Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson

This special episode is with Bryan and Erin Kerr, owners of Kerr Woodworking. If you want to hear the full story, behind how Kerr Woodworking got started, check out the show archives - episode 150 Bryan and Erin make beautiful furniture. The meticulous attention to detail in their work is one of the many reasons clients continue to reach out to them and how they have been successful over the...

No furniture maker is an island. No matter how much you can take on yourself, at some point, you are going to need help. Although coming from different industries, Bryan and Erin understood that need. And when they started their own furniture company, recognizing their strengths and weaknesses and being the support the other needed, is how they have grown their company to where it is today. Follow...

This special episode is with Jay and Deb Lopez of Together We Build. If you want to hear the full story behind how Together We Build got started check out the show archives - episode 148 You know those projects that start out like every other project you have done, but then one thing after another goes wrong and before you know it the whole project has completely gotten away from you? Ja...

Jay and Deb, are a married couple but also business partners in their company, Together We Build. And, just like the name suggests, they build together. Not just the business, but the actual furniture as well. As the company has grown over the years they have grown a team around them to help with demand. But at the core of the business, it is still both of them, working side by side...

This special episode is with Hunter Hedenberg, owner of Oak & Main. If you want to hear the full story, behind how Oak & Main got started - check out the show archives - episode 146 Quoting and time management, no matter how much you try to avoid it, one of those two always seems to be an issue in every project. For Hunter, at the start of her company, she had a build where both quoting an...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership -  go.wwgoa.com/ethan/   When you start your furniture company, it can take a few years to learn how you want to run it, the type of furniture you want to make and the type of furniture that makes you money. Hunter is going through that process right now. Getting a better understanding...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership -  go.wwgoa.com/ethan/   This episode is with Mike Anderson. Owner of Anderson Woodworking. If you want to hear the full story behind how Anderson Woodworking got started - Check out the show archives - episode 144 Sometimes the skills you learn on the journey are even more import...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership -  go.wwgoa.com/ethan/   For some, their furniture business isn’t their only job. Even though they put full time hours into it they still, for any number of reasons, keep their day job.  Mike is in this exact position. He loves his furniture company, but he also loves his oth...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership -  go.wwgoa.com/ethan/   This episode is with Richie Duncan, owner of Kodama. If you want to hear the full story behind how KODAMA got started, check out the show archives - episode 142 We all know the importance of having a contract, but few people actually use one when runn...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership -  go.wwgoa.com/ethan/   Richie didn’t start out wanting to invent a new kind of furniture, but through a mix of his love for design, engineering background, adventurous travel, and good old gravity, he did just that. But there is a big leap from coming up with a new idea and being abl...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership - go.wwgoa.com/ethan/  This episode is with Tim Holland, owner of TH Custom Woodwork. If you want to hear the full story behind how TH Custom Woodwork got started - Check out the show archives - episode 140 We all forget measurements, we all struggle with deadlines - but when both of those...

Special Podcast Deal - ONLY $1.49 for an entire year of Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Membership - go.wwgoa.com/ethan/   Back in 2013, when Tim started selling furniture, it was just something to do for family and friends. But as his skills grew, so did the demand for his work. And now, what started as a fun side business has been his full time job for years. But as client projects gro...

This episode is with David D’Eramo, owner of Tiller Trade Co. If you want to hear the full story behind how Tiller Trade Co. got started - Check out the show archives - episode 138 Deadlines, and being able to manage them can be business killers. In this episode David shares a true story example of when his company had to rush a project on site and what the not so pleasant results were....

David grew up wanting to own his own shop, but as he got older his career path changed. His passion for building though, was reignited as an adult, when he saw other people building in his own home and thought, I can do that better. Now with his own company, he is living his childhood dream and making sure his clients are getting nothing less than the professionalism he would want for hi...

There are a lot of different ways to run a furniture company, and similarly there are a lot of different ways to have a career in the furniture industry even if you don’t have a furniture business. Austin is a mix of both. Starting the Austin School of Furniture as well as running his own furniture business. He is an example of someone who took a business and marketing background and fou...

This episode is with Kwadwo Som-Pimpong, owner of the furniture company Crafted Glory. If you want to hear the full story behind how Crafted Glory got started - Check out the show archives - episode 135 Get ready for one of the most wild journeys I’ve ever heard a piece of furniture go on. And I really mean that. Who would have guessed that one extra long screw could turn into such an adventure. W...

Kwadwo is the definition of balancing 2 full time jobs - working for someone else as an engineer by night, and by day, he, his wife, and their employee spend their time building furniture.  As the years have passed, what started as a small goods Etsy company back in 2017 has now turned into a furniture business with a strong foundation that is growing year after year.  Follow along as we...

This episode is with Bryan Ortquist Owner of the furniture company Old Mountain Woodworking If you want to hear the full story behind how Old Mountain Woodworking got started, check out the show archives - episode 133 Bryan is a student of woodworking, and he has a lot of rules in the shop when building pieces - you have to be when you build the giant tables that he does. But his biggest...

With his hands in so many different parts of the industry - furniture making, cnc work, wood milling, lumber drying, exotic imports, teaching classes, and more - Bryan has to make sure his foundation in each of these practices is solid enough that he can take on clients in any part of his business and it won’t cause issues with the rest of the parts running smoothly. So how does he do it? Follow a...

This episode is with Ashley Pieper, owner of the furniture company Shallow Creek Woodcraft. If you want to hear the full story behind how Shallow Creek Woodcraft got started, check out the show archives - episode 131 Stress from a project is easy to see when it comes from outside influences like - materials, clients, timelines, or disasters that you never see coming. But there is also the int...

In an industry that is leaning further and further into technology, Ashley is building her furniture business in more of a traditional way. Learning hand tool skills over machine inputs, gathering knowledge more from books than social media videos, and spending carefully considered time on her furniture rather than working towards the need it yesterday culture that many of today’s production falls...

This episode is with Jack Cerchiara, PhD owner of the furniture company Salish Sea Woodworks If you want to hear the full story behind how Salish Sea Woodworks got started, check out the show archives - episode 129 I don’t want to ruin the story here by giving too much away at the start, but lets just say that epoxy cleanups are hard when they are in your shop...and Jack learned that they are...

From studying Penguins in Patagonia to becoming a fine furniture maker, not many people follow the career path Jack has. But a unique perspective on the industry and a client centric work ethic has allowed him to grow his passion into a sustainable business. And his commitment to understanding and sticking to his brand has let him drive his company forward while still maintaining his core identity...

This episode is with Kelly and Cromwell Schupp, owners of the furniture company Rail & Stile If you want to hear the full story behind how Rail & Stile got started, check out the show archives - episode 127  Shipping furniture is always a nightmare, and even though Kelly and Cromwell put so much effort into building their company, they have still struggled with shipping just like...

Working out of a 20,000 sqft space, with 8 employees, growing steadily year over year, and debuting a brand new furniture collection - You could look at Kelly and Cromwell and say they are living the dream. But that dream didn’t come easily, and even though their growth was fast, it was because they had already put in the work to make the growth possible. So It didn’t matter if they were thrown in...