My Story…

          In an effort to be transparent about my genuine reasons for starting this business, I want to share with you the truth. I found myself at a group breakfast after a weekly AA meeting I had attended. It was the first time I had sought help for my drug and alcohol addiction and by this time I was a mere 3 months clean & sober. A man I had regularly seen and said a weekly hello to was sitting across the table from me. I questioned him about how he employs his teenage sons to work for him in his shop. I didn’t know what kind of shop. Curiously, I asked him, “How much do you pay them?” He looked at me and said, “Do you need a job?” 

          To be honest… Yes! I did! So we set up a time for me to come to his shop. When I arrived, I was awestruck by the large wood shop with the gigantic table saw and machinery & tools lining the walls of the shop. Initially, he wanted to hire me for 15 hours a week to act as a personal assistant and help him orchestrate a monumental moving of his home and shop to another location. I said, “Ok! I’ll do it….. but please… teach me how to use all these tools!” 

He wasn’t aware… but it had actually been a DREAM of mine to enter into the world of carpentry and fabrication. I had always been good with my hands and new I wanted to learn a trade that involved building or fixing things. I was happy to be a personal assistant, especially if that brought me closer to my actualizing my dreams. 

Learning how to finish saved my life…

          Being newly sober, I started slow. 15 hours a week… and as the weeks went by I worked longer hours until I was working full time. I remember so vividly driving home after a long day of work in the shop. I was elated. I don’t have the words to describe the satisfaction I felt after driving home covered in sawdust after a day of hard honest work.

          I didn’t have the intention of being a “refinisher”. I definitely had the intention of fabricating. But finishing found me. It came so naturally to me, almost as if it was second nature. When I am finishing it feels like a meditation. I am brought through this process every time I start a new piece. When I am stripping it, I am getting to know it intimately. As I prep the furniture for stain and finish, I am healing it of all its wounds and scars.

          I feel such pride and accomplishment as I stain and finish it…. Almost as if transforming the rundown ragged piece of furniture into a stunning work of art cleanses and renews my own soul in a little way. And I feel this every single time I work on a piece no matter how small or big, no matter how effortless it is or how challenging it becomes.

          I do credit learning this trade for saving my life. Because of it, I have never had to go back to incomprehensible demoralization that I once knew. I’ve learned the joys of earning an honest day’s work. I’ve been comforted by the ability to provide for myself and my family while putting smiles on the faces of others. I’m give thanks every single day to be able to have a career that I am passionate about that gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

My Story…

          In an effort to be transparent about my genuine reasons for starting this business, I want to share with you the truth. I found myself at a group breakfast after a weekly AA meeting I had attended. It was the first time I had sought help for my drug and alcohol addiction and by this time I was a mere 3 months clean & sober. A man I had regularly seen and said a weekly hello to was sitting across the table from me. I questioned him about how he employs his teenage sons to work for him in his shop. I didn’t know what kind of shop. Curiously, I asked him, “How much do you pay them?” He looked at me and said, “Do you need a job?” 

          To be honest… Yes! I did! So we set up a time for me to come to his shop. When I arrived, I was awestruck by the large wood shop with the gigantic table saw and machinery & tools lining the walls of the shop. Initially, he wanted to hire me for 15 hours a week to act as a personal assistant and help him orchestrate a monumental moving of his home and shop to another location. I said, “Ok! I’ll do it….. but please… teach me how to use all these tools!” 

He wasn’t aware… but it had actually been a DREAM of mine to enter into the world of carpentry and fabrication. I had always been good with my hands and new I wanted to learn a trade that involved building or fixing things. I was happy to be a personal assistant, especially if that brought me closer to my actualizing my dreams. 

Learning how to finish saved my life…

          Being newly sober, I started slow. 15 hours a week… and as the weeks went by I worked longer hours until I was working full time. I remember so vividly driving home after a long day of work in the shop. I was elated. I don’t have the words to describe the satisfaction I felt after driving home covered in sawdust after a day of hard honest work.

          I didn’t have the intention of being a “refinisher”. I definitely had the intention of fabricating. But finishing found me. It came so naturally to me, almost as if it was second nature. When I am finishing it feels like a meditation. I am brought through this process every time I start a new piece. When I am stripping it, I am getting to know it intimately. As I prep the furniture for stain and finish, I am healing it of all its wounds and scars.

          I feel such pride and accomplishment as I stain and finish it…. Almost as if transforming the rundown ragged piece of furniture into a stunning work of art cleanses and renews my own soul in a little way. And I feel this every single time I work on a piece no matter how small or big, no matter how effortless it is or how challenging it becomes.

          I do credit learning this trade for saving my life. Because of it, I have never had to go back to incomprehensible demoralization that I once knew. I’ve learned the joys of earning an honest day’s work. I’ve been comforted by the ability to provide for myself and my family while putting smiles on the faces of others. I’m give thanks every single day to be able to have a career that I am passionate about that gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment.