years, but he describes his business as truly being realized around eight years ago.

It started when Zach thought it was a great idea to harvest some cedar from his property. So he cut some cedar trees down and thought he was going to process them with a chainsaw. After one log, though, he knew the chainsaw wasn't going to cut it.

"Handling the material is extremely hard, just getting it along from point A to B. That's kind of why I was thinking, "Well, maybe I should take this wood to a sawmill." So I took it to Woodmizer. As soon as I saw the Woodmizer process that log, I knew I needed to have one.

It took a while to get my Woodmizer. I've been selling wood for eight years. And I was paying other sawmills to cut my wood and then taking that wood. But I was really good at selling beautiful pictures of wood that I salvaged."

Zachary Wicks

The Business Today

Today, Zach's business is entirely based on mobility. He notes that the only reason he didn't buy a sawmill until as late as he did was that he lives in a residential setting, and there was no place for it there. He would have loved to run a mill out of his backyard, but it was just not an option in his area.

"I literally keep my sawmill in a storage unit. If I need to use my sawmill, it's 100% portable, so like I never cut here, I'm going to the logs 100% of the time. It takes a lot of preparation as it's the same amount of prep work to cut for one hour as it is for 10 hours.

I've cut for hundreds of people, but cutting for people has to make sense. It needs to be a minimum of half a day, including the cutting and a setup fee. I love cutting for people if they agree with the $100 an hour price and the setup fee. Then I primarily just cut for myself. All the wood I cut is pretty much for myself."

Zachary Wicks

Alongside his milling operation, the other half of Zach's business is his lumber sales. He explains that he wouldn't be where he is without the community and support around him.

One notable element of Zach's business is that many of his buyers will buy wood from him within 12 hours of acquiring it. Since Zach's goal is to save as many trees as possible, this quick turnover helps him enormously. Most of the time, he can sell all of his white woods quickly, and he stores his walnut pieces as they move much more slowly.

Mark Dubac: Windwood LLC

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 09:09:52 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Marc Dubac of Windwood LLC. Like many other Woodpreneurs, Marc got his start in woodworking during downtime from his primary career.

“I play in the Oregon symphony. That's my full-time job. During the summertime, we don't have work, so we only have work for nine months out of the year, basically. In the summertime, generally, my musician colleagues and I would travel around the country and play in different music festivals.

A lot of them are really good. And some pay really well, too. But I had young children at the time, and it was just kind of a pain to haul screaming children across the country for sometimes good pay, and sometimes not. So I kind of got into just doing handyman work for neighbors. I just wanted to be able to stay at home and work and through that process, I think I just got enamored with woodworking.”

Marc Dubac

Marc spent time listening to the Woodpreneur Podcast, as well as another major inspiration, the Wood Whisperer podcast, which caused him to fall in love with hardwoods. From there, he did a swan dive into woodworking and set up a home shop in his garage.

John Graves: City Hardwoods

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 08:45:09 +0000

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today's guest is John Graves from City Hardwoods of Birmingham, Alabama. City Hardwoods started because of the difficulty that many hobbyist woodworkers in Birmingham had with sourcing hardwood lumber.

"There used to be a few big distributors that folks would go buy from, but they kind of closed down to the public. And so, a couple of guys came up with this whole idea. We opened up a place where the hobbyist can walk in pick through every stick of lumber that we have here with no minimums or anything like that.

So we've been here for about six years, and the building we're in now we've been here for about three years. It's just been a need around this place. As everybody knows, it's hard to find good hardwood lumber, live edge slabs, stuff that's actually been dried properly and essentially ready to ready to make a piece of furniture out of."

John Graves

Josh Clarkweiss: Full Circle Forest Products

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 06:31:01 +0000

Today we talk to Josh Clarkweiss from Full Circle Forest Products and discuss sustainability, creative business practices, grants, and more.

In this episode, we explore how the focus on sustainable forestry has changed consumer habits and we discuss the perspective that folks hold about urban lumber. We also dive into an incredibly important aspect of running a wood company, delegation. As we've touched on before, you need to be using your time for the highest value tasks and remember that just because you can do everything, doesn't necessarily mean you should.

Josh also participated in the Woodpreneur Mentorship program and discusses what he learned in terms of branding as well as the valuable connection with other wood businesses. Check out this episode for a great story and some killer marketing advice on "stale" products.

Check out our Website

Randall Williams: Fireside Farm and Sawmill

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 08:00:08 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast.

Today's guest is Randall Williams from Fireside Farm and Sawmill. Randall explains that the farm side of the business started first when he and his wife moved to a nine-acre homestead together. They were both teachers and wanted to live a life around growing food, raising livestock, and tending to their community.

When they first moved, Randall had some difficulty with some giant pine trees right behind the house. So he called a forester to come and look at them, and then a logger who said the only option was to clear cut the area. That option horrified Randall, so he decided to fell and mill the trees himself.

One of his neighbors who owned a sawmill came by to consult with Randall, and he said that it was possible, but it would take a long time. So he sold Randall his old sawmill, which Randall then used to start milling all of that lumber for use around his property.

"At that point, people started bullying me to mill their lumber. At the time, I was teaching at a Quaker school in Durham, and on the weekends, I was milling lumber for other people. That kind of started the process where I started selling lumber and then coming up with a fee structure to mill for other people.

In 2017, my wife and I left our jobs teaching and went all-in on the farm. And at that point, I ramped up the sawmill operation, which has been going full time for the last four years. Nowadays, I run the farm operation, and my wife grows cut flowers mainly for weddings."

Randall Williams

Alma Rosa Villalobos: Pink Soul Studios

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 07:50:18 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, Steve sits down with Alma Rosa Villalobos of Pink Soul Studios.

Like many woodworkers, Alma's first influences came from her family. Her grandfather was a woodworker, and her mother provided a super creative effect on her as well. Alma bought her first house in Detroit when she was 24, and because she couldn't afford much at the time, she started building things as she needed them.

Soon after, Alma started making things for her family and friends and slightly further afield. She moved away from woodworking for several years as her interest in engines grew, especially those for smaller motorcycles and vintage scooters. However, after her son was born and they moved to Chicago, she wanted to make his toys and furniture, and the woodworking passion reignited.

"I was just self-taught! I wanted a vintage Becka in my 20s, and I met a cool bunch of kids my age, and we had a club called the Jedi Knight scooter club. We were super nerds. We did the whole knighting with the lightsaber type thing.

We would get together as often as we could and teach each other how to work on bikes and small engines and things like that. It was just something to do, and I wanted to ride, but I couldn't find anyone to really work on those bikes. That just grew from there, and I started getting into bigger bikes and things like that."

Alma Rosa Villalobos

Understanding Branding

Steve notes that Alma has an exceptional sense of self and her branding is already on point. She believes that Instagram was the most significant part of the growth she has experienced in her business so far. Alma describes herself as a terrible hype man for herself. Although she can hype up her friends and family, she struggles with advertising for herself, and Instagram (especially early on) provided a relatively easy place to grow and find community.

"I just posted what I was doing, and anything that I was proud of, and people would start to DM me and ask me, "Hey do you do this? Can you make this?" I'm fortunate enough to be able to kind of say yes or no to certain jobs, but I'd say just Instagram is where I got a lot of my clients in the beginning.

Once I got into CNC work, I was making templates for other makers or things like that. I got really into making push sticks once I got my CNC, and so the majority of my sales were from other makers, so it was cool to see that."

Alma Rosa Villalobos

Alma considers herself very fortunate to pick and choose the jobs and projects that she wants to do. Since she doesn't make her living from these projects, she considers all of the money she makes as extra. This freedom means that Alma can put her heart and soul into whatever she works on and not lock her into working with only one style.

Originally, Alma intended to be a graphic design artist, and she considers herself pretty artistic, which has aided her in branding her business. She notes that she's not the biggest fan of pink, but when people scroll through social media for woodworking, the color makes her profile stand out in a sea of brown, green, black, and white.

Steve Larosiliere: Season Recap

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 05:55:37 +0000

Steve Larosiliere: Season Recap

Today we have a recap episode of the podcast, we’re going to talk about some of the awesome guests we’ve had, and dive into some current trends happening in the wood business.

First off I want to give a shout-out to my partner Ethan at the Building a Furniture Brand Podcast, he has been absolutely crushing it. It’s been amazing watching him grow that podcast. You can check it out on Woodpreneurlife.com or any other podcast platform.

Looking back at the podcast, it has been about four months since we’ve taken a break, so this is a good time to check-in and recap. I feel grateful that the podcast continues to grow and I love the community that's been building around it, it is absolutely amazing.

I wanted to talk about a couple of things today. First off, I'd love some feedback. What do you all think about the advice that I give? I'm getting good feedback, but I'd love to hear more about that. The other thing that I want to talk about is: who else do you want to see on the podcast moving forward? I feel like that's an even more important question.

Who do you want to see? Who are the Woodpreneurs out there that inspire you and motivate you when you look at them on social media and you see what they're doing?

Looking Back at Everything we’ve Accomplished

I ended up moving back to Chicago. My house is semi-finished but we got the flooring and I'll post that to Instagram when the house is completely done. We also ended up making some butcher block countertops for our island. My time in Michigan was amazing. I feel like I further connected to the wood and sawmill industry and got an even better sense of what you all need.

When I look back at the past couple of months, there have been a few people that I want to highlight.

Ryan Cochrane: We talked about building community.

Mat Makin Things: He approaches it from pure organic content, a sort of generalist’s perspective.

If you listen to Pete Parisi’s episode, I walk everybody through what it takes to start a business from scratch.

Matt Ruben: He quit his job. He was also a client, I worked with him, built his website, coached him, and now he’s full-time in his business.

Kyle Kidwell: An amazing furniture maker. If you want to talk about what it takes to build a furniture line, that's a good one to listen to.

Matt Morgan: Another incredible episode worth giving a listen to.

Christian and Lauren: They started a business with just an iDRY and then expanded into the urban lumber and slub industry.

Danny Torres: Another incredible woodworker with an amazing business.

There are so many amazing people on the podcast, and the downloads just keep going up.

I also want to talk about some trends that I'm seeing. One is, I'm seeing more and more stories out there, I'm seeing more people talk to the camera. This is great, because what it does is it allows you to connect more with your audience.

I'm also seeing a lot more videos. Video is great because that's what the social media platforms want, they want more video, no more stills. You kind of need to see the behind-the-scenes of how things are being done.

The day and age of just having finished product shots are done. You just need to show more videos. The brands that are winning more are the ones that connect more to their audience. So they're telling more of the story of the product and highlighting the customer. I've talked before about making your customer the hero. This is what I mean.

Another underutilized resource is tapping into urban lumber. In many ways, if you're buying lumber that isn't mass-produced, you have a story to tell.

John Mahoney: Mahoney Woodworks

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 05:44:07 +0000

John Mahoney: Mahoney Woodworks

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. In today's episode, your host Steve Larosiliere speaks with John Mahoney, owner of Mahoney Woodworks. John owns his own contracting business, and he's been doing woodworking on the side for about fifteen years. Much of John's career has been focused on general contracting, including everything from electrical to custom cabinetry and carpentry.

One advantage of his career is that he has used many of his contracting tools to help create projects on the side. Over the last eight years, in particular, he has been honing his woodworking craft to make a more marketable product.

Currently, John is in the process of transitioning away from his contracting business so that he can take his woodworking passion to the next level. A central turning point happened at the start of the pandemic when his contracting work began to slow down.

"I had an assistant working with me, and I wasn't able to really support him in the way that I wanted to. So we parted ways, and I said, "I really want you to blossom, and this is not the time for you with me."

During that transition, I was able to work from my home and focus on my woodworking, and I started on Instagram and met a lot of people in the community. My page took off pretty well. I got a lot of followers, I've had some transactions, and my wife and my family have given me the opportunity to focus on this.

Over the next few months, I'm going to work exclusively on doing some woodworking from my house and trying to turn it into a means of income and reach out to the community and make it a lifestyle."

John Mahoney

Building an Audience

Compared to many fledgling businesses, John considers himself very fortunate compared to other people woodworking from home. The combination of a garage workshop (with no cars allowed!) and the numerous tools that John has picked up through his career as a contractor has given him a leg up when it comes to initial investments.

Additionally, people have already been very receptive to John's designs in the early stages of his business. As such, his current focus is on creating a customer base, developing word-of-mouth advertising, and getting specifically commissioned pieces from that expanding customer base.

Over the last several months, John has been focused on doing craft shows to give people the opportunity to feel and handle his products in person. He believes that those who aren't woodworkers can't get a good sense of scale through a photo, so these events give him the ability to provide context for people to experience his work.

Although the Philadelphia area is full of craft shows and other trade events, John finds that their prevalence means that the spots are often very full, preventing him from gaining access.

"Many of the shows are completely full. I'm talking like the Oaks Convention Center, which can hold thousands of vendors, and they have a craft show coming up. Actually, they have three of them coming up, and they're all indoor, which is really nice because I'd like to have my products indoors. But they're full, and I've also had a few issues getting contacted back about signing up for vendors.

A lot of these places seem to be grandfathered in, with people getting annual spots. So that's one of the hurdles that I'm working on, but I think that would be one of the best things, as opposed to a social media platform, to really get out there, interact with the community and get a local customer base."

John Mahoney

James Matthius: Pocono Table Company

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 06:29:09 +0000

James Matthius: Pocono Table Company

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve is joined by James Matthius, owner of Pocono Table Company. James’ father always had a woodshop in the basement of their family home, so James was always around woodworking from a young age. His father often made cabinets, tables, and other furniture for their family, and he would teach James whenever he felt like learning.

As James grew older, his interest in woodworking went on the back burner for several years until he married and lived in his own house. He decided then that he wanted to start making things for his family and before long, friends would ask for something, which got the ball rolling for him. James began making decor items like wooden flags and cutting boards and soon decided to give woodworking a shot, so he started an Etsy account.

“I completely got demolished on Etsy for a pretty good time because I didn’t have any understanding of SEO, and how to take proper product photos, and how to word things to catch people’s attention. So I decided, “Okay, I gotta, I gotta learn this; this is something I really need to learn.”

I went to YouTube, and I basically taught myself how to do all that. I’m still not good at it, but once I started applying those techniques, I saw sales coming in. And I said, “Oh, boy, alright, awesome.” That kind of lit a fire under me.”

James Matthius

Austin Keenan: Keenan Slab Works

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 05:27:52 +0000

Austin Keenan: Keenan Slabworks

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve sits down with Austin Keenan of Keenan Slabworks. Austin started his company back in February of 2017 with his father who had been looking to retire from his job as an attorney and had always enjoyed dabbling in woodworking.

Originally, the project was only supposed to be a hobby, it was never supposed to grow into a business. However, they started to get paid to mill for people, dry their wood, or build things for them, which turned that plan around. When they were hired to do their first log removal, which was a large black walnut from a nearby town, they realized that they did not have the equipment needed to do any urban log removals.

“We didn't even have a mill. We were renting a chainsaw from a rental facility nearby and trying to hack our way through some of these logs. Getting started, we had no idea the differences in chainsaw chains or anything so we kind of butchered a couple of the initial first logs.”

Austin Keenan

Started as a Hobby and Grew from there

Since Austin and his father jumped into woodworking intending for it to be a hobby, they ended up doing some things inefficiently early on, but their enthusiasm for the process and learning new things kept the excitement going strong. One realization that hit the pair quickly was the need for a bandsaw mill, and after researching many different options they purchased one, which fulfilled their desire to learn new skills.

The bandsaw mill ended up becoming part of the attraction for their business early on. People would come by because they had never seen a bandsaw mill before and they wanted to try to use it. Austin and his father happily demonstrated by tossing a log on the mill to showcase what it could do, and then people started asking to buy material from the pair of them for their own projects.

Though Austin had no intention of developing it into a business, he thought it was a really cool project and his friends thought so as well. Whenever he would post photos to his personal Facebook account of a project they worked on, it would get a lot of interest, and one of his customers ended up providing Austin with advice that wound up turning his hobby into the business it is today.

“I was speaking with a customer, he was a woodturner and he said, “Hey, you should try selling some of your slabs on Facebook marketplace.” At the time, I had no idea what that was and I didn't know how to use it. So of course it was something new to learn, and we made a listing. We milled 60 or 70, black walnut slabs and put them on Facebook Marketplace, and those got 20,000 views in less than a day.

I realized that this is incredible! This is free marketing right here. I was getting messages sent to me like every three to five minutes, I had to put my phone on silent when I went to bed at night and I woke up and I had like 100 messages that I had to respond to. All from this tool that I didn't even know existed.”

Austin Keenan

Danny Torres: Deadwood Revival Design

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 06:46:58 +0000

Welcome to another episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today we have Danny Torres from Deadwood Revival Design joining the "Two Timers Club" and coming back for a second episode!

A lot has changed since the last time we talked to Danny and we are so excited for you to hear all the incredible moves this company has been making.

From giving back to the community to environmentally-focused incentives this episode is an incredible look at passion.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Check out more from Deadwood Revival Design at the links below!

Instagram:

@deadwoodrevivaldesign

Website:

https://www.deadwoodrevivaldesign.com/

Damon Barron: Carolina Urban Lumber

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 09:18:27 +0000

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast with Steve Larosiliere. Today’s guest is Damon Barron, the founder of Carolina Urban Lumber based out of North Carolina. Damon has been in the bulk commercial lumber space for over twenty years, and Carolina Urban Lumber is very much a natural extension of that career.

Damon describes himself as being intrigued by unique specialty wood especially in the latter part of his career, and although he isn’t a sawyer, he intrinsically understands that there is a real story behind urban trees. A major shift occurred when he was on an otherwise run-of-the-mill sales call, and heard an unusual story.

A man called Damon explaining that he was building a coffin from the wood of a tree he planted when he was five years old. For the rest of the day, all Damon could think about was the customer’s story, and he explains that he had an epiphany moment that led him back to Charlotte, North Carolina to make some changes in his life.

“I started learning what happened to urban logs through going to trade services and just asking questions. And that was a two year kind of exploratory mission while I was still working. I learned and I developed a plan of action to build a business and go to market by selling urban logs. The next thing I know, I quit my job, and boy, my wife was pregnant. All perfect timing, like anybody starting a business right?”

Damon Barron

Brian Ciciora: TrueWerk

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 10:20:58 +0000

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today’s guest is Brian Ciciora the founder and CEO of Truewerk. Brian and his company Truewerk are the first apparel brand to be featured on the Woodpreneur Podcast, and while he has a very unique story to share, it is rooted in the same journey as so many other Woodpreneurs. He wanted to solve a problem, and work with and support the trades.

Brian’s story begins at the start of the recession in 2008. At the time, he was working for a tech startup and got laid off when the recession hit. Despite the layoff, he was good friends with the company’s CEO, who sat Brian down and told him that while he was doing sales at the time, he had the skills and the heart to make it in the tech industry, and he should “build a house or something.”

“I kind of laughed and then took it to heart and realized that, to a certain extent, I’d been playing in a game that I was set up to play. Go to college, get a job behind a desk, try and make money. But my heart was in building, it was in the trades. I was ultimately just going to keep getting set up for failure in desk jobs.

It was a leap of faith, it was a jump to leave the security of a desk job, and to ultimately do something that I often felt like society was telling me was in some way beneath me. But in my heart, it felt like the right journey.”

Brian Ciciora

Photo Credit: @truewerk

Starting it as a Test

One of the things that inspired Brian was a company that was selling simple steel-framed tables with wooden tops, but they charged high prices for their products. Brian wondered if he could make something just as nice and charge around the same for them, so he put an ad out on Craigslist to sell a table of that style.

At the time he put out the ad, he hadn’t built one yet, but he was gauging interest. Immediately he was inundated with replies from people wanting to buy the table that he had posted about. Brian responded that the one he had posted was gone, but he would be happy to make another one for that person.

This test speaks to the entrepreneurial mindset, and Steve notes that Brian just went ahead and said he could build the product to see if the market wanted it, which gave him the certainty that his fledgling business would have an audience.

Around this time, Brian began to develop relationships with several people in the Denver, Colorado area as he had just moved up to the mountain town of Winter Park. Originally, Brain was making one or hour-and-a-half drives to Denver to pick up steel from a fabricator there, but after a while, he struck a bargain with a local fabricator who, as he puts it, “suckered him” into welding for them doing spiral staircases, ornamental railings, and structural work.

“I think there’s a lesson here for people who are looking at opportunities in the skilled trades. There’s this narrative that life in the skilled trades is kind of like this sentence that at 18, you sign up for the skilled trades, and you’re going to forever be a plumber if that’s where you start out.

But it’s just this journey that you can move around. And there’s so much opportunity, that it’s anything but a closed door. The journey through all of these different skilled trades often culminates in doing something that combines a bunch of them in a way that that really works for you.”

Brian Ciciora

Christian & Lauren: Big Sky Wood Co.

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 10:00:13 +0000

Welcome to another episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast! Today, we have a recent repeat guest Christian and Lauren from Big Sky Wood Company. They used to be called Big Sky Dry but they've rebranded!

The last time the pair were on the show they realized that they were expanding quickly and wanted a name to reflect the new products and services they were offering. Steve helped out with the name suggestion,

Christian and Lauren loved it and felt it would create a brand that encapsulated everything they were doing. The pair has also moved from the little garage they started in, to a real location with a warehouse, showroom, and a brewery across the street!

Lauren and Christian talk a bit about community and how moving to their new location has given them the means to expand their community even further.

“We were already trying to get involved in the woodworking community through social media, but we were in a pretty remote location before. Now we're in this neighborhood where all the businesses are locally owned businesses that are trying hard to work together and help each other out.”

-Lauren, Big Sky Wood Co.

To See more from Christian and Lauren, check out the links below!

Big Sky Wood Company

@bigskywoodcompany

Read the rest of the blog on our website!

Dustin Christian: DC Woodworking

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 05:08:55 +0000

David Barmon: Epilogue llc

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 10:00:10 +0000

Frank: Frank Does It

Thu, 05 Aug 2021 05:45:55 +0000

Today on the podcast our guest is Frank from Frank Does it. Frank Does It is primarily a media company, Frank doesn’t focus on making commissions anymore. He recalls that the origins started all the way back in High School woodshop. Then Frank and his wife went nine years in their marriage without having an actual bed with a headboard and footboard vs. just a mattress and metal frame.

Frank’s wife really wanted a nice bed frame, so Frank looked into the cost and then thought, “I can make that.” Frank went and bought a miter-saw and some impact drivers and he fell back in love with woodworking.

Then Frank put some photos of the bed on Craigslist and got a ton of engagement. People wanted to commission him and he did that for a while, but he has a full-time job as a journeyman lineman with a wife and four kids so he is too busy for much commission work.

“I work scheduled 40 hours a week, but with power outages and anything like that, you know, I end up working a crazy amount. I have my wife and four kids, and I live busy.

I work 4/10’s at my normal job, so I spend pretty much a full day, one day a week on that three-day weekend that I get in the shop. What everybody sees is what I do on that one day, and then I trickle it out throughout the week.”

Frank

Instagram: @therealfrankdoesit

YouTube: Frank Does It

Nick Mooers: Maverick Sawmill

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 10:32:59 +0000

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today's guest is Nick Mooers from Maverick Sawmill. This is Nick’s second time on the podcast, and he and Steve discuss the changes that have happened since his last appearance.

Nick notes that he was certainly burning the candle at both ends when he was on the podcast last time. He was working his day job, taking care of his family, and building the wood business simultaneously. In the year that has passed between podcast appearances, Nick has successfully transitioned to full time work with the wood business, and notes that he is in love with his work.

He adds that it was a carefully made decision, as they waited until they had a good backlog and consistent sales as well as enough work in the pipeline for about six or eight months before making the change. Since then, Nick and his family have had more time during the day to meet with commercial clients and other important people, which has been an incredible transition.

Website: www.mavericksawmill.com

Instagram: @mavericksawmill

Viktor: The Stump Shop

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 08:26:59 +0000

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today Steve is joined by Viktor from the Stump Shop. Viktor is one of the very first repeat guests on the podcast, and in the time since his last appearance, he has grown and accomplished a lot.Viktor was originally on the podcast when it was still the Sawmill Business Podcast. Since that time, Steve has transitioned it from purely being about sawmills, to having a focus on many different woodworking aspects. He adds that since Viktor works outside of sawmills specifically, he was one of the people that sparked the name and subject change for Steve.Steve calls Viktor the Stump King of North America, a title that he has earned over the years of doing incredibly creative work with stumps. Viktor laughs, and notes that he doesn’t know if he’s been called that specifically before, but he does do a ton of work with stumps and he loves doing it so much.

Instagram: @thestumpshop

Etsy: TheStumpShopCanada

Matt Morgan: M2 Lumber

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 08:18:25 +0000

Hello Woodpreneurs! On the show today our guest is Matt from M2 Lumber. M2 Lumber is a sawmill and lumber yard that specializes in salvaging local trees that come down from storms or new development. They mill those into slabs and dimensional lumber but mostly live edge slabs, then dry those in one of their two kilns.

M2 Lumber has a solar kiln that they built two years ago based on Virginia Tech's design and also a new iDRY Standard vacuum kiln that came in February. M2 sells directly to the public, to other woodworkers, construction companies, contractors, interior designers, and even retail sales through that avenue. They also do a little bit of furniture building but that's more of a guilty pleasure Matt says as he loves to build furniture.

The Origin Story of M2 Lumber

Matt says it was not on purpose for sure. It was more of an accident. He grew up surrounded by woodworking as his dad is a very talented woodworker. Matt clarifies that his father isn’t a woodworker by trade, but just as a hobby, he has built almost everything.

Everything that is extremely challenging you can imagine in the woodworking world, he's built. Beautiful furniture, secretary desk, dining tables, corner cabinets, Matt recalls he built a grandfather clock, and even a violin once!

In Matt’s college years, he naturally gravitated back to woodworking as a hobby. This continued after college. Looking to make some extra money on the side while also doing something he enjoyed, he started to do woodworking as a side business.

Matt was building tables and small furniture as well as cutting boards trying to make a little extra money. Then, in 2015, he moved out to the country, as they discuss.

“We have about five acres of land where we live now. My neighbor and I were talking one day, and we had a tree come down and I was like, “Well I don't know what we're gonna do with this. I guess I'll burn it or whatever.” And he said, “Well, why don't you take it over to the sawmill?” and my ears perked up when I was like “Sawmill what?” I didn't know there was a sawmill around here and sure enough, there's a sawmill run by name a guy named Terry Ellison, about two miles down the road.

He milled it up for me and charged me like $60 or something ridiculously cheap. I was really hooked at that point because that was the first experience taking a tree getting it milled into lumber and then being able to do something with it.”

To see more from M2 Lumber check out the links below!

M2Lumber.com

@m2lumber

Kyle Kidwell: Kidwell Fabrications

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 12:20:28 +0000

Hey everyone, welcome to another awesome episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, today's guest is Kyle Kidwell from Kidwell Fabrications. Kidwell Fabrications started in Fall 2017 and recently the focus has been more on fine furniture, custom designs, and small-batch signature collections.

Go to www.Woodpreneurlife.com to read the full blog post!

To see more from Kidwell Fabrications, check out the socials below!

Kidwell Fabrications

@kidwellfabrications

Matt Ruben: Ruben Custom Sawmill & Woodworks

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 11:31:53 +0000

Pete Parisi: PeteSquared

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 13:36:22 +0000

Today’s episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast features Steve Larosiliere sitting down with Pete of PeteSquared who is based in San Jose, California. Steve starts out the show by asking Pete how he became a Woodpreneur.

“So I've always been making things. I was an artist A long time ago, I guess I still am. But my dad is a crazy woodworker guy. And he's done it pretty much all his life. And just seeing his tools and seeing his process and the things he's built around the house. When I got older, I kind of needed a release from working in tech.

About two years ago, I left Apple and just needed something to do and needed something to feel good about, you know. So I just started you know, tinkering around in the garage working on stuff, building stuff for around the house. And it's evolved into doing this.”

Pete Parisi

Pete spent about 20 years in video games as a 3d artist building environments and characters special effects for games like Age of Empires and Halo Wars. He explains that 3d modeling in 3d Studio Max or Maya has inspired the style he’s doing now.

Steve notes that Pete’s style is very intricate, and asks why he’s picked plywood to work with in particular. Pete explains that he’s not tied to that particular medium, but it has many advantages in that it’s easy to make small and big parts due to its versatility and strength.

This episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Uneedainc, go to https://www.sandpaper.com for more info.

Mat: Mat Makin Things

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 10:27:22 +0000

When thinking about how he got started Mat muses that he didn’t even actually consider himself a business, he considered himself a hobby woodworker. How it really took off was when the local CrossFit gym wanted a CrossFit pile of blocks. Mat took on the project and then requests just kept coming in. Eventually the offerings expanded as requests for tables and benches came in. That’s how it really spiraled, as Mat says, it all started from a box.

When Mat first started, he didn't have a brand, but he had a connection through his social media and got a branding iron shipped out to him.

In terms of growth Mat says that he feels his story is similar to a lot of wood businesses as he’s just been scaling as the work comes in. If someone wants something and he has the tools to do it, he takes on the job, or if it’s time to invest in a certain tool he hasn’t worked with or when he takes on something he’s never done but has the capacity for, he’ll take the project and then do some trial and error prototypes before the finished product goes to the customer.

This episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Uneedainc, go to https://www.sandpaper.com for more info.

Ryan Cochrane: RPC Wood Works

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 05:55:41 +0000

On this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast we have Ryan Cochrane here with us. Ryan had a different path than most to get into the wood industry. He was an Olympic athlete who went to two Olympic Games, competed at the World Championships for many years, and was on the Canadian national team for sprint kayaking for 14 years. His time kayaking on lakes and rivers spurred on a curiosity about trees that he has had since childhood, and he had always intended to get into the wood industry after he retired from being an athlete.

After some more discussion, Steve asks about Ryan’s current wood business. Ryan explains that originally he was making charcuterie and epoxy boards and selling them through Etsy on the side. Now he works with his team at his new workshop making dining tables, benches, and many other types of furniture. Currently his role is the director of production which means a combination of directing the products to be built as well as researching and developing new ways to improve the business.

To see more from Ryan Cochrane, check out his socials below!

Instagram: @cochranekayak

Etsy: RPCWoodWorks

This episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Uneedainc, go to https://www.sandpaper.com for more info.

Steve Larosiliere: Purpose Wood Co

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 06:21:26 +0000

Hey everyone, we don’t have a guest for this week, instead I’m going to update you on what's been going on in the Woodpreneur and Acres of Timber Universe.

Overall, it's been really, really exciting! I'm so pumped up right now with all of the progress happening in the wood business community.

Website Launch & Woodpreneur Vision

Later this month in June, we're going to do a website launch party for Woodpreneur Life! The idea is to have something like a zoom call where everybody can hop in. There are going to be some giveaways, we’ll hear from some people, and it's going to be a really good time! We would definitely like some folks to check out the website because we put in a lot of work and it has come out really well.

The vision we have for Woodpreneur Life is to be like the Forbes, Business Week or Entrepreneur Magazine for Woodpreneurs and the wood business community. We have articles, all of our podcasts, links to our courses, resources, and we even have our shop on there. It is honestly something I'm very proud of, so go to www.woodpreneurlife.com to check that out and get a first look before the launch party!

Our blogs focus on everything from how to produce good, consistent content to how to prioritize your business and everything in between. We also feature videos from other collaborators in the industry as well as Woodpreneur of the Week Spotlights.

On the networking side of things we have a Facebook Group called Woodpreneur Life, a Facebook Page, a YouTube channel and a couple of really cool IG accounts: @acresoftimber @woodpreneurlife.

Some people wonder, what is a Woodpreneur? It means a lot of different things but to me at the core, it is a new generation of wood business owners. We're makers, we're creators, we're entrepreneurs and we're also community leaders. We are people that are constantly putting ourselves out there, who have pride in our community and pride in our work.

There's no competition, we like to cooperate with other people, we collaborate. We're inventive and sustainable, and we are members of this incredibly rich community. That’s a Woodpreneur.

This episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Uneedainc, go to https://www.sandpaper.com for more info.

Daniel Levin: GL Veneer

Thu, 27 May 2021 08:01:53 +0000

Today on the podcast we are so excited to welcome Daniel Levin from GL Veneer. At its core, GL Veneer is a plywood manufacturing company. They got their start in 1977 when Daniel’s grandpa started the company, originally he was making cut to size furniture components for the furniture markets that were big in LA at that time.

A short time later Daniel’s dad joined the family business and spent a few decades servicing the plywood markets. Fast forward another 10 years or so and Daniel’s dad fell in love with California walnut. Not too long after that he turned his eyes towards the live edge product line.

The Shift From Plywood to Live Edge

Steve notes that as the company that has existed since the 70’s they must have been exceptional with adapting. Steve wonders if the shift to live edge was a gut feeling or if they noticed the trend moving that way early on.

Daniel recalls that the market for slabs in the early 2000s was a lot smaller, more of a niche product line at that time. However it wasn’t fully instinct or trends that called for the move toward live-edge furniture for the company. At that time, Daniel wasn’t part of the company yet and his grandfather had recently passed away, so Daniel’s dad went back to his roots. He used to make live edge tables when he was younger back in the 60’s and 70’s and he loved celebrating the rustic and natural characteristics of trees as opposed to plywood and veneer which celebrates perfection.

It was a perfect marriage of ideas though. The live edge slabs are the complete opposite side of the spectrum in terms of grade to the veneer and plywood. It’s nice to be able to offer the full spectrum of products from rustic and full of character to polished perfection.

To see more from GL Veneer check out their social media below!

Website: glveneer.com

Instagram: @gl_veneer

This episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Uneedainc, go to https://www.sandpaper.com for more info.

Cameron Porter: Cammie's Garage

Thu, 20 May 2021 10:00:10 +0000

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, today we are pleased to welcome Cameron Porter of Cammie’s Garage!

Cammie’s garage started back in 2017 when Cameron and his wife bought their home. Previous to that Cameron had graduated from the University of South Carolina with an art degree, and had a 20 year career in the animation business before he started doing woodwork.

Cameron considers himself an artist primarily and it just so happens that wood is his preferred medium at the moment. Camerons wife saw that he really enjoyed woodworking and he himself had realized there was a passion for it when he was doing his art degree. So when they bought their house, one of the reasons behind their choice was that there was a two and a half car garage Cameron could turn into a workshop.

Preferred Equipment and Pieces

Cameron makes mostly unique art pieces with the lathe as his primary tool. He also will occasionally do commissions. People ask him to do certain things and he considers himself very lucky to be able to create unique art pieces to be enjoyed by art lovers.

When Cameron first started, he was using reclaimed material. Really just stuff that he would find in the neighborhood. His neighbors would be doing renovation projects to their homes and Cameron would literally get wood out of the dumpsters.

If someone was having a tree cut down in his neighborhood, they'd leave logs by the street and Cameron would pick up a log here and there and use the greenwood.

Now he purchases lumber from a local sawmill. Cameron notes that he’s also gotten many scraps from friends, and local woodworkers. Cameron is really concerned about the environment, and his wife is a climate scientist, so those are the types of things that are on his mind when he uses reclaimed material. Cameron hates to generate waste, and likes to keep things out of the landfill if possible.

To see more from Cammie’s garage check out the links below!

Instagram: @CammiesGarage

YouTube: Cammie’s Garage

Thank you Uneedainc for sponsoring this episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast.

Justin Larson: JML Woodcraft

Thu, 13 May 2021 10:00:19 +0000

Today on the podcast we are thrilled to have Justin Larson of JML Woodcraft as our guest. Justin is a one man show and a garage workshop warrior who specializes in highlighting the natural beauty of live-edge slabs. In fact, technically Justin only does woodworking part time about 15 to 20 hours a week, but he says if you ask his wife, she'll say he’s out there a lot more than that!

The Creative Focus and Origins of JML Woodcraft

Right now the focus of Justin’s company is unique serving boards and live edge slab desks and tables, but the history behind the company has been in the making for over ten years now. JML Woodcraft actually all started back in 2011, when Justin and his family bought their house and needed some furniture.

As Justin says, he had the thought process, like most woodworkers, that he could just build everything they needed so that they could save some money. First he built a farm table and some shelves, then he started getting more advanced. For the first few years he was just building things at home for his family, but then after a while friends and family started wanting the things that Justin was building for their own houses too.

Justin started building furniture for friends and family, and then some of his business minded friends told him that he should start an LLC and start building a fully realized brand and legitimate business.

In 2016 Justin started the LLC and opened up his business to go neighborhood wide. The savvy woodpreneur explains how he used Facebook to get the word out and start attracting customers, and once he did, he did everything they requested, he didn't say no to any projects which really got the ball rolling. Then, once he started the LLC, Justin’s wife encouraged him to turn their garage into a woodshop. With the work space complete, JML Woodcraft was then able to take on more complicated custom projects.

The Motivation Behind the Business

Steve and Justin talk a bit about the fact Justin has accomplished so much, and even has a 3-month backlog of customers, all while being part-time. For Justin, he says it comes down to the fact he just loves building.

The business growing has been incredible for this exact reason. As Justin sees it, the more projects he can do, and the wider of a variety the better. Justin also talks about how building isn’t just a creative process, it’s also a learning process, each project he does he feels that he learns valuable lessons for the next one.

Another learning experience for Justin has been learning not to get burnt out, and setting rules for himself about what kind of projects he works on. He even let go of some pieces of equipment with the understanding that not having the capability for certain things will allow him more projects he truly is passionate about. He says it’s all about learning, and finding your way.

To see more from JML Woodcraft check out the links below!

Instagram: @jmlwoodcraft

Facebook: JML Woodcraft

Thank you Uneedainc for sponsoring this episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast.

Matt Outlaw: 731 Woodworks

Thu, 06 May 2021 10:00:09 +0000

From Humble Beginnings

When asked how 731 Woodworks got started, Matt says that the first question he always gets is where the number 731 came from. He explains that July 31st is his wife and his anniversary, and they named their business after that date in March of 2017. Matt explains that they started it out as a side business, so he took $100 and invested in some two-by-fours after watching a YouTube video by Jay Bates on building chairs. He started building and selling chairs and slowly built his business up from there all the while posting videos on the 731 Woodworks YouTube channel.

The Power of Etsy

Steve asks Matt about what kind of niche he’s developed for himself. Matt mentions that right from the start, farmhouse furniture took off for them and the YouTube channel is very farmhouse focused. He goes on to say that his clientele was very local until they managed to get their Etsy store started in late 2018 or early 2019. They didn’t start the store immediately because they were getting plenty of local orders, and they needed to decide on well-sized products for sale on Etsy because it costs significantly more to ship the larger furniture pieces.

One of the items that Matt sold the most was stove covers. These items exploded into 20,000 sales on their Etsy store, which he eventually needed to stop offering because they were taking up all of his time. When asked about where Matt sources his product from, he mentions that he buys primarily from Barton’s which is a local chain in Arkansas.

Matt mentions that they have kept their income separate because he has a full-time job as a state trooper which has allowed them to do more with the income that they’ve earned through woodworking. He mentions that he is now able to take his wife out to eat without hurting their bill money, and they were paycheck to paycheck before starting the woodworking business.

He goes on to say that the table saw was one of the most important tools he purchased, but a miter saw allowed him to make consistent angle cuts more easily, which was a pivotal tool early in the development of 731 Woodworks. Things started to take off with the company after the first year when they started to see returning customers. Matt believes that this delay was primarily because he was not doing any advertising beyond just posting on Facebook.

Website: www.731woodworks.com

Instagram: @731woodworks

YouTube: 731 Woodworks

Vic Tesolin: Vic Tesolin Woodworks

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 10:00:18 +0000

Today on the Podcast we have Vic Tesolin of Vic Tesolin Woodworks!

Vic has been making furniture for a number of years, he studied at Rosewood studio in Ontario, Canada, where he focused on furniture design and making while building furniture. However, Vic found it was very difficult to make a living making the type of high-end furniture that he was making originally.

Vic has always had jobs that support his woodworking. He was the editor of Canadian woodworking magazine, and also worked for the research and development department at Veritas for Lee Valley for about 10 years. This all afforded Vic the ability to travel all over the world and meet woodworkers from different walks of life, which he describes as pretty fantastic!

Eventually he decided it was time to be his own boss and do his own thing. Vic describes it as something that sort of just happened. In addition to his woodworking business he also has written two books besides his publication writing.

“This is it, this is what I do.”

Vic says he’s always felt extremely fortunate to have gotten the education that he did. His goal has always been to pass on knowledge and information, however he can. Whether those are two hour webinars, or private teaching, that's what he’s all about. Vic just wants to get the information out there. He wants people woodworking. He wants people working with their hands. I mean, this pandemic has showed us that, you know, people are loving working with their hands, because,

The business started as a side hustle, as Vic suspects a lot of businesses do, because it takes a lot of guts to just say, “Okay, to heck with this paycheck, I'm not using that anymore.”

So Vic did it as a side hustle and started by writing articles for magazines, and then he got asked by a publisher to write a book, and then another book. Once you start, once you get published, then people start seeking you out for classes and other things Vic says.

Vic has taught in Europe, England, Australia, China, and his life and business partner Andrea takes care of the things that Vic’s not good at. Andrea is really good at marketing, and she's excellent at the customer service aspect of it. Vic notes that he is fortunate that they work really well together.

The Books and The Marketing Corner

Join us for this awesome podcast where we discuss mailers, Vic’s two books, minimalist woodworking and Tik Tok!

To learn more about Vic Tesolin Woodworks check out the links below:

Website: www.victesolin.com

Instagram: @vic_tesolin

Nathan Logsdon: Logsdon Woodworking

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 10:00:12 +0000

Welcome to another incredible episode of the Woopdreneur Podcast with your host Steve Larsoliere, and today's guest, Nathan Logsdon of Logsdon Woodworking. This episode is brought to you by Uneeda - the leading abrasive company for Woodpreneurs. Go to www.uneeda.com and use promo code Woodpreneur15 to save 15% of any order!

Currently, Nathan is on active duty in the Coast Guard and started his woodworking journey when he was stationed in North Carolina. At that point, he was separated from his wife and kids as Nathan’s daughter attended a school in Maryland that she couldn’t move from and Nathan was pretty bored as he was only able to visit on the weekends. So with the newfound free time, Nathan stumbled into woodworking. His first project was a reclaimed cooler.

One thing led to another and Nathan sold the cooler and started making all sorts of great projects, now it’s an entire side business.

Nathan's day job in the coast guard is as an aircraft maintenance technician working on everything from helicopters to cargo planes. While Logsdon Woodworking is technically a side-business for Nathan, while he was in North Carolina, he was working 40 hours a week at work, and then he was also working 40 to 60 hours a week in the shop.

Since moving to Jacksonville, things cut down a lot in the shop because the family time was able to increase, and now Nathan’s wife is working in the shop with him. She’s working on scroll saw art and other projects that keep her busy in the down-time too and lets them spend more time together.

Steves Marketing Corner

Nathan says he just hit 5000 followers, which means people have started slipping into his DMS and so it becomes a question of, who do you work with, what opportunities are good and where is the line and balance between sponsorship and being too much of a salesman or annoying the community he’s cultivated.

Steve says that really between 10,000 to 50,000 is considered a micro-influencer and below is more of a micro-micro, but that there is nothing at all wrong with that. A lot of people seem to think that you need a lot of followers to have a good business, but you don't, you just need an engaged following of the right types of people. So it becomes a question of who you want your customer base to be, and then a commitment of building out the brand, providing consistent content, giving more personality, and then building that trust with your audience before you start bringing on a lot of partners or sponsors.

Nathan’s advice to the Woodpreneur community is to not get comfortable. Stepping out of your comfort zone and learning something new is invaluable. Steve also points out that another great inadvertent piece of advice Nathan offered was that $15 investment of a product book or catalog for craft fairs. Nathan says that one book landed him about 15 jobs, so the power of that extra step, that conversation starter is key.

To see more from Nathan, check out the links below!

Instagram: @logsdonwoodworking

Link Tree: Logsdon Woodworking

Mara Harding: Mara Designs

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 08:00:09 +0000

On today’s episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast we are joined by Mara Harding. Mara began her journey into the wood industry when she was 41, because when her children began to reach the double-digit ages, she began to wonder what her purpose was on the planet. At the time, she owned and ran an advertising agency, and while she had several big clients she felt that it was not her calling, so she shut the agency down at the age of 40.

Personal Journey Instagram: @mara.harding

Finished Products Instagram: @maramadedesigns

Jesse Coleman: Burnt Brydges

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 08:00:16 +0000

The thing that put Jesse on Steve’s radar was actually an Instagram post, specifically a time-lapse of a table, and the music in the background was “KOTA the friend” and it was so cool it demanded immediate attention. After becoming mutual friends and supporting each other's businesses they finally connected and now there’s an amazing story for you all to follow here on the podcast!

Burnt Brydges is based in Stratford, Ontario, Canada and has an incredible origin story. Jesse actually had a garage fire where his workshop was based. One day he woke up at 4:30am thanks to his dog sounding the alarm and he realized there was a big problem. Fortunately Jesse was able to rebuild and he used the incident as great inspiration, given he lived on Brydges street, there you have the name.

Steve loves the idea of how burning bridges in business isn’t necessarily a good thing but burnt bridges in the sense of letting go of the past and moving forward and committing to the passion is an amazing double meaning.

Committing to Being a Woodpreneur

The moment for Jesse was profound, his father was in the lumber industry and went bankrupt because of import issues. Jesse was woodworking on the side out of his Burnt Brydges garage from earlier in this tale while working full time at a carpentry job and then the orders started stacking up and he decided to bet on himself.

Jesse made sure to have some savings before he quit, but having work lined up helped him feel more secure as well.

When Jesse had a year's worth of work lined up, he knew that he had outgrown the namesake garage and so he moved to a bigger shop outside of town. Only 6 or 7 months after he quit his 9-5 he was able to move to a bigger shop with a lot of great investments and intellectual investments in his company including amazing business and marketing plans.

Jesse now has two part-time employees and feels like the business became real to him when he moved into his bigger shop. Steve points out that it’s no surprise Jesse blew up and outgrew his shop, he hired someone part-time while he was still working full-time.

Jesse’s bread and butter products are everything from coffee tables, to boardroom tables and even charcuterie boards, actually, a lot of charcuterie boards. Burnt Brydges sold 200 charcuterie boards this last Christmas alone. Next up he has a job for a hotel and a restaurant in town. To secure the jobs he would offer a sample and reach out, creating the right relationships.

Steves Marketing Corner

Jesse wonders how valuable word of mouth is in this day and age, and Steve firmly believes that it definitely still travels. There are certain careers where reputation is everything, reputation and referrals. Steve considers word of mouth to be like referrals, always valuable. With the growing importance of social proof in our digital world word of mouth is still a critical aspect to focus on.

Steve also offers further advice on reaching out to repeat customers and letting them know when you have spots open to ask if they have any family or friends who might want a table, and that you’ll prioritize them because they are existing customers. That’s how you do word of mouth in 2021.

The table is the heart of the home, and it’s important to make sure you forge relationships with the people who are trusting you to make this beautiful piece for them.

Jesse’s advice to the Woodpreneur community is that you need to work hard, don’t expect anything to come over night, work hard, be honest with yourself, have some self awareness of when you’re wearing too many hats. If it’s within your means to hire somebody, do so, stay positive and put yourself out there.

Instagram: @BurntBrydges

Website: www.BurntBrydges.com

James Ruig: Salvage Europe

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 08:00:42 +0000

Today we're pleased to welcome James Ruij from Salvage Europe to the show! James has been in the wood business for quite some time now, and we consider him an OG Woodpreneur! From online supply hubs to dreams of the biggest lumber company in the world, you can't help but feel inspired when listening to James talk about his time in the industry.

Adapting to the Changing World

With this iteration of the business through Covid, the most significant change has been the lack of regular travel to Europe. Typically James spends two months a year in Europe and has a company in Australasia, so the lack of travel has been very different.

Between his other business ventures Chene Oak and Acorn Road, James had done an incredible job diversifying his business, but even with so much on the go, he keeps a lean team. James explains we used to have fifty to sixty employees, but being an Australian in America, it isn't always the easiest to craft your way, so he liked to stay very personal and involved in the business.

It seems to be working well with his approach! James discusses some of the projects he's most proud of, including the Foo Fighters Studio, Dr. Dre's house, and his current project, The Beverly Hillbillies Mansion. James explains that he tends to build connections by going out and meeting people one-on-one. He focuses on engaging specific companies and customers he knows he can answer a problem for.

Like a Fine Wine

James is highly passionate about his product and is unquestionably a French Oak specialist. He explains that his product is like wine, sure you can get generic European Oak, but that's the equivalent of a $10 bottle of wine. With high-quality French Oak, you're getting wood from a two-hundred-year-old tree sourced from a specific region, all of a single origin. The consistency and beauty of which are easily distinguishable, like a fine wine.

James applies this high-quality approach to every aspect of his business. James touches a little bit on how he sends samples to customers and potential clients when discussing marketing systems. They are sent in a handmade box, beautifully organized, and shipped in reclaimed cardboard.

As for the furniture-making side of things, James is currently in eight stores but is looking for closer to twenty or thirty.

One of James' full circle dreams is to create the biggest reclaimed wood company in the world where he hopes to make enough profit to start buying up land to sustainably harvest trees in a mindful way.

Steve's Marketing Advice Corner:

The cost of wood has increased 38% in Australia because of the supply and demand. So the question is, how do we work together to use the resource to its maximum benefit?

Steve gives some incredible advice about a summit that James could host in 2022 to launch his dreams and expand his network in his area as well as bring more visibility to his company. On a final note, James leaves off with this!

"Don't do what everyone else is doing, think of the future, look broadly at the world, get out and about, see what everyone else is doing and then find something for yourself that is different!" - James Ruij

Salvage Europe Website

@SavageEuropeUSA

Ethan Abramson: Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 08:00:11 +0000

Christian & Lauren: Big Sky Dry

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 08:00:20 +0000

Our guests for today’s podcast are Christian and Lauren of Big Sky Dry located in Missoula, Montana. Currently, Lauren works full time in advertising as a copywriter, which she says helps their new business a lot, while Christian works at Big Sky Dry full time as they grow their company.

When asked how they started their business, Christian mentioned how three years ago, he was working with his dad brokering financing for logging equipment and people within that industry. At that time, one of his customers came up to him and inquired about financing an iDRY kiln, which neither Christian or his dad had heard of. His father then got in touch with Jim Parker of iDRY, and they began helping customers with financing. This was their first real exposure to wood drying, and after conversations with Jim, they went to Vermont and saw how the kilns were made.

Lauren recognized that people kept wanting to get more and more of these kilns and needed financing for their second and third ones. By that point, with each financing sale, Christian ended up selling themselves on the idea and they realized that a kiln might work well for them.

Instagram: @bigskydry

Facebook: @bigskydry

Website: bigskydry.com

Read the full article at: https://www.woodpreneurlife.com/

Avery Earwood: Wild Edge Woodcraft

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 09:00:10 +0000

Today we are thrilled to have Avery Earwood from Wild Edge Woodcraft on the show! Wild Edge Woodcraft started officially in August of last year when Avery transitioned from a 25-year corporate career in healthcare into his new full-time role as a Woodpreneur. His services include tree removals, sawmill work, kiln drying, and custom furniture building. Wild Edge Woodcraft is located in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, known locally as The Research Triangle, or The Triangle.

From Corporate To Craftsman

Avery discusses how truly overwhelmed he has been by the amount of success and the fun he's been having in this new career. He dreamed for many years about transitioning from corporate life into this new career as a Woodpreneur. He goes on to discuss how meeting all of his new clients has become one of the best parts of the job for him. His clients range from people who simply need trees removed from their property to woodworking enthusiasts looking for the perfect slab to make a river table, and finding out how to help each person brings him a lot of joy.

Avery underestimated how much time he would spend personally handling wood, and how amazing that part of the job would be. When he takes down a tree, he loads it onto his trailer and moves it through the entire process of cutting, drying, preparing it for the end product and delivering it to his client. This very hands-on process gave Avery a real appreciation for how often he picks up that same piece of wood throughout its lifecycle.

The Full Value Chain

Avery designed Wild Edge Woodcraft around what he calls the full value chain. By taking down a tree in someone's yard, milling it, drying it, and turning it into furniture that goes back into that person's home, he feels that is the best possible service he can provide to a client. However, Avery is still happy to offer only pieces of the overall chain. If he removes a tree from one property and makes it into furniture for someone else, that's fine too. He's satisfied by working on any link of the chain, but he is happiest if he can complete the full 'tree to table' experience.

Avery lives on a 25-acre farm with hardwoods taking up about 15 of those acres. He explains that the climate and rainfall present in North Carolina blesses the state with tremendous amounts and varieties of trees, many of which grow to be vast and elderly. He was surprised initially when he realized that there's no shortage of raw materials, just a shortage of use.

Growing Into The Future

In the future, Avery would like his business to keep pace with demand, and a big part of that is scaling up rapidly from a one-person operation. By the end of the year, he would like to have a staff of between 4-6 employees, and he would like to be able to upgrade his equipment. Specifically, Avery would like to upgrade his current mill to a wider one, go from one kiln to two or three, and do ten tables a month instead of his current limit of two. All of these updates require more infrastructure, but the demand is high enough for the end products, there is plenty of supply, and he feels that these are reasonable goals.

Website: https://wildedgewoodcraft.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildedgewoodcraft/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildEdgeWoodcraft

Westley Campbell: Campbell Signs and Designs

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 09:00:14 +0000

Today we’re excited to have Westley Campbell from Campbell Signs and Designs on the show! What started as a hobby sign business has now grown into a multifaceted company with several different specialties. In the shop, there’s a woodworking area, several CNC machines, a laser system for laser etching, and even a vacuum kiln.

Westley says he likes to do a little bit of everything. While sign making was the first step, Campbell Signs and Designs has grown and diversified to accommodate the needs of the customers. Westley notes there are a lot of maple syrup producers in his area so he’s also branched out to doing laser work on glass bottles.

Engineer by Day, Woodworker by Night

Westley describes himself as a plastics engineer by day and part-time woodworker by night and weekends. Fortunately he works with robotics at his day job which lends well to the CNC capabilities as well as the laser machines.

When Westley started his company he was focusing on small home decor signs that he largely made with a router tool. However, with a passion for growth and a desire not to turn down business, as more specific requests and new materials were discussed he decided to run with it. The business has continued to evolve as a result.

A lot of the customer base started as folks that Westley would meet at craft shows while he was getting the word of mouth about his business out. Now, his customers are everyone from hobbyists to contractors.

The Future For Campbell Signs and Designs

One problem that Westley was facing earlier on was sourcing his wood and panels. As the shop was a bit sparse, Westley would need to source panels from other woodworkers which could occasionally slow down production. Some big investments for Westley was a large planer, joiner and sander which allowed him to do his own panels.

Campbell Signs and Designs aims to be a one stop shop for custom projects, milling, and woodwork. Westley notes another volume of business he tends to do is Victorian reproductions as a lot of the homes in his area are older style homes that people want to preserve.

Currently, the biggest challenge facing this small business is not enough time in the day, especially around the holidays it gets very hectic.

The Evolution of a Wood Business

Westley jokes that he doesn’t have a business plan and he’s just still getting his feet wet, but he does have some plans and aspirations for the future of his business, including moulding and more woodworking investments.

Westley does note that if he could restart his business from scratch he would have liked more of a business plan, but now that he’s focusing on the sawmill side of things he clearly sees the vision for his shop. His plan is to stock lumber and do custom sawing and drying. Another long term plan for this year is the investment and acquisition of a moulding machine. Westley intends to have his own moulding line out this year.

Business and Marketing Advice Corner

Westley notes that as the business has evolved and started to branch into different specialties he worries that their name doesn’t convey everything that the company is capable of now. Steve remembers before his business was called Acres of Timber he too felt limited by his original name which drove him to make the switch, he offers this same advice to Westley.

The two brainstorm some ideas and Steve reminds all entrepreneurs that they are allowed to change their minds and update their business and brand as they grow and as their company grows too.

Steve explains the concept of maintaining the existing corporation but changing a DBA “doing business as” to operate a new name..

The advice Westley offers is to be flexible, embrace new things and to not get locked into doing only one thing.

Website: https://www.campbellsignsanddesigns.com/

Sami & Cory: Avid CNC

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 09:00:15 +0000

Today on the podcast we’re thrilled to have Sami and Cory from Avid CNC. Avid CNC is an engineering and manufacturing company geared toward helping people be successful with their machine tools. The company offers a wide variety of machine sizes and different types of tools and attachments. As Cory says, the goal of Avid CNC is to provide great opportunities for people to automate some production or add precision to their workflow.

The Origin Story

Sami originally studied sculpture with a focus on digital fabrication, but she also got to work with her hands a lot. When she moved to Portland, she got a job as a CNC technician and a project manager in digital fabrication.

Sami describes her passions as the intersection between educating and making, so getting to teach CNC at the local maker’s space on an Avid CNC machine was an incredible start. Eventually, her journey lead her to work with Avid CNC directly.

Now she has the opportunity to teach CNC every day through Avid CNCs video production projects and by writing curriculum! In the coming year, Sami intends to make an entire YouTube series that will walk makers through everything they need to know about Avid CNC machines.

Cory had similar origins, he was in precision sheet metal and machining fabrication prior to Avid CNC. He worked his way through a bunch of different types of machining and sheet metal work and Avid CNC (CNC Router Parts back then) at one time, was one of Cory’s customers. After realizing a shared passion and vision, Cory made a career change and he has been on the team since 2013.

CNC Machines and Workflow

There are so many different variations on wood businesses and workflows in this industry. While Sami, Cory, and Steve had a bit of a chuckle about Steve feeling like he was the last to hear about them, he follows up with a very important question, at what point in the woodpreneur journey do makers usually find Avid CNC?

Sami explains that the way Avid CNC communicates and connects with the maker and fabricator community has largely been through word of mouth. There are so many different facets of production, she says it comes down to what makers want to achieve or how they want their business to run.

The nice thing is that the machines Avid CNC makes are so adaptable they can grow and scale with wood businesses. In that way, it’s never really too early to start considering investing in a CNC machine.

There is a wide variety of things that can be done with these machines and there are different roles they play based on the workflow of the businesses using them.

A CNC machine is a part of the larger ecosystem of a woodshop and a large focus for Avid CNC has been developing their machines in such a way that they can grow and scale with the business as space and capacity grows.

Nolan Thompson: Nolanbuilt

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 09:00:16 +0000

Today on the show we have Nolan Thomson from Nolan Built! Talking through Nolan’s story was an awesome time and we have to give a shoutout to the IG algorithms for making it happen! The power of social media marketing at work. Today we talk about everything from submarines to taking leaps of faith. It’s a great ride!

The Foundations of Nolan Built

The story starts fifteen years ago when Nolan was building nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines in a job he got right out of High-School. While it wasn’t his passion, Nolan attributes this job to giving him his tool background and knowledge. Finally, when he bought his first home the love of woodworking started to emerge.

Nolan ended up buying a 10 inch Hitachi miter saw while he was doing some work upgrading his house. From there, the love of tools and building his inventory struck. Every holiday, Nolan’s then-girlfriend, and now wife would give him a gift card to a Home Hardware Store or buy him one of the tools on his list of wants.

Then in 2015, everything started to come together. Nolan had been woodworking as a hobby and making things for his friends, family, and church, but he also loved road biking. When he had $750 leftover from a tax return the question came down to, a new road bike or an LLC?

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Unsurprisingly, he decided to invest in his woodworking and turn it into a true business. It took off from there. While in 2015 Nolan started the business originally to lock in the name, he didn’t start promoting or trying to get jobs until about 2 years ago. As his previous job required him to be gone about 9 months of the year, he knew it wasn’t the right time to start the business, but he started setting up as many things as he could in the interim.

For Nolan, it was a progressive transition into running his business full-time. He did a lot of research and preparation and finally, it came to a point where Nolan realized that he was the one standing in his way. His wife was telling him to go for it, his friends, his clients, but ultimately Nolan was the one unsure.

Fortunately, the moment he made the jump into working on creating his own legacy full time, he has not stopped getting phone calls. He has a four-month backlog at the moment which is what he was hoping for before he took the step. A clear sign that sometimes you can wait forever for something that would easily come if you just stopped waiting.

The ability to trust yourself, or trust the highest power, or trust the people who have bought from you and have faith in you is something Steve notes as crucial for growing a business. Nolan agrees entirely and takes a moment to thank his beautiful wife for being so supportive. He doesn’t think he would be able to do what he does without her love and support.

To see more from Nolan Built, check out his socials below!

@NolanBuilt

Nolan Built

NolanBuilt.com

Justin Ephraim: Reduxwood

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 09:00:19 +0000

Today’s guest is Justin Ephraim from Reduxwood. Justin has a fascinating story and has been in the wood industry for over twenty-five years. From sourcing wood for Canadians from Panama, building luxury homes, and undertaking underwater excursions to check the quality of submerged woods, it’s been an incredible journey.

From the start to the end of this episode it is packed with captivating stories, wonderful successes, and big moves. Justin and his story are nothing short of inspirational. He moved to Vietnam with two suitcases and a broken panini press (well, it broke on the way, but still.) and now has a multi-national business with twenty employees and the largest inventory of his product in the world.

Continuing to Grow & How to Do So

Reduxwood has grown to be an international company with an incredible team and a lifetime worth of networking, relationships, skill, and success under their belts. The inventory alone has taken about eight years for Justin to collect and grow. After doing the wholesale wood selling Justin stumbled into a table sale and that was a bit of an “aha” moment.

Justin now employs about twenty people and has grown to a point where his business doesn’t just support him and his family, but also about 12 other families in Vietnam alone. He notes that a lot of this business is a people business because of the relationships and time that go into building good customer relationships.

The biggest challenge has been getting people to know about Reduxwood when he is in Vietnam. Justin has been having an extremely difficult time figuring out the algorithms and he wishes he would have started working on Instagram a bit earlier than he did. Next, Justin plans to build a showroom in Vietnam and he is very excited about continuing to educate people about the standards, quality, and beauty of the products coming out of Vietnam.

The end of this episode is an incredible think tank of branding and marketing ideas between Steve and Justin. Steve explains the dream 100 marketing strategy, breaks down the process, and adds his own valuable spin and twist to the method.

Steve even gives a brief overview of the masterclass marketing method he will be teaching next month. The Woodpreneur Method is a tried and tested set of branding, community, and sales methods that have already grown hundreds of wood businesses and will grow thousands more in the future.

To see more of Justin’s incredible story and projects please check him out:

Website: http://reduxwood.com/

Instagram: @Reduxwood

Larry Smith: L&K Hardwood

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 11:00:15 +0000

Today’s guest is Larry Smith from L&K Hardwoods! Larry is part of our iDRY Conversations series where we interview iDRY customers and talk with them about their stories and business.

Investing in the Dream

Larry bought a Timber King 6000, the biggest machine that the company makes. The sawmill company is based in Kansas City and with Larry’s strong commitment to supporting local business, he couldn’t think of anyone else he would want to buy his first mill from.

In terms of his biggest successes, Larry says his overall biggest success is his family, but for business, it was getting his dream piece of land to open his shop and build his investments on.

L&K Hardwoods is on the national historic registry, the very first sawmill in Jackson Country Missouri was built in 1834 on the land. People would come from as far as New Orleans to buy flour and grain and supplies. The mill was 60 feet high and all built out of locally sourced black walnut gathered from the wooded area around where it would eventually stand.

The mill itself operated until the civil war. It was then used as a battlefield hospital. After the civil war, the mill reopened but then closed its doors permanently in 1878. The mill then sat in ruins until 1923 when it was finally torn down.

Larry says that he feels very blessed to have the land and to have been able to put a sawmill back on it.

“It’s great to be able to do what you love and love what you do.”

Promoting Community and Supporting Local Business

Larry strongly believes in supporting the local woodworking community. When he was constructing the building his iDRY is stored in, he even built a whole upstairs area that will eventually act as a showroom for all of his customers and other local woodworkers.

Larry has a lot of incredible role models like his grandfather, his father, and his father in law. He says hard work and the drive to keep innovating is in his DNA. Listening to Larry talk about his land and his passion for this industry, it’s easy to see how true that is. His work is an extension of him and who he is, and that’s why he puts his heart into it.

L&K Hardwoods truly does have a focus on the local economy as well. The business offers a wide variety of locally sourced hardwoods, everything from ash to walnut, sugar maple, and even green leaf maple. Larry is also proud to offer sawmill services, custom milling services, tree to table programs, and vacuum kiln drying. Due to his great relationships with other wood entrepreneurs, Larry also has a connection to get sustainable exotic wood species as well.

Kiln Impacts So Far

Larry has already seen an impact since having the kiln even though they have only done three loads of drying. Through word of mouth alone L&K has been able to start drying wood for others. With the kiln on board, the sky is the limit.

Every penny L&K Hardwoods has made is reinvested back into the company and Larry has a formidable drive for constantly innovating, building a growing his business. He plans on adding more equipment as time and money allow and he expects that the iDRY will not only help generate revenue but also improve the credibility of his business.

Larry notes that people can tell he is serious and invested in his business because of the quality of the kiln and the equipment cost. L&K’s kiln cost more than Larry’s first house, so the kiln really shows that L&K is competing at a high level. Larry says it’s already given him an advantage when bidding for bigger jobs because the customer knows on-site that the quality will be to the level expected.

For more from L&K Hardwoods check them out here:

L&K Hardwoods

@ L&KHardwoods

James Peglar: Lux Edge Furniture

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 11:00:53 +0000

Today we welcome James Peglar from Lux Edge Furniture to the show. James used to work in corporate America but always knew that he had the drive and mindset of an entrepreneur. Ultimately he decided to take everything he had learned about running a business and strike out independently. Lux Edge Furniture’s start was James making coffee tables out of his garage in October of 2014. It took off from there.

James did a ton of marketing, and his products ended up in La Z Boy within a few months. He’s gone from a team of just himself and his wife making a small coffee table a month to having four in-house employees, some support staff, and producing 15-20 large products every month. Lux Edge Furniture also now ships all over the world.

The Beginning

James wanted to make his life as successful as his abilities. He knew that working for someone else imposed a limit that didn’t align with his personal goals. On top of that, he was surrounded by people who hated their jobs, and he decided that life really wasn’t for him.

To grow the business in the early days, he would literally give away tables so people would have it in their showroom, and within the first six months, he was turning a profit. That’s about the time he knew he had a viable business.

His proper start was with an Etsy account. At that point in time, there were two or three other people selling furniture through the website. It blew up automatically. In the first 12 months, James made almost $400,000 in revenue selling locally and through Etsy. It was the perfect combination for a huge success. James picked the right market at the right time, and he used the business knowledge he had gained from his corporate job to market the right way out the gate.

Adding to his background in business, James also has a knack for sales and an eye for quality products. James notes that personally, he cares about quality and investing in things that are built to last. This mindset is one he shares with his customers giving them a great foundation and understanding.

Great Business Mindset

The best equipment investment that the team has made is a CNC machine that is 16 feet by 6 feet wide. James hunted for a while to find a machine that was capable of making larger tables, but in his words, by having the capacity, you tell the universe that you’re ready for it.

Five years ago, when James talked about the farm he grew up on, he always said to his wife that they would buy it in the next 5-6 years. Sure enough, the shop is currently based on that very same farm. As an entrepreneur, you have to have a vision, and it is critical you make decisions based on where you want to be, not where you are right now. If you say you can’t do something you’re 100% correct, whether you’re actually right or wrong, if you focus on what you want and you visualize it and dream about it, you’re more likely to get there.

For James, the biggest struggle in growing the business has been not being scared. Fortunately, he knows that a business owner is built differently than most people. Most people need to know where their next paycheque is coming from or their next meal, but for James, he knows even if he lost everything and had to restart tomorrow, he would be fine because he knows how to build a business.

To see more from Lux Edge and James and the team’s awesome work, check them out here:

Lux Edge Furniture Website

@ LuxEdge

Alexander Wikström: Wikström interiors

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 11:00:13 +0000

Today on the Podcast we are thrilled to get a chance to catch up with Alexander Wikstrom of Wikstrom Interior. Alexander is based out of Sweden and has been in business now for seven years as a woodworker, authorized tool and product reseller and workshop owner.

What was the spark for the business?

It all started when Alexander’s wife saw a picture of a table online. The pair was in the middle of doing some home renovations and Alexander knew he had some spare construction wood laying around. After some time in the basement, he had created an admittedly rough around the edges table, but a table non the less. Eventually, they sold the piece and the idea of furniture creation began to take shape.

Alexander spent about two years building tables in the basement while juggling a young family and full-time office job. Eventually, the waitlist for his tables was about a year-long and he knew that he was going to need to make a decision. Fortunately, he decided to build a workshop and started his own business, Wikstrom Interiors was born.

“It was a lot to do, two full-time jobs, two kids and building a woodshop for the first time.”

The Business Basics

In terms of tools, Alexander has a bandsaw, hand tools and a kiln but he intends to build a bigger one this year. He has a lot of wood that needs to be dried so the kiln expansion is important, but overall he is happy with his investments.

In terms of business and marketing struggles, Alexander said he would love some advice on how to portray value to customers. Trying to get them to understand exactly what they are paying for and why the price reflects the quality.

Steve’s advice is to consider current brands that offer high-quality products and look at their marketing strategies. As an example, a high-quality clothing brand that releases infographics and transparent reports about the cost of their goods. Steve also suggests that Alexander add a voice to his brand and speak about the importance of quality and why what he offers is better than the cheap options.

“The thing is nobody adds the voice. So the people who do add the voice they are the ones that are winning. If this is your craft and you’re dedicated to it, you add your face [and voice] to it.”

In terms of advice he would give to the woodpreneur community, Alexander says:

“Never give up, always pursue.”

That’s the main thing with woodworking. You can get a lot of trouble on the way, with every table you’ll probably encounter some kind of problem, so never give up, keep going until it’s finished.

Instagram: @wikstrominteriorsnickeri

Loren Bates: Rackensack Kilns

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 11:00:14 +0000

Today we had a great time talking with Loren from Rackensack Kilns! Two years ago, after considering the local market, Rackensack was born to answer the lack of kiln space and abundance of hardwood milling in the area. The business started with a few different avenues, including cabinetry, but ultimately processing wood started to become a main focus.

What started from the necessity to get their own wood dried has now evolved into an entire tree to table business. Rackensack Kilns has the ability to process urban lumber into trim, furniture, flooring, and almost any other wood product you can think of.

What Drives Your Business?

Motivated by a desire to see less waste in the building process and the ability to use these viable wood products instead of seeing them chipped or mulched has been integral to the team. Another part of it is also the unique experience of opening up a tree and creating something entirely new that can’t just be purchased from a furniture store or even a hardware store.

After about six months in the first year, once the kiln started getting booked and the word had gotten out, the team realized that their efforts had paid off and the business was beginning to be viable. Six months after that, they added another kiln, upgraded their shop size, and decided they were all in.

Rackensack and Their Community

Education is a big thing that Rackensack Kilns focuses on. Many people don’t realize that wood products tend to warp, splinter, or go to pieces without the drying process. Rackensack focuses on keeping an open and friendly atmosphere where they assist hobbyists and woodworkers with drying and other industry questions. They like to be considered “The Woodworkers Friend.”

Loren says this approach has given them some wonderful opportunities to network and meet people who share the same passion for woodworking in the area. He also says that any project where a tree has a story behind it or a history has a special place in this crew’s hearts. The customers’ joy seeing the transformation of raw material to a beautiful piece of furniture that will last generations is a big win for this business.

Equipment, Struggles and the Future

In terms of struggles, Loren notes the difficulty behind the instant gratification mindset. Explaining to new customers that woodworking takes time can be difficult, but the team focuses on communication and transparency with the customer to overcome the hurdle.

In addition to three iDry kilns, Rackensack also has a forklift, Wood Wizz, and contacts they outsource their milling needs to. Positioned in the heart of walnut country, there is no shortage of logs to be sourced. Word of mouth with the arborists and a community of woodworkers has been great for the business in terms of inventory.

If Loren was to start from scratch, he says he would have wanted more space. Even with three kilns and a bigger shop, the kilns are always full, and there is always more wood to be dried.

Ideally, in 2021 another kiln purchase is on the horizon. The hope is that in the spring, the shop can start hosting their Slab Saturdays again, which acts as an open house for woodworkers and artisans. Community Events and woodworkers getting the opportunity to learn from more experienced craftsmen is something this team loves to facilitate and promote.

How to Prepare for a New Market

In terms of marketing, the question is where one would find the market for a more streamlined furniture line? Currently, every piece of furniture produced is a one-off custom project. Steve suggests reaching out to designers, architects, and customers as well as researching competitors. After the research is done, it’s a good idea to do a digital mockup and then invest in marketing and press before making the physical line.

To work with Rackensack or see their beautiful creations, please visit them on Instagram or Facebook, or give their shop a call!

@rackensackkilns

Rackensack Kilns on Facebook

+1 918-850-8003

Brent & Devin: Texas Urban Sawmill & Refined Elements

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 11:00:17 +0000

Today we’re excited to have Brent and Devin from Texas Urban Sawmill and Refined Elements on the show.

Challenges of Running Two Businesses

A big challenge with running the two businesses and only two full time employees has been time and manpower. Specifically bringing on the right people who understand the vision and have a passion for the work being done and not someone just looking for a 9-5 job.

So much goes into the business, from identifying the type of tree and what product it’s going to be good for to know how it needs to be cut, through the actual furniture making itself. Every single day is different and overall it’s an industry with a very steep learning curve.

Brent believes that the biggest reward is being able to see the reactions to the incredible finished pieces they make and then on the sawmill side it’s equally rewarding to be the first person to see what is inside the log. The crew has an intention to publish videos on every new species of tree they work with to share that magic with others as well.

For the team, a constant motivation is creating high-quality products for people, helping the environment through carbon sequestering and the relationships that they have built with their incredible customers.

The Sawmill Side

Currently the sawmill does custom cutting, lumber sales and also of course mills wood for the furniture business. Texas Urban Sawmill runs a Woodmizer, WM1000 that can process up to 6 feet in diameter logs and functions essentially as a slabbing monster. They also run a Baker Blue Streak that focuses on dimensional lumber and smaller pieces. The baker was chosen because of it’s incredible speed, high-quality cuts and production capabilities which has been working well for the sawmill.

Between Facebook, Instagram and the website that is where the majority of the traffic comes from, but word of mouth has been huge for this team. The focus that they have on customer satisfaction and doing right by their customers has made them stand out from the rest. Another key aspect has been establishing local relationships and networking.

What is Next For Texas Urban Sawmill and Refined Elements?

The current goal is to see the business grow by 50% every year for the next five years, which is on track so far. Covid hasn’t had a negative impact to the growth of the business which is fortunate for this team, and they are now hoping to grow the sawmill even more because of the love for milling that has taken hold.

Texas Urban Sawmill also specializes in adaptive tree reuse projects which has been a focus since 2019. The goal is to work with large commercial projects that need to remove trees for building, specifically historical or heritage trees. The team then does the removal and turns these urban trees into wood products that can be shared and enjoyed by the public.

The furniture side is a labor of love, and it’s not something that is going to go anywhere but the eventual hope is that all of the furniture coming out of Refined Elements will be from these adaptive tree reuse projects. It’s also worth note these large projects are typically 3-5 years in production.

We can’t wait to see where this innovative team is in a couple of years and strongly recommend you check out their website and social media channels to see some beautiful urban lumber projects.

Website:

Txurbansawmill.com

Refinedelements.com

@TXurbansawmill

@RefinedElements

Steve Larosiliere: New Years Special

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 11:00:11 +0000

It has certainly been a long year, but amidst the difficult times there have still been a lot of good times too and successes to be celebrated. For the final Woodpreneur Podcast of the year, we’re looking forward and planning to start 2021 on a high note as we hit the ground running! There has been a lot of growth this year and more than ever we realize how fortunate we are to be in this industry.

In this episode we’re focusing on tactical goal setting. Both for business goals and personal goals too. We break down the hurdles that often come up when trying to achieve a goal or resolution and offer some insight and tips on how to set goals that are achievable and measurable.

Our ethical bribe is that if you join our Facebook Group, you will also get the video recording and slides of this Goal Setting Workshop. Our big goal for 2021 is to grow and nurture this community of Woodpreneurs.

This new Woodpreneur Facebook group will be a hub for the community and will feature everything from informative articles to marketing workshops, in addition to being a platform to network and promote your wood business. Our aim has always been to provide Woodpreneurs with the tools and knowledge that they need to grow and sustain their businesses, and now we’re running with it in 2021.

Thank you so much for being a part of our community this year, and we can’t wait to see what 2021 brings to the Woodpreneur Podcast. Thank you for listening!

Steve Larosiliere: Christmas Recap

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 11:00:12 +0000

On today's show, Steve sits down to reflect on this last year in a special Christmas Edition of the Woodpreneur Podcast.

We started as the sawmill business podcast, and then we found that sawyers do many different things and grew from there. Last year Steve had the privilege of attending Workbench Con and also traveled to Sweden to interview more woodpreneurs, to say the least, it has been an incredibly transformative time.

To celebrate how much the podcast has given him, the incredible people he's gotten to interview, and all you wonderful woodpreneurs listening, Steve will be recapping the top 11 downloaded podcasts from the last year.

Website: https://www.dreamacreswood.com/our-team

Instagram: @dreamacreswood

Alexandra Climent

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 11:00:18 +0000

Today on the show, we had the incredible privilege of getting to talk with Alexandra Climent, a woodpreneur who specializes in working with some of the densest wood in the world. Alexandra is a self-taught woodworking artist who fell in love with jungle wood's beauty while sourcing it for construction uses. This changed her entire future and career path significantly.

What Drew You To The Urban Wood Industry?

Between trips to the jungle to collect and source felled wood for her creative projects and her time back home in New York, Alexandra started creating a unique and beautiful story about her life and brand through Instagram.

The Arrival of the Wood and the Future it Held

It took a lot of work and patience for Alexandra to finally have enough wood that it could be shipped to the United States, and she had to deal with a lot of hurdles and red tape to get it there, but finally, the wood arrived.

For many woodpreneurs, the wood's story in itself is part of the entire package, and that holds especially true in this case.

Alexandra describes how she was in the jungle, seeing where all this wood came from and the animals and organisms that were living amongst the trees for so many years. Her desire to share that story, to share that feeling with someone who couldn't physically be in the jungle, serves as a continuing motivation for these products.

Sustainability is also of enormous concern to this exotic woodworker. She focuses on exporting wood for design purposes that most people have never seen before. This focus on less popular species means that she puts less pressure on trees and their associated biomes that are in high demand, which ultimately protects the trees and nature as a whole.

The advice Alexandra has to offer other woodworkers focused on sustainability in this industry is to use species that are not in high demand.

Learning to Work with this Rare Wood

Surprisingly getting the wood from far away jungles wasn't even the most challenging step in this journey. As an entirely self-taught artist and woodworker, Alexandra also had to find shop space and learn how to work with this incredibly difficult material that is exceedingly rare in the industry on her own.

Once the wood arrived, Alexandra would spend any spare time off from her full-time job working with her materials and honing her craft. Eventually, she got a few clients and decided to leap into her business full-time.

Steve sums it up perfectly:

"You had this job, and the dream was making its way on a container someplace over to you, and then when it got there, you bet on yourself."

What Have Some Of the Challenges Been?

It has been a journey even after going full time to frame her business in a way that makes sense with the product she works with. Many woodpreneurs have multiple projects on the go or produce content in a steady stream, which can be intimidating. Still, while it is all woodworking, it's a very different industry when you consider the medium.

The wood Alexandra works with is extraordinarily dense and requires specialized tools, care, and crafting to produce stunning results.

A Look at the Past and Future

If Alexandra were to start her business over again from scratch, she thinks she might have benefited from a business plan of sorts. Even now, her biggest focus is on how not to waste time and money with broad marketing efforts.

For 2021 the goal is expanding the business and ideally getting to do more speaking engagements about her story and passion for this industry while taking into account the restrictions that have been imposed by the global pandemic.

Instagram: @alexandracliment

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amoonfox

Website: https://www.alexandracliment.com/?fbclid=IwAR2kSii5Nra-Z5Oi1HeHOpUt-UpV2_n3-irUqrrrlxLTb9WQ7LlHPkfAgRE

Bernardo Urbina: Costa Rica Mill

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 11:00:16 +0000

Today on the show, we have the pleasure of speaking with Bernardo Urbina, the owner and founder of Costa Rica Sawmill. Bernardo has been a furniture designer for over ten years. He started his studies at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, focusing on industrial design and furniture design. His journey continued to Italy, where he proceeded to do a master's program in industrial design and architecture.

After that, he spent three years in the Philippines before moving home to Costa Rica and opening a furniture shop and design studio. Having worked with extremely high-quality products throughout his journey, Bernardo found he was having difficulty sourcing kiln-dried wood in Costa Rica as the standard is air drying.

This demand for high quality, kiln-dried lumber and slabs is what drove Bernardo to start milling and drying his own supplies. From there, he realized there was a market for exotic Costa Rican wood that was being sold for ridiculous prices to woodworkers in the United States. Bernardo knew he had the logistics and ability to help counteract this problem. He decided to increase his inventory and start sending high-quality wood abroad.

"If I wouldn't use it in my shop, I wouldn't offer it to you for yours."

Now he runs two sister companies, his mill, and his furniture business. Bernardo keeps the two separate in his mind, even though they are interrelated in some aspects. The way he sees it, the lumber supply wouldn't exist without the woodshop because of the risk involved. As he has his own woodshop and can use all the products he mills, there is less risk associated with sitting on inventory. If nobody else has a use for the wood, that's fine because he and his team will use it eventually. If they do, then he has quality materials he can provide.

One of the biggest focuses for Bernardo is sustainability. He doesn't waste any material and believes that it isn't right to use trees without giving back and replenishing them. For every $100 that Bernardo makes, he donates it back to make sure a tree is planted.

The entire design company actually started based on this concept of sustainability. Bernardo would make art from overlooked materials, like slabs with holes that were rejected by sawmills or other debris and fallen trees he could upcycle and repurpose.

Discussing the concept of Urban Wood, Bernardo says transparency is critical. The first two things he always asks for when he sources wood is to see the permits and a receipt. It is crucial to keep everything above board, pay the proper taxes, and not try and get around the system.

The goal for Costa Rica Sawmill is to eventually be able to offer single slabs to woodworkers in the United States. Currently, shipping is done in large orders, but he would like to be the "Amazon" of Urban Costa Rican wood one day. Staying connected and working with other woodpreneurs keeps Bernardo inspired and motivated. He loves hearing about the projects he can help source wood for.

As for business advice, Bernardo wonders how to remind clients or potential clients that he's out there and can help them with their urban wood or furniture needs without being too pushy.

Steve's advice is to implement a monthly newsletter where Bernardo can compile all of the stories from the lumber supply part of things and the furniture making side. He can have an avenue to talk about his sustainability efforts and feature other woodpreneurs to continue networking while simultaneously giving his customers content and a gentle nudge to remind them he's there.

Also, Steve suggests to send a follow-up DM once in a while to previous customers and check in with how they're doing.

To see some of Bernardo's beautiful work and his user-friendly website system, check him out here:

Instagram: @costaricamill

Website: https://costaricamill.com/

Email: Sales@costaricamill.com

Bardo Lodder: XXLBoomstamtafels

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 11:00:14 +0000

Like many starting Woodpreneurs, Bardo from XXL Boomstamtafels in the Netherlands began working with urban lumber as a hobby. Around seven years ago, he and his wife began building a house for themselves from scratch. During that time, he was at a friend's house and saw a live edge table, uncommon in that area. This table made a significant impression on Bardo, and it triggered his journey to find beautiful slabs.

He went around to different wood sellers and inquired about large slabs, and every single place he visited showed him the largest pieces of wood they had, but all of them were cut into straight lumber and didn't even come close to what he was imagining. After a while, Bardo started visiting sawmills directly in an attempt to track down the slabs he needed. At one of these mills, he saw a massive log in the corner, and when he asked them why they hadn't milled it yet, they told him that they didn't have the right saw for the job.

Bardo purchased the log from them and took it home to figure out how to mill it. Once he had purchased a sawmill for, he cut the log open and was amazed at how beautiful the interior was; he describes it as being "like opening a present." After milling that first log, he began visualizing the interior of every log he encountered, and the desire to continue milling these giant trees took hold of him.

The transition from a hobby to a business came about when the pile of wood on his property became so high he could no longer see his neighbor's house through his window. Originally, Bardo had a very romanticized idea of milling logs and building live edge tables from home to spend time with his children. Unfortunately, the local government prevented him from operating a commercial business in his residential area. This restriction required him to rent a commercial property to continue working on his passion, which forced him to turn his hobby into a business that would pay for the space required.

Bardo credits his business's success partially to the free advertising he gets just from acquiring logs in the first place. Since he likes to get huge trees, it requires equally giant cranes, and the process of removing trees creates such a spectacle in town that he gets a lot of publicity right from the start. People often say that he shouldn't bother getting the massive logs because they are too big, and Bardo acknowledges that he doesn't sell very many of the wide tables he creates from these trees. Still, by drawing attention to these extreme things, he can then sell something more standard-sized. With XXL in the company name, customers often ask if he sells small pieces, and he always responds by saying, "big trees can always make little slabs."

Bardo mentions that the biggest challenge he encountered when starting his business was getting comfortable with asking for the right price for his work. He is happy to speak with anyone interested in his designs, but he is adamant about not discounting the labour, talent and processes that goes into his creations. He states that if customers want something cheap, they should go somewhere else.

That being said, he doesn’t like to be unkind to anyone, even those who don’t do business with him. His friendly nature creates a good rapport, and he often gets referrals from customers who talk to their friends about how nice a time they had speaking with Bardo.

If he could restart his business and do things differently, Bardo says that his only regret is missing out on individual logs. Every tree has a story, and while some of the logs he has acquired have caused him a lot of trouble, he wouldn't change that for anything.

The stories themselves are precious to him, and he says that if this work ever gets boring, he might do something else, but it never gets boring, so he will likely never stop.

Website: https://www.xxlboomstamtafels.nl/

Instagram @xxlboomstamtafels

Steve Larosiliere: Thanksgiving Special

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 11:00:21 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! On this episode of the podcast, we’re taking some time to reflect on the last five years in the wood business and discuss this incredible journey. The goal of this podcast has always been to give a voice to the woodpreneur community and the growth we have seen is incredible, thank you to each and every one of you.

We’re so thankful for the amazing guests we have had over the years and everything their stories have shared with us and taught us. Also seeing people who have used this podcast to network and grow their own businesses has been so inspirational.

We wanted to take some time to connect with you all and to hear your feedback. If you’ve gotten something out of this podcast, if you’ve been inspired by a story, been helped by some of the advice, or used it to network or grow please let us know and drop your Instagram @ in the comments below. We’ll be reading them on the next podcast, doing a giveaway, and encouraging even more networking!

As many of you know I’ve moved to Michigan and am working a few days a week with my Father in Law helping with his sawmill business. We’ve done a lot of marketing, and search engine optimization and it’s been blowing up! He’s literally at the point he has too much business coming in. Lately, I’ve also been helping to streamline and automate his business to be more efficient.

When thinking about your business, it’s important to make sure you are providing something of value, something that the industry or people around you are in need of. That is why we are so excited to tell you guys about what we have coming up. In 2021 we have a woodpreneur brand we will be launching in full, as well as a Customer Relationship Management app designed specifically for the wood industry.

We are currently in the testing phase so please let us know if you want more information, we’ll be officially launching it in 2021. This is a fully rounded CRM app, it streamlines a lot of different communication platforms so that all of your Facebook messages, Instagram DM’s, etc will be in one place. It also will help you collect more data about your business and will analyze your marketing efforts. You’ll get information on where leads are coming from, what leads you need to follow up with, what each lead is worth, and it even has a website and landing page builder.

This CRM has already dramatically changed business for some of our clients and we’re so excited to see how it improves the lives of other woodpreneurs and their businesses.

If there is one thing we have learned over the years it’s that woodpreneurs like to figure things out on their own, but sometimes if you want to grow a little faster, or you don’t know what you don’t know, or you want some help it’s a really good call to reach out.

So something we want to say right now is if you are struggling, want to know how to grow, how to add more marketing, how to position yourself as an influencer, grow your brand, grow your sales, any of that at all, reach out.

“I can help you, I’d love to help you. Send me an email”

Steve@acresoftimber.com

It has been a crazy year for a lot of people but the goal from us is the same as it has always been: to help woodpreneurs get paid to do what they love.

Steve has room for one or two more coaching clients and a ton of resources available to anyone who needs them, so please reach out if you need, let us know what you love about this podcast, and have a great Thanksgiving!

Steve@acresoftimber.com

@acresoftimber

Acres of Timber on Facebook

Jake Latvala: Ol Loggin Sawmill

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 05:00:09 +0000

Featuring a blast from the past, we catch up with Jake Latvala of Ol Loggin Sawmills and discuss the growth and changes he's seen in the past three years in terms of business and mindset.

After twenty years with one company, Jake decided to take the leap and follow his woodworking passion. He would never have imagined this is where that passion would lead him.

"It's such a scary thing to do, but it turned out the be the best decision I've ever made in my life."

Even once he had the equipment, he was still patient, working evenings and weekends on his woodworking, but keeping his day job until he was confident and ready to try his hand at being a full-time woodpreneur.

Since his last time on the podcast in 2018, not only has the vision of the company changed, but his entire mindset has grown and evolved as well. The original bar Jake set for himself was to be making at least as much as he used to make at his 9-5. Now, he has increased his earnings by 300% in the last two years, and grown Ol Loggin into a full brand and scalable business. The business isn't just a person anymore, it’s not just me, it's a brand, Jake notes.

Initially, Jake recalls he didn't want to be big, but now with thousands of active Facebook followers and nearly 13k followers on Instagram invested in his journey, he's realized the passion isn't just woodworking. It's also teaching.

For Jake, pursuing his love of woodworking opened him up to new things that energize and excite him like teaching and marketing. The teaching came from creating content about his business and projects and, most importantly, a community mindset over a scarcity one. Jake teaches people to do exactly what he does and, in many cases, learns with his followers when it comes to new projects. When people ask if he's worried about creating competition for himself, all he can do is laugh.

"I'm motivated to inspire people on how to do this stuff. I want to start doing a class where I teach people how to do it."

There is more than enough prosperity in this industry to go around, and networking is one of the essential parts of being successful in this industry. Jake mentions as an example how reaching out to Steve for marketing advice helped him build his Instagram following, and how the next step is having his own platform of customers via his website, so he doesn't have to rely on a third-party platform to connect him to his community.

It’s about building, connecting, and realizing just because you can do it all, doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Jake collaborates with local kiln owners and mills in his area and hopes to connect with more woodworkers and spread the wealth in terms of projects too. Other big plans include a bigger shop so that he can get his own vacuum kiln as well as more cinematic videos of his process and woodworking.

In this way, Jake has perfectly shown the power of diversified revenue streams and also the importance of outsourcing and networking. By being the lumber yard, epoxy distributor, and teacher, he knows that he offers value to his followers and customers. He also knows the importance of quality, both in terms of the physical products he offers and the content he creates.

In terms of the next steps and advice, Steve says the number one thing is to get liability insurance. In fact, any business making some decent money should make sure they invest in that aspect. Steve elaborates that this kind of investment has significant returns not only for being insured in the event of something unexpected happening but also in terms of being able to bid on big jobs for corporations, universities, etc.,

With so much to look forward to, big exciting projects on the horizon, and now equipped with some excellent business advice, we can't wait to see where Jake and Ol Loggin Sawmill is the next time we have them on the show.

Website: www.ollogginsawmill.net/

Instagram: @ollogginsawmill

Facebook: Ol Loggin Sawmill

Doc Wright: The Wright Edge

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 05:00:00 +0000

On this episode of the Woodpreneur podcast, we have the pleasure of listening to Doc Wright of The Wright Edge Custom Woodwork. Specializing in handcrafted custom woodwork & exotic live-edge tables, Doc has made a name for himself in the high-end custom market in less than 4 years of operation.

Doc studied geology at Texas Tech University and immediately began working in the oil industry. He always enjoyed working with his hands and began doing woodworking on the side as a hobby. Approximately three months after that, he was offered a job for $134,000 to build five custom conference tables, each with a different style and made from a different material. At that moment, Doc made the decision to take a risk and jump into woodworking full time. His client was so impressed with the work, they immediately commissioned a sixth table as well.

After completing this first project over the course of seven months, Doc explains that he had a panic attack and realized he needed to figure out how to make this new leap into a fully-fledged business. Despite enduring condescending remarks from friends and family, Doc recognized that he did not want to build small projects for small prices, he wanted to remain focused on the high-end custom market. This self-awareness paid off as he ignored the negative noise from others, and spent his time and money developing the image and business practices of his company. As he states, “If you want high-end clients, you have to look high-end.”

With his background in science and research, Doc focused on refining the aspects of the business to remove bottlenecks. By reducing the time spent harvesting, milling, and drying his wood he was able to focus on build times and acquiring clients. With this early understanding of his vision and investing time and money into his high-end brand, from business cards to his website and marketing materials, Doc was able to secure contracts from large companies like Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott.

Doc has learned from experience how to connect with the right people to do business in an appropriate manner. He was originally importing wood from a company in Los Angeles who would sell him a full container, which he would pay for as he used it. After almost two years, The Write Edge became their largest buyer, and he attempted to negotiate prices every few months. He was then approached by his current friend and associate Bernardo, who’s transparent business dealings helped Doc cut his overhead by almost half by simply bypassing the middle man. This sense of honesty and transparency is important to Doc and The Wright Edge and guides their business practices.

Doc explains that The Wright Edge is not a furniture maker; They create an entire experience. By taking pictures, and videos and providing updates to their clients of the entire construction experience, and subsequently providing those materials along with the actual product to their clients they create a true emotional connection to the finished creation that sets Doc and his team apart from their competitors.

Some of the best advice Doc was given comes from a friend in the high-end menswear industry. He was taught never to offer discounts or sales on his products, as that ultimately shows that they are not worth the marked price. He was also taught that when times are good, plan for the bad times, and when times are bad, be prepared to upscale when things turn around again. Doc’s understanding of who he is has allowed him to find the success that he has achieved, and as he moves into the new year, The Wright Edge will continue to grow and flourish with each step they take.

Website: https://thewrightedge.com/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thewrightedge/

PJ Fetscher: Evolution of Tables

Thu, 05 Nov 2020 05:00:08 +0000

PJ Fetscher is one of the only primary sawyers in southern Florida as well as an educator and custom furniture maker. He's gone from picking up branches that could fit in the back of his truck to running a lumber yard and custom furniture business. Amazingly enough, it all started with a passion for looking at the inside of a tree.

PJ owns The Evolution of Tables and has been in business for nine years. What started as a hobby that got out of control has turned into this incredible multi-faceted company. His journey from hobbyist to professional and the equipment and dedication he started acquiring for woodworking he refers to as "a bit of a sickness, but a fun sickness".

His first investment was a Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill with a 16-inch bar but in hindsight that was really just the kiddie pool of mills for PJ. The next acquisition was an MS 880, the big dog chainsaw and finally a Lucas Mill. This was a big leap, but one PJ says was logical, he got comfortable on the small stuff, and it built confidence.

Nothing about milling is easy work and you can't really comparison shop for a sawyer, so it's frustrating to try and explain the cost to those who don't understand this labour-intensive industry. PJ is fortunate that he gets to name his price for the most part, but also notes that he turns a lot of people away who don't understand the cost breakdown of slabs.

Still, even with the frustrating parts of the industry, PJ loves what he does and always tries to evolve his craft. The best investment for The Evolution Of Tables, he says has to be the Lucas Mill.

There are different mentalities between Woodmizer users and Lucas Mill users, and PJ notes the benefits and downfalls of both saws. Ultimately the value for money has to go to the Lucas Mill. PJ did a lot of research into what he wanted to be creating and what was going to be the best machine for him and went back and forth a few times. With the Lucas Mill though, he's able to cut much larger slabs than a standard 32 inch which was a critical decision point for him, that and the great attachments.

Since quarantine PJ has noticed an uptick in rough sawn slab sales because of people wanting to try DIY projects, he also mentions that about 70% of people he sells live edge material to end up coming back and asking him to finish the project. This again comes back to education; most people don't know the skill, time, materials, equipment and effort that goes into making beautiful furniture.

Once they try it themselves, the thousand-plus dollar price tag doesn't seem so high anymore.

Currently, PJ describes it as two different companies, running a lumber yard and also a custom furniture business. Sometimes he can get pulled in a lot of different directions, but he's staying busy and loves it. He even does some milling services. People will call if they want lumber milled from a sentimental tree, for example.

Even though he can sometimes end up with too much on his plate or complicated projects, he knows that he needs to make sure the frustration never comes to the customers' experience. For his customers, it's a unique thing getting to have a custom table designed, and from them picking out the tree or slab all the way through to the finished product PJ makes a great experience the priority.

He describes the philosophy as similar to the one he has for teaching for his woodshop, biology and weight training classes. You can't phone in a year, because for that group of kids that is the only year you have to reach them, and it's the same with a project for a customer. Even if it's PJ's hundredth table, it's often their first, and that's always exciting.

For more information, check out.

@PJ_Fetscher on Instagram

And The Evolution of Tables on Facebook

Ryan Hawkins: Westcoastboards

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 05:01:10 +0000

On this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, we’re talking to wood crafter, Ryan Hawkins of West Coast Boards. West Coast Boards specializes in creating unique cutting boards that are personally made for each customer.

Ryan began by being introduced to woodworking at the age of 19 while he was at trade school. The first piece Ryan ever made was a solid oak and maple computer desk. Ryan has been creating different pieces out of wood ranging from farming houses to custom furniture.

The idea of creating hand made pieces out of wood became of interest to Ryan after making his first piece and his passion was fueled after he created his first cutting board. Ryan stated: “I believe finding passion and purpose in life is a trial-by-fire process. In life, you must keep trying new things, to find what truly fuels you. To discover your ‘why’. Working intimately with wood for nearly 13 years has provided me the opportunity to try many things and wander down many avenues. It has allowed me to discover my ‘why’.”

Check out West Coast boards and the custom cutting boards they have for sale. Ryan also accepts custom orders where he will create a personalized piece to add to your kitchen.

Mark Peacock: Deer River Craftsman

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 05:00:00 +0000

On this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, we’re talking to wood worker, Mark Peacock of Deer River Craftsman. Deer River Craftsman focuses on designing, creating and selling custom furniture.

Mark began by first making personal pieces followed by commissioned work for friends and family which lead to him expanding his services to everyone. Mark has been making custom pieces for over 20 years using various materials such as wood, metal, plastic, glass, and leather.

It has always been a dream for Mark to become a professional craftsman which is why in 2018 he built his own workspace to build custom pieces and became a professional maker. After accomplishing his dream, Mark strove to elevate his knowledge while giving back to the maker community. Mark accomplished this by joining the “maker community” which features a global network of like minded artists where he can be both teacher and student. The authenticity of being a genuine maker is something that runs through Mark's blood and this authenticity is exactly what the maker community needs.

Check out Deer River Craftsman and their handmade pieces they have for sale. If you have something particular in mind you can also reach out to him for a custom piece for your home or garden.

https://deerrivercraftsman.com/

https://www.instagram.com/deer_river_craftsman/

Aaron Weideman: Weideman Woodworks

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 05:00:00 +0000

On this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, we’re talking to former Marine, Aaron Weideman of Weideman Woodworks. At Weideman, they focus on creating and selling live edge countertops, tables, and also the niche style of Shou Sugi Ban furniture.

Aaron began seeing traction in his business once he started posting his work to Instagram. The unique and non-mainstream style of Shou Sugi Ban Furniture combined with Aaron’s natural artistic skill with a camera began pulling followers in and soon he hit 10.k.

A marine with a business finance degree, Aaron wasn’t a woodworker by trade. Because of this, he continuously strives to learn the ins and outs of his passion and is constantly pulling scraps of wood to practice on if he’s asked by a client to create something that he hasn’t done before. This isn’t to say that the work he has already created isn’t incredible and incredibly made. Looking through his feed and hearing the excitement in his voice as he talks about his journey so far, is enough to make one commission a piece before the episode ends...

Check out Weideman Woodworks and their merch line where 10% of apparel sales is given to support veterans in need through the Wounded Warrior Project. In addition, they plant a tree for every table sold. If that wasn’t enough, Aaron sources his materials out of fallen trees gathered in the local area or by repurposing thrown out pallets.

https://www.weidemanwoodworking.com/

https://www.instagram.com/weidemanwoodworking/

Dean Curfman: Oak Hill Iron + Wood

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 05:08:00 +0000

On this episode, we're talking with the man who is a CEO, President, Resident Blacksmith, Boss, Slab Purveyor, and any entrepreneurial wood maker title you can think of...Dean Curfman of @oak_hill_iron_wood_showroom!

Tune in to hear the story of his incredible journey from Blacksmith to Storefront owner.

Contact Dean:

IG: @oak_hill_iron_wood_showroom

https://oakhilliron.com/

Showroom:

Phone: 828.437.9217
showroom@oakhilliron.com

Shop:

Phone: 828.437.5348
Email: info@oakhilliron.com

Dana O'Brien: A Place to Grow

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Dana O'Brien left the security of her government job to pursue what she loves - building outdoor living spaces. From art studios to greenhouses, Dana creates stunning and personalized spaces from reclaimed and salvaged products. She's been featured on @abcnews, @oprah.com, @houzz, and more!

Find out how she chased her dreams and used her passion to make it on this episode of the #woodpreneurpodcast.

Contact Dana:

https://www.instagram.com/aplacetogrow_slo/

https://www.facebook.com/APlacetoGrowRecycledGreenhouses/

https://recycledgreenhouses.com/

.Don't forget to submit your free entry for a chance to win products for your business! Prizes include a small log chainsaw mill from Granberg International, swag from Odie's Oil, and wood hauling tools from LogOX!

Go to woodpreneur.com/bluecollarcash for your chance to win.

Ethan Abramson: The Build with Ethan

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 01:34:00 +0000

On this episode we're talking with Ethan Abramson, former stuffed animal maker turned woodworker and influencer. Ethan has gone from taking on any and all jobs just to get by to being featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Knot, Vogue Living, and more.

If you're looking to grow your wood business, become an influencer, or just get started, this episode is essential. Ethan shares his advice and lessons learned from past experiences while offering up an incredible perspective on choosing the job you love.

Subscribe, tune in, and let us know what you thought of this episode.

Contact Ethan:

http://ethanabramson.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thebuildwithethan/

Visit us at:

www.woodpreneurlife.com

Ken Rusk: Blue Collar Cash

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Ken Rusk has spent over 30 Years working In blue collar trades, from his humble beginnings as a ditch-digger to entrepreneur, successful business owner, and perhaps most importantly, a mentor. And now, he’s written a book specifically for #bluecollar hustlers like you.⠀

Blue Collar Cash will show you how it’s possible to avoid student loan debt, credit card strain, and the stress of working multiple jobs at once and instead be not only widely profitable in your chosen Blue Collar job, but also content and happy in that career.⠀

Pick up a copy of Ken’s book today at www.woodpreneur.com/bluecollarcash and get ready to find out how to skip traditional career paths and become financially secure doing the job you WANT to do, not one that you HAVE to do.⠀

You can also win prized during our Blue Collar Woodpreneur contest! Enter to win prizes for your business from wood brands such as Granberg International, @odiesoil, and @bigbluelogox⠀

Stop by woodpreneur.com/bluecollarcash and enter for your chance to win!

Terms and conditions apply⠀

Offer valid until August 31st , 2020

iDRY LIMITED SERIES EVENT: How an iDRY makes the Dream Work at Dream Acres Wood Company

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 06:00:09 +0000

Join us for this limited Woodpreneur Podcast series featuring the ambassadors of iDRY Kiln Systems.

We'll dive into the reasons why these wood business owners decided to invest in an iDRY, how they made this financial investment back, and why purchasing an iDRY was one of the best things they ever did for their business.

Mitch Purcell: Purcell Lumber & Design

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 06:51:00 +0000

Joining us this week on the Woodpreneur Podcast is woodworker and sawmill operator, Mitch Purcell of Purcell Lumber & Design in Kingston, ON.

Inspired by posts he saw on Instagram, Mitch built his own fractal burner and began making charcuterie boards. Through this experimentation, Mitch realized his passion for woodworking and began taking commissions for custom work. Shortly thereafter, his parents had a massive Ash tree cut from their yard, which sparked Mitch’s interest in sawmilling. He took on the task of milling the Ash himself after he realized he could buy his own set up for close to the same price as paying someone else to mill it. Mitch began milling salvaged lumber he sourced from the internet or by good old fashioned word of mouth.

Mitch is an engineer by trade and has been extremely resourceful in launching his wood business. Early on, he recognized the advantages of kiln drying his milled lumber; so Mitch researched kilns and built his own mostly from salvaged materials. Mitch reinvested his initial profits into new equipment for his sawmill business. Having only been in operation for a little under six months, Purcell Lumber & Design is already well on its way to success.

Show Highlights:

Mitch has a great “Do It Yourself” attitude which has helped him establish his sawmill and woodworking business.
He realizes the importance of networking with other woodpreneurs, like his partnership with Woodland Mills that has elevated his status.
Purcell Lumber & Design has a strong Instagram following which is used for marketing and reaching new clients.
Although we are living in uncertain times, Mitch remains optimistic and hopeful for the future of his business.

Goals and Advice:

Currently, he sources his wood largely from online and by word of mouth. Mitch stresses the value of good networking as a key to his success.
Future goals include opening a commercial showroom space to better serve customers. Mitch wants to extend his product offerings to include materials like epoxy and glue for woodworking projects.
Learn from everything you do. Don't hesitate to act.

Contact Purcell Lumber & Design

Instagram: @purcell_ld

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/PurcellLD

Want more??

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Read our Free Instagram Report:" Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content."

@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Steve Larosiliere: WORKBENCHcon 2020!

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 12:48:29 +0000

Today is the last episode that features our interviews from WORKBENCHcon! Our host, Steve, was a speaker at the event and while he was there, he had the opportunity to interview different influencers such as Jimmy Diresta, Ben Ueyda, The Wood Maven, Alma Villalobos, Minspired Living, and more! Follow along as we learn about their content creation secrets, the things that inspire the work they do, and how they plan to continue growing their brand and impacting their communities.

Part 2: WORKBENCHcon 2020!

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 06:00:00 +0000

For the next two weeks, join us at WORKBENCHcon! Our host, Steve, was a speaker at the event and while he was there, he had the opportunity to interview different influencers within the Maker and Woodworking space. Follow along as we learn about their content creation secrets, the things that inspire the work they do, and how they plan to continue growing their brand and impacting their communities.

Join the Woodpreneur community on Instagram and Facebook @acresoftimber.

Part 1: WORKBENCHcon 2020!

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Annie and Michael Murphy: Eco Relics

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

On the podcast today is Annie and Michael Murphy from the Jacksonville based woodshop and sawmill, Eco Relics.

Annie and Michael Murphy originally had careers in Stock Trading and Software but came to a point in their lives where they realized it was time for a change. With Michael’s background as a wooden toy maker and Annie’s passion as an environmentalist, they took the dive and opened a woodshop and lumberyard.

Fast-forward a few years and Eco Relics is now the largest Architectural Salvage Yard in the Southeast. Customers travel from Miami, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, Maine, and Minnesota to shop the unlimited variety of lumber stock, reclaimed items, and antiques that Eco Relics has to offer. With a 15,000 sq. ft. woodshop and another 50,000 sq. ft. of storage, it’s not a surprise that the business was even considered for a reality show last year!

The Mission...

With 40-60% of the nation’s landfills filled with building materials, Eco Relics mission began with efforts to keep building materials out of landfills. Annie and Michael would salvage materials that they knew they could save and then started re-selling these reclaimed building materials, lumber, and even antiques that they found at their shop
Annie and Michael continue to use salvaged items and logs for their shop and also upcycle the sentimental items that their customers bring in from time to time

The Setup...

When it comes to lumber sales, Eco Relics is hard to beat. With everything from barnwood, exotic woods, dimensional stock, slabs, cookies, and reclaimed wood in their 15,000 sq ft shop, customers that visit are certain to find exactly what they’re looking for.
In addition to their woodworking and lumber offerings, Eco Relics also offers drying services with their iDRY Kiln. In fact, the kiln’s space is rented out so often that they’re currently in the process of purchasing their second iDRY!

Contact Eco Relics

Justin Kerkhove-Brandt: Banking Barns

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Justin Kerkhove-Brandt joined the Banking Barns team two years ago and has taken the business from a small garage shop to a company with two storefront locations. Banking Barns was named when its founders who would salvage reclaimed barn wood realized they were “banking” on selling the wood they removed.

Since then, Banking Barns has moved away from solely producing items with a reclaimed aesthetic and now also produces epoxy designs.

Terran Arwood: Woodland Tree Service

Wed, 29 Jan 2020 22:32:36 +0000

Terran Arwood, president of Woodland Tree Service is located in Memphis TN. He has been in business since 2003 when a major windstorm devastated Shelby County, and he was working a job at a college. He and his roommates had some chainsaws and they started helping the area recover from the destruction. Born and raised in California, Terran, and been around tree-related work his entire life and it’s become his way of life. He gained a lot of knowledge of the giant sequoia trees with his friends and family in that business. Trees grow bigger and faster in Memphis than other places in the country, the amount of rainfall and weather is what allows them to grow so fast. Terran describes Memphis as an urban forest in itself.

Something he notes as great for his business is when he started purchasing cranes, and Woodland Tree Service became well known for storm response early on. He had originally processed trees that they removed into firewood, which became a lucrative business thanks to BBQ restaurants which are huge in Memphis. They sometimes made almost half a million dollars in profit from those sales alone but they still had a load of material left around. Terran’s strong environmentalist background means that he has a hard time with removing trees, but if he has to, he wants to make sure it’s worth it. Luckily being paid for the material that he collects, rather than needing to pay to dump it, allows him to have a good business model with strong eco-friendly practices.

Terran speaks about the fact that Woodland Tree Service staffs 40-50 employees on the tree service side and 8-10 on the wood product side of things. They like to get the misfit wood, the weird stuff, and degraded twisted trees. The bottleneck in their business has always been the difficulty of drying the wood, especially the thicker stuff. Originally they were using air drying, which was taking forever. The game-changer was getting an iDRY kiln that truly unclogged that bottleneck just by speeding everything up.

A big factor for Woodland Tree Service’s local support is that they are located approximately an 8-10 hour drive between the majority of the population of the state. They want to significantly grow their business by offering the kiln-dried slabs to various woodworkers around Tennessee. Terran is hoping to be able to provide these slabs through a franchise model or direct to consumers now that they’re able to ramp up their drying process.

If Terran is able to up their distribution level with the huge influx of material that they get through the busy season they would like to stabilize their business in the offseason by offering wood to other businesses. Treework is highly competitive, busy, and dangerous, so getting into a division that would offer less competition and more stability would benefit them enormously.

Recently Woodland Tree Service has been focused on live edge slabs, and with decreasing drying time thanks to the iDRY kiln, they’re looking to do more dimensional wood in the native species of Memphis. The company will occasionally order in exotic stuff for accents with things they build, but it’s uncommon.

A large amount of the business they are starting to receive comes from the restaurant business which Terran believes is due to the competition of that industry, and a lot of builders and architects are specifying materials from them in the Memphis area, which has seen a lot of growth in the last 6-7 years.

Woodlandtree.com

@woodlandtreeproducts

Ryan Penner: RST Timberworks

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 16:14:57 +0000

Today’s guest is a great example of a Woodpreneur with a dream that he’s made a reality. Ryan Penner of the Veteran owned, RST Timberworks!

Ryan discusses going full time after balancing his love of urban wood and woodworking with a full-time job. Ryan comes by his passion honestly, he’d always been interested in wood and woodworking and started a side business as a tree removal specialist while in the military. His interest in urban wood piqued when he realized some of the trees he was cutting down were too beautiful to end up as firewood or in a landfill.

Ryan eventually decided to trust his entrepreneurial mindset and take a chance focusing solely on milling and woodworking. His current set up is pretty great, he has a small sawmill and mills customer logs that they bring or have brought out at a competitive rate. Thanks to his history doing tree removal, he also still has some friends in the industry who tip him off to good logs, he mills those and sells the lumber as well! He is currently air drying so all his prices are for green lumber, but he’s in the process of taking the business to the next level with a solar kiln. On top of the lumber side, he also does custom live edge woodworking, custom bartops, river tables, and desks.

On the decision to go full-time Ryan says it really came down to not just enough hours in the day, passion, and self-employment being the right path for him. While he essentially is a one-man operation, he talks about getting help from his dad and his young sons making the family aspect another reason this was the best route. With the support of his wife and family, he’s been able to focus full time now on the business, and Ryan is growing it and expanding it one piece at a time.

He discusses his marketing costs, hurdles, and how the business has been over the last few years, in terms of advice he says;

“My advice is to not give up.”

Ryan stresses that you have to have a passion for this, owning a small business means often hearing a lot of “no’s” and putting in a lot of work, but if you have the passion it’s worth it. Even more so in the Urban Wood Business because of how niche it can be. Ultimately though he says to just not give up and have patience, even in terms of equipment you’ll never have everything you want starting out so patience is key. Ryan remembers rolling 1500lb logs uphill before they had a tractor, but the love of the craft made it worth it.

To see more about Ryan and RST Timberworks check out

https://www.rsttimberworks.com/
https://www.instagram.com/rsttimberworks
https://www.facebook.com/rsttimberworks

John Dupre: Revel Woods

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 14:02:34 +0000

While pursuing a stitch fix-esque site one day, John Dupre was inspired while being led through the site questions heading down the path to his dream wardrobe. His inspiration turned into action as he realized that this sales model was exactly what the wood flooring business needed. Instantly running to the drawing board, John and his team tweaked, built, and re-built a similar algorithm specifically focused on wood flooring customers.

While Revel Woods sells directly to consumers, they also know that the wood flooring business rarely has more than 1-2 return customers within a lifetime. This is why, once they had perfected the above sales tool, they decided to focus on explaining its purpose, use, and algorithm to interior designers. With their experience in the field, interior designers instantly saw the problem that Revel Woods was solving with this tool and quickly became return customers.

Jesse Born: Jess Born Wood Design

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 17:03:01 +0000

Jesse Born is a 23-year-old puzzle box Woodpreneur from New York. Jesse creates these puzzle boxes with different hidden compartments and sneaky latches!

A full-time puzzle box maker before he even left high school, Jesse is a serious Woodpreneur, and we were so excited when Jesse reached out to us about coming onto the podcast!

Bobby and Joe: Trestlewood

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 15:36:41 +0000

Today we’re talking with family members and co-workers, Bobby and Joe of Trestlewood! Trestlewood began with the deconstruction of a Southern Pacific 12 mile long railroad trestle back in 1993. A 12-mile long trestle constructed from Douglas Fir and Redwood, the wood they took away from this project equaled to about 30 million board feet and they are still selling wood from this trestle to this day!

April Wilkerson, Ola Andersson, and Malte Frist: : Logosol World Meeting

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 06:14:21 +0000

Join us for the fourth and final episode from the Logosol World Meeting in Sweden! For this final episode, we're talking with April Wilkerson, Ola Andersson, and the man himself - CEO and President of Logosol, Malte Frisk!

In addition to networking with wood industry leaders from across the globe, we experienced a next-level example of "work-family" and a way of life that opened our minds. As a company, Logosol is incredibly innovative and provides a workplace that lets its employees thrive. Between their incredibly advanced and technology-driven products, tight-knit employees, and a happy workplace, one could say that Logosol is the "Google" of the Woodpreneur world.

Join us again in this episode and get inspired to become a part of the Logosol family.

The World Meeting

Curious about what went on behind the scenes at the Logosol World Meeting? Go on Instagram and use the hashtag #logosolwm2019

What exactly is a Woodpreneur?

So, why the term “woodpreneur”? When Steve first started Acres of Timber three years ago, the wood community and industry wasn’t what it is now.

Slab dealers, wood designers, and more specifically at the time – sawmill users, didn’t have a community or a brand and were going largely unnoticed by potential customers who would look instead to the Home Depot and Lowe’s of this world for their products. Steve sought to change that by creating the Sawmill Business Instagram account and the #sawmillbusiness hashtag as a way to share the products and creations that these innovative makers were producing. It didn’t take long for the account to grow to over 136,000 followers, and with a hashtag that has been used over 35,000 times, the Sawmill Business community grew and grew quickly!

As the Sawmill Business following grew, Steve began to notice that this community didn’t just include sawmill owners. Furniture designers, woodworkers, arborists, tree climbers, chainsaw users, slab sellers, and even treehouse makers became an integral part of the Sawmill Business family as well. It was at this point that Steve knew the business needed a new name that would truly encompass all that the wood community represents. Hence, @acresoftimber and the term “Woodprener” were born.

With the maker movement now in full swing, there are more podcasts, content creators (like Anne of All Trades), YouTubers, and makers (such as Matt Cremona), that are putting a spotlight on sawmill users, furniture makers, and other wood related niches. Not only has the wood community turned into a “maker movement”, but it’s also filled with people who now view the work they do as a profitable business and not just a hobby- a perception that was lacking without a community behind it.

A “Woodpreneur” Is A…

Sawmill User
Wood Business Owner
Furniture Designer
Hardwood Flooring Professional
Woodworker
Slab Dealer
Kiln User
Welder
Content Creator
Maker

And an overall innovative, brave, and creative entrepreneur in the wood industry!

“Woodpreneurs care about building their business as much as they care about the quality of the products they make, create, and sell. They don’t just want a job, they want a company. They invest in this company with blood, sweat, and tears and love every minute of it.”

Follow us on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

Want more?

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! 👉CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Listen to more episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast at: 👉https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sawmill-business

Read our Free Instagram Report:👉 “Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.”

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?👉 iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

Facebook @acresoftimber

Paul Lemiski, Patrik Karlsson, and Huggar-Olle : Logosol World Meeting

Wed, 06 Nov 2019 21:28:28 +0000

Join us for part 3 of the clip interviews from the Logosol World Meeting in Sweden! On this installment, we’re talking to Woodpreneur giant, Paul Lemiski of Canadian Woodworks and social media mastermind and arborist,@patkarlsson and @huggarolle.

In addition to networking with wood industry leaders from across the globe, we experienced a next-level example of "work-family" and a way of life that opened our minds. As a company, Logosol is incredibly innovative and provides a workplace that lets its employees thrive. Between their incredibly advanced and technology-driven products, tight-knit employees, and a happy workplace, One could say that Logosol is the "Google" of the Woodpreneur world.

@projectoftheday

@isprzet.pl

The World Meeting

Curious about what went on behind the scenes at the Logosol World Meeting? Go on Instagram and use the hashtag #logosolwm2019

@foxforestry @projectoftheday[/caption]

What exactly is a Woodpreneur?

So, why the term “woodpreneur”? When Steve first started Acres of Timber three years ago, the wood community and industry wasn’t what it is now.

With the maker movement now in full swing, there are more podcasts, content creators (like Anne of All Trades), YouTubers, and makers (such as Matt Cremona), that are putting a spotlight on sawmill users, furniture makers, and other wood related niches. Not only has the wood community turned into a “maker movement”, it’s also filled with people who now view the work they do as a profitable business and not just a hobby- a perception that was lacking without a community behind it.

A “Woodpreneur” Is A…

Sawmill User
Wood Business Owner
Furniture Designer
Hardwood Flooring Professional
Woodworker
Slab Dealer
Kiln User
Welder
Content Creator
Maker

And an overall innovative, brave, and creative entrepreneur in the wood industry!

Follow us on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

Want more?

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! 👉CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Listen to more episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast at: 👉https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sawmill-business

Read our Free Instagram Report:👉 “Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.”

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?👉 iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

Facebook @acresoftimber

Katarina Byström, Tobias Elkind, and Tom Fox: Logosol World Meeting

Wed, 30 Oct 2019 18:29:49 +0000

Join us on part 2 of the clip interviews from the Logosol World Meeting in Sweden! We’re talking to marketing expert and daughter of the founder of Logosol, Katarina Byström, Tobias Elkind - aka @projectoftheday, and Tom Fox!

That’s right, we went to the Logosol World Meeting and met up with some incredible minds and makers in the wood world! Not only that, but we were able to see what an innovative and forward-thinking company they are with some of the happiest employees (and customers) that we’ve ever seen.

Join us throughout the next few weeks as we spend some time on the Woodpreneur Podcast with makers, sawmill owners, and wood business owners across the globe!

The World Meeting

Curious about what went on behind the scenes at the Logosol World Meeting? Go on Instagram and use the hashtag #logosolwm2019

What exactly is a Woodpreneur?

So, why the term “woodpreneur”? When Steve first started Acres of Timber three years ago, the wood community and industry wasn’t what it is now.

Slab dealers, wood designers, and more specifically at the time – sawmill users, didn’t have a community or a brand and were going largely unnoticed by potential customers who would look instead to the Home Depot and Lowe’s of this world for their products. Steve sought to change that by creating the Sawmill Business Instagram account and the #sawmillbusiness hashtag as a way to share the products and creations that these innovative makers were producing. It didn’t take long for the account to grow to over 136,000 followers and with a hashtag that has been used over 35,000 times, the Sawmill Business community grew and grew quickly!

With the maker movement now in full swing, there are more podcasts, content creators, (like Anne of All Trades) YouTubers, and makers, (such as Matt Cremona) that are putting a spotlight on sawmill users, furniture makers, and other wood related niches. Not only has the wood community turned into a “maker movement” it’s also filled with people who now view the work that they do as a profitable business and not just a hobby. A perception that was lacking without a community behind it.

A “Woodpreneur” Is A…

Sawmill User
Wood Business Owner
Furniture Designer
Hardwood Flooring Professional
Woodworker
Slab Dealer
Kiln User
Welder
Content Creator
Maker

And an overall innovative, brave, and creative entrepreneur in the wood industry!

Follow us on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

Want more?

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! 👉CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Listen to more episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast at: 👉https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sawmill-business

Read our Free Instagram Report:👉 “Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.”

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW?👉 iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

Facebook @acresoftimber

Marcus Lindgren, Igor Goldman, Carlo Petrolo, and Glenn Lucas: Logosol World Meeting

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 15:01:10 +0000

Join us on part 1 of the clip interviews from the Logosol World Meeting in Sweden! We’re talking to Marcus Lindgren, Igor Goldman, Carlo Petrolo, and Glenn Lucas, some of the leading Woodpreneurs in the Logosol owner’s sphere.

Join us throughout the next few weeks as we spend some time on the Woodpreneur Podcast with makers, sawmill owners, and wood business owners across the globe!

Paul Lemiski: Canadian Woodworks

Mon, 21 Oct 2019 13:36:29 +0000

Join us on this episode as we flashback to our interview at the 2019 Woodpreneur Summit with Paul Lemiski of Canadian Woodworks! With over 400,000 followers on his social media page and a business that is booming, Paul is one of the leading authorities when it comes to advice on growing your business and exploding on social media!

Contact Paul Lemiski and Canadian Woodworks

Instagram: @canadianwoodworks

Website: https://www.canadianwoodworks.com/

What exactly is a Woodpreneur?

So, why the term “woodpreneur”? When Steve first started Acres of Timber three years ago, the wood community and industry wasn’t what it is now.

Slab dealers, wood designers, and more specifically at the time – sawmill users, didn’t have a community or a brand and were going largely unnoticed by potential customers who would look instead to the Home Depot and Lowe’s of this world for their products. Steve sought to change that by creating the Sawmill Business Instagram account and the #sawmillbusiness hashtag as a way to share the products and creations that these innovative makers were producing. It didn’t take long for the account to grow to over 136,000 followers and with a hashtag that has been used over 35,000 times, the Sawmill Business community grew and grew quickly!

As the Sawmill Business following grew, Steve began to notice that this community didn’t just include sawmill owners. Furniture designers, woodworkers, arborists, tree climbers, chainsaw users, slab sellers, and even tree house makers became an integral part of the Sawmill Business family as well. It was at this point that Steve knew the business needed a new name that would truly encompass all that the wood community represents. Hence, @acresoftimber and the term “Woodprener” was born.

With the maker movement now in full swing, there are more podcasts, content creators, (like Anne of All Trades) youtubers, and makers, (such as Matt Cremona) that are putting a spotlight on sawmill users, furniture makers, and other wood related niches. Not only has the wood community turned into a “maker movement” it’s also filled with people who now view the work that they do as a profitable business and not just a hobby. A perception that was lacking without a community behind it.

A “Woodpreneur” Is A…

Sawmill User
Wood Business Owner
Furniture Designer
Hardwood Flooring Professional
Woodworker
Slab Dealer
Kiln User
Welder
Content Creator
Maker

And an overall innovative, brave, and creative entrepreneur in the wood industry!

Follow us on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

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Listen to more episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast at: 👉https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sawmill-business

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Nick Harvey: Bay Area Redwoods

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 13:00:37 +0000

Today’s guest is Nick Harvey from Bay Area Redwoods. We met Nick at the 2019 Urban Lumber Conference and knew we needed him on the show!

Nick fell into the Woodpreneur sphere when he happened to see a pile of wood on the side of the road and stopped to check it out. The owner of the wood saw him and offered him not just the wood pile, but also a different pile of Redwoods that he had. Not knowing how to mill, Nick found a local mobile miller and had the wood milled right on his suburban home’s front lawn! Shortly thereafter, he happened to meet a board member from the “Save the Redwoods” organization who gave him a lead on what he said was "a few Redwoods". It turns out, they were giant Redwoods that were 5 ft in diameter and over 100 ft tall. With a yield of over 50,000 bd ft of wood - this was the moment that Nick says Bay Area Redwoods truly became a business.

Dwayne Sperber: Wudeward Urban Forest

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 00:29:43 +0000

Today on the podcast we have the privilege of talking with Dwayne Sperber of Wudeward and the Wisconsin Urban Wood Non-Profit. In the midwest 15 years ago an urban wood movement emerged, this came about from identifying an abundant and underutilized product. Not wanting to waste some truly beautiful and storied wood, the private sector raised their hand and decided to find a way to use these trees. This led to the development of Wudeward, and a collective of other urban wood pioneers salvaging logs and sequestering carbon one tree at a time.

In a nutshell, Dwayne organized Wudeward to bridge the gap between an abundance of lumber and those who can and should refine those products. The formation of Wisconsin Urban Wood was a realization of the importance of linking together all the supply chains. Dwayne doesn’t see himself as a leader but more as a member of a collective of many partners. Hearing about urban wood changed his life, and from there he was transformed from a corporate background to one of passion, community, and woodworking. Dwayne attributes his drive to protect and value natural resources to his parents and grandparents who taught him their importance.

In the lumber industry, it’s sometimes hard to make the sale on urban wood, but Dwayne says he likes to root for the underdog. Since 1998 he has been working to establish a trusted brand and set of standards for urban wood to give them even footing with their mass milled counterparts. The brand of Wisconsin Urban Wood and the importance of it has led to urban wood being used for bigger and bigger projects. The brand assures consumers that they are following the same standards for urban wood as typical lumber and sawmills.

“Lumber has been grade specified and sourced the same way for a century, again we don't have to think about it too much. We have identified an abundance and great potential for a new wood product, and this product fills almost all of the same needs as this traditional lumber.”

Dwayne talks about the romantic side of woodworking and what a labor of love the craft is. He also notes that woodworking truly is a community and connecting all parts of it, from arborists to makers makes it very collaborative. On the other side he knows that to make urban wood as popular as it should be and show others the romance of the industry and product, it needs to be seamless and done to the standards of large mills, which is hard to achieve without a lot of effort.

Wudeward and Wisconsin Urban Wood have big hopes and plans for what the future of urban wood is going to be like and look forward to potentially having a certification of some kind in the next five to ten years, which would be the next big step for urban wood in an ideal future. As Dwayne notes sadly, the beauty of the craft, unfortunately, is diminishing thanks to non-wood substitutes and things produced en mass, but hopefully certified urban wood could change that.

For more on Dwayne, Wisconsin Urban Wood, or Wudeward, check out the info below.

http://wisconsinurbanwood.org/about/

https://wudeward.com/about/

Bryant Dickens: Dickens and Son Sawmill

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 12:30:31 +0000

On the show today is Bryant Dickens from Dickens and Son Sawmill. A fish biologist by trade, Bryant fell in love with live edge furniture in college. His passion really took off 11 years ago when he learned how expensive live edge furniture was, decided to figure out how to make his own designs, and sourced his wood from local tree service companies from what they considered their “tree waste” piles.

Bryant originally paid for local businesses to mill the logs for him but after increasing his earnings selling these slabs and also by making furniture, he purchased his first mill, which was soon upgraded to a Wood-Mizer LT35. He became very passionate about using a resource that is historically underutilized in Arizona, and salvaging wood from the urban forest became his way of combating that waste.

Bryant explains further that 75% of what he does is sell raw slabs, and he is certain to pay for his logs even if folks would otherwise be dropping them off at the dump. He does this to give fair value to the tree service workers who provide him with a lot of his product. As a result of his direct and fair practices, the tree service workers often check with him first before going to a dump.

Most of the wood Bryant sources is truly local, within 30 miles of his house, and to avoid waste, he tries to use the whole log, no dimensional lumber. As he mentions, “A lot of trees in Arizona don’t grow straight anyways.”

While Bryant uses Instagram and Facebook as most businesses do, because he is focused on his local area, a lot of his business comes through Craigslist. As Bryant states, “People on Craigslist are actually a surprisingly large market since they tend to be slightly less educated on the materials, but they want to get high-quality wood.” Due to his willingness to help local customers, they often send him photos of their projects. Bryant takes his level of care one step further by offering advice on how to finish their project professionally.

This attention to his local community means that a great deal of Bryant’s advertising is word of mouth. By making a bench or cutting/charcuterie board for a customer who then refers another friend to him, he has built his business on the basis of being “the guy” in town to get people their wood.

He believes that people want wood and furniture with heritage and with a history. He also knows that most want products that are built durably so they will last a long time, but there needs to be a way to get it for a reasonable price so that average consumers can buy quality wood rather than disposable big box store furniture.

In the next ten years or so, Bryant would like to get a larger space and have a proper urban lumber warehouse/milling operation. Sometimes when he’s out, not even looking for wood and he hears a chainsaw, he’ll go talk to the tree service company doing the work and ask them where that log is headed.

Especially if you are in Arizona, get in touch with Bryant through his Instagram if you want to come look through his woodpiles or to get one of his pieces of furniture that may be a tree from your hometown.

@dickens_and_son_sawmill

Phone: 602-390-2635

Wes Lewis: James Wesley Furniture

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 14:57:07 +0000

Today we’re talking to Wes Lewis, owner of James Wesley Furniture.

Based out of Wichita, KS. Wes started working part-time out of his garage in 2015 and Two years later, he moved into a shop and now builds furniture full-time.

With talents stretching from metal fabricating to furniture design and sawmilling, Wes is able to experiment in his design creations as well as create beautiful and unique bases for his products.

Dylan Walters: Dillweeds Custom Wood

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 01:39:20 +0000

We’re stoked to have maker and furniture designer, Dylan Walters on the show today! Dylan is the owner and head maker at Dillweeds Custom Wood, a woodshop based out of Pensacola, Florida.

Dillweeds Custom Wood started a few years back when Dylan lost his job and spent his last bit of savings at the local mill and on EcoPoxy. He went home, started pouring, and the business grew from there.

Dylan’s main focus is on furniture design, but as he puts it, “Any piece of wood that I think is cool and can get my hands on, I’ll try to make something out of it!”

Feeling Grateful For His Local Mill

Dylan sources his wood from the local mill, People’s Exotic Wood
Peoples carries anything and everything and Dylan is able to get almost any type of wood that he needs from them

Josh Larrabee: Black Horse Design

Thu, 29 Aug 2019 02:10:12 +0000

Black Horse Designs has been around for about three years and is the brainchild of former landscaper, Josh Larrabee. It was in 2010 when Josh and his father took a video of themselves using their own creation, the “Tempest Wood Splitter.” The video went viral and soon requests started coming in from viewers asking for Josh to build them their own Tempests. Funny enough, one of his first customers was former podcast guest, Matthew Collins of Matthew Collins Designs! (Check him out on episode 097.)

After five years of building and fulfilling orders for the Tempest Wood Splitter, the demand became so large that when Woodmizer showed interest for the rights to the product design, Josh was ready to do so and moved on to milling live-edge slabs after the deal with Woodmizer was completed.

Patrick Spike: Spikes Wood Co

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 22:26:35 +0000

Today’s guest is Patrick Spike of Spike’s Wood Co. a woodworking shop based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Patrick began his Woodpreneur journey six years ago. As the years went by, he improved his skills to the point where he was commissioned by the local high school for a massive project. It was this project that truly launched his business into overdrive.

Treg Sherman: Urbn Timber!

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 16:43:23 +0000

Joining us for our 100th episode we have an extra special guest and the VERY FIRST person that we ever interviewed on the Woodpreneur Podcast, Treg Sherman of Urbn Timber!

The Woodpreneur Podcast (Formerly the Sawmill Business Podcast) started three years ago and we’re curious, what difference have these past three years made for Urbn Timber?

Treg says they’ve,

Gone from a 1200 sqft. space to a 12,000 sqft. Shop
Opened a showroom
Opened a metal shop
Bought a kiln and are now able to dry about 6,000 to 8,000 board feet at a time.

Treg credits their increased drying time, various equipment updates, a high level of attentive and passionate customer service, and the company’s unique ownership setup for the boom that the business has gone through.

Their unique partnership is set up like this - Urbn Timber is run by three different owners, all with different strengths. This partnership not only gives them the ability to step back and focus solely on what they’re individually good at, but it also provides a built-in support group where they’re able to bounce ideas off of each other.

Treg Sherman runs marketing and client management
Tyler Hillyard designs and creates fine furniture
Tyler Sirak handles the financials

Tony Pomo: Metro Millworks

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 00:55:23 +0000

We met our guest today at the Urban Lumber Summit last year and were so inspired by his hustle, we had to have him on the show! Meet Tony Pomo, owner of Metro Millworks; a sawmill owner, finished product supply, and lumberyard out in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Originally an arborist, Tony was moved one day when his client pointed out to him that the diseased tree he was about to take down was planted when she was only a little girl. Tony was struck with the idea of how wonderful it would be to be able to give her this tree back in some way. Running after his newfound inspiration, Tony immediately took the next step by purchasing a sawmill and breathing life into Metro Millworks.

In addition to giving back, his customer’s a piece of their story, Metro Millworks is also a proud sponsor of Urban Salvaged Woods. Tony notes that as people are becoming more environmentally conscious, they’re quite receptive to the knowledge that Metro Millworks gives them in regards to the state of their tree’s health, its hazard potential, and the cause-effect of its removal from the ground. In cases where a tree must come down, Tony loves that Metro Millworks is able to “prolong the life of trees by giving them back to their original owners in an original way. Even without its leaves, they’re able to see their tree as a bench in their front yard or a table in their dining room.”

Andy Johnson: Two Acre Woodworks

Wed, 10 Jul 2019 23:40:42 +0000

Andy Johnson was a hobbyist woodworker that set out to make a cutting board simply because it sounded like an enjoyable project to do. However, he ended up enjoying it so much that he didn’t stop at just one and in 2018, Two Acre Woodworks was born. With what started as a hobby, Two Acres Woodworks is now a wood business that specializes mostly in custom cutting boards.

With a little over 11.5 followers on Instagram, the IG platform brings in the majority of Andy’s clients and he ships to them all across the United States. Most recently he shipped a board all the way to Alaska!

Show Highlights:

With a niche that’s not unknown and many other makers in the cutting board sphere, Andy says that initially, one of his biggest struggles was product sales. However, between his Instagram marketing technique and his unique and beautiful designs, he was still able to go full-time and establish himself as a leader in the space.
Andy is currently working on an artisan series of design boards that will soon be released on his website.

Instagram Marketing Tips:

Andy credits the quality of the images on his feed to the quick rise in his follower count. He noticed early on that professional looking images captured the attention of people in a way that blurry and unfocused images didn’t and he’s taken advantage of that fact.
While shooting one day, Andy noticed that certain lighting would blend the colors of the boards together and the beauty of the design would be lost in the finished photo. Looking to correct this, he now pays special attention to the space, time of day, and lighting when he takes his social media photos.

Get In Touch With Two Acre Woodworks:

www.twoacrewoodworks.com
@twoacrewoodworks

Follow Acres of Timber on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

Want more?? Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Listen to more episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast at www.acresoftimber.com

Are you ready to scale your wood industry business?

Website :: Facebook :: Instagram

Matthew Collins: Living a Woodpreneur Life

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 22:19:26 +0000

On today’s episode, we have 3rd generation logger and 1st generation sawmill owner, Matthew Collins. About 15 years ago, he invested in a sawmill for his family’s logging business and soon discovered that he had a passion for the work. This passion turned into what Matthew affectionately calls “a hobby that spun out of control.” A true Woodpreneur, he absolutely loves working in the wood industry.

On the logging side of things, Matthew and his family run a completely eco-friendly company that lets nothing go to waste. A great example of how they do this is shown in their wood chip recycling process. While the company chips about 2,000 yards of wood per day, the District Energy Center in St. Paul uses all of these wood chips to create biomass energy.

When he’s not working or spending time with his family, Matthew’s out in his woodshop using his Lucas Mill and kiln. As far as a business plan, Matthew says the only plan he has is to continue doing what he loves and see what happens.

Show Highlights:

“If you’re passionate about what you’re doing in your business and you surround yourself with that passion, you will succeed.”

Business Growth Tips:

When first starting out, Matthew would create batch items that brought in a reasonable enough profit to pay for all of his equipment. Once his equipment was paid for, he stopped and started only taking on projects that excited him.
Whether you’re looking to grow your business exponentially or would prefer to stay a one-man shop, move forward in a way that will help you achieve your end goals.

Get in touch with Matthew!

www.matthewcollinsdesigns.com
@matthewcollinsdesigns

Want more??

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Read our Free Instagram Report:" Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content."

@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Jim Parker: iDRY Systems

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 00:12:23 +0000

For most people, when they think of drying wood they think of the process as starting from the outside in. With the iDry System, a continuous vacuum kiln drying process is used that dries wood evenly and up to 10 times faster than traditional drying methods. Not only that, but iDry is a family-owned business based out of Vermont and is currently led by Jim Parker.

Initially, the iDry System’s clientele consisted of Fender, Gibson, Major League Baseball teams, and high-end designers. However, with a ton of hard work and 40 years of practice in the business, Jim and the iDry System team were able to bring the kiln price point down to a rate that’s affordable for all levels of businesses and hobbyists in the wood industry.

Show Highlights:

For most people, wood is dried from the outside in. As moisture evaporates off, the wood continues to dry from the outside in. However, with thicker lumber, the moisture content difference between the shell of the wood and the core of the wood causes drying degrade. With the iDry System, a vacuum process is used that dries wood evenly (avoiding drying degrade) and up to 10 times faster.
When it comes to clientele, The iDry Systems Vacuum Kiln has been used in the creation process of Fender and Gibson guitars, major league baseball bats, and high-end design. In fact, one of their first sales was to Barry Bonds, who used their vacuum kiln to dry the maple that was used in the baseball bats he used to break home run records!
Jim Parker and the team have worked hard to bring the price point of their kiln down so that it’s affordable for everyone. Working with brands such as Woodmizer, they’re now able to see kiln sales in the sawmill sector.

Business Words Of Wisdom:

“To succeed and continue growing your business, hire people that are smarter than you.” - Jim Parker

Contact iDry Systems:

Instagram: @idrywoodfast
idrywood.com

Want more??

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Read our Free Instagram Report:" Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content."

@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the Alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the Alaskan mill @

Joe Nuttbrock: Nexterra Inc.

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:14:43 +0000

Today’s guest is Joe Nuttbrock, owner and founder of Nexterra. Nexterra is a wood waste processing company based out of Keizer, OR.

With a father and step-father who were both business owners in the excavation industry, Joe grew up around heavy machinery and land clearing processes. Joe knew that he wanted to stay within the wood excavation sphere when it came to starting his own business, but with an environmentally conscious mindset. It was out of this mindset that Nexterra was born, a wood waste processing company that believes leftover wood products should be destined for more than just a trip to a landfill.

Nexterra: Turning waste into a usable product:

Nexterra works with local nurseries and recycles their used compost into renewed compost that can be used again.
The company also works with demolition, logging, and development businesses to turn wood that has been destined for the burn pile or landfill into usable, recycled products such as compost and Biomass Fuels.

Instagram and raising awareness around the recycled wood niche:

Joe credits Instagram as part of this generation’s higher awareness levels when it comes to the importance of salvaging and recycling wood waste.
Nexterra’s Instagram, @nexterrainc is full of great imagery and examples of what any successful business should aim for in their marketing aesthetic. All of the images are pictures that Joe has taken himself with his phone. Take a look at his page if you think that you’re not capable of creating an engaging and successful social page while working full-time on your business!

Future goals:

Joe’s future goals include partnering with like-minded individuals and growing the compost side of his business.

Contact Nexterra

https://nexterrainc.com/

@nexterrainc

Want more??

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Read our Free Instagram Report:" Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content."

@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the Alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the Alaskan mill @

Tad Jacobs: Tree Masters

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:07:28 +0000

Today we’re talking with entrepreneur and speaker, Tad Jacobs. Tad started Tree Masters over 30 years ago with a crew that consisted of himself, his dog, and his truck.

Before starting the business, Tad sat down and thought about what it was that he truly felt his career calling was. An avid adrenaline sport lover, the opportunity that tree work gave for him to take his active lifestyle to the “office” appealed to him. Tad started Tree Masters and has never looked back.

A thirst for adventure, Tad races mountain bikes and dirt bikes in his spare time. Loving the similar feeling that he gets when climbing trees, Tad will admit he may not be the best tree climber, but he loves the athleticism of what he does.

The Early Years Of The Business:

In the early years, Tad has (like any business owner) equal times of excitement and frustration. During his most frustrating moments and hardest growing pains, it was the sense of accomplishment that came from a completed job that helped him press on.
While the company started in 1987, it wasn’t until 1993 that Tad decided to solely focus on the business and dedicate himself to the industry. WIthin a year, he acquired a second company and grew his staff from 6 to 12 employees. Now, in 2019, the company has 40 employees.
Early on, Tad learned that not all employees are the same. Hiring passionate workers who are willing to work hard, perform a job well, and help grow the company are the backbone of any successful business.

Show Highlights:

Coming up with innovative and efficient processes for Tree Masters has been a large contributor to the success of the business. Because of his many years of experience creating these processes, Tad now speaks at conferences across the country as an authority on business efficiency operations.

Closing Thoughts

“If I’m ever too big to take on smaller tasks within the company, then I need to re-evaluate who I am because that’s not the sort of leader that I want to be.” - Tad Jacobs

Get in touch with Tree Masters

Instagram: @treemasters3175

Treemasters.com

Youtube

tad@treemasters.com

Want more??

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Read our Free Instagram Report:" Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content."

@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Dylan Thomas: Black Forest Wood Co.

Thu, 23 May 2019 01:23:33 +0000

Visiting us on the show today is Dylan Thomas from Black Forest Wood Company. Black Forest Wood Co. is based in Calgary, Alberta and is going on their 26th year in business. Founded by Dylan’s father, Brad Thomas, the company has used hard work, ingenuity, and social media to explode their business and stay on top. (Even through hard economic times!)

In the early days of the business, Brad started to notice and grow tired of the waste he was seeing leftover from the wooden door projects. Being a passionate lover of everything wood-related, he thought of a simple way to address this problem- by opening a retail store where he sold these leftover off-cuts. Shortly after the store opened, customers who purchased these off-cuts started asking where they could find the tools that they needed for their wood projects. This led the company to expand once more and start selling tools out of the store.

In addition to the retail store, Brad Thomas always knew that he wanted to start a woodworking school for hobby woodworkers. He started the school with a courses on wood-turning and woodworking and now offers 12-15 courses covering various aspects of the woodworking world.

After the recession of 2008 hit, the Black Forest crew went from 6 employees to 1, and things looked bleak. However, with a retail store and the woodworking school bringing in alternate streams of revenue, they were able to stay afloat. The wisdom of Dylan’s father to not put all of his eggs in one basket paid off in dividends!

Mitch Resnik: Manor Floors

Thu, 16 May 2019 00:05:47 +0000

Today’s guest is Mitch Resnik from Manor Floors. In the business since childhood, flooring is in Mitch’s blood. From carpet to wood, his father, a flooring expert and mason by trade, taught Mitch everything he knows. Originally in Brooklyn, the company has been based in New Jersey for the past 25 years.

How They Stay On Top In Their Market:

Manor Flooring’s business is 90% referrals. Their high standards and quality of work have gained them a solid reputation with all of their customers. By building this trust and authority in the flooring field, Manor is able to maintain a constant flow of business from these referrals.
Mitch’s advice with customers? Be transparent and tell your customers exactly why things need to be done a certain way, what they cost, and why they are priced as such.
Manor Flooring stays ahead of the curve by working with designers in the area.

Business Wisdom:

Mitch prides himself on quality control and using products that are high-quality because they’re a high-quality product, not just because they might be a design style that’s popular.
Stay on point with who you buy from, sell to, and hire. This is crucial in any business.

How Manor Sources Their Wood Products:

Trying to stay within America for his product purchases, Mitch notes how years ago, you knew where your product was coming from, down to the city and state. However, American companies now bring in large amounts of their product from overseas. Staying within the US in regards to his product purchases has been a bit of a challenge for Mitch because of this.
To help combat the outsourcing of bigger companies, Mitch tries to purchase mainly from small businesses and local companies. Not only does this help keep business within the US, but he’s also found that when working with smaller mills, the customer service level is exponentially better!

Contact Manor Floors

Instagram @manorfloors

Want more??

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! - CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Read our Free Instagram Report:" Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content."

@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Kenny Finley: Saw Haul

Thu, 09 May 2019 01:53:00 +0000

Today, we’re talking to Kenny Finley from Saw Haul about his product and how it’s going to change the Woodpreneur world!

It all started when Kenny was out working in the field one day and accidentally ran over his brand new chainsaw with his tractor. Vowing to never let that happen again, Kenny started looking for any way to mount his chainsaw to his tractor. Initially, the thought to create his own solution wasn’t something that had occurred to Kenny. However, after two years of searching for an answer, he decided he was going to be the one to create the solution himself. Saw Haul is a much-needed product in the Woodpreneur sphere- so much so that it’s sold in all 50 states, as well as internationally after only being in business for about 16 months.

With a garage company no longer being a feasible way to manage things, Saw Haul has partnered with BMW Truck Hitches and a plastics company in the USA to help with the manufacturing side of things.

Show Highlights:

As a company, Saw Haul stands for three things - customer service, a great product, and USA made.
Saw Haul has only been in business for 16 months, and business is booming. They’ve already sold their product in all 50 states, as well as internationally.

Kenny’s thoughts on the business so far:

He loves learning new things every day that help him grow his business and increase his profitability.
Saw Haul is the ONLY product of its kind.

Want More? Follow @sawhaul on Instagram and Facebook!

www.sawhaul.com

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Roy Scott: Vintage Axe Works

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 03:08:43 +0000

We’re stoked to have Roy Scott of Vintage Axe Works on the show today!

After watching a survivalist show where a fifty year old man built an entire cabin with his bare hands, Roy couldn’t get the idea out of his head. So much so that it inspired him to start learning how to work and create with his hands.

This led to him to collecting, restoring, and selling axes... something that came in handy when he was unexpectedly fired from his full-time job. After a suggestion from his wife that he should start making his own axe handles, Roy invested in a band-saw, a buffer, a table saw, and then dove in and learned how to make high-quality axe handles and heads.

Now a full-time business, Roy has been at it for the past three years and now has a waiting list for his one-of-a-kind creations. Not only are most of his axes individually unique, but Roy also sets himself apart from the competition by putting together entire axes. This is key since most of the competition only specializes in certain aspects of the axe. From custom work for use in labor to art that hangs over a client’s fireplace, Vintage Axe Works truly makes unique and beautiful axes that you need to check out!

Show Highlights:

Instagram has been the main source of traffic for Vintage Axe Works. He’s never paid for a follower or created an ad and implores other business owners to do their research on the Instagram algorithm and invest their time into learning how to utilize the Instagram platform.
He builds a lifestyle around his brand using the interests of his customers as a way to attract business.

Show Highlights:

A one-man show, Roy’s challenge is keeping up with all of the different aspects of the business.
For the most part, every axe Roy makes is completely custom.

Follow Roy on Instagram!! @vintageaxeworks

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@acresoftimber

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Conor Crook: Diamondback Toolbelts

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 23:20:22 +0000

Often, we talk about the wood, but how often do we talk about the equipment that makes the #woodpreneur life possible? Connor Crook from Diamondback ToolBelts is here to talk about just that!

Majority owner and president since 2016, Connor runs the marketing, sales, dealer, and product development for the company. However, the company itself was started in 1994 by Jim Skelton and it just so happens that Connor was able to track down his family just a few months ago to get the company’s origin story.

It turns out that Jim was a true adventurer and spent his days windsurfing, mountain climbing, cross country skiing, and working as a master carpenter. It was after an injury set him back physically that he set about designing a tool belt that would help him with his back pain. After developing his prototypes based off of equipment he had used while windsurfing, he created the belt using cutting edge materials and then put an ad in the paper. Shortly thereafter, Jim, his wife, and children started off making each belt by hand and selling them out of their garage.

After Jim passed away in 2004, the company switched hands several times until 2016 when Connor purchased the business. Knowing the product was an incredible item, Connor started working with factories in Wisconsin and North Carolina and expanded the company exponentially. While still hand-made in the USA, Diamondback Toolbelts are now manufactured in bulk and no longer require a 9 month wait for completion!

The growth of Diamondback Toolbelts:

Continuing to make a high quality and consistent product is the company’s current goal.
Diamondback Toolbelts now has over 30 dealers internationally.
Not only do they still make toolbelts, they also make accessories and related items.
Helping woodworkers and laborers step up to the next step in their passion is what Diamondback Toolbelts does best.

Marketing Strategy:

Instagram has been a huge source of growth for the company.
Quite a few of their product development ideas come from working-class guys sending ideas through their DMs!
Most of Diamondback’s customer’s come through the IG community. Workers, that are looking to take their craft to the next level

Contact Diamond Toolbelts

https://toolbelts.com/
Instagram @diamondback.toolbelts

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Joshua Crossman: PTL Hardwood Floors

Wed, 10 Apr 2019 21:48:12 +0000

Our guest today is Joshua Crossman, owner of PTL Hardwood Floors. After a client of his former employer put the idea in his head that he should go out on his own, he decided to take the leap in 2004.

Now well established, the business has been a success! In his 15th year, Joshua loves what he does and is excited to continue in this line of work. His pride in what he does shines through in the words he speaks and the projects he completes.

With 8 kids ranging from 4 months to 17 years old, Joshua stays extremely busy. Within his company, it’s just him, an employee, and his office manager. With extremely high standards when it comes to hiring, Joshua takes on a large workload during his work days.

Growing Into The Role Of “Business Owner”:

Looking at old invoices and the projects he underbid on, he’s grown as a businessman throughout the years and finds those old bids pretty hilarious.
In the past few years, he’s focused on how to run a business and become more of a businessman - not just a laborer.

Keeping Up With The Market:

Starting the business during the housing boom of 2004 made finding work easy, but as the years have gone on, the market has changed a bit, which makes finding work more of a tactical pursuit.
Standing out on Instagram, Facebook, and holding down an effective email campaign is key to keeping consistent work.

How He Markets And Increases His Skills:

Google Ads, his website, and Instagram
Word of Mouth
He joins flooring and contracting groups on Facebook
Listens to podcasts

Contact PTL Hardwood and Joshua Crossman

IG: @ptlhardwoodfloors
Website: www.ptlhardwoodfloors.com

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@acresoftimber

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the Alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the Alaskan mill @

Paula Goulding: Live Edge Lumber Girl

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 01:55:37 +0000

Our guest today comes to us all the way from Canada. Paula Goulding, the brain and brawn behind Live Edge Lumber Girl & Company is a slab consultant and woodpreneur. Her knowledge of this space is so extensive, she’s able to give her makers and distributors quotes based on their specific project needs.

Getting her start by selling plywood, she soon began working with a sawmill, and the rest is history. Four years later, she’s running her own company and dealing live edge slabs.

Show Highlights:

Paula spends time each day on marketing by engaging with her followers on IG and FB
She loves working with her clients and seeing the things that woodworkers create.
When she’s not in the office, she’s flipping slabs and visiting customers.

Challenges and Opportunities:

Bringing a new client on that isn’t familiar with live edge can be a bit of a challenge. Paula takes pride in educating clients in this position on the proper use of the wood.
Caring about her clients' needs, the crew at Live Edge Lumber Girl & Company holds themselves to a high standard when it comes to giving their customers exactly what they expect.
Paula is also part of the community of Ontario Wood, an organization that raises awareness about locally grown and made wood products.
Business is booming in the Ontario area. Currently, there is a high demand for high-quality wood products such as art pieces, charcuterie boards, and furniture.

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@acresoftimber

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Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the Alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the Alaskan mill @

Sawyer Kerr: Sawyers Got Wood

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 00:38:30 +0000

Joining us this week on the Woodpreneur Podcast is Woodpreneur and furniture designer, Sawyer Kerr of Sawyers Got Wood.

Sawyer got his official start when he bought a home and converted the entire basement into a workshop. Moving from a 900 sq ft apartment to a spacious home, he had plenty of empty space to fill and fill it he did! Designing and creating his own furniture, he soon decorated his home with styles and creations that he loved.

Shortly thereafter, he began using Instagram as his main marketing platform. Modeling his marketing after profiles of woodworkers he admired and looked up to, he’s been able to bring in the majority of his clients from this space.

Show Highlights:

Sawyer used Instagram as a form of mentoring by following woodworkers he admired and respected. He then modeled his marketing after them.
Currently, he’s working on samples to help complete the commission page on his website.
With his time being limited since Sawyers Got Wood is a side hustle, Sawyer only takes on commission projects that intrigue him and he wants to spend his time on.

Goals and Advice:

Currently, he sources his wood largely from Craigslist.
Future goals include going full-time and opening up a stand-alone shop.
Pay attention to the little details before going full-time. Make sure your books are straight and you follow the correct government paths to setting up your business.

Contact Sawyers Got Wood

Instagram: @sawyersgotwood

Website: www.sawyersgotwood.com

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@acresoftimber

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Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Mike Hansen: Hansen Tree Service

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 00:11:37 +0000

Joining us today is Michael Hansen of Hansen Tree Service. Located in Southern Rochester, Minnesota, Hansen Tree Service specializes in the care of those tough and hard to reach trees. When it comes to the business, Michael’s favorite aspect of the job is the thrill of the climb.

He stresses how vital it is to not grow complacent or cocky in this line of work. After a brush with what could have been a tragic fall, Michael no longer takes shortcuts when it comes to his rigging. The accident left him with a severed thumb, tendons, and knuckle. There are no grey areas when it comes to safety in the tree business.

Aside from safety, Michael knows that the only way to grow as a company is to invest time into marketing. Using several different social media platforms, he posts material specific to what the users of that specific platform prefer. Whether it’s written content on Linkedin, captivating pictures on Instagram, or videos on Facebook, Michael creates content that produces several different streams of revenue and doesn’t cost him more than time.

Show Highlights:

Michael takes on government contracts help grow the business
Connecting with people is the #1 way to grow
Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram are the main avenues he takes to find new clients. However, he uses a different approach on each platform.
If you want to grow big, make your audience big.

Contact Hansen’s Tree Service

Facebook - Hansen Tree Service
http://hansentreeservicellc.com/
https://www.instagram.com/hansentreeservicellc/

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@acresoftimber

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Craig Geddis: Monster Tree Company

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 00:37:11 +0000

Joining the Woodpreneur Podcast today is Craig Geddis of the Boston Based Franchise, Monster Tree Company.

Starting in the business at 16, Craig instantly fell in love and worked for years up in trees. As time passed and he grew older, thoughts about what 65 would look like up in a tree started passing through his mind. While he was passionate about the work, he knew that he needed to divert his career path in order to prepare for the future.

It was at this point in his life that Craig decided to attend college for Forestry. While attending, he worked with Bartlett Tree Service in Arborist sales and continued to foster his passion for trees. In time, he knew he had the know-how and education to step out on his own, and he now works as the “tree guy” for one of the 26 Monster Tree Company franchise locations within the U.S.

Show Highlights:

Passionate about trees and what they do, Craig says that he finds “nothing as awe-inspiring or as beautiful as that first green in the spring when the trees are pushing out their new leaves.”
Craig grew his Arborist expertise by working with Bartlett Tree Service and attending college for forestry.
Monster Tree was started in the last decade and is already in 26 states

Educating The Public:

To many, the concept of an Arborist is a new idea and they are unaware of the difference between a true tree surgeon and a lumberjack. While there is a time and place for the lumberjack, there is also a need for the Arborist and the “life-saving” services that they offer trees.

Craig’s Advice:

“Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or call someone when you don’t know the answer.”
If you’re looking to network and get your business name heard, consider sponsoring a little league team or donating trees to a local park.

Contact Craig Geddis

www.whymonster.com/south-shore
@monstertreeservicesouthshore
781.733.6429

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@acresoftimber

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Like us on Instagram: @acresoftimber

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Cam Anderson: Blacktail Studio

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:20:53 +0000

This week, we’re sitting down with a one-man woodworking company based out of Portland, Oregon, Blacktail Studios. Blacktail Studios is the business of woodworker and influencer, Cam Anderson. In the first year, business was fun but slow… it wasn’t until Cam took his wife’s advice and set up an Instagram account that things truly started to take off.

With the account now at 93.4k followers and his services on a waiting list, Cam credits social media to his explosive growth.

In addition to Instagram, Cam also credits Etsy for his commissioned sales and recommends that anyone in the woodworking space start an account, if they haven’t already.

As far as what the future holds, Cam plans on expanding his social media reach to Youtube as well as becoming a sponsored influencer.

Show Highlights:

With the opinion that you don’t necessarily have to quit your day job to become successful, Cam also works as an emergency services flight pilot and loves it. With a flexible work schedule that gives him plenty of time off, he’s able to work at Blacktail as well as hold down his pilot job without feeling the pressure of work balance.
Cam is moving towards becoming a sponsored influencer and content creator on various social media platforms.
Cam’s hosting an epoxy resin table workshop on April 6th with Goby Walnut - check it out here - https://www.blacktailstudiopdx.com/shop/resinworkshop2

Cam’s Advice:

In the beginning, he faced a tremendous amount of stress when it came to the project timelines that he gave to clients. His biggest piece of advice is to over-bid on the time you think it will take to complete a piece, deliver it early, and don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Contact Blacktail Studios:

Instagram - @blacktailstudio
Website - https://www.blacktailstudiopdx.com/
Email- blacktailstudiopdx@gmail.com

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@acresoftimber

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the Alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the Alaskan mill @

Anthony & Alex: Trees Are My Business

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 02:54:35 +0000

Today, we’re talking with Anthony and Alex from “Trees Are My Business.” T.A.M.B is a company that provides the rare find of a mill and tree service combination.

Based out of Columbus, Ohio, Anthony is a certified Arborist that has been in the tree business for over 15 years. Alex is a metalworker with a passion for woodworking and a knack for strategic business planning. Together, they make an unstoppable team.

With their dual-purposed business model, T.A.M.B. is able to use a majority of the trees that they remove as free materials for the woodworking side of their business. With their naturally supplied stock levels, they’re able to proudly boast a wide selection of species in their shop as well as current inventory levels reaching over 4,000 slabs.

Not only that, but their unique business position allows them the opportunity to turn felled trees that once held a place in the heart of property owners into a piece of art that they can hold onto for generations.

Show Highlights

In a unique and lucrative position as a woodworker and Arborist, Anthony and Alex run a dual tree service/milling business.
With over 4,000 slabs in the shop, their stock is enough that they can find the perfect slab for any client’s projects within their own inventory.
Alex credits Instagram and word of mouth as KEY proponents of their rising sales.

Want to Contact Trees Are My Business?

Instagram: @trees_are_my_business

Facebook: @treesaremybusinessohio

Website: treesaremybusiness.com

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@acresoftimber

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Patrick George: Heartwood Tree Care

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 21:13:00 +0000

Today, we’re talking to owner and “Benevolent Dictator” of Heartwood Tree Service, Patrick George. With a passion for changing perspectives on the value of trees, their company tagline “helping trees outlive humans” backs up this passion. Based in the urban areas of Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, they strive to educate people on the value of trees and their place in this world. With a hope to preserve and not destroy, they focus their efforts on protecting the beauty of the world we all live in.

In the business for 40 years and with a revenue of a little over 5 million last year, Patrick loves the opportunities that his success has brought him. In addition, the ability that he has to go out on the daily and provide excellent tree work, something that’s more of a passion than a job to him, is something that keeps him excited and motivated.

When it comes to his team, a great example of the company culture comes from the office in Asheville he opened up 4 years ago. Patrick’s key employee at the Asheville location is a person who he not only watched grow up, but whom he has also been able to watch evolve as a leader in the business. It’s relationships like this that lend to the tight-knit culture of the company.

Aside from his tree skills and business success, there are, of course, always obstacles to overcome. Patrick’s personal life has been no exception. After 3 marriages, the death of his son nine years ago, and run-ins with the IRS, Patrick has truly had to lift himself up and persevere to see success happen. Now, with these lessons and moments behind him, he’s able to look forward to the future and see his daughter gearing up to take over the business, a current marriage well into its 26th year, and a pride and passion for what he does in the tree industry.

Show Highlights:

Heartwood Tree Service prides themselves on being able to tell you if the tree in question is preservable or a danger to the surrounding area.
Heartwood's part in the process of tree preservation is what motivates them to continue doing the dangerous work that they do.

Advice:

Put yourself into the perspective of your client and know that you must meet their priorities, whether or not their priority is the same as yours.
If you want to succeed and hit 6 figures in your business, you need to stay persistent, live in the moment, and stay aware. It’s a dangerous business, and if you don’t protect yourself, there won’t be a business to grow.

Contact Heartwood Tree Care:

Website: https://www.heartwoodtree.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeartwoodCLT/

Instagram: @heartwoodclt

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@acresoftimber

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Paul Ostlund: Lacrosse Flooring

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 21:17:33 +0000

Today we’re talking to Paul Ostlund from Lacrosse Flooring.

Lacrosse Flooring manufacturers red oak, white oak, walnut, and hickory hardwood flooring and produces about 55,000 sq ft of flooring per day. Originally, they were considered a “boutique” manufacturer, up until 3 years ago when they installed robotic packaging machines and a 2 million dollar scanning system. Since then, they’ve become a major flooring plant that services the midwest area, and they’ve taken foreign producers by surprise.

Show Highlights:

Lacrosse Flooring is heralded as one of the top flooring plants in the United States.
They were considered a “boutique” manufacturer, up until 3 years ago when they installed robotic packaging machines and a 2 million dollar scanning system.
Lacrosse produces 55,000 sq ft of flooring per day.
They create from multiple species and are a “one-stop shop” for high quality flooring.

Who They Target:

Typically, they sell to distributors across the country and tend to sell heavily into the 2-step distribution model.
Lacrosse markets themselves as a high-quality mill that produces high-end products for contractors.

Biggest Struggles

Finding employees who are dedicated and are committed to staying on for the long-term in an industry that isn’t extremely high-paying
Realizing that the top 10 things that were working six months ago may not be the same 10 things that are still working

Words To Grow Your Biz By...

“You’re not a leader until you can produce other leaders”

- Paul Ostlund

Contact Lacrosse Flooring:

Instagram: @lacrosseflooring
Website: www.lacrosseflooring.com
Floor Source - A hardwood flooring app.

Follow Acres of Timber and our #woodpreneur network on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

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SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Matt Lee: Tree Fairy Arborist

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 22:18:14 +0000

Originally from England and now based in Australia, Matt Lee of the Tree Fairy Arborist brings excitement and solid growth advice to this episode!

Matt has spent the past two years running his own tree business and loves it. He knew he wanted to branch out on his own when he was in Australia and the opportunity presented itself. After chatting with the wife, he embarked on his own venture.

Show Highlights:

Matt saved over several years and also went to the bank and convinced them to help him start his business.
The first year was a challenge - mainly with staffing. How do you convince someone to come work for you when you can’t guarantee a solid income?

Advice:

Don’t get “flashy” buy spending $$ on brand new equipment or shiny trucks when you’re first starting out - stay smart!
Don’t listen to other people tell you how hard it is to run a business. They will only slow you down.

Marketing:

He started his IG as a way to gain staff and get them excited. It wasn’t initially for marketing reasons.
Word of mouth has been huge in growing the business.
Plans to scale soon - but wants it to be an organic and natural development.

Check out Matt Lee on Instagram at…

@thetreefairy_arborist

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@sawmillbusiness

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Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Schedule your Free strategy session with Steve, founder of Acres of Timber

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW? iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Join The Wood Entrepreneurs Networking & Mentoring Facebook Group

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Bill Challenger: Cannon Bar Works

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 23:43:23 +0000

On this week’s podcast, we’re talking with special guest, Bill Challenger - president of Cannon Bar Works.

In business since 1955, the company was founded by Ernie Cannon. Mr. Cannon originally started his work by making sawchain guide bars for Brunette Machine Works. They manufactured a two-man chainsaw called a TimberHawk just after the first world war.

Bill became involved with the company in 1974 as a salesman for a homelife brand of chainsaws. In 1981 he struck out on his own, providing chainsaws to the logging industry. Soon, he became Cannon’s largest customer.

In the late 80’s, Ernie retired and Cannon Bar was taken over by new owners, who unfortunately struggled. However, Bill was able to buy the business. He then re-branded the line and re-established their dealer connections, growing the company exponentially.

Show Highlights:

Cannon Bar prides themselves on the quality of their products and it rings clear through their motto -“The best bar, bar-none”. If it’s not the best, it doesn’t leave the factory.
Cannon Bar’s products lasts 3x longer than mass produced milling bars.

Cannon Bar And Granberg International:

Cannon Bar is the creator of double ended milling bars for use on Alaskan mills.
These bars have a cult following among Granberg Alaskan Mill users.

Contact Cannon Bar

Instagram: @cannonbarworks

www.cannonbar.com

Contact Us

Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.

@sawmillbusiness

Want more??

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Schedule your Free strategy session with Steve, founder of Acres of Timber

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW? iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Join The Wood Entrepreneurs Networking & Mentoring Facebook Group

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Anthony Saracino: Real Antique Wood

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 13:58:34 +0000

Today, we’re talking with Anthony from Real Antique Wood, a sawmill focused on finding reclaimed wood and telling its story. At RAW, the team focuses on salvaging reclaimed wood from old barns and buildings.

Based in Irvington, North Jersey, Real Antique Wood serves varying types of clients. From homeowners looking for a reclaimed shelf to put their coffee cups on to contractors carrying out large scale renovations, Real Antique Wood doesn’t shy away from anyone and strives to provide reclaimed wood for any person or any project that needs it.

Challenges At RAW:

Dependable manpower - There’s simply not enough people in this day and age that are willing or capable of working with their hands in a skilled trade.
Finding crews willing to travel to dismantle buildings and barns can be a feat.
However, knowing how big a challenge finding a good crew is, Anthony is extremely grateful for his core team. A group of dedicated and hard-working employees are on staff at Real Antique Wood!

Educating The Masses :

RAW focuses on educating their customers on the labor intensive process that is involved in bringing reclaimed wood from the barn phase to becoming finished products displayed in their home.
They document each piece’s journey so that their clients know the story of their specific project’s backstory.

Marketing:

They employ someone full-time that is constantly on “ground zero”, whether that’s in the showroom, at the barn takedowns, or on the road with the crew. This employee has a passion for the business and focuses on documenting every step of the journey so that they can upload it to social media.

Contact Real Antique Wood

www.realantiquewood.com

Instagram @realantiquewoodmill

Facebook: @realantiquewoodmill

Contact Us

Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.

@sawmillbusiness

Want more??

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Schedule your Free strategy session with Steve, founder of Acres of Timber

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW? iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Join The Wood Entrepreneurs Networking & Mentoring Facebook Group

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Anne: Anne Of All Trades

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 20:15:55 +0000

Today, we’re excited to be talking with Anne of All Trades! A woodworker, blacksmith, and organic farmer- Anne started creating online content centering on these topics about three years ago with the intent to go full-time as a content creator. This year, she was able to hang up her part-time hat and start working in content creation full-time!

Acquiring the skills and getting started in this field began when Anne moved to Seattle seven years ago. Once settled, she set up a woodworking shop and started creating. With only $300 to spend on tools, she started buying tools on Craigslist to fill up her toolbox and within three months she had a fully functioning shop. In addition, she would frequent her local library and read anything she could get her hands on that would help her become as skilled as possible.

Show Highlights:

Anne would read or watch anything she could get her hands on to help educate herself on woodworking and content creation.
Instead of focusing on making large quantities of product, Anne focuses on making fewer things extremely well.
Ann honed her skills while working for a woodworking magazine and teaching a woodworking class at a fine arts school.

Content Creation

Anne started about three years ago after meeting a content creator at a woodworking convention.
Skeptical at first, once Anne shifted her mindset and focused on the types of content she was creating, she was able to quit her job within 6 months.
Going from the fine furniture world to the content creation realm was a huge change and adjustment. The biggest switch for Anne was mentally. By focusing on the educational side of her interests and not just herself, she was able to show the lifestyle of the brand and offer value to her followers.
Anne always tries to make sure that she’s sharing the reality of the woodshop as well as tips and tricks along the way.

Final Advice

“Try to diversify your revenue streams and use social media platforms to do it. As a furniture builder and woodworker, you are constantly creating content. Use this content as a way to develop digital revenue streams. If you’re not on social media, get on it!”

Contact “Anne of All Trades”

youtu.be/X-Ikl6w9xSU
@anneofalltrades
anneofalltrades.com

Contact Acres of Timber

Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.

@sawmillbusiness

Want more??

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Schedule your Free strategy session with Steve, founder of Acres of Timber

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW? iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Join The Wood Entrepreneurs Networking & Mentoring Facebook Group

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Steve Larosiliere: End of The Year Recap

Wed, 26 Dec 2018 14:41:46 +0000

Today, we’re ending 2018 with a recap of the guests we’ve spoken with over the past year as well as the changes we’ve seen within our own “Woodpreneur” community.

Join us on this episode as we highlight the biggest news from the Woodpreneur community in 2018!

Show Highlights:

We’ve changed our podcast name from the Sawmill Business Podcast to the Woodpreneur Podcast. - A podcast focused on giving you the tools and mentorship that you need to grow your business.
This year we partnered with Jennifer Alger of Urban Salvaged And Reclaimed Wood for the Urban Lumber Summit
River tables and epoxy pours have dominated 2018
The Woodpreneur Facebook Group is growing and full of great information.

Contact Us

Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.

@sawmillbusiness

Want more??

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Schedule your Free strategy session with Steve, founder of Acres of Timber

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW? iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Join The Wood Entrepreneurs Networking & Mentoring Facebook Group

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.

Ashley Harwood: Ashley Hardwood Woodturning

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 22:38:39 +0000

Today we’re talking with Ashley Harwood of Ashley Hardwood Woodturning. Our first ever woodturner on the podcast, Ashley started about 9 years ago shortly after going to art school for sculpture and installation art. Knowing that she wanted to create things for a living, she originally thought she would start with glass blowing. However, after taking a woodturning class with her father, she decided to dive into the wood community.

She now travels all over teaching woodturning classes and creating wood-turned art!

When first starting out, Ashley displayed her work at the Charleston Farmers Market. Soon, she realized that there was also quite a bit of interest from people in woodturning as a hobby. So she wisely added teaching to her repertoire of income generation and began traveling and teaching wood-turning classes throughout the U.S.

Loving the ability to be her own boss, work with her hands, and being able to take something from a hunk of wood and create something unique and amazing are all of Ashley’s biggest motivators. We loved her comment that “She’s so happy with the freedom of being her own boss, she’s not even sure if she’d be able to be someone’s employee anymore!”

Show Highlights:

In every city, there is a local chapter for the American Organization of Wood Turners.
These are non-profit clubs that ask 1-3 people to visit and teach in their city.
Ashley holds classes in her own shop as well as travels all over the U.S.

Marketing Efforts

Ashley has 66,000 Followers on Instagram
She posts almost every day and showcases current projects that she’s working on as well as items she personally thinks are interesting
In 2012 the Charleston City Paper did a mini video documentary on Ashley and posted it to Youtube. Not thinking it would be a big deal at the time, this video now has over 2 million views.

Contact Ashley

Instagram: @ashleyharwoodturning

Websites:

http://ashleyharwood.net

http://ashleyharwood.com

http://turningnative.com

Want more??

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

Granberg International

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

www.alaskanmill.com

Dustin & Caleb: Iron Timbers

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 01:37:04 +0000

Today we’re talking with Dustin and Caleb from Iron Timbers.

In business for a little under two years, the idea came about when Dustin decided to start making furniture for his home. Soon, he noticed that there was a market for such handmade products and that people on Instagram were selling similar items. Approaching Caleb, who was a metal worker by trade, he asked him to start making metal bases for his pieces. Agreeing, they went into business together and things grew from there.

Soon, they had 19,000 followers on Instagram, orders coming in, and long nights of work, all while still working full-time jobs.

Now, with both guys working Iron Timbers full-time in less than three years, I asked them, “how did they foster this growth??”

“Well,” Dustin said, “with all of the time and effort we were putting in, we just decided to go full throttle and full time.” Starting at an art show where they took home best in show, they then took their products on Instagram and Facebook, started taking custom orders, and bought an alaskan mill. With a constant flow of custom orders, they are loving what they do.

It’s important to note that their decision to go full-time was not only brought on by the above avenues, but also from hard work, long hours, and the below conversation.

Having had an order come in that was on more of a strict timeline, they sat down and decided they were ready to go full time and take the risk. They jumped in, the business continues to grow, and they’re not looking back.

Show Highlights:

Currently their initial slabs from last year are drying and they hope to offer tree to table service shortly.
They post their products to Instagram at least once a day - this brings in custom orders and helped they go full-time
At 70 years old and a woodworker, Dustin’s father runs the Alaskan Mill and helps out around the shop. Not letting his age get him down, he’s as much a part of the business as Caleb and Dustin!

Contact Info

Website: www.irontimbers.com
Insta: @irontimbers

Read our Free Instagram Report: Tools for how to turn leads into sales, grow your following, and easily create engaging content.

Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

Schedule your Free strategy session with Steve, founder of Acres of Timber

DID YOU LIKE THE SHOW? iTunes SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Join The Wood Entrepreneurs Networking & Mentoring Facebook Group

Like us on Instagram: @sawmillbusiness

SHOW SPONSORS:

Granberg International is a US-Based, family owned and operated business, with a 60-year commitment to providing its customers worldwide with the highest quality chainsaw mill and accessories in the industry.
Granberg’s completely mobile and compact Alaskan Mill makes it possible to mill your logs ANYWHERE.
Creators of the alaskan mill.

You can learn and read more about what other users are saying about the alaskan mill @

https://www.instagram.com/old_technology/?hl=en

Austin Roberts: LogOx

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 15:52:24 +0000

Today we’re talking with Austin Roberts from LogOx, a company built on a highly innovative and unique product useful in all facets of the wood industry.

With the slogan, “American tools for woodsmen”, the LogOx is completely manufactured in the USA and was created by Austin’s father. An engineer by trade, he spent every fall and spring in the Vermont wilderness working with wood. Looking for a way to load logs from the ground to the log splitter without hurting his back, he came up with the idea for the LogOx.

Once he had a rough prototype, he took it to a local metal shop for further development. From there, he patented the product and began looking for companies that would be interested in purchasing or licensing it. Shortly thereafter, Swisher Inc. decided to work with him as a manufacturing partner.

It was during this time that Austin came home from his service in the Army. Looking for the next career step to take, he started to get more fully involved in the family business. Soon, he had stopped thinking about which career path to take and was instead working 7 days a week at LogOx, where he was happily putting all of his efforts into the success and growth of the business.

Soon, Austin started taking the LogOx to various product shows in several different niches. From tree service to homesteading, people were fascinated at the compact and unique nature of the product.

From its log hauler component that helps grab log rounds off the ground without bending over, to the most compact and portable 38in long Cant Hook on the market, the LogOx can be disassembled and carried the same way as you would backpack. In addition, it also hosts a timberjack, something that many woodworkers and tree guys still haven’t heard about, but when they see it... get excited.

Show Highlights

Austin says that launching a physical product in the wood space is the same as launching a product in any market. The fundamental thing to realize is this - if you want to launch a physical product, it HAS to have massive value added.
If you’re trying to break into an established industry, you’ve got to bring something to the table that truly provides value. Otherwise, it won't be successful.

Granberg and the LogOx

Finding himself next to Granberg International at the Bailey’s Show, Austin gave them a LogOx to take home and try out. They loved the product so much that they’ve decided to partner some of their Alaskan Mill line tools with LogOx for upcoming joint promotions.

Austin’s Advice -

“The key thing when it comes to building a sound business is to figure out how to separate yourself from the competition.”

Check Out Their Newest Product

The WoodOX Sling makes getting your wood from the woodpile easier, less backbreaking, and more efficient.
The WoodOX Sling - Click Here to Check It Out
You can also check out the video below to get the full Ox Sling Experience!
WoodOX Sling Demo

Where you can find the LogOx?

Bailey’s
Viking Mountain Tools
American Arbor supplies
Lowes
Amazon
Tractor Supply Co.
thelogox.com

Contact Info

@bigbluelogox
www.thelogox.com

Martin Goebel: Goebel & Co Furniture

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Today, we’re talking with Martin Goebel of Goebel and Company Furniture.

First established in 2011 while the economy was just starting to turn around, it seemed like an unwise time to start a business. However, Martin and his partners were tired of working for other people, building awful products, and making little money. He decided that if he was going to make little money, he might as well make it while working for himself.

Goebel and Company Furniture started with an 8 piece line consisting of items such as a dining table, coffee table, and king/queen size bed, etc.- the types of items a young couple could start their life with and have for generations. Offering quality products with a beautiful aesthetic, the reputation of the business started to grow, and in turn, so did sales.

As a maker of luxury goods, Martin felt the aftershocks of the downturn in the economy as early as 2005, but it wasn’t until 2013 that he started seeing a true return on the work he had put in throughout the years.

From the onset, Martin had not envisioned Goebel and Company Furniture as being a luxury brand. When he and his partners started, they were in their late 20’s, middle class, and with families. They saw themselves selling to others such as themselves. However, the clientele that gravitates to them tends to be affluent and the wealthy. It’s no wonder why, as Goebel and Company Furniture produces nothing but long-lasting, beautiful, and high-quality pieces.

In addition, they also provide pieces for breweries, restaurants, hotels, etc., “Classic Small Business” as Martin calls it.

Show Highlights:

Goebel and Company Furniture started in 2011.
At 19, Martin studied under James Krenov at the Krenov School (Originally the College of the Redwoods).
Martin’s current role is that of the president and creative director.
Martin also handles all of the design work and occasionally hires freelance designers when they have the need for extra hands.
Martin is equally comfortable with a mouse as he is with a chainsaw, creating digital designs and turning them into luxury items.
Of course, it takes a team, and the company couldn’t run without them!

Contact Info

@goebel_co_furniture
@goebelfurniture
https://www.goebelfurniture.com/

Sam Finco: Big Iron Tree Works

Fri, 16 Nov 2018 16:53:19 +0000

Today, we’re talking with Sam Finco from Big Iron Tree Works. Getting started recently, most of Sam’s business is preservation and contract work based. Starting off as a rock climber and in school for forestry education, once Sam saw an arborist in action, he knew it was the perfect career for him.

So far, Sam has had great success with every client he’s worked with. He’s continuously asked back and brought on for long-term maintenance contracts.

Of course, there have been bumps in the road with no-show employees and competitors who are less knowledgeable and offer lower rates.

At the end of the day though, Sam knows that tree service is a luxury service and clients get what they pay for. There’s a marked difference in his quality of work and that’s what brings these clients to him.

Of course, Sam also loves getting “paid to play”. The rigging and climbing aspect of tree work is his favorite part.

The Certification Process

Getting certified as an arborist was a bit time consuming, but not incredibly difficult. In lieu of school, Sam spent 3 years in the field, studied for a year, and then was able to take the test. While he doesn’t think the test is the best gauge on someone skill or talent, it’s a step in the right direction.

Instagram and Marketing

Sam's IG account links to his website and enables Sam to show potential clients exactly what it is he does. It also enables him to showcase his skills in a visual way that attracts customers.

Show Highlights:

Big Iron Tree Works motto? “Helping people and their trees THRIVE in Madison.”
Tree Service is a “luxury expense”. Unless a tree has fallen on your house it’s not a necessity.
Learning the industry from his mentors helped give him the knowledge to go the direction he wanted to in his business.
Sam wants his business to focus on the preservation side of tree service, build a great team, hone in on this one thing, and be the best there is at it.

Sam Finco - Contact Info

@samfinco
https://www.bigirontree.com/

Jack Maendel: EcoPoxy

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Today, we’re talking with Jack Maendel, the CEO of EcoPoxy. Epoxies were originally created by the military in the 50’s and 60’s by using petroleum from the oil industry. However, EcoPoxy has entirely different origins when it comes to the creation of their epoxies. As soybean farmers in Manitoba, Canada, they operate on the strong belief that anything made from petroleum can also be made from soybeans. Solid proof of this belief is in the 100% green, eco-friendly, and soybean-based EcoPoxy that they produce.

Jack initially came across the EcoPoxy brand while he was looking for an eco-friendly epoxy to use on flooring that he was installing. He was surprised to find a company that claimed their epoxies came from peanut and soybean oil. After using the product and seeing how well it worked, he became a retailer and distributor for the company. As his sales began to grow, he was able to buy out the company and make it his own.

During this time, he had been on the hunt for the original creator of this eco-friendly epoxy. However, after many dead ends and false leads, he decided to hire a chemist that could tell him the exact ratios of the oils. Meeting with the chemist after the samples had been taken, he was shocked to find out that the percentage of soybean oil in the epoxy was a startling 0.00%. Having been misinformed on the “recipe” was a potentially devasting blow to the business, as they had built their clientele solely on this fact.

Ready to close up shop and the business, Jack met with his consultant. However, instead of agreeing with him, his consultant suggested that he hire his own chemist who could actually make a soybean-based, eco-friendly epoxy. Jack did just that and shortly thereafter, the new (and improved) line of true EcoPoxies were born.

Research continues in search of the right equation to make epoxy made entirely from soybeans. In the meantime, EcoPoxy continues to use 100% sustainable and eco-friendly products in all of their EcoPoxies.

Show Highlights:

The true start of EcoPoxy began when Jack Maendel discovered that the epoxy he had been selling was not made with soybeans as he had been originally told.
He soon hired a chemist who was able to develop the first-ever soybean-based epoxy.
All of EcoPoxy’s products are 100% green and sustainable.

Contact Info

@ecopoxy

www.exopoxy.com

Dusty Mitchell: Dusty Lumber Co

Thu, 25 Oct 2018 13:26:27 +0000

Based out of Southern Alberta and going strong since 2015, Dusty Lumber Co. specializes in reclaimed wood. Doing a majority of barn demolitions themselves, they set up shop to mill, clean, and create furniture out of the reclaimed barn wood.

In late 2015, they doubled their equipment and production hoping that the economy would turn around and items would start selling. As they ventured more into e-commerce, Facebook, and Instagram, their furniture sales started going through the roof. Not taking a break and pushing through, Dusty Lumber continued to grow, and the hard work and efforts paid off.

Switching from his prior career to taking on Dusty Lumber full-time - Dusty considers himself a serial entrepreneur. As his kids started growing older, he knew it was time to focus on one thing entirely. Previously, he had started a scrap business, but as the price of scrap went down, he knew it was time to invest all of his drive into the wood business.

His advice to go full time? “Take the jump, have faith in yourself, and put your best foot forward.” “Swallow your fear and go for it because there’s no easy, perfect way to go full-time. It’s NOT easy, and there will be sleepless nights, but you just have to go for it.”

Show Highlights:

Face your fear to go full-time.
Circulate your product in trade shows - Do this to “Beta Test” your product. Not selling to family, but strangers that will show their honest opinion through their desire to purchase.
A well-run and effective marketing campaign is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper and more effective at growing your wood business than trade and home and garden shows.
Social media marketing and Facebook ad creation is the KEY to income generation.

Contact Info

Website: www.dustylumberco.com
Facebook: facebook.com/dustylumberco
Insta: @dustylumberco

Mel Hordyk: Exotic Woods

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 08:00:00 +0000

This week we’re talking with Mel Hordyk of Exotic Woods.

HISTORY

Exotic Woods has been a fixture in the woodworking industry since 1978. The company was started by Mel’s father when he realized the public’s desire for better quality wood. At the time there were plenty of generic designs in stores, but not really any fine wood shops.

Through the years, Exotic Woods has turned their focus less on cabinet and furniture making, and more towards wood sales. Starting with a smaller 1200 ft store, they’ve grown their space to a 20,000 sq ft building with an additional 30,000 sq ft of warehouse space. Here they sell all types of fine wood, flooring materials, European finishes, hard wax finishes, reactive stains, and of course, live edge lumber.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND KNOWLEDGE

Mel credits the business’s growth and longevity to Exotic Wood’s knowledge-based customer service approach. Many people can sell lumber, but a lot of the time typical sales departments don’t know exactly what they’re selling when it comes to wood types and the best way to use them.

Mel also says, having extensive knowledge of the products that are being sold while continuing to learn and read up on new techniques is key.

HOW THEY HANDLE THE WOOD

Exotic Wood’s cuts wood to meet their client’s specific requests. At the shop they handle basic cutting, sanding, adding in cuts, or anything else that the client requests.

Milling a fair amount of logs, Exotic Woods also acquires raw materials and then outsources the rest to local woodworkers in the area.

OWNING SPACE

Mel and his team used to dream about taking over the space that they currently occupy. Interestingly enough, It so happened that when they were on the way to put an offer in on another building, they noticed this dream property had just gone up for sale! The purchase of this building, setting it up, and getting their flow going is definitely one of the company’s biggest accomplishments.

MARKETING

Currently, they outsource their marketing, sales generation, event promotion, and website updates to a company. Mel credits the marketing company as a huge proponent to what brought them to where they are now.

CHARITY WORK

For the past twenty years, Exotic Woods has partnered with Campfire, a program that helps children in the Northern Ontario area. In addition to this, they participate in other local charity events.

One such recent event that they helped put on is called “Guitar Days”. Seven years running, the idea came about from Mel’s staff and it stuck. Here they invite woodworkers to rent tables where they can set up and display their handmade guitars. In addition, they host speakers that educate the crowd on new techniques and provide all sorts of networking opportunities. With lunch served and tables going at $50 a piece, it’s a great event!

Beyond the event, Exotic Woods stays involved in this niche by offering a temperature controlled room that houses guitar parts and hosts products essential to these unique makers.

Hoping to apply this same model in their participation with other organizations, they’ll see what the future holds as far as other events.

LINKS MENTIONED

Website: exotic-woods.com/

Instagram: @exoticwoodsinc

Steve Larosiliere: Podcast Update!

Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:00:00 +0000

You may have noticed that we’ve recently started using Acres of Timber as the logo on our website and in our hashtags...

Well... we are officially changing the name of our podcast and Instagram account!

Going forward, you can listen to our podcast titled - The Woodpreneur podcast, and check out our blog and other resources on our new website - www.acresoftimber.com!

WHY CHANGE THE NAME?

When he first started Sawmill Business, our host, Steve Larosiliere, ran it with the vision of serving the portable sawmill community and helping to grow awareness of that field to potential clients.

Along the way, he started working with entrepreneurs (just like yourselves) and other woodworkers and business owners that didn’t actually own sawmills, but were still woodworkers, manufacturers, and people selling slabs and all types of different creations to the public.

THE EXPANDING GOAL

The ultimate goal is to empower the entrepreneur. However, Sawmill Business infers that we only want to help a limited audience. This is not the case, and we want to extend our reach to more types of people within the woodworking industry- not just sawmill owners, but tree service workers, hardwood flooring experts, and the like.

With a strong desire to connect more people with the Urban Lumber Network, we hope to unite woodworkers with salvaged and reclaimed wood products. Branching both of these aspects together, The Urban Lumber Network and People who make money in the wood industry, we see a future full of sustainability and impact.

SO, WHAT’S NEXT?

As things progress at Acres of Timber, we plan on bringing you relevant resources and pertinent information that can help grow your business. By providing you with the tools and training that you need to scale, we hope to help you grow your business to six figures and beyond.

If you haven’t joined our mailing list, you should! Go to www.acresoftimber.com to sign up!

Q&A: The Power Of Using A Website For Your Business

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 08:00:00 +0000

On this podcast - we’re back with more Q&A!

This week - we’re answering these questions...

How important is a website?

I have no idea how to create a website. Where do I start and what’s the most affordable?

A few years ago, it seemed that having a website was the be all - end all and the only thing that anyone ever talked about. Then, over the past few years, people have started opting out of a website and instead relying solely on Instagram, Facebook, and email.

So, is a website really necessary?

Total honesty... YES. You absolutely need a website!

Really, what you need is a way to collect leads. Websites are important for blogs, galleries, and sales - and you can still link it to your Instagram and Facebook as well.

Google, the current alpha of the web, tracks and ranks websites. You can draw in a ton of traffic and leads JUST from search engines directing people to your site. This is something that you simply can’t do with social media alone.

Another thing to remember, if you put all your eggs in the Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter basket - you are setting yourself up for failure. Algorithms change, platforms change, and audiences change. What’s popular today in the social media world, may be completely irrelevant by this time next year.

Grow that email list!

One of the most important keys to business growth is building your email list and connecting it with your website. These leads are people you do business with, people you want to do business with, and people that want to do business with you.

I can’t stress this enough - COLLECT EMAILS!! You can do this by creating opt-ins, using Click Funnels, and putting a sign-up form on your website. Additionally, make sure that you are asking all of your clients or potential clients for their email addresses as well.

So, I know it sounds scary, but building a website is NOT as complicated as it seems. There are easy to use and intuitive programs that can help you get your site up and running (for about $20.00 a month) within 48 hours.

To sum everything up-

Collect Emails

Build a website (Or have us build one for you)

Create “lead magnets” to gain more emails

You got this!

Q&A: Growing Your Wood Business Client Base & Your Social Following

Thu, 06 Sep 2018 08:00:00 +0000

As i’m in the middle of a transition and re-brand of the Sawmill Business, I’ve been asking our audience a lot of questions.

Why?

Because I want to know what you’re thinking, feeling, and doing in your businesses so that I can identify your problems and challenges and in turn, help you grow your business.

As you may recall, the Sawmill Business Podcast started because of my involvement with my father-in-law’s wood biz, Crosscut Lumber. Over the years that I’ve been a part of his family, I’ve helped him grow his business, and he’s let me pick his brain. I’ve seen what it takes to grow a wood business, and I want to help you.

Today’s question comes from a member of our audience, and it’s a good one...

Q. I’ve started my wood related business, and I have a few clients. However, I want to continue growing my client base while increasing my social media following. How do I do this?

A. Here’s the thing, you shouldn’t do these two things separately. They go hand in hand and should be done at the same time for optimal results.

When it comes to social media, documenting all of your work is king- the work you create, the business conversations you have, the wood you cut, all of it!

Remember - The way to grow your social media following is by showcasing your work and your brand.

For example, if you’re a sawyer and you’re in the middle of a milling job, set up a tripod and record yourself working! Or, if your customer is there, ask them to take a picture!

Did you cut some massive slabs recently? Take a picture and post it!

Again and again, you’ll hear me say this - “You HAVE to get in front of the camera sometimes!”

In order to build your brand and your client base, people need to see who you are and what you do. The more often you put value, content, and goodwill into the marketplace, the more people will tend to think of you the next time they need your services.

It’s unfortunate, but in this day and age, good work is simply not enough to grow a business. To truly gain traction and a constant stream of inbound leads, you have to focus on networking and growing your social media following.

How else can I grow my client base?

When you’re thinking about how to grow your client base, think to yourself - Who are the types of people that you would consider your ideal customers?

Ask yourself -

Who are your past customers?
Who did you like working for?
Who else have you done work with?

Once you’ve answered these questions, make a profile of the answers.

What age do your clients tend to be?
Gender?
What type of car do they drive?
What type of lifestyle mindset do they have?

If you’re not happy with the answers, remember this - “The types of customers that you're attracting are being attracted to the type of business brand that you personify.”

Another Key Is To Utilize Past Clients.

If you’ve done good work and your client was satisfied, ask them these questions -

How was it working with me?
Would you mind giving me a testimonial?
When you ask for a testimonial, ideally you want it on video.

One of the smartest and simplest things that you can do for your wood business is to build a community around your current client base. Add value to their life by becoming a part of it!

Summer BBQ’s, fall bonfires, restaurant dinners, and sports-related gatherings are just some of the ways in which you can network, while becoming a community pillar at the same time.

The idea is, if they're thinking about you, they're more likely to talk about you!

Steve Timmermans: EverWoods Designs

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Today, we're talking to Steve Timmermans from EverWoods Designs. Starting part-time in early 2000, Steve decided to acquire his own logs for lumber at the same time that live edge was making a comeback. As a former biologist, with a background in ecology, he transitioned from this profession into the woodworking career by gradually building his business over the past 13 years.

Steve started sawing slabs back in 2002, and in 2014 he decided to go full-time with his business, EverWoods. Starting with a staff of two additional employees to help build the business, they were off to a great start.

In the beginning, they were milling mainly for their own supplies. It came naturally for them to source their own logs and this kept them pretty busy. Staying primarily on site, they were able to saw enough logs to sustain their own sales and furniture division.

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

The first piece of equipment that Steve bought was a Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill. Using a double ended bar with a Makita 70cc on each end, he then synchronized the throttle on those by using a hand throttle and was able to get even rpms that way.

Using the Granberg, a Woodmizer, and their Nile kilns, storage to protect these valuable tools became essential. In the beginning, they were fortunate enough to have a large pole barn that they used as their warehouse. As the business grew, they added to their space by erecting buildings known as "hoop houses" for further storage. They now have about 200 linear ft of hoop houses covering some of their inventory and increasing their expansion ability.

TRANSITIONING TO FULL TIME

Since the business has been developing gradually, the transition to a full-time focus on the business happened very organically and without much of a conscious decision. Keeping an eye on the markets and following the business trends in the industry, Steve kept at his work until it became a financially sustainable business. He also found it helpful that he continued to hold onto side-jobs that provided partial income while the business grew, in addition to his wife working full-time in her career.

THE SHOWROOM

Depending on the time of year, EverWoods Design has between 3-8 employees. Recently, in March of this year, they added a showroom to their business. The 7500 sqft showroom is located in St. Thomas and it's a sight to behold! This expansion has brought in quite a bit of exposure and interested clients,

as well as beautiful Instagram posts! Located about 15-20 minutes from their milling site, it's not too bad of a drive either.

FUTURE PLANS AND CURRENT CHALLENGES

Steve hopes to develop things further so that they have a smoother business flow that enables them to better serve the furniture and slab industry. As far as personal desires, EverWoods is hoping for increasing autonomy to use their own creativity with products and create one of a kind items. The kind of items that help "drive the ship" and define a business. Of course, they are still always interested in taking on their client's custom requests!

CURRENT CHALLENGES

The number one challenge at EverWoods Design right now is making choices about the future. Steve says that It really comes down to deciding where one wants the business to go. With this thought, he notes that sticking to a business plan, deciding if you want to go bigger or stay small, and looking at the future while planning for the day is sometimes tough. However, the company is looking forward to what the future has in store!

Links Mentioned

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EverWoods_designs/

Website:http://www.EverWoods.ca/

James Vann: Summer Hill Woodworking

Thu, 09 Aug 2018 08:00:00 +0000

On this episode, we’re talking to James Vann of Summerhill Woodwork. Based in the south east of England, James diversifies his business by utilizing his wood skills in several areas. When he’s not running his sawmill, he also does tree and forestry work.

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

When he was fourteen, James started selling firewood as a side job. With a carpenter for a father, James was also brought up around woodworking and using the tools in his dad’s workshop. While selling the firewood, James kept coming across pretty pieces of wood that he started picking out for projects. This is where his passion was cultivated.

As he grew up, James knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur and run his own business, free from working for other people. At first, he would underbid and take on projects that he wasn’t sure if he could do. However, the work he did was so well-done that the customers asked him back for more. Things took off from there!

GROWING HIS SKILLSET

Since learning new techniques and evolving in his style, James has had a website created where he showcases his handmade furniture. Included in this online portfolio are some of his favorite pieces to work with, large dining room tables!

LOVING HIS CHAINSAW MILL

In the beginning, James started with a smaller sized Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, as he started growing his client base he upgraded to a larger version. Even still, whenever slabbing, he prefers to continue using his Granberg.

LOVING THE WORK

One of his favorite aspects of his business is the variety of work that he does. Combining woodworking projects, sawmilling, and other forestry work keeps him busy and not bored.

GROWING A FULL-TIME SAWMILL BUSINESS

Looking through Instagram to stay inspired and up to date with what other people in the industry are doing, James keeps himself well taught and current by networking with other woodworkers on the platform and getting their opinions on equipment and materials.

What's his advice to others hoping to grow their business into a full-time gig?

Be Patient, do good work to the best of your ability, build a reputable reputation, and grow your portfolio by being flexible with your rates and taking on jobs that showcase your talents!

LINKS

Instagram: @james.270

Website: www.summerhill-woodwork.com

Bryce Mann: Wolfbear Wood Designs.

Thu, 02 Aug 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED.

Today, we’re talking with Bryce Mann of Wolfbear Wood Designs.

About two years ago, Bryce started as a woodworking hobbyist. As he started piecing small projects together and began to learn more about the work, he soon felt confident enough to start selling.

DEVELOPING AND MARKETING THE BUSINESS.

The main marketing mediums that Bryce uses are social media and word of mouth. So far, Wolf Bear has gained enough traction to start started selling in a local store!

FAVORITE ASPECTS OF THE BUSINESS

Bryce loves the learning aspect of the work. Looking at what he’s learned and how far he’s come, inspires him to keep creating and growing. Without a business background, Bryce is working on expanding his marketing skills and business skills.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Recently, Bryce has been working with live-edge products. Specifically, a computer desk that was originally supposed to be a coffee table! Excited to make things that he never has before, his excitement about this challenge is high!

SOURCING THE WOOD

Bryce worked in the Forestry Department for over ten years. Having a good relationship with the local forest management company, they gave him a letter of permission to mill any non-merch logs. With this, he’s able to source all of his wood locally.

Using his Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, Bryce goes out, cuts the wood, and brings it home. Loving his mill, Bryce says the portability of it is very helpful in his work.

FUTURE PLANS

Before the end of the year, Bryce hopes to have a website up and running and to make this business his full-time job. Looking to push his boundaries and testing himself, Bryce hopes to move on to some more challenging projects and continue getting his name out there.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram: @wolfbearwooddesigns

Email: bfm3131@gmail.com

Scott Alexander: Nature's Fell

Thu, 26 Jul 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Located in North Central, New Jersey, Scott started Nature’s Fell with his stepbrother, Bob Snyder. With a background as a professional chef, Scott spent years in the foodservice industry. After Hurricane Sandy hit and wiped out the restaurant where he worked, Scott bought a sawmill, learned how to use it, and grew his hobby into a business. Back in 2012, with the hurricane destruction providing plenty of lumber, there was a huge learning curve on Scott’s end when it came to using the sawmill. Over the span of 6 months, they milled enough lumber that they needed a place to store it. After acquiring a storage space, equipment such as a kiln and other milling materials started filling out the shop.

GROWING THE BUSINESS

For the last four years, Nature’s Fell has been working on tapping into the demand for slabs and unique pieces. Using word of mouth, Instagram, and other forms of social media they’ve grown the business quite a bit.

Along with being a sawmill business, Nature’s Fell also creates custom furniture such as wooden barn-style doors and other interesting items. When asked if he felt like his handle on the profession was solid, he responded with “ Woodwork is two parts knowledge and skill, and one part fixing your mistakes!”

CUSTOMER BASE

The company sees a wide range of customer personalities such as residential, corporate locations, bulk sales, and individual furniture designs. Nature’s Fell prides themselves on the sustainability and uniqueness of their products.

FUTURE PLANS

Currently, they’re focusing on growing the business through social media, their webpage, and Google Adwords. Since starting the campaign the phone has started to ring even more, which is a good thing during the slower summer months. Also, they are currently fine-tuning their focus into live edge products and flooring.

CURRENT CHALLENGES

With the current challenge being that Scott is the only operations employee, he struggles to find the right labor workers to help him with the loading and distribution of the logs. Hopefully, this will work itself out and he can stop pulling his marketing guru out of the office to help!

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naturesfell/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naturesfell/

Website: https://naturesfell.com

Justin Pruitt: Knock on Wood Custom

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 08:00:00 +0000

How He Got His Start

Today, we’re talking to Justin Pruitt of Knock on Wood Custom. Justin came into the ownership of Knock on Wood by happenstance. It was four years ago that he met with an older gentleman to help him with some sawing work. It was at this moment that he fell in love with the work. Seeing the light in his eyes, the older man (and original owner) invited him back and started training him on the milling process. After some serious health issues came up for the man, he gave Justin the reins and lead in the business.

Passion For The Business

Justin started his career in construction, but running Knock on Wood is his true passion. From the customers to the work itself, he loves everything about it, especially the “organically unique” projects that they do. These are projects that can’t be reproduced because each and every slab is unique. Knowing this, Justin doesn’t look at other woodworkers and think of them as competition. He sees them as fellow craftsmen making their own unique projects.

Initially located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Justin got the business name out there by piggybacking off of his mentor’s great reputation and large client base. The business continued to grow when he branded Knock on Wood, and he started grinding even harder to produce beautiful materials.

The Customer Base

With a client base consisting largely of people who have been introduced to live edge wood through Pinterest and other media outlets, Justin tries to showcase their failures and their successes. He wants people to understand how the products actually develop. Continuing to educate their clients that places like Lowes and Home Depot won’t carry the same array of products that they do has been essential in getting the word out about the business.

Future Plans

Currently, they’re in the process of opening an online market for the purchasing of slabs. He’s hoping to put himself out there as the business that offers reasonably priced slabs that people can afford.

Links Mentioned

Instagram: @knockonwoodcustom

Facebook: www.facebook.com/knockonwoodcustom

Michael Veneziano: Ponderosa Millworks

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Today we’re talking with Michael Veneziano from Ponderosa Millworks! They are located in Oakland, right across the bay from San Francisco. At seventeen, Michael was busy landscaping when a tree service worker came up to him and asked for his help “wrangling” some trees. The worker turned out to be from Ponderosa Tree Service, and in 1991, Michael bought the company. After 35 years in the tree service, Michael retired last year.

PONDEROSA MILLWORKS

When he sold his tree service last year, he left a clause in the contract that he would continue to receive all of the logs. With an endless supply of slabs, Michael finds his niche in this area. Coming in faster than he can mill and sell, he mostly sells slabs in his showroom, showcasing hundreds of slabs all on display. Architects and designers bring in their client to peruse and purchase the wood.

PARK COMMISSIONER EXPERIENCE

For many years, Michael also worked a volunteer position as a park commissioner. In this position, he was able to involve himself in community projects like gardening, tree service, and mentoring youth.

As part of his work as the park commissioner, he was able to help create policies that changed the way that trees are maintained, not just clearing them in ways that lead to problems in the long-run.

FINDING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TREE SERVICE AND MILLING

Michael sees tree service and sawmilling as industries that go hand in hand. Throughout most of his tree service years, he didn’t see much of a connection aside from saving money until the person that he was selling the logs to retired and asked him if he wanted to run his sawmill. After working the mill, Michael wished he had been doing it for much longer.

This is where and when he finally realized the connection. His tree service experience helped him to know exactly how he should cut and handle trees in a way that would preserve them and allow them to be milled.

CUSTOMERS

In the beginning it was mostly weekend warriors coming in- people with varying levels of experience. Now though, it’s evolving into architects and designers bringing in their clients to select their own wood. With six full-time employees at the sawmill, they stay busy.

CHALLENGES

Going from the tree service to running a sawmill, Michael finds the ebb and flow of the business sometimes hard to grapple with. Keeping the right amount of employees on staff during the right season can be difficult.

Mostly though, he finds the questions from customers to be the most challenging! Maintaining his customer service positivity and not growing tired of explaining the cost of slabs and how they are measured can be a test!

ADVICE

If you’re looking to make the switch from Tree Service to Milling, it’s an amazing career transition. However, you need to have the ability to bridge the financial gap. There is a sizable investment to drying slabs, so it takes time and money to get started. Also, make sure that you do your homework and that there’s not another business in your area already taking up the oxygen.

Additionally, look inwardly. Is customer service something that you’re interested in? Many sawyers love working with the wood but hate selling it. Make sure sales is something that you’re ready to be heavily involved in.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram: @ponderosamillworks

Website: ponderosamillworks.com

Jake Latvala: Ol Loggin Sawmill

Thu, 05 Jul 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Background

Starting off as a hobby, Jake Latvala started making coffee tables. As his products started to sell, he would invest the profits into new tools or equipment he needed. Jake liked what he was doing so much that he invested in a sawmill as well. Realizing that he wanted to make a career out of his passion, he started taking all of the bonuses that he would get from his full-time job (of 20 years!), paid everything off, and started working full time for his company, Ol’ Loggin Sawmill, with barely any overhead.

Getting his name out there

After putting his first ad on Craigslist, Jake sold out of everything he had made in less than 15 minutes. On the wave of this momentum, one thing led to another and soon, out of necessity, he was buying a forklift, truck, and a pole barn!

Once Jake posted an ad on Facebook and started utilizing social media, everything really exploded. Besides social media, Jake explains that word of mouth is huge for him, as well as business cards! Initially, he assumed business cards were a thing of the past, but having a significant amount of older clientele who don’t use social media, the cards come in handy, and he uses them often.

Sourcing the wood

Jake gets logs from a few different sources. He has a small business logger that will clear land and then bring the logs to Jake. He also works with Tree Service Companies who would have otherwise taken the logs to a landfill. Instead, they now take them to Jake.

Future of Old Logging Saw Mill

Growing quickly, his company now has two mills and a lumberyard. Currently, Jake is getting ready to build a 60x60 shop. Additionally, the company now has onsite Maple, Oak, Cherry, and Walnut with the plan to keep expanding their selection so that they will have something for everyone.

Links Mentioned

Instagram: @ol_loggin_sawmill

Facebook: @fatherssonsawmill

Jay Butler: Big Beaver Milling Co

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Now a family business, Big Beaver Co. started out as a hobby. Owner, Jay Butler was tired of paying big money for the same items that he was passionate about creating himself. Jay started this business with his family. His brother is his Arborist and co-worker and while leaning on family and friends, Jay hasn’t been let down.

INCOME GENERATION

From a hobby to a business about a year ago, Jay is 100% self-taught. Specializing in live edge milling, He takes Urban Lumber destined for the chipper and turns it into something beautiful. From start to finish, he’s involved. He knows the wood, cuts it, and puts it in the kiln.

Jay started out milling for other people and soon realized that it was much more profitable to mill for himself. Jay figured this out by breaking metal on other people’s logs and losing a day’s profit on logs for other people. Realizing that it made more sense to keep the profits, he began mill for himself.

Currently, Big Beaver Co. is linked up to sawmills on the West Coast, a place where hardwoods are hard to come by. Doing 30 to 40 slab orders once a month pays the bills and enables him and his family to sustain their current lifestyle.

On the other side of the coin, they also coach mom and pop stores on selling their wood products. Jay says that taking the time to get a feel for the customer's specific needs and directing them down the right avenue helps everyone to leave the sale happy.

WHY HE DOES IT

Explaining that he’s not destroying trees, but instead removing ones that are about to die and turning them into pieces that can be handed down generation to generation. Jay says, “You let the wood do what it wants to do, don’t rush the work, and work with the wood. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Loving what he does, Jay’s decision to pursue milling is a choice that he doesn't regret. At the end of the day, It’s what he truly loves and is passionate about.

BUSINESS ADVICE

If you do good by one person, they’ll tell people and then those people will come to see you. Be a person that people like and trust and your business will grow.

A month ago, an order for 55,000 boards was placed (that’s about 150 dump trucks worth of lumber a year!) A million dollar order in their first year of business... However, Jay and his family aren’t in this for the money, it’s for the enjoyment that comes from doing work that they’re passionate about. Knowing that this order would take over their schedule and lives, they passed on it for the opportunity to maintain their current lifestyle. One in which they spend time with their family and continue living a quiet and content life.

Influencers

In his area, all of the people in the sawmill industry meet after work for beers and to hang out together. His relationship with his other competitors is more of a brotherhood and he loves it. It’s a tight-knit community and he’s humbled to be a part of it.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/big_beaver_milling_co/

Facebook - www.facebook.com/bigbeavermilling

Stephen Beaulac: SB Design Co

Thu, 21 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED.

Today we’re talking with Stephen Beaulac of SB Design Co.

Stephen has always been interested in building things with wood and loves spending hours in his shop creating. Planning to retire from his day job in November, he plans on pursuing his woodworking business full time. Stephen says that the look on someone’s face when they see something that he’s created is one of the things that truly inspires him to continue doing what he does.

DEVELOPING AND MARKETING THE BUSINESS.

So far, all of SB Design Co. clients have come by word of mouth. Even without a website, he’s still been able to sustain his business by selling direct and having a stand at large craft shows. Stephen uses chainsaws and sanding when he sources his wood. Stephen finds the reclaimed wood that he uses through ads and by following leads.

FUTURE PLANS.

SB Designs is going to grow! Beaulac says he plans on setting up his website, developing his sales team, and using good old-fashioned cold calling. Stephen can’t wait to see what he can do in his future clients’ homes with reclaimed wood and the pieces he’s made. His plans are to continue growing his business to the point where he can hire several employees and move into a larger shop.

ADVICE.

Stephen says not to let yourself be intimidated by other people’s work. Instead, enjoy it. There’s so much out there, and it’s all beautiful and inspiring.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram

Facebook

sbdesigncomp@gmail.com

Dan Pottage: Pottage Sawmill

Thu, 14 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED.

Today, we have Dan Pottage of Pottage Sawmill. Dan started out as a landscaper, but being based in Alberta, Canada the cold wouldn’t allow him to do landscaping as much as he wanted. Instead, he took classes and started working in tree removal. Starting with the Grandberg mill, he began milling and drying the slabs in less than a month’s time.

DEVELOPING AND MARKETING THE BUSINESS.

Currently, he’s milling, drying, and selling slabs. Still keeping the Grasberg mill, Dan also set up a dehumidification kiln to dry his slabs faster as compared to air drying. Even though the business still young, Dan’s use of Instagram and Facebook has helped to grow his business and connect him with other people in the industry.

FUTURE PLANS.

Through social media, Dan has found amazing people that he plans to connect and work with. He also will continue doing more slab work as well as making tables.

ADVICE.

He advises people interested in the business to set up a dehumidification kiln because of its major benefits.

LINKS MENTIONED

Facebook: Pottage Sawmill

Website: Pottagesawmill.com

Instagram: @pottagesawmill

Email: Pottagesawmill@gmail.com

Danielle: Sail Cargo

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Today, we have Danielle of Sail Cargo. She started out as a tall ship sailor, then later came up with an idea to build a full wood cargo-only sailing vessel. This was an inspiration from another vessel she experienced in which she loved their concept and mission. She went ahead and started the project. The vessel is one of its kind, coming in at 150 ft. Danielle's vision is to nurture traditional woodwork skills in the timber industry, while at the same time conserving the forest.

CHALLENGES OF RUNNING THE PROJECT

The project has been pretty smooth sailing for Danielle and her team. Her only issue is getting people to understand the concept of the project since it’s a people funded project.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BUSINESS

One of Danielle’s exciting moments was when she got large amounts of a Del Monte hardwood. This was perfect for building the core part of the ship, but most importantly, it was a great way to help Hurricane Otto victims by purchasing the wood from that area. She also has people who ask her to clear trees in large pieces of land for them, and in turn keep the wood she gets from them, which she appreciates.

IMPORTANCE OF THE BUSINESS

Danielle, who is passionate about keeping traditional skills alive in the timber industry, also wants to create awareness of the damage the shipping industry is doing. In an effort to do this she shows the value of practicing sustainable forestry as well as offering emission-free shipping services, in which 10% of the profit goes to support ecological practices, namely deforestation.

LINKS MENTIONED

Website: sailcargo.org

Email:info@sailcargo.org

Jarrod Rodgers: Viral Woodworker

Thu, 24 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Still working a day job, Jarrod Rodgers considers himself an “extreme hobbyist”. Completely self-taught, Jarrod deals in woodworking, commision work, and also chainsaw milling.

Chainsaw milling was something that Jarrod stumbled into almost by accident. When asked by a client for a “live edge” coffee table, Jarrod made his way to the local slab supplier. When they couldn’t meet the slab needs for the project, Jarrod decided to start producing his own.

A miller was born.

INCOME GENERATION & WOOD SOURCING

With a day job, Jarrod has to manage his time extremely well and limit the side projects that he takes on. Aside from this constant balancing act, living in a “tree desert” also creates more hurdles for Jarrod. It’s only through time spent on scouting areas, working with local tree services and wood shops, social media, and continuous networking with other millers, that he is able to source the wood that he needs to continue producing.

THE VIRAL VIDEO

Jarrod also has one of the highest viewed chainsaw milling clips online. Turns out, it was a video he almost didn’t make. After debating to himself, he decided to go ahead and film it. As the video posted to Youtube, he thought about what great exposure it would be if he could at least get 10,000 or so views.

However, after his 30-second video went viral (15,000,000 views), Jarrod was left speechless.

Not only did this video open business avenues for Jarrod, it’s also been key in creating awareness and interest in the chainsaw milling world. People now come to Jarrod on his Youtube channel to ask different questions about milling products and techniques, to which Jarrod happily responds, sometimes even telling the stories behind the products he’s created.

FUTURE PLANS

Future plans include growing his Youtube channel and Instagram while expanding his business. He also hopes to expand his storage space as he’s currently running out of room!

Jarrod also plans to continue using Youtube as a means to answer questions people have about the work he does and the products he uses.

Using social media as a way to connect with people, while also giving them a glimpse into the milling world, is something that he enjoys and hopes to continue.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram- @secondlifedesign

https://www.youtube.com/user/renchbender83

Jennifer Alger: Urban Lumber Movement

Thu, 17 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

In an effort to save our natural resources and cut down on waste, Jennifer Alger started the Urban Lumber Network. The Network is a coalition formed by people who share the same idea of not wanting to see the wood and natural resources that we have current access to be chipped or sent to a landfill, while we still continue to import other hardwood from overseas.

PEOPLE WITHIN THE BUSINESS

People in the Urban Lumber network include landowners with wooded acres, sawmill owners who repurpose the trees, woodworkers who turn the wood into pieces of art, and laborers who can take part in the process of removing and breaking down the trees.

IMPORTANCE OF THE BUSINESS

As part of the “Urban Tree Rescue Program”, Urban Lumber uses any wood not harvested for their timber value (such as “beetle kill salvage”), repurposes it, and then markets it to the American consumer- all while maintaining the philosophy that not only is wood one of the greenest options that you can choose, but every time we can save a natural resource from being wasted, we’re helping the environment.

ROLE OF THE BUSINESS

Not only does Jennifer’s Urban Lumber Network help the environment, it also helps her fellow timber industry workers to network, and by extension, grow their business. Through networking, Jennifer also advises people that are interested in starting a woodworking business. She takes the time to walk them through the steps that they can take, as well as connecting them with people who can help them along the way.

URBAN LUMBER SUMMIT

In response to Jennifer’s inspired work, the Sawmill Business Community has joined forces with the Urban Lumber Network and organized a summit. This summit will mainly focus on educating people about marketing techniques for their wood business, the various types of kiln drying processes, and money saving ideas on those processes. Also present will be speaker Sam Sherrill, author of Urban Harvesting Timber, a leader and expert in the urban lumber industry.

LINKS MENTIONED

Website: urbansalvagedwoods.com

Website: urbanlumbernetwork.com

Tickets for the Urban Lumber Summit: urbanlumbersummit.com

Joshua Blewett: Selling Slabs and Chainsaw Art

Thu, 10 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Joshua Blewett is an artist who has been creating wood carvings and sculptures as a side hobby for 25 years. As a kid, he used to love drawing and painting. His stepfather is a wood carver and was the first professional artist he’d ever seen. Joshua used to help him with carvings and this type of influence helped grow his love for carving.

BUSINESS MARKETING & IDEAL CUSTOMERS

Joshua mostly finds his clients from word of mouth and referrals, but lately, he’s been using Instagram to market his work. Instagram is his favorite marketing channel since it's incredibly visual. Aside from that, he also goes to carving shows and exhibitions.

CHALLENGES OF BEING AN ARTIST

One of the most challenging aspects of Joshua’s business is that each piece is handmade and a one-off. Remaking every piece to order requires an intense amount of precision and attention to detail. Getting logs for these carvings can also be quite a hassle. In addition to that, they're heavy to transport or lift around, and it becomes difficult to make a carving out of them. One of the milling machines he uses is a 30 inch Granberg Alaskan sawmill.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram: Joshua Blewett

Facebook: @artistjoshuablewett

Website: joshblewett.com

Evan Lanterman: Lanterman Woodworks

Thu, 03 May 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW HE STARTED THE BUSINESS

On this episode, we have Evan Lanterman of Lanterman Woodworks. Evan’s college education was in Industrial design and he wanted to have hands-on experience after he finished his schooling. He started out by building timber frames, general contracting and the carpentry business. In 2011, he slabbed a tree that had come down at a nearby park and this turned out to a game changer for him. After opening the tree up, he discovered a new way of working with wood. He obviously didn’t want to waste the products and this is how he shifted from the type of work that he was doing. At the moment he’s focusing on ways to utilize the mill and the material that comes from it to create furniture although he minimally still does residential carpentry.

PRODUCT AND SERVICES

Currently, Evan is focused on building pieces through his creativity hoping clients will be impressed and will buy them from him. He has a network of local designers and a few homeowners that he’s been working for over the years, of whom he hopes will refer him to other clients. His products include cabinets, tables, desks, and shelving units. He’s thrilled by the idea of free-standing objects as they're easily portable.

BUSINESS MARKETING

Most of his business comes from referrals and word of mouth mainly from his clients and friends in the design industry. However, he’s striving to market himself a little bit more through Instagram and is also positioning his website to be able to receive orders.

PASSION

He loves seeing the end product of his work and to experience the joy of a customer. Not only is this mutually beneficial, but also one of the best feelings to have as a business owner.

CHALLENGES OF RUNNING THE BUSINESS

Lately, the hardest part of running the business has been managing time. He’s the sole person in the business and he’s always receiving calls, marketing, creating products, and interacting with clients. It's becoming overwhelming but he’s trying hard to balance them all.

5 TOP TOOLS ESSENTIAL FOR THE BUSINESS

His number one tool would be proper eyewear protection. He’s got a Bluetooth eyewear that keeps him occupied both mentally and physically. The second tool would be for dust collection and dust management and in the admin sector, the spreadsheet is really important in his business. The last two tools would be stable internet and have active social media accounts.

FUTURE PROJECTS

Evan hopes to start making live edge products from the material he’s been drying up over the past few years. He’s quite motivated and excited to get his hands on this project.

LINKS MENTIONED

Email: evan@lantermanwoodworks.com

Website: Lantermanwoodworks.com

Instagram: @lantermanwoodworks

Sean O’Brien: Pacific Coast Lumber

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Today we have Sean O’Brien from Pacific Coast Lumber. The business is located in San Luis Bispo, California right between LA and San Francisco on the Coast. The business has been around for almost 23 years but Sean bought it only 2 ½ years ago from Don Seawater. Dan owned a commercial lumber yard where he was selling commodity lumber until he realized it wasn't working for him anymore. He decided to generate a new industry of urban forested lumber. He had noticed that bio mass resources were being underutilized. They were left to decay or were used as firewood or wood chip which was a high waste of resources as far as Dan was concerned. He then bought a lumber mill and started retrieving the materials locally and developed the demand for it. When he was ready to retire, he approached Sean and his wife to buy off the business which they gladly did.

Before buying the business, Sean had been a software engineer for 25 years with no milling background. His wife on the other hand was an auditor for about 23 years and didn’t have the passion for her work anymore. She therefore decided to follow her passion and started a company called The Place to Grow where she takes reclaimed doors, windows, wood and metal elements and creates outdoor lifestyle structures. Her shop was located opposite of Don Seawater’s business and that’s how he sold the business to the couple when he was ready to retire.

Matthew: Of Earth Furniture

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Today, we have Matthew from Of Earth Furniture. Matthew has been in the wood working industry for over 20 years now. At 17, he started doing custom wood turning while working under a certain gentleman for 4 years. He acquired great skills and work ethic from this mentors experience. After turning 21, he left the job and begun hunting for another. He checked out a few shops but wasn't impressed by how they worked. He was more of a hands-on man but all he saw around was automated processes. He picked up a few jobs here and there until he broke off to start his own business, Of Earth Furniture. Of Earth Furniture is just a small company of two people at the moment. It has been a lifelong dream for Matthew to do custom solid wood furniture and that’s what Of Earth Furniture deals in. He sometimes does commercial work, but mostly custom does wood work. His work consists of his own designs but he’s very open to a customers’ design and custom tailor pieces.

CHALLENGES OF RUNNING A BUSINESS

Matthew is extremely good with handling people and sales and he always makes sure they're happy by providing high quality products. His hands work like magic but running the business side of things deems a little challenging. He has no formal business training in terms of marketing, branding, and sales. He is however working hard to learn all the business tips and tricks to be able to have a successful business.

LESSONS LEARNED

His perfectionist nature requires him to make sure everything happens according to plan. As much as this is a good trait, not everything goes to plan and on time. His biggest lesson is learning to let go and let things take their course.

STAYING INSPIRED

Matthew was not tech savvy before and wasn't mesmerized by the Instagram idea. However, one of his workers opened an account for the business and started posting content consistently. This grabbed Matthew’s attention and he’s now an Instagram junkie. He gets most of his inspiration from checking out other people’s amazing work on the app. One of them is Canadian Woodworks. He’s cautious of getting the shiny object syndrome from this, though, as everything always seems perfect on the site.

FUTURE PLANS

He’s working on his branding this year, so he’s looking to create a logo, a webpage, and deal with the marketing. He’s also putting up a product line for Of Earth which will include products such as candles, natural bees wax, pottery, and other products that can tie in with the Of Earth brand.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram: @ofearthfurniture

Email: Ofearthfurniture@gmail.com

Kevin Scheimreif: Steel and Grain

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Today, we have Kevin Scheimreif from Steel and Grain. When Kevin was a kid, his dad had a construction business and he would go help him. He worked in the shop and on the jobs during summer break, where he learned how to do everything from electrical, plumbing, additions etc. He vividly remembers how he built his first nightstand when he was 11.

After high school, he realized he really didn’t like the business. He then went to work for someone else for a couple of years as a mason. He left this job and took many other jobs but he never quite felt satisfied with himself. One of his friends, Kevin, later asked him to help build his house. This wasn't something Kevin knew how to do but was up for the challenge. He did this work for some time but construction still wasn't satisfying to him, so he decided to start building custom furniture. He started the business in his garage and inherited some woodworking tools from his dad after he closed his business a few years before. This is how Steel and Grain was born. It’s been his fulltime job now for 5 years.

Kevin is passionate about furniture and he does high-end woodworking where he incorporates steel metal work into almost every piece.

MARKETING & BUILDING SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING

When he started Steel and Grain, one of his friends, Abby, convinced him to get into Instagram. He wasn't conversant with the app at the time but he was willing to try it out. He would post his work and connect with other wood workers, checking out their stuff while getting inspiration. Before he knew it, his videos were going viral and his network grew tremendously.

He has also been going to arts festivals where he markets his products. Although some shows don’t end up converting to sales, there are really good ones out there. Social media and art shows split 50-50 in sales conversion.

SHIPPING PRODUCTS

Most of his shipping orders are through social media. His first order was a $6000 desk being shipped to California. All the other orders are 3-4 hours away from his workshop.

ADVICE

When he started out, he had no clients, no social media accounts or anything. He just quit working in construction and started building furniture hoping they would sell. Now, he wishes he would’ve done things differently by first getting a customer base, hustling in the evenings and weekends, and building some income before quitting the day job. He didn’t make a penny for the first two years and would live off credit cards which he awfully regrets.

CURRENT PROJECTS

He’s currently building new stuff for upcoming shows this year. He believes he’s going to gain new skills from this project. Even though he’s never done anything with drawers and edges, he wishes to gain skills from them this year. Aside from this, he’s got other projects like rough cut coffee tables, walnut tables, and others.

LINKS MENTIONED

Website: Steelandgrain.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteelAndGrain/

Instagram: @steelandgrain or @steelandgrainslabs

Email: Kevin@steelandgrain.com

Blaise Brogan: How to Supplement Your Tree Business

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Blaise Brogan started cutting trees when he left school at 16 years. He was working for various tree companies and eventually started his own. He first bought a middle skid steer boxer machine which he’d imported from America. He was impressed with the first product he made and decided it was something he could actually do.

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

He was working for a firm on week days and then work on the weekends cutting trees. He’d just bought a house and was working on it every evening trying to completely renovate it. One day in 2001, he decided to quit his job and just do his own thing.

Blaise has only been serving clients in his little village in North London. They love him because he creates unique products and is quite affordable.

When he started, he was trying to save the wood by cutting the hedges since there is a big reduction in trees. Afterwards, he started cutting the trunks in the yard after which required him to buy a milling machine. He mainly does tree trimming, but also does milling.

DEVELOPING MARKET FOR HIS PRODUCTS

In the UK, the market is quite different from USA. People prefer buying things like antiques from stores rather than having them made from scratch. It’s a more of a younger market that is growing.

He’s got a really big stock which is a good opportunity for him. He feels that in the next five years, his business is going to take off. He’s trying to get into some design agencies and talk to people, and also push a mixture in materials as well, such as getting metal cast into the pieces. He’s been experimenting with that a lot.

GROWING THE MILLING BUSINESS

For Blaise, it’s really about getting the woods to use and getting the word out there. For example, he is specializing in big stuff like conference tables and he works really hard to make them outstanding since it’s the kind of product he’s pushing for.

FUTURE PLANS

He just got a new work shop which is ten times bigger than the old, which has now created a bigger working space. He can now work on more stuff and he also has a small kiln that he made to keep the wood dry and cared for.

Twitter: @BlaiseBrogan

Instagram: Blaiseintrees

Facebook: Blaise Brogan

Nick Thrane: Thrane Axe & Sawmill Co

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Thrane Axe and Sawmill company is all about axe restorations, making blanks for people who want to curve their own handles and making wood wedges.

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED.

In the beginning, Nick had never used axes before and was curious of where to buy. He found old ones from different marketplaces and started collecting them. It reached a point where he felt as though he was hoarding them and he slowly began selling. Because he was frustrated of buying factory made handles which only fit certain size axes, he started Thrane Axe & Sawmill. He knew there are so many different axes and sizes of the eye where the handle goes in and that’s why he decided to start making his own. He would buy wood and cut it himself using an lt10 sawmill but he’s now upgraded to a powerful hydraulic sawmill.

He’s been in business for about 4 years now and the reception has been great. The wedges have been selling so fast because no one else makes the variety of wood types, of wedges.

ROLE THE SAWMILL PLAYS IN THE BUSINESS.

The Sawmill plays a big part in producing the wood to make everything for the business. It helps to cut different thicknesses of wood that might be impossible to buy anywhere.

MARKETING & GROWING THE BUSINESS

Being a very niche product, it's quite tricky to get the word out. Mainly, he pays for keyword searches and advertising through Google.

Nick has found it challenging to grow the business because of up and coming competition. They creep up fast and sell products at a cheaper price. Currently, he’s trying to build the inventory of dry wood which he’ll use in future. This gives him unlimited options as to what he can do.

WOOD SOURCING

He gets his wood wherever he can locally because there are a lot of rules and regulations if you go to other states to transport logs. But mostly, he gets Ash trees in Maryland along the railroad, or a canal, or a river, and also a lot of people contact him when they have logs.

HOW HE STAYS MOTIVATED

As much as it can be hard, he really tries to motivate himself. He tries not to get up early because that makes him more tired. He makes sure to eat a good breakfast, drink coffee, and take his dog for a walk. This helps him kick start the day and keeps him motivated.

FUTURE PLANS

He’s been collecting logs which have now piled up and he needs to air dry them to use them later. Also, he knows a lot of places with ash trees and he would like to cut as much as he can since he foresees it's about to get scarce.

LINKS MENTIONED

Website: Thraneaxeandsawco.com

Instagram: @Thraneaxeandsawmillco

Mike Rupich: End Grain Furniture

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 08:00:00 +0000

HOW END GRAIN FURNITURE BUSINESS STARTED

Mike Rupich first started all by himself doing custom furniture. He thinks is his parents really trusted him when they let him run around with big power tools when he was younger! He would build stuff and work with tools and as he got older, this became a passionate hobby although he never thought he could ever make money from it.

For years, he built himself furniture because he couldn’t afford the ones he wanted. Then one person after another wanted to buy his furniture and it surprisingly turned out to be a full business. He’s acquired different sawmills over the 10 years he’s been in business and now it's a full-scale metal and wood fabrication shop. In addition, they also sell the wood that they mill themselves.

BUSINESS CHALLENGES & INVESTMENTS

Being just a passionate man with no business skills, handling the day to day business operations was quite a task for Mike. It's one thing to burst with talent and skills, it's another to handle the business side of things. He knew he didn’t want to be a starving artist so he tried learning the ropes of having a reasonable pricing point while building quality stuff. 10 employees later, he still struggles a bit having to handle the managerial tasks especially book keeping.

After building all that up for years, two years ago his neighbor’s shop caught fire which resulted to his business being taken out. Out of this calamity, End Grain Lumber was born. Not everything was ruined and they had truckloads of lumber that they needed to give a purpose, which they started turning into products such as flooring to complement the furniture business.

Mike is a big fan of buy once cry once while making investments. He made a huge investment to purchase a Tenon table saw which he recalls was the best thing he ever bought at the time. But as time went by other better machines cropped up and it was no longer as fancy as he thought. In this industry, though, he suggests you buy the best quality of what you can afford.

SAWMILLS

In the beginning, most of the items he was asked to make required the right boards or right sizes. He always had a hard time having to look for them which and he figured it would be best to buy the correct sawmills. Compared to what he was spending on the materials at the time, this was a wise business decision. He now owns a Woodmizer 30 and an Oscar 52.

BUSINESS LESSONS AND MOTIVATION.

His motivation comes from looking around and seeing how many talented people there are now. Everyone has a different perspective on what could be built and how they should be built which keeps him on his toes and inspired.

His first lesson is realizing that this is one of the harder professions. You have to buy expensive machines and put in so much labor, but he’s never put down by that fact. Other lessons learned, it's important to buy only what you need, when you need it, and in the best quality as well as make sure to stand behind your work.

FINDING HIS FIRST CLIENT.

Currently, most of his clients are interior designers, architects, and designs build companies. He believes he found his clients through hard work and luck. All what he’s doing now stemmed from one referral. While he was working in his garage, he got introduced to an amazing interior designer who opened doors for him for bigger projects. That work introduced him to other people and it’s been a swift ride with consistent projects from then.

FUTURE PLANS

Previously, they’ve always done one-off stuff and collaborating with people to build pieces. Now, they want to enhance that on the lumber side and also having a small collection of their own pieces.

LINKS MENTIONED

Instagram: End Grain Furniture / End Grain Lumber

Website: Endgrainfurniture.com / Endgrainlumber.com

Location: Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Zach: Old Technology

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 08:00:00 +0000

How Zach got started

Zach, from Old Technology, got started when his friends in the tree service started giving him the trees they were removing from properties. He first invested in a chainsaw mill to start milling these trees, then bought a kiln for drying and is now producing his own furniture from his wood.

Originally a general contractor with a passion in woodworking, as interest grew he was able to go full-time.

Investing in Equipment

The first piece of equipment Zach invested in was a backhoe to assist with the removal of the trees. As the trees started to pile up in his yard he found a lot and started milling and air-drying the wood. The game changer for Zach was buying an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill. It meant they could mill the trees on-site, in places that were inaccessible to heavy equipment and would be able to get the wood out.

How Zach funded the business

Zach's business was all self funded. He began with savings and then as he started selling wood, reinvested the money in his business. This was a long road requiring a lot of patience but Zach was determined to work within his means. He continued to work as a general contractor during this time as he built the business. As Zach gained experience and found clients, things started to snowball and he had to turn down contracting jobs in order to work on the business. Going full-time in the business was the natural next step.

The Most Profitable Part of Zach's Business

In partnership with tree service companies, Zach provides a 'mill and return' service to the home owner where he mills the tree and returns it to the homeowner. These trees have been apart of the home and have history. This service enables homeowners to keep a piece of that. He finds that the tree services have a lot of success selling his milling services to home owners.

His company also makes a lot of high end furniture and make commercial furniture for restaurants and coffee shops.

How Zach Markets his Business

Unusually, Old Technology does not have a website. They do have an Instagram and find that 50% of contact comes via Instagram with word of mouth being the other main source of leads.

The Equipment Zach uses

Panther Mill
Cannon Bars
Stihl MS 880
Granberg Ripping Chain

Does Zach want a bigger mill?

Zach is currently running a sawmill business with an Alaskan mill. Although Zach would like a bigger mill in the future, they are currently investing money in other areas such as a kiln and a CNC machine. He is then looking to purchase a Lucas or a Peterson mill.

How Zach is planning to grow

He has recently moved into a new warehouse with a full service wood and metal shop. They are transforming part of it into a slab showroom and will also have a showroom for finished furniture.

Old Technology Instagram

Marji Medina: It's Not Trash

Thu, 08 Mar 2018 09:00:00 +0000

HOW IT'S NOT TRASH STARTED.

Today, we have Marji Medina from It's Not Trash, a reclaimed wood design company. Marji was working as a VP in sales consultant for a hospital for quite a while but was not satisfied with it. Coming from a wood work family, she missed getting her hands dirty with physical labor which resulted in her furnishing her first apartment with making her own pieces. After that, she created a side business on Craigslist which made an extra hundred dollars a month.

Around 2014, her wife, as she calls her, (never actually married) was getting a 2nd degree and everything was so tight. Coincidentally, people kept on telling Marji she needed to make her own furniture designs. She thought of taking broken stuff like IKEA designs and fixing them, she tears them apart and makes her own. This brilliant idea was supposed to only fund their wedding but within 4 months they were already making over $3000 a month. In a year, she was able to fully fund the wedding and fully pay her wife’s college fees. Surprised that it worked out so well, she quit her job and fully committed to the furniture business.

DEVELOPING HER SKILLS & BUILDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS.

She was the ‘tomboy’ kid who made stuff with her best friend. They would pick up wood and create little things that increased her woodwork skills. Up to now, her love for fixing things is almost a problem because she always wants to fix everything.

In her college years, Marji did door to door sales which she ended up doing for 13 years. She says she can’t trade that experience for anything. It taught her so much that she later implemented in her business. People love buying her products because they feel like they just bought them from a friend as Marji is so friendly, and informative to her clients.

HOW SHE SOURCES HER PRODUCTS

In the early beginnings of the business, she loved driving around and throwing the wood in the back of her truck when she saw broken things. However, right now she doesn't have enough time to either drive around or even build as much as she used to. Her staff have now taken the role of doing almost everything but she always oversees them. She doesn't go to get wood anymore unless she’s sure of getting a truckload. This has resulted to her buying wood from Home Depot for some of her stuff. She has established a great relationship with guys who work at Home Depot who always call her when they have stuff to dispose.

HOW CUSTOMERS FIND THEM & THEIR IDEAL CUSTOMER

It all started from Craigslist when she was fixing broken stuff and sell the finished pieces. Later, she added on a Facebook and Instagram. She didn’t have a website till a year later since web optimization cost an arm for small businesses.

She jokes her ideal customer is someone who doesn't send her a West Elm bed on repeat. She wants someone who is willing to take multiple pictures and have them all mashed together to create something new and just let her burst with creativity to deliver something amazing.

ADVICE TO ANYONE ENTERING THE RECLAIMED BUSINESS.

First, understand that it's not the best-writing author but the best-selling author. It’s not about waiting to have everything in place before getting started, it's about starting immediately and doing the best you can with what you have and getting better as you fail.

Secondly, you are never going to get more money than the market can bear. Figure out how much it costs to make your widget. Find something you can make with a profit margin within a time frame that is going to pay you what you're worth hourly.

LINKS MENTIONED IN PODCAST

Instagram: @itsnottrash

Website: Www.itsnottrashdesigns.com

Clay Klener: Evolutia

Thu, 01 Mar 2018 09:00:00 +0000

HOW CLAY STARTED THE BUSINESS.

Clay Klener, from Evolutia, specializes in reclaimed wood. They started salvaging large textile mills in the South East in the early 2000s as a family business. Although they’re from Birmingham, Alabama the first project they did was in South Carolina. A lot of the textile mills they were after were in South Carolina, Georgia, or Alabama. What they did was dismantle old structures, salvage the wood and bricks, bundling and tag it, inventory it and sell it wholesale.

Now, they are more on the retail side and they salvage wood from all over the country as well as buying wood from brokers. They then put out finished products like architectural pieces and other products for most interior applications.

Starting the business was very difficult because, as it's a new industry, there are no standards or standardization like there is with new lumber. The business is rewarding, however, you might encounter issues with purchasing or salvaging material, having a large waste factor, or getting material that may have some damage.

TAKING BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

The number one thing that must have taken the business from the beginning stages to a better level is better and proper equipment. This enabled them to stop outsourcing when trying to produce certain orders. It allowed more control and consistency in whatever they were doing.

The other thing is increased inventory. They’re always dismantling, salvaging, or purchasing reclaimed material so having it on hand was very helpful. Customers like to see what they're getting and this really helped push the business forward.

WHAT HAS KEPT THEM MOTIVATED OVER THE YEARS

In such a business, every day is different and this is a motivating factor. Also, everyone in the business enjoys the history of the salvaged materials. They’ve done large commercial projects that they were really proud to be a part of.

THEIR IDEAL CUSTOMER

They have several ideal customers. First being contractors because they bring repeat business and totally understand their material and how to use them. They’ve also been involved in restaurants where they give materials and do tabletops for them. Although it's hard to downsize to the ideal customer, they deal with contractors, homeowners, and architects and designers.

LESSONS LEARNED

Over the years, reclaimed has become harder and harder to find. Clay wishes they’d collected more wood over the time they’ve been in business and especially the first years. This has caused them to miss out on some pretty huge deals in the past because of lack of inventory. Also, the material holds so much value now and he wishes they’d done more large projects. Knowing how to manufacture the material, in the beginning, could have saved them tons of money but it's all a learning curve.

FUTURE PLANS & ADVICE.

They hope to bring in more profits with the booming economy at the moment.

He would advise anyone getting into the business right now to tread lightly. There's a lot to learn in this business and unfortunately, there's no instruction manual. Things like getting the correct materials, learning your own process, etc. Most importantly, pay attention to your bottom line, get adequate equipment and employees, and make sure you're consistent in what you're putting out.

Check out Evolutia Made at: https://evolutiamade.com

Or on Instagram at: evolutiamade

Mike: Barn Board

Thu, 22 Feb 2018 21:27:41 +0000

HOW BARN BOARD STORE STARTED

About 16 years ago, Mike and his wife bought a house that had the worst-looking garage at the back of the house and he wanted to do something about it.

Later, a barn had blown over at a friend’s town and Mike together with his wife rented a truck and bought all the barn boards. He then collaged the garage in barn boards and made it look like a barn. Fast forward to 6 years later, they needed to expand the garage and they ended up tearing it all down. There was this barn board that was in still in good shape after all this time and he couldn’t really dispose of it. He opted to sell it on Craigslist where he got a massive response. Days later, he would still get requests from people asking where they could get barn board and that’s when the business idea came to mind.

TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH

After tearing the garage and getting requests for barn boards, Mike would work with barn boards during the weekends and sell them off. Luckily at the same time, his career in management in a tech company hit a wall and he calmly transitioned to the barn wood business that was already booming.

BARN BOARD’S PRODUCT SERVICES AND REVENUE STREAMS

They mostly sell raw barn boards and reclaimed lumber and people can do whatever it is they want with it. Alternatively, they can make stuff for their clients. The first component of their business is sales and fabrication of reclaimed wood and the second component from demand was dried slabs. They’ve developed that part of the business incredibly, and have a lot of live edge slabs. Same as the reclaimed lumber, they can either sell it as raw or could create anything as per the client’s expectation. The third thing they do is custom furniture which a client gives specifications of whatever it is they need. They source their wood from tons of suppliers and barns in the Province of Ontario in which he tries his best to handpick the best materials. He’s noticed reclaimed materials are more popular and more appreciated now as opposed to before where furniture was pre-manufactured. People are flexing their creative muscles and it gets exciting every single day.

CHALLENGES OF RUNNING RECLAIMED BUSINESS

The number one challenge his business experiences are clients having extremely high expectations in terms of product delivery. Some clients think their order will be started on right away, which is hardly the case. The overflow of orders delays the timeframe in which an item will be completely done.

Figuring out the market and what the customers want has not been as stressful for them as they pride themselves on being good listeners. They’ve got clients who are super creative but have distinctively different tastes. From regular people, homeowners, restaurants, and commercial companies, this diverse group needs quite a good ear and someone who’s open-minded.

MARKETING HIS BUSINESS

It’s obvious from their website and Instagram account that they’ve mastered the art of marketing. For the past two years, Instagram has been driving quite a huge number of clients to their stores. Mike believes it's important to have beautiful products but it's also equally important to have clients knocking on your door buying products. He’s invested in a good team which he requires to be all rounded. It’s important to him that everyone he hires be passionate about woodwork as well as sales and other business techniques.

FUTURE PLANS

They just recently opened up their Durham store and are cautiously looking to grow more. His main concern is not to grow too much at once and not be able to meet clients’ expectations.

Visit them at

http://www.barnboardstore.com

https://www.instagram.com/barnboardstore/

Ryan Walsh: Lumber Lust Designs

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 10:00:00 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED.

Ryan Walsh started lumber lust designs about 2 years ago. His background is in media and marketing and his other business was going through some economic changes due to technology and political climate.

He had been doing woodwork as a hobby for his home and when his son was about to be born, he and his wife decided to replace all their furniture with those that were more vintage style. He self-taught wood finishing and restoration for anything that needed some changes. That is how Lumber Lust design was born.

He incredibly improved his skills and most of his orders are now custom orders furniture pieces and installations according to the customer’s needs and style. However, his business style is more of the West Coast vibe combined with a rustic wooden element with the modern geometric modern framework.

MARKETING AND HOW HE RUNS THE BUSINESS

When you start a business everyone wants to see what your style is. At first, Ryan and his wife built up a lot of inventory just to get exposure and to let people see their style and quality. In the first one and a half year of business, they were featured 4 times in different magazines. They then sold them on Etsy, on their website, Amazon, and boutiques. Currently, they work with custom-commissioned pieces where the customers dictate the size, design, and color of the furniture. They also design furniture according to what sells more and limiting it to a timeless look where they won't go out of style in a few years.

They started off as an Instagram brand, therefore, it is their main source of marketing. Ryan’s background in media and marketing and also as a commercial photographer has helped them produce amazing online content and studio images for the website and for apps like Instagram, Pinterest, Houzz etc. Also, they do postcard mailers reaching out to existing clients as well as networking with folks around their community that understand their mission with reclaimed wood.

FUTURE PLANS

They're looking to reach more customers outside the Phoenix area. It was easy for them to ship smaller items to other states but the big hurdle was when they had to ship huge and heavy furniture. After intensively searching for a shipping company they could talk to one on one, they recently teamed up with a local transport service which will enable them to ship large items. They successfully transported a large coffee table to Kansas and he believes this has opened the door for more outside Phoenix deliveries.

Website: Lumberlust-designs.com

Tim Williams: South East Reclaimed

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 10:00:00 +0000

HOW TIM STARTED THE BUSINESS

Tim believes he got into this space by mere chance. He was in a really bad wreck in 2013. He was in a wheelchair for 7 ½ months and during that time is when he started building stuff, which resulted in building some stuff with reclaimed wood. They then contracted their first barn, saw how they were handling their woods and that’s how South East Reclaimed was born.

They’ve done 60 barns in the last 2 years but what’s shocking is that they never find the barn, the barns find them. Aside from being in the barn harvesting industry, they’re also on the manufacturing end. They're trying to produce wall material by processing the lumber out and process it into wall materials. As a company, they don’t build anything. They stick to the aspect of the barn and that’s by providing the material which they do around the areas of South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH

He was still working fulltime for a builder until it got too hard to juggle the two. Tim called his manager to share the news that he was quitting. Although the manager was shocked, he let him go and Tim is incredibly happy with the decision because the business is so fun and doesn't feel like a job to him.

BUSINESS CHALLENGES AND WHAT HE’S LEARNED AS A BUSINESS OWNER.

The biggest challenge to the business has to be moving stock. In South Carolina, it’s risky to leave lumber to sit outside for a day. This could mean getting mildew on it in a few days. So storing the lumber and moving them fast has to be the number one challenge.

Another challenge is educating people on reclaimed lumber. People know of its existence but they don’t really think they can get it. Unfortunately, there are some people who don’t really understand the meaning of barn wood and they’re selling all other kinds of wood calling it barn wood. Tim feels some real education is needed to avoid misinformation.

As a business owner, he’s learned to never lose sight of why he started the business. It gets overwhelming when sorting out aspects of the day to day running of the business, but understanding why you started it in the first place keeps you grounded and the business moving.

FUTURE

In future, they're looking to diversify more into possibly everything since reclaiming seems to be a passing trend. He believes there are issues in the sawmill industry where the small ‘guys’ cannot be trusted by the big ‘guys’. They’re looking into being a full-service company and cater to the little guys and eradicate the problems they're currently facing.

Website: Southeast.reclaimed.com

Phone: 704-728-5424

Justin Steinburg: Karl Taylor Wood

Thu, 07 Dec 2017 10:00:00 +0000

A LITTLE ABOUT KARL TAYLOR WOOD

Karl Taylor wood is owned by Justin Steinburg and is Located in Abbotsford, an hour from Vancouver, British Columbia. They offer people kiln dried slabs. Drying the slabs takes 6-8 weeks, which they later sell the rough slabs. No sanding or finishing is done on them but just sold as is. In addition to that, they also do coffee tables, headboards, and are currently starting on table projects.

HOW JUSTIN GOT STARTED IN THE BUSINESS

A year and a half ago, Justin did a couple of projects for his local church and thought it would be fun and interesting if he would make his own wood to use for projects. He spent some time researching and later on they got the saws and started cutting wood, drying it, and started on some projects.

TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH

The research he did, in the beginning, made him realize there was a market for what he was making. It was then that he decided to just get into the business with his brother. They would cut and dry stuff and later put ads on craigslist but there was no response for a couple of months. However, they did not lose hope and it so happened that they suddenly blew up. People started emailing and texting asking about prices and that’s when the business really picked up.

RUNNING THE BUSINESS AND FUTURE PLANS

Working as a graphic designer for his church, Justin is involved in the business for only 3 days a week. Similarly, his brother, who is his business partner, works during the evening hours and on Saturdays. This has been the biggest challenge for them because no one is fully available for the business. In spite of that, they recently launched their website which hopefully will take the business to the other level and make it grow. For Justin, though, it's quite challenging for him to do the sales. He feels he’s a more behind the scenes person but it's mandatory for him to do the sales since his brother is mostly absent.

Being the artsy person, he grows his skills in different ways by doing online researching and asking knowledgeable people questions, but most of it has truly been trial and error. In future, they're hoping to sell more furniture, and make their own wood which would definitely be money saving.

Website: KarlTaylorWood.com

Instagram: @karltaylorwood

Facebook: @karltaylorwood

Mathew Wlotkowski: Rough Sawn Detroit

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 15:42:13 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

On this episode, I chat with Mathew Wlotkowski of Rough Sawn Detroit. For Mathew, the business started out as a hobby. He had and wanted to get into cutting lavage material he had been buying for a while for his own stuff like tables, but later on, figured it would be best to get some cash out of it.

He’d been going through the Detroit area sourcing his material from trees that had fallen or cut out from people putting up houses. He then started posting pictures on social media in order to get his products out there and that is where he sourced his customers.

RUNNING THE BUSINESS AND CHALLENGES FACED

Currently, his biggest challenge is getting time to get his projects done on time and building the business because it's a side hustle for him. He’s been practicing landscaping for 15 years now, but his new business is growing at a faster rate than he thought. Due to this challenge of lack of time to really engage in projects, he is milling wood to provide to other makers and woodworkers in the area.

LEARNING HIS SKILLS

Mathew was one time watching a video on building and he saw a person cut down a tree and take his chainsaw, which had a funky attachment at the end of it, and the person began to mill the material to build his house. This was so cool to him and so he thought it was something he could get into. He then did some research on Granberg and bought a chainsaw that he has been using.

The most popular thing he sells is vinyl record stands but he had to pull out of selling them because he couldn’t keep up with the orders that were being made at that time. Aside from that, he also makes candles holders and some oaks.

FUTURE PLANS

He plans on going a notch higher and get more into building lavage tables, single slab tables and maybe 10 foot long tables.

Instagram: @roughsawnDetroit

Kyle Schloss: Southern Grain Craftsmen

Thu, 23 Nov 2017 18:13:18 +0000

HOW THE BUSINESS STARTED

Kyle Schloss, the owner of Southern Grain Craftsmen, had done a few different jobs in his lifetime but was really passionate about woodwork ever since he was in middle school. He used to build things in his garage and one time he found an old cabinet shop from an owner who had run out of business. Luckily, he knew him and he called to ask whether he could move in which he accepted. He then moved in swung right into work.

TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH

Starting this business was a huge risk for him as he didn’t know what lay ahead. This move meant that he had to partake responsibilities such as having to pay for rent and other costs that came with the business. He obviously didn’t know where his next check would come from or if he’d actually get paid for his work, but he just hoped that his work would speak out for itself, and it did.

RUNNING THE BUSINESS, LESSONS LEARNT AND MOTIVATION

The business has been running for a year, which has three workers but is seeking to employ more. The biggest lesson for him is learning to let the customers see his work. For his website, he didn’t want to use photos from his previous jobs, so building the brand and having customers to trust that was a little difficult.

Another lesson that took a while to understand would be finding the pricing for a product. Trying to balance between being fair-priced, paying himself for all the hard work, and getting a profit proved to be a little bit tricky.

He gains motivation by following people on social media who talk mostly about woodwork and sees what other people are creating out there. Also, lovely customers who appreciate his work and build a business relationship with him give him the will to continue working.

FUTURE PLANS

With 10 acres of land available, Kyle expects to fully expand the shop in the near future. He started with fabrication first unlike many other businesses so he now wants to invest in sawmill which he feels will catapult his business. He’s slowly building his brand and he hopes will be fully appreciated in future.

ADVICE

Anyone who wants to turn their hobby into a full-time job should go for it and stay passionate about it and regardless of the tribulations they go through, they should remain motivated and persistent.

GET SOCIAL ON:

Facebook: Southern Grain Craftsmen

Instagram: Southern_grain_nc

Website: www.Southerngraincraftsmen.com

Danny Torres: Deadwood Revival

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 10:00:00 +0000

For episode 032, our guest is Danny Torres of Deadwood Revival Design.

DANNY TORRES TURNED AN INTEREST INTO A BUSINESS

Danny Torres turned an interest into a true passion called Deadwood Revival Design. It is a testing, wood and steel fabrication outfit out of San Luis Obispo, CA, serving customers for a year and a half. While talking with a guy he met, Danny discovered that he had a Granberg Mill, with plans to learn how to cut so that he could start his own woodworking business. This inspired Danny and he committed to buying his own his own Granberg Mill, though he didn’t have any experience in woodworking. It wasn’t until he met Scott Romain that things started falling into place of what would eventually become Deadwood Revival Designs. Danny knew people who work to combat forest fires which exposed him to to the problems the country has with big fires. During his off time, he put down some hazard trees and realized that they could be utilized and converted into lumber. His interest in woodworking began to grow.

GETTING OFF THE GROUND

Initially, Scott was Danny’s original partner until he introduced Danny to his current partner Pepe (Steel Fabricator) and Deadwood Revival Design was born. They got their first project came by way of Scott & Pepe’s architecture school professor. Their former professor had put in the designed for a coffee shop called Contraband and recommended the team for the job. A bid was placed and the emerging company won the bid.

THE HUSTLE

Both partners still have day jobs, but find time to push their passion and work long hours on Deadwood Revival Designs projects. Growth will allow them more freedom in the process by being able to hire some people to take items off of their plate. Danny believes in continuing his education and is taking a welding class at night to be of more service to his business. He is putting his all into it - along with Pepe.

THE VERSATILITY OF THE GRANBERG MILL

Deadwood Revival is strictly run off of the Granberg Mill. The feeling is that Granberg definitely makes things more user-friendly. It is very easy to work with, everything works seamlessly with each other. It is a very accurate mill. The team are not in a position to be stationary. It is all about mobility for them.

GROWING THE BUSINESS

Danny and Pepe are looking to get more into marketing. Right now, everything is produced to order. Deadwood Revival are using their website and social media to promote. They are looking to grow beyond word-of-mouth by going into the community and be present at more local events.

They are also partnering with the American Forest and the National Forest Foundation to plant new trees from their proceeds. For every dollar they give, a new tree is planted. They are committed to having their customers be a part of the entire story of what is being created with the lumber. Photos are taking every step in the process and is shared with the customer to create a full experience. They love the idea of a customer bringing more nature inside and in doing so, each sale gives life to a new tree.

Instagram: @deadwoodrevival

Website: http://deadwoodrevivaldesign.com/

Brodye Chappell: Brodye Chappell Builds

Thu, 09 Nov 2017 17:23:46 +0000

HOW BRODYE CHAPPELL GOT STARTED IN THE BUSINESS

Brodye worked in his father’s custom home building business for 15 years. He humbly began by selling lumber but quickly worked his way up to being the lead finish carpenter in his crew. Dedicated to his work and building some really cool stuff, his friends started noticing him and would ask for a hand in their businesses. Some clients would even specifically just ask for him. Brody then started taking some time off in the evenings and weekends and it wasn't long before he got really busy to the point he would ask his dad for some days off. Reluctantly, he accepted his plea. Things then got really busy and it was then he decided to start his own business away from his dad.

TAKING THE LEAP OF FAITH.

Brodye gave his all in whatever he did and everything would just click. He felt happy in his work. Of course, clients noticed this. The compliments he received from them made him feel as though he was capped in his father’s business. With all the ideas he had in mind and incredible overflow of work, he did the hardest thing he’s ever done and broke away from his dad’s business and started his own.

HOW HE DEVELOPS HIS SKILLS AND WHAT HE’S LEARNED AS A BUSINESS OWNER.

He learned the basic residential carpentry stuff from his dad and uncle but when it came furniture pieces he would study online and would test them out in his small shop. However, translating what he learns to make a physical product is not always easy and needs a lot of trial and error.

Away from that, as a business owner, getting the estimate of things and also the paperwork has been a bit taxing for the two years he’s been alone. He thinks of himself as more creative with his hands than dealing with the other business side of things. His father always did that when he was working for him so it was something entirely new the moment he got into his own business.

FUTURE PLANS

Currently, he does all the work by himself which is proving to be a little challenging as the business is growing at an alarming rate. He now plans to hire a creative person either full-time or part-time in the near future. He also hopes to get a bigger chainsaw after Granberg body extension and eventually as the business expands and grows bigger, he’ll get a bigger mill. Although he’s not made any money yet from the Granberg as he’s building his inventory, he’s quite positive that it will pay in due course.

Instagram: @Brza

Joshua Kincaid: Slumberyard Handcrafted

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 11:06:25 +0000

Get insights, and motivation from incredible interviews from people inside the sawmill business industry. Get the marketing and business skills that you need to be able to grow you sawmill business.

In this episode Host, Steve interviews Joshua Kincaid a sawmill business owner from Rockford, Illinois.

[00:00:53] Woodworking with his grandfather as a child he saw his passion. In 2016 he started his own woodworking business creating custom furniture. He climbed the ladder from woodworking small furniture to getting a Granberg Alaskan mill and started a sawmilling business!

[00:02:24] Joshua started his business with Granberg after doing some research. Granberg is one of the best products out there. Granberg was most appealing to Joshua mainly because it is a brand that stands behind their product, and is a decent expenditure.

[00:02:32] While in the grind stage he is actively doing things to grow his business and get his name out there. In the area he lives he goes door to door giving out his business card. Especially after violent storm hits.

[00:04:16] The grand vision for growing his business is upgrading equipment since right now he just uses a lot hand me downs. He plans to get better power tools to increase production and improve quality.

[00:04:52] He plans to be more in control of the business process. From knowing where the tree came from, dried, and how it was treated the whole way through. To deliver the product to the customer. He finds having that control very appealing and efficient.

[00:05:24] Joshua tries to follow other business on Instagram, Youtube, and internet articles to see what is working best, and then model his own business practices after what works. He stays unbiased, meaning he wants to see what everyone's best practices are.

[00:07:25] He gives the best advice by saying start small with better, quality tools. There is no need to go big right out of the gate. Meaning, don't buy lower quality tools. Save yourself frustration by working your way up when you can afford big equipment that is also quality and efficient.

[00:08:13] Joshua talks about how you have to 100% connect to the influential individuals in the sawmill industry, keep up with the latest trends, and be looking for better ways of doing things. Keep teaching yourself and be open to education that will make your practices better.

[00:09:10] He talks about his prototype for a Greenland kayak paddle. After creating the blueprint with his friend he was finally able to get started. Creating this prototype was a big achievement.

[00:10:46] For the future he plans to grow his business by investing in bigger, more efficient equipment! Out with the hand-me-downs and small tools so that he can mill larger logs.

[00:11:41] Granberg stays together really well and is lightweight so you don't have to worry about getting tired easily. This product is ready right out of the box and only takes 10 minutes to assemble.

[00:12:26] One thing that will keep him a Granberg customer is staying engaged on social media.

[00:13:22] Get in touch with Joshua through social media. Find him at:

Instagram: @slumberyardhandcrafted

Facebook: facebook.com/slumberyardhandcrafted

Website: www.slumberyardhandcrafted.com

Victor Sarudi: The Stump Shop

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 11:23:19 +0000

On this week's episode we interview Victor from The Stump Shop. Hailing from Toronto, Ontario in Canada he runs a small wood shop business that repurposes tree stumps and reclaimed wood and makes them into furniture. What's amazing is that he takes the overlooked and often discarded part of the tree and found a niche to build a successful business. Are there parts of the tree or pieces of wood that fell off the mill that you had ideas for? Well make it happen!

Visit The Stump Shop at:

https://www.instagram.com/thestumpshop/

Rick Siewert: Wood From the Hood

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 10:56:07 +0000

This week's episode we talk with Rick from Wood From The Hood -- a sawmill and wood business in Minneapolis. They've been around for almost 10 years and he talks about how he started the business on a dare.... and how that was one of the best decisions ever. Wood From The Hood has been able to skillfully outsource some of the sawmilling so they can stay focused on drying, processing, and sales of wood products. They have 2 main revenue streams, small wood products like cutting boards that sell in over 50 locations in their city. The other is working on architectural products like tables and flooring. They've also been lucky enough to work on large scale products involving the city government and sporting centers. This is a super inspiring episode.

For more information on Wood From the Hood visit:

https://woodfromthehood.com

https://www.instagram.com/woodfromthehoodmpls/

For more information on Sawmill Business visit:

http://sawmillbusiness.com

Dan Richfield: RE-CO BKLYN

Thu, 24 Aug 2017 09:00:00 +0000

Today's guest is Dan Richfield from RE-C0 BKLYN. Dan has a sophisticated approach to running his business, something we will take a deep dive into learning about on this podcast.

Who Are Re-Co Bklyn And How Did They Get Started?

The company officially started in January 2012. Dan's business partner, Roger had been learning and experimenting with a chainsaw mill and a homemade kiln for a few years prior to starting up the business. Dan, however, was a software/web developer. Using his 10 years experience as a successful businessman, Dan partnered with Roger and invested in a kiln, sawmill, bandmill and a yard. Urban lumber has come a long way since the early days of a small group of sawyers to the highly competitive market on the upscale across the states including the New York metro area.

Both Dan & Roger are furniture makers and understand what a furniture maker wants to get from milling and drying wood. Armed with the requisite knowledge, they seek out the right types of logs and mill the right types of cut to make their bespoke products. Meticulous learning of the processes involved in lumber production has lent itself to the sophisticated style of RE-CO BKLYN.

Tracking The Journey From A Log To A Finished Product.

A vast amount of trees are chipped in Brooklyn, NYC. It was the interest in re-purposing these fallen trees that prompted the idea to start up RE-CO BKLYN. Each log is documented at the time of harvesting. The milling process of each documented log is photographed up to the final slab. Over time, the company has built up a good reputation and is frequently contacted by governmental agencies to carry out tree services.

RE-CO BKLYN were commissioned to produce furniture from one of New York City's largest trees, a European Elm Tree that had come to the end of it's life cycle after a century and a half.

Running An Efficient Lumber Business.

Dan and Roger are highly efficient and organized when it comes to running the yard, stocking inventory and drying lumber. The client base is a diverse one that includes consumers, home/business owners, designers, architects plus private and public organizations. They enjoy producing lumber and the revenue that comes with it but enjoy making finished products the most.

Additional Wood Products And Services

The additional wood products and services Re-Co offer create more up upsell from a single lead. While the business model has been focused on producing slabs in recent times, Dan & Roger are branching back into reclaimed wood. Another offshoot being ventured into is dimensional lumber, quarter and rift sawed chair and leg stock, and green Red Oak Roubo workbench kits.

What Roles Do Roger & Dan Have At RE-CO BKLYN?

Currently, Dan runs the yard and the drying operation in Ulster County while taking care of the marketing side of things. Roger focuses on the sales aspect of Re-Co which enables him to manage products seamlessly while taking care of the customers.

Robert Rising: NY City Slab

Thu, 24 Aug 2017 05:00:00 +0000

For episode 026 Robert Rising of NY City Slab is our guest. A bit about NY City Slab At NY City Slab, Robert and his team mill urban lumber from what might seem an unlikely source. The idea began when Robert was building a house and wanted to use local wood. Robert found that trees in his locality were being used for mulch and wanted to put those cut down trees to better use. Robert started off using a Lucas mill but it found it slow in terms of production. At a woodsmen show, Robert bought the biggest mill he could buy with his money at the time. He went for a 14 inch bandsaw mill and built a 50ft track to go with it that enabled him to cut through 6-8 logs in a day. How Robert Got Into Milling After working in the White House, Robert decided to take a u turn from his planned career in politics. His initial goal for building a house was to use it to restore old Volkswagens and Porsches. Gradually, work transitioned from fixing cars to milling logs. The very first log Robert milled sat for 3 years before being sold on Ebay. Seeing the interest in milled logs from clients, Robert began collecting old machinery that he could use for cutting more logs. It was Robert's continuous drive to milling work that self taught him. Robert would happily do what others wouldn't in terms of hard graft and this gave him an edge over his competitors. He believes in planning and due diligence and was ready to give up a $120k a year job at the Four Seasons Hotel to devote himself completely. Over a long period of time, Robert researched extensively, drove hundreds of miles collecting logs and built an inventory that was drying all the time. He was able to make money off a basic website up until he realized he could make money locally by setting up a yard where his extended network could come to him and bring him trees. Stepping Into The Unknown Robert took a big risk that paid off by going all in. It was this vision that led him to leave a dream job with all the perks and build up a successful milling business from the ground up. What NYC Slab does Robert and his 8 employees have a daily briefing to assign tasks before going to the yard. From here the organization of drying logs in the kiln, selecting premium logs and other tasks take place. Robert has always been fiercely independent and has a unique take on marketing. People who saw him with his trailer would refer to him as the 'Black Lumberjack' which just happened to be an available domain name! But what shines through most of all is the pride and care that goes into the work of NYC Slab. Everything is databased and recorded on display for all to see. Rather than milling for hire, Robert will mill for clients on the spot when required but the core of the business is the custom furniture and slabs. Robert has overcome major trials including a fire that meant moving spaces and rebuilding. It is a testament to the resilience of this man that has come through this and continues to work hard with what he has. Robert hopes to build a custom mill and work on building container homes to ship all over the world sourced and constructed with local lumber.

Tom Loeschner: GreyWood Design

Thu, 03 Aug 2017 05:00:00 +0000

For episode 25, our guest is Tom Loeschner from GreyWood Design.

GreyWood Design specializes in commission based furniture and some milling work. Tom provides a 'tree to table' service which is very popular with customers who love the concept of having a table crafted from the tree in their backyard.

Tom has a strong background in metal work which translates to his furniture pieces, almost all of which have metal bases.

Tom used to live overseas in West Africa doing consulting in sustainable forestry practices and advising on the proper running of sawmills. This inspired Tom to create his own slabs back at home in the United States.

While Tom's primary line of product has been live edge slabs, he is currently diversifying into metal and wood designs and expanding into different types of wood for his furniture making. Along with the much favored pine, Tom is producing items made from red and white fir trees and experimenting with textures and surfaces.

Having a mill of his own allows Tom to control the process of furniture production straight to the customer without the need for outsourcing. It also allows Tom complete control over sizes and specifications and more room for bespoke designs requested by clients.

Tom started with a Granberg chainsaw mill before moving up to a Wood-Mizer LT15 Wide sawmill and mobilizing it with a trailer.

Tom benefited from the Sawmill Business marketing course, it helped him realize the importance of putting time and effort into proper marketing of his business, something not all sawmill companies do but they really should in order to be successful.

The current demand for sustainable and urban forest products and quality hand crafted goods is a golden opportunity that will bring good returns with commitment.

Tom talks about some of the positive takeaways from joining up to the Sawmill Business course, how it gave him a thorough understanding of how marketing techniques from other facets of business can cross over into the sawmill industry. Tom continues to use the private forums set up as part of the course to ask questions to peers and build a value rich network.

Other takeaways from this class include the inspiration for Tom to hire a photographer. Tom now understands how professional images of his work can boost sales through his Instagram and sending them to potential clients.

Since taking the class, Tom has gone on to capture his biggest job to date, a large commercial order for 20 tables. He invested in a skid steer and GreyWood Design is now on the brink of being cash positive. A proper targeted campaign on Instagram is pushing up the followers and a steady network of Sawyers is growing by the day.

Tom recommends the Sawmill Business course for sawyers who don't have a strong understanding of the digital realm. The clearly laid out worksheets and how to's that form the curriculum of the course offer a precise path to marketing a sawmill business effectively to generate real profit.

Visit him at http://greywooddesign.com

Jeff Perry: Angel City Lumber

Thu, 20 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

For episode 24, we're getting to know Jeff Perry from Angel City Lumber. Angel City Lumber was born out of the need to make the somewhat ad hoc sawmill services in LA more streamlined. The business grew from a small idea: sourcing trees marked for landfill and harvesting them for lumber to a full scale operation in supplying raw materials. For now, Jeff is committed to milling based on his assessment of his local community's needs. He stresses how imperative it is to create awareness of this need for urban lumber. Jeff's business partner, Charles found the current location for Angel City Lumber in Boyle Heights. This has allowed them to set up a structured professional working space and a network that has given the business legitimacy. Jeff feels it was always best to 'go all in' and learn as the business grew. Having good start up capital and a helpful and supportive local sawyer community was a huge boost in confidence. The consensus of feedback convinced Jeff & Charles to pick a Lucas sawmill as their first piece of machinery, the portability and convenience of using one perfectly suited tree service/harvesting work. Jeff & Charles invested cautiously in the early days of Angel City Lumber and have always planned carefully going forward. Perfecting the technique of drying wood using the dehumidification kiln to produce flat slabs has been a learning curve, something Jeff & Charles are working hard to improve on. A lot of orders have been coming in for custom dimensional lumber from landscape architects. Jeff feels very pleased with this upturn in business and is enjoying seeing the process through from start to completion. Jeff feels he is still figuring out where the bulk of the market is for Angel City Lumber. He would like to be selling larger orders of slabs and dimensional boards that would put urban lumber on the map as a viable material. Jeff sees their Lucas sawmill, vacuum kiln, 6 x 12 CNC router table and 'Nina', their forklift as the essential tools of Angel City. They take good care of 'Nina' and see her as the heart of the business!!!! Other vital tools include 'Greg', their Dodge 3500 Cummins pickup truck for transporting logs and 'Flynn' the 16ft trailer!!! With the help of 'Greg' and 'Flynn' plus a built in winch system, Jeff & Charles can quickly respond to call outs to harvest trees and bring them back for processing. In the future, Jeff would like Angel City Lumber to be able to work with contractors/architects on larger commercial structures delivering volume orders. At this time, Jeff & Charles' main customers are homeowners with very old trees. The homeowners who get in contact with Angel City Lumber have great emotional attachment to these trees and are invested in having them milled in order to be saved and re-purposed. Jeff see's a mixture of these homeowners and the larger commercial jobs as the ideal and desirable balance he would like to achieve. For more information go to: http://www.angelcitylumber.com/

Shane: Cape Cod Sawmill Company

Thu, 13 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

On this episode we're getting to know Shane from Cape Cod Sawmill Company

Cape Cod Sawmill is located in Bourne, Massachusetts, the company started in April, 2016. Shane started the business with his brother in law, Brian, a tree surgeon who wanted to do something positive with the timber rather than see it consigned to landfill.

Shane and Brian started putting together a business plan, Shane dealt with the financial side of things while Brian took care of the creative side. From there, they went on to source their equipment and set up their sawmill company.

Brian had a lot of the equipment needed to start Cape Cod like skid steers, trucks and trailers. it was simply a case of purchasing a Wood-Mizer LT40.

Shane readily acknowledges his struggle to learn the ropes of sawmill work. Having a brother in law who is not just an expert but has wood cutting down to a science is highly advantageous and has helped Shane become adept in the field himself.

What makes Cape Cod a well oiled business machine is Brian's expertise and ability in wood cutting, transportation of logs plus his extended network of contacts for sourcing combined with Shane's own expertise in marketing and finance.

Shane & Brian are currently working on fine tuning their processes along with research and development into potential markets before they properly focus on targeted leads.

The primary functions right now at Cape Cod are building inventory including a stock of creative slabs. Cape Cod is actively breaking into the woodwork market and have formed a partnership with JL Crafters to create high end products.

Shane recognized the need to get into the sawmill community, to touch base with interior designers, homeowners, real estate agents and other related clients. Shane & Brian are really focused on Eco-Friendly Sustainable Lumber and slabs right now and look to make inroads within those markets through their use of eye catching content on Instagram.

Shane admires brands like Berkshire Products for their incredible slabs and great looking website, things that Shane aspires for Cape Cod to become in 10-15 years.

Shane believes the Sawmill Community needs more of a voice and larger presence on social media. Greater presence on the socials would help smaller localized sawmill business get their name out to interior designers and bigger companies. While he feels he is still finding that untapped market, he enjoys making the slabs.

All of Cape Cod's inventory comes from locally sourced trees cut and brought in by Brian. Despite Brian cutting down a tremendous amount of trees, Shane is aware of the need to find more suppliers as business grows. They are in contact with local suppliers who are willing to support this growing need for stock.

Shane is very keen to keep everything locally sourced. Cape Cod has a wide variety of tree species to utilize for salvaging and producing sustainable products.

Shane's parting advice is keep sharing great sawmill work related content on the social media.

Visit: http://www.capecodsawmillcompany.com/

Vinny Walsh: Walsh Woodworks

Thu, 06 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

On today's show, we get to know Vinny Walsh of Walsh Woodworks. Vinny is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Vinny started Walsh Woodworks in 2016. He wanted to return to his upbringing working on the sawmill.

In this podcast we will learn

How Vinny Walsh set up his sawmill business after 18 years working in the film industry
What Vinny loves about working with wood
How Granberg tools compliment and enhance his work

How And Why Vinny Walsh Set Up Walsh Woodworks

Vinny's father was a carpenter and a young 8 year old Vinny would work with him during the summer. Vinny spent 18 years in the film industry working as a lighting technician before setting up Walsh Woodworks in his home town, Michigan back in 2016. He was shocked at the cost of lumber board when he went to buy maple Boards from a local supplier for a picture frame project. This inspired Vinny to source his material from scratch and cut it himself.

What Inspires Vinny Walsh?

Vinny gets inspired by the entire process of sourcing wood from trees and cutting slabs, not knowing how the end results will come out or what customers will use his slabs for. He takes pride in rescuing logs from simply being thrown in landfills and giving them a purpose as opposed to being nothing but waste or firewood.

What Does Chainsaw Milling Mean To Vinny?

Vinny enjoys the instant gratification of selecting trees and identifying the potential contained therein. This combined with the ability to cut lumber in a very short time in pretty much any location without difficulty are the positives of chainsaw milling Vinny appreciates.

Why Vinny Chose A Granberg Over Many Other Brands

A process of elimination through viewing other products on social media that didn't quite match up to Vinny's requirements brought him round to the benefits of using a Granberg sawmill such as it's ease of use and lightness in comparison to other similar products. The consensus of positive online reviews convinced Vinny to invest in Granberg.

The Value Vinny Walsh Gets From Granberg Tools

Vinny values the reputation and prestigious history of Granberg. He knows he can rely on them to resolve any possible issues that may arise.

Goals And Aspirations

Vinny cites his goal to make his business a self sustaining one that allows him to work with his hands for the rest of his life

Challenges And Obstacles

Vinny realizes a need to expand in terms of storage space and is currently working on this

How Granberg Tools Create Value For Walsh Woodworks

Granberg tools help Vinny through enabling him to source timber, turning it into lumber, selling that lumber on or conserving it for future projects.

How Granberg Can Support Vinny's Business Goals

Vinny would like to be able to contact Granberg should he need any kind of modifications and send them his saw for bespoke customizations. He also believes a fast turnaround in repairs to his sawmill would be a good feature.

Get in touch with Vinny at:

https://www.instagram.com/walshwoodworks/

Daniel West: Big Ass Slabs

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 05:00:00 +0000

The Sawmill Business Podcast: Interview With Daniel West of Big Ass Slabs

In this episode, we are introduced to Daniel West of Big Ass Slabs Chainsaw,Milling & Timber works just outside London, Ontario, Canada. Daniel operates a 60 inch Granberg Alaskan sawmill plus a 48 inch model for smaller logs. He works with a local network of sawmills and furniture makers who each specialise in a particular aspect of the production chain.

How Daniel Got Into The Sawmill Business

Daniel has been running Big Ass Slabs for a year or so. Prior to that he worked for a local farmer with an older Woodmeiser LP40 model. Daniel has 14 years worth of experience in sawing and now works for himself as part of his extended network in London, Ontario, Canada

What Chainsaw Milling Means To Daniel

For Daniel, chainsaw milling is an opportunity to make use of logs and trees normally used for firewood and produce stunning slabs from them. Through his work, Daniel helps protect the environment by making good use of potential waste material.

Why Daniel Chooses Granberg Products

Daniel prefers Granberg products for their portability and chose to use them after seeing other workers reaping their benefits. The simplicity and robustness of Granberg tools coupled with their durability make them a perfect fit for his work. Affordability also factored into the equation as Daniel was able to purchase all his necessary equipment for $5000

Training Taken By Daniel To Operate Alaskan Sawmill

Daniel drew on his years of experience operating a Woodmeiser plus 25 years of using a chainsaw and cutting firewood. He took this applied knowledge and implemented it into the nuances of cutting slabs and the overall production process.

What Does The Granberg Brand Mean To Daniel?

For Daniel, Granberg has developed a reputation for producing equipment that is solid to operate, reliable and effectively simple. Having very little downtime is one praiseworthy aspect of Granberg Alaskan sawmills that Daniel mentions here.

Business Goals

Daniel's goals include a sustainable income to support his family, growing his network of customers and providing a high quality product that craftspeople can turn into beautiful heirloom items. Daniel wants to take the product from start to finish for potential customers and grow and compliment each aspect of the cooperative businesses within his sphere.

How The Granberg Sawmill Makes Money For Daniel's Business

The Granberg generates revenue for Daniel through custom sawing & milling and enables Daniel to procure and cut an inventory of slabs for sale throughout the year.

Daniel suggests more how to videos from Granberg and a hand winch for the mill as two potential improvements. Daniel would like to have a better understanding of marketing and proper pricing for specific products along with targeting the right demographic. He has been able to grow his customer base using Facebook and Instagram and is currently working on a website. He is keen to learn more about leveraging these assets to best market his sawmill services to potential buyers.

Get in touch:

https://www.instagram.com/bigassslabs/

Erik Granberg: Granberg International

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 05:00:00 +0000

The Sawmill Business Podcast With Special Guest: Erik Granberg

In this episode of The Sawmill Business Podcast our host, Steve introduces his guest, Erik Granberg. Erik is the president of Granberg International, the founders of the original Alaskan Sawmill.

Introductions

Erik talks about the new initiatives currently happening at Granberg International including CNC technology, new packaging for sawmills up to 36 inches in length, a new design on the mill and increased productivity.

The History Of Granberg

Erik talks of his father Elof's invention of a chainsaw sharpener in the early 50s. Erik's father was a logger from British Columbia and one of the first to carry the portable chainsaws we see today. The sharpener would clap on to the saw bar allowing quicker and more efficient filing of chains that led to a large increase in production throughout the sawmill industry. This turned into a business beginning in 1954/55 with product sales in Canada and California which became large scale with the introduction of the original Alaskan Mill in 1962.

Erik explains how Granberg's first customers were based up in the mountainous regions in the US where lumber cutting presented a number of obstacles from the cutting itself through to transportation issues. The business also expanded to other parts of the world where similar conditions hindered the lumber industry at the time. Next it was the craftsmen who realised they could cut perfect slabs using the Alaskan mills to make beautiful furniture. The development of new tools such as planes, jointing devices and saws by Granberg caused a break through into the billion dollar woodwork market cementing the company as a leader in the field.

How Erik Kept Up With The Competition

Erik talks about the challenges he faced when he took over the running of the business. One of those challenges being an increasingly competitive market due to replicas of the filing and sharpening objects pioneered by Elof Granberg. The company initially struggled to compete with mass producing replica businesses but the internet provided the perfect solution to these problems. Direct access to Granberg's products via the internet combined with consistent positive reviews boosted sales once again.

Why Do Customers Love Granberg?

Erik attributes the almost cult like status of his company sawmills to the sense of inspiration experienced by loggers as they cut eye pleasing slabs from large gnarly logs. He notes that the older generation who can now afford their own workshops enjoy the 'back to earth' experience of working with the tools they grew up around.

The Benefits Of Buying Granberg Products

Our host, Steve explains why Granberg International's full range of American made Alaskan chainsaw mills are perfect for every budget and for all business sizes and requirements in the woodwork, lumber and sawmill industry.

What Customers Should Know About Granberg

Granberg values and takes care of its employees, supports the local economy and places importance on manufacturing a true quality product. They strive to work with their customers through improvement and technical innovation.

Visit granberg.com for more information

http://instagram.com/granberginternational

Mark Sundermeier: AA Wood products

Thu, 04 May 2017 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode we talk with Mark Sundermeier and his business AA Wood products. Check him out at http://www.aawoodproducts.biz/ or on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/aawoodproducts/

Joseph Nefsky: Out of the Woods Custom Woodworking

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 05:00:00 +0000

In this week's episode, we interview Joseph Nefsky from Out of the Woods Custom Woodworking out of Ontario, Canada. In this episode, Joseph talks about how he's used Instagram to grow his following, to learn new skills, document projects, and connect and get motivated with the woodworking and sawmill business community. If you want to learn specifically how to grow your following, listen to this. Follow him at http://instagram.com/outofthewoods.

Eric Florip: Florip Toolworks

Sun, 09 Apr 2017 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode of the Sawmill Business Podcast, we interview Eric Florip of Florip Toolworks! Eric drops a ton of knowledge about how he got started in the business, how he diversifies his income by buying and selling wood, making tools, and leveraging digital technology to grow revenue. This is a great episode and super inspiring for those who aspire to be a tree hustler! Follow him on Instagram.

Jennifer Alger: Far West Forest

Fri, 27 Jan 2017 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode, President of Far West Forest Products, Jennifer Alger breaks down how she runs her business, how she spends her time and gives the blueprint and plan to start your own sawmill business. She's also the exclusive Woodmizer sales person for California and Nevada so she has a ton of experience finding the right sawmill for people and has educated and taught people how to get started. This is a great episode. Give it a listen. Also follow them on instagram.

Matt Cremona: Business Podcast

Fri, 13 Jan 2017 05:00:00 +0000

This episode we talk with Matt Cremona, a woodworker and youtube personality. In this show you'll learn how he turned turned being laid off from work into an opportunity to start his woodworking business. He also talks about how he uses his youtube and social media for building his audience and selling more products. Lastly, you'll learn how he generates most of his revenue, just by being himself and sharing what he learning. This was an incredibly inspiring episode and I hope you found some value.

Cliff Spencer: Alabama Sawyer

Thu, 15 Dec 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this week's episode we're thrilled to interview Cliff Spencer from Alasaw aka The Alabama Sawyer. Fresh off winning a $100,000 business plan competition where he beat out tech companies, Cliff talks passionately about how the urban lumber movement is on the rise and how he's positioning his company and his brand to take advantage of it. Cliff moved from the Los Angeles area where he was a cabinet and furniture maker to his home state of Alabama with his family to pursue his vision of creating a furniture line out of urban timber. This is easily one of my favorite interviews. Listen and enjoy!

Charles Degreek: Knotthead Custom Sawing

Fri, 02 Dec 2016 05:00:00 +0000

This week's episode we interview Charles DeGreek from Knotthead Custom Sawing. Based in Northern California, Charles and his family run this small but growing sawmilling operation. Listen as he talks about his process for getting customers, how he spends his time, and what the future looks like for him.

Check out his website: www.knottheadcustomsawing.com

Check out his instagram: www.instagram.com/knottheadcustomsawing

EBP011: Thinking Bigger & Taking Vacations Ft. Ol Loggin Epoxy

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 04:32:09 +0000

Hey everyone, this week it's just family, Steve, and Jake from @ollogginepoxy on the podcast. Let's talk networking! Make sure you follow The Woodpreneur Podcast anywhere you get podcasts, so you don't miss an episode!

Jim Birkemeier: Timbergreen Farm

Wed, 16 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this week's episode we talk with a real industry leader. Jim Birkemeier of Timbergreen Farm in Wisconsin has been a forester for 40 years. He runs a family farm and that is a new alternative to the timber industry. His philosophy is to keep local trees in the community and support the people and the economy with it. In this longer interview we talk with him about his background, business model, and Jim gives so much value that he essentially talks about how to build a multiple six figure wood business. We're grateful and honored to have him on the show. Let us know what you think.

EBP 010: Collaboration For An Ever-Evolving Product Ft. Ryan Cochrane

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 05:05:33 +0000

Collaboration For An Ever-Evolving Product FT. Ryan Cochrane | Cochrane Kayak

"I wasn't a good athlete because I was a talented athlete. I was a good athlete because I put everything into that. Exactly that. And I focused on it."

Ryan Cochrane

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala, sit down with Ryan Cochrane. Ryan is a former Olympian, a Woodpreneur Podcast alumni, a good friend of Jake and Steve's, and this past year has become an essential partner with Ol Loggin Epoxy.

"Epoxy is something that I used before but in a different way, because I was using it more in kayaks because I was as a kayaker as an athlete. So it was more for boat-building processes and things like that. But I watched many people make these river tables and do stuff like that, which made me want to see if I could do that.

Alan, a friend of ours, reached out to me on Instagram and said, 'Hey, do you want some product?' I said, 'Yeah, I'd love to give it a go.' I worked with epoxy a little bit when I started working for the company I'm currently working for, which I ended up buying into with some partners. It all just snowballed from there.

My style is that if I do something, I do it. There's no halfway; I'm going to go all into it. I'm going to figure everything out, and I'm going to learn everything about that product and everything I can do with that product. So it became an obsession, and from there, it kept rolling. I mean, it's been years now, and it feels like it was yesterday."

Ryan Cochrane

Seth: Urban Lumber Company

Tue, 08 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Seth San Filippo who's the owner of Urban Lumber Company. In this longer episode we go into his history, the risks he takes, the products he sells, and his strategy for growing his business. This episode is full of value and inspiration. Leave a comment below and tell us what you think.

Check out his website: https://urbanlumber.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbanlumberco/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UrbanLumberCo

EBP 009: Now That's Social Media Marketing Ft. Alex from Backyard Resin

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 05:05:21 +0000

Now That’s Social Media Marketing Ft. Alex from Backyard Resin

“Just trying to optimize everything step by step and trying to get better. That’s where we’re at now.”

Alex from Backyard Resin

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today, your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala, sit down with Alex from Backyard Resin. Alex has made his mark with incredible videos of phenomenally eye-catching pieces. His epoxy tables have inspired his hundreds of thousands of followers, and all it takes is one look to see why.

“This whole thing started as pretty much everybody starts their hobby. I worked in sales and had a great career, and I decided I wanted to make things with my hands. I saw the epoxy tables, which I thought were really interesting. So I decided to make one, and I loved it. Then I made one for my brother, my mom, and my grandma, and eventually, people said, ‘Hey, you’re pretty good at this. You should probably start selling.’

One of my friends also told me, ‘You should also make an Instagram account. I’m sure people would love to see the process and everything.’ I wasn’t very into social media, but I decided to go for it, and eventually, I saw that people started to follow. It was really nice to be able to show the process and show people how I did my stuff, and eventually, it just took on a life of its own.

When COVID hit, I saw an opportunity to say, ‘You know what, it’s now or never; I really like this. Let’s go full on.’ So I quit my career and literally worked from my shed at the back of my house. I was like, ‘if this doesn’t pan out, I can always be a salesman elsewhere. But I need to try this out.’ It turns out that it went super well, and now I’ve got an 8000 square foot shop and employees, and it just scaled it up fast.”

Alex from Backyard Resin

Chad: West Coast Custom Timber

Tue, 11 Oct 2016 05:00:00 +0000

This episode we interview Chad from West Coast Custom Timber. Relatively new to the industry, Chad talks about how he got started, how he's spending his time, and how he's growing his business in Vancouver Island, Canada! Check out his great website at http://westcoastcustomtimber.ca and his Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/westcoastcustomtimber/

EBP 008: Learning the Tricks of the Epoxy Trade Ft. Arthur Santel

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 05:18:59 +0000

Learning the Tricks of the Epoxy Trade Ft. Arthur Santel

“I started learning and developing my technique and that stuff by myself. And I really enjoy being able to chat with my guys, working on this project, working and collaborating with the clients.”

Arthur Santel

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today, your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala, sit down with Arthur Santel, owner of Art de Seve. Arthur started his business about two years ago. Before that, he worked with a company handling concrete and epoxy flooring until he found an opportunity to work with wood.

“I decided to try different stuff with wood. I had no experience before, but I had a shop where I could do that. So basically, I just bought a piece of wood for the first time a year ago, and then I met Lab Surface and you guys, and then everything started.

So now I have three other associates, we’re based in Montreal, and we’re doing everything with epoxy, wood, and concrete, like furniture, tables, and that kind of stuff. It’s starting slowly, but it’s growing slowly and steadily.”

Arthur Santel

Megan Offner: New York Heartwoods

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 05:00:00 +0000

This episode we spoke with Megan Offner of NY Heartwood. She used to work in NYC as a set designer. After seeing the amount of waste in that industry, she devoted the next phase of her career to working in a sustainable way. She learned about the sawmill industry and low and behold, she went full tilt on building a really cool business. Her business consists of custom milling projects, finished products, and projects for corporate clients. She is an amazing and inspiring entrepreneur. Give it a listen and check out her instagram.

EBP 007: Building an Epoxy Business Community Ft. Kevin Patanella

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 05:09:54 +0000

Building an Epoxy Business Community Ft. Kevin Patanella

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today your hosts, Steve and Jake, sit down with Kevin Patanella, an epoxy artist, ambassador, and friend to Ol Loggin Epoxy.

“Like many, I feel like I got pushed into starting something because of COVID. I was working in masonry as a laborer, and we were put on hold for six months, and that’s before they began to help everyone out.

My father is a framer, so I grew up with tools, but I didn’t really have the attention span to start a house and frame it out, and I wanted to do little projects and knock them out quickly. So, I started with his old tools, a table saw, a circular saw, a belt sander, and an orbital. That’s all I had.”

Kevin Patanella

The Draw of Epoxy

Every person who works with epoxy, whether they focus on river tables, artwork, or anything in between, is drawn to the material for a reason. Sometimes it’s the durability, the inherent creativity, or some other factor that draws a person in. In Kevin’s case, it was a little bit of everything.

“So, I was a chef for a while and was in the kitchen for probably close to 18 years. Executive Chef or Sous Chef for the past five, going between restaurants. I’m not with my daughter’s mother, but I was getting her on weekends, and as anyone that’s ever worked in that business knows, you can’t say, ‘Oh, I want Saturdays and Sundays off.’ So I had to make a choice.

Luckily my father owns his own company, so in between finding what would be next, which I do a lot of times, I’ll work for him for a while. And then you know, go on to the new job.

But having the server drop off a plate that looks like it costs $300, and the people are ecstatic. It’s the same thing when you ship out a new table or a new board or something; just to see the reactions is worth it. But I mean, obviously, I’ve got to make money too.”

Kevin Patanella

Instagram: @kp_rusticdesign

Ted Alexander: Business Podcast

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 05:00:00 +0000

We had the chance to talk with Ted Alexander. I discovered him on Instagram and found out that he has a pretty prolific Youtube following with over 5000 subscribers. He talks about how he just got into woodworking, sawmill business, and his biggest mistake so far that set his business back.

EBP 006: A Throwback to Planning Our Formula 1 Trip Ft. Alan Nicholson

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 06:00:26 +0000

“I still have years of work still available to me. But I'm looking to change this hat to a crown and be the king of casting.”

Alan Nicholson

Hello and welcome to a new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today, your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala, sit down with Alan Nicholson.

“It all started about seven years ago for me. I was in the cleaning business before, and it was the cleaning business that brought me into the epoxy industry. Some of the school districts were requesting certain jobs to be done and asked if there were certain things that I could do. So it was thanks to the school district that I got into the epoxy business.

After being in the cleaning industry for 25 years, I specialized in tile and grout restoration. They asked if I could restore those famous Bradley sinks in the school washrooms. The circular one where you turn it on with your foot. In figuring out how to restore it, I used epoxy, ground it all down, and then re-covered the entire thing with epoxy. So that’s how it all started.”

Alan Nicholson

Ps. Since recording Alan is no longer with Lab Surface

Aaron Cross: Crosscut Lumber

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Get an inside look at how a former retired city worker is building a prolific and profitable portable sawmill business. Hear how he started, his partnerships, and what tools he used to grow his business. Aaron is a client of Sawmill Business. Check out his website at http://crosscutlumber.com and on instagram at http://instagram.com/crosscutlumber.

EBP005: Two to Canada, our Trip to Lab Surface and Formula 1 Ft. Jake and Steve

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 04:02:03 +0000

Two to Canada, our Trip to Lab Surface and Formula 1 Ft. Jake and Steve

"Not many people know Lab Surface because they're a flooring manufacturer, and they're just now getting into the casting world, and they're putting 100% faith into us that we're going to take the casting world to the next level."

Jake Latvala

Welcome to a brand new episode of The Epoxy Business Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala sit down together and talk about their trip to Montreal to visit Lab Surface. Although the trip was based on building relationships and getting work done, they had the opportunity to check out a Formula 1 race while there. Check out the episode to hear all the stories of their adventure up north!

Nathan Brown: Old World Timber

Tue, 04 Oct 2016 05:00:00 +0000

I interview Nathan Brown the founder and owner of Old World Timber. They are one of the largest reclaim businesses in the world. Here about Nathan's beginnings, how he grew his business, and where he thinks the industry is going. Really inspiring stuff!

EBP004: Building Brand Recognition with David Pingrenon

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 05:03:40 +0000

Building Brand Recognition with David Pingrenon

“I’ve got three really cool tables I’m about to pour. One is a Viking table, and I ordered a full-size Damascus ax, a shield, a drinking horn, and some bone runes and stuff that will all go in the table.”

-David Pingrenon

Welcome to a brand new episode of The Epoxy Business Podcast. Today, your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala sit down with David Pingrenon from Rotten Stump Creations, based out of British Columbia. David is an Ol Loggin Epoxy distributor and one of the relatively few Canadian representatives on the West Coast.

“I just got sick of doing the day job and was looking for something to do. I’ve always liked making stuff artistically with my hands, and I like stuff that comes from the art side of your brain, writing poems, playing guitar, things like that. It’s just not blue-collar work.

So I had a friend of mine, he’s on Instagram as well, and I saw he was making tables, and I thought it was cool. The first table that came out was just this awesome swirl of brown and gold. I’m not even a fan of those two colors, but together they made this great scene with the wood in the backdrop, and I went, ‘Oh, I wonder how hard that is.’

I just looked into it and asked him a bunch of questions. I’ve done a lot of woodworking in my life, so I just thought, ‘Hey, you know what, I’m just gonna try this out.’ So I grabbed the hardest table I could think of, which was a solid color with a clear on top, and I figured if I could make the hardest table work, I could probably do this. They came out looking really nice, and I just haven’t stopped since then.”

-David Pingrenon

Jason Hibbs: Bourbon Moth

Thu, 15 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Jason Hibbs of Bourbon Moth. He runs a woodworking shop and handmade goods business with his wife in Oregon. Hear about his history, how he markets his business, and what he does to stay ahead product wise. He's got an amazing and nicely curated Instagram account that drives a ton of business towards him. Check out this great interview.

EBP003: Jake & Steve from Ol Loggin Epoxy

Tue, 21 Jun 2022 04:51:56 +0000

Jake & Steve What We’ve Learned in 1 Year

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala, sit down together to talk about a momentous occasion. It’s the one-year anniversary of Ol Loggin Epoxy!

Although the actual Ol Loggin Epoxy product didn’t launch until July of 2021, Jake and Steve became business partners one year ago today. They started the process of their partnership agreement in January of 2021, and much of the time spent was working on agreement details and going through the process of finding the right partner in Lab Surface.

Building a partnership takes time, trust, and a willingness to collaborate and communicate. However, establishing an official business partnership involves many more agreements than people may be aware of. Check out this episode to learn the ins and outs of building a collaborative business and all the steps that go into it!

Proudest Moments

“What we did last year is we’ve created quite a community. I think we did a pretty good job of recruiting a team, and if you look at our posts or our webpage, we’re getting tagged all over the place.

What I love the most is going to forums where you people ask, ‘What’s your go-to epoxy?’ I see more and more Ol Loggin Epoxy on those forums. I think that’s one of our greatest accomplishments so far, and it’s just the beginning.”

-Jake Latvala

Brandon Craven: J and B Wood Products

Thu, 08 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we talk with Brandon Craven of J and B Wood Products out of Northern California. He and his business partner have been in open for shop for just a short period of time. Here him talks about why he got started and what their goals are.

EBP002: Taking Quality and Collaboration Seriously Ft: Jonathan Gagnon

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 05:00:16 +0000

Taking Quality and Collaboration Seriously Ft: Jonathan Gagnon

“I’m driven by growth, technology, and new products. I’m a former banker, but I have a strong interest in technology and R&D.”

Jonathan Gagnon

Welcome back to a new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast with your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala. Today, Steve and Jake sit down with Jonathan Gagnon, president of Lab Surface, and partner in creating Ol Loggin Epoxy.

Jonathan and Lab Surface fill a critical position in helping the development of Ol Loggin Epoxy. While Steve and Jake are experts in marketing and woodworking, they are not chemists, and to create a quality product like Ol Loggin Epoxy; it is vital to have experts on every front.

Check out this new episode to learn about changing industries, growing a business from the ground up, embracing technology, and much more.

Tad Derrickson: TN Tree

Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Sawmill Business Podcast, we talk with Tad Derrickson of TN Tree. Tad talks about his early exposure to trees, what his most important tools are for growing his business, and what the future looks like for him. He's an incredibly positive man, who does great work, and is amazing at promoting himself and his business. Full Disclosure: Tad is a client of TN Tree, we did his website and logo for him. Check out his rapidly growing instagram account and take notes.

EBP001: A Grassroots Epoxy Business Ft. Brad Williams

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 06:31:43 +0000

A Grassroots Epoxy Business Ft. Brad Williams

“Hamilton Lee Supply started from Hamilton Lee Designs, one led to another. Hamilton is my youngest son’s first name, and Lee is my eldest son’s middle name. So I wanted to keep it in the family.”

Brad Williams

Welcome to a brand new episode of the Epoxy Business Podcast. Today, your hosts, Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala, sit down with Brad Williams from Hamilton Lee Supply. Brad got started on his woodworking journey when a tree fell in his backyard, and he wanted to do some work with it.

“This was back in 2017. The network wasn’t as prominent as it is now, with social media and sawmill operations everywhere. So I got a sawmill, and as a custom home builder, I was taking four to six trees off of every demo lot we’re doing. Before long, I had 30 to 40 trees. So started with a sawmill, moved on to epoxy, and just dovetailed from making into supply and working with customers.”

Brad Williams

Treg Sherman: URBN Timber

Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Sawmill Business Podcast we talk with Treg Sherman of Urbn Timber in Columbus, Ohio. Here him talk about how they got started, what motivates them, and how they promote themselves using Instagram. Treg's a great guy and I'm excited we got to feature his business.

EBP:000 Welcome To The Epoxy Business Podcast

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 06:26:48 +0000

Welcome to the first episode of The Epoxy Business Podcast, hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jake Latvala.

Steve and Jake run Ol Loggin Epoxy, one of the best premier epoxy brands for woodworkers by woodworkers, and they wanted to create a show to help document the building of this brand. Together, they are doing something that no one else is doing, and they want to invite you along for the journey.

Steve runs the Woodpreneur Podcast and a marketing agency called Acres of Timber alongside the Acres CRM, which is software for woodworking businesses. He works with many big brands and with Woodpreneurs of all sizes to help grow their sales and marketing.

Jake Latvala owns Ol Loggin Sawmill, teaches people how to build epoxy tables and serving trays, and he does it all with urban lumber. He and his company process the lumber from tree to table and work heavily with epoxy as well.

SAWMILL BUSINESS PODCAST OVERVIEW

Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

In this episode, your host, Steve talks about how and why he started the Sawmill Business instagram account and the podcast.

Aaron Cross: Crosscut Lumber

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 13:45:04 +0000

Get an inside look at how a former retired city worker is building a prolific and profitable portable sawmill business. Hear how he started, his partnerships, and what tools he used to grow his business. Aaron is also a current client of Acres of Timber! Check out his website at http://crosscutlumber.com and follow him on Instagram at http://instagram.com/crosscutlumber.

What exactly is a Woodpreneur?

So, why the term “woodpreneur”? When Steve first started Acres of Timber three years ago, the wood community and industry wasn’t what it is now.

Slab dealers, wood designers, and more specifically at the time – sawmill users, didn’t have a community or a brand and were going largely unnoticed by potential customers who would look instead to the Home Depot and Lowe’s of this world for their products. Steve sought to change that by creating the Sawmill Business Instagram account and the #sawmillbusiness hashtag as a way to share the products and creations that these innovative makers were producing. It didn’t take long for the account to grow to over 136,000 followers and with a hashtag that has been used over 35,000 times, the Sawmill Business community grew and grew quickly!

As the Sawmill Business following grew, Steve began to notice that this community didn’t just include sawmill owners. Furniture designers, woodworkers, arborists, tree climbers, chainsaw users, slab sellers, and even tree house makers became an integral part of the Sawmill Business family as well. It was at this point that Steve knew the business needed a new name that would truly encompass all that the wood community represents. Hence, @acresoftimber and the term “Woodprener” was born.

A “Woodpreneur” Is A…

Sawmill User
Wood Business Owner
Furniture Designer
Hardwood Flooring Professional
Woodworker
Slab Dealer
Kiln User
Welder
Content Creator
Maker

And an overall innovative, brave, and creative entrepreneur in the wood industry!

Follow us on Instagram!! @acresoftimber

Want more?

Join our private Facebook Group and get access to our FREE marketing hacks course for Woodpreneurs! 👉CLICK HERE TO JOIN

Listen to more episodes of the Woodpreneur Podcast at: 👉https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/sawmill-business

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Are you ready to scale your woodworking, flooring, or tree service business?

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