The Storyteller's Tavern

Anne Briggs is a farmer, woodworker, and educator who turns big, overwhelming dreams into approachable, everyday practices. She blends regenerative agriculture, “lazy gardening,” and traditional hand-tool woodworking into stories and systems that help people build real skills and a life they love using whatever they have to get there. Through her online content and in-person classes, she invites f...

Ed Mancini of Mancini Woodworking and Jeff from Makers Way are two furniture builders, storytellers, and longtime pillars of the maker community whose friendship is built on equal parts craftsmanship, mutual support, and an absolutely relentless commitment to giving each other a hard time. Ed Mancini of Mancini Woodworking spent twenty years as an Army tanker  -  driver, loader, gunner, commander ...

Leigh and Mush sit down with Kerges Nimen and Tamara Robertson, two people whose paths into making couldn’t look more different on the surface, but who are connected by something deeper. Kergis is a silversmith whose work captures both delicacy and strength, fusing fire, metal, and meaning into jewelry that shines with unmistakable personality. Tamara - part engineer, part MythBuster, part author,...

Dennis Forrester of 21Grams Leather Goods is a leather artist whose work carries both the precision of tattooing and the heart of recovery. What began as a creative outlet during the stillness of the pandemic has evolved into a partnership with Weaver Leather Supply and a life centered around teaching, collaboration, and storytelling through craft. His designs pull from American traditional tattoo...

Paul Jackman and John “Graz” Graziano are two of the most recognizable (and ridiculous) personalities in the maker world right now. You may know them from the Netflix show Making Fun , from their YouTube channels full of chaos, creativity, and power tools, and from the unmistakable blend of sarcasm and sincerity that follows them wherever they go. Between Jackman’s precision woodworking and Graz’s...

Rich and Jenna Greenwalt of Forged Ingrain are the kind of makers who can build just about anything - and often do. From salvaged wood and concrete to metal, resin, and light, their work ranges from functional furniture to one-of-a-kind art pieces that carry the unmistakable fingerprint of collaboration. Together, they run a full-time creative business just outside of Cleveland, blending Rich’s ba...

Nick Berchtold of Berchtold Design Build has made a name for himself through jaw-dropping CNC creations that blur the line between architecture, sculpture, and satire. By day, he’s an architectural model maker helping design some of the tallest buildings in the world. By night, he’s creating axes, knives, and wild custom projects that mash up 3D modeling, fine woodworking, and an unmistakable sens...

Ryan Smith is a woodworker and printmaker whose work has quietly become one of the defining visual signatures of Maker Camp. Every year, hundreds of people walk away with one of his letterpress posters tucked under their arm, each one pulled by hand on a nearly hundred-year-old Vandercook printing press that he’s restored, hauled to camp, and runs all weekend long. Between woodworking commissions,...

Tracey and Kathrina of Bastionhead Woodworks are power carvers and hand-tool makers who’ve built a reputation for turning raw, ordinary firewood into bold, sculptural forms that feel alive in your hands. They teach at major woodworking events around the country, introduce countless newcomers to carving through approachable tools and techniques, and somehow make every class feel like a mix of artis...

Leigh and Mush sit down to talk about the excitement involved in this year's Maker Camp! See you soon, East Durham! We had some tremendously generous support in making this Chapter of The Storyteller's Tavern possible, and we'd like to thank The Maker Camp, Total Boat , and Kutzall for all that you do to support and uplift the Maker Community, as well as for helping make this chapter h...

This is it: the final episode from WorkbenchCon 2025 . Beyond the tools, techniques, and business side of things, WORKBENCHCon is and has always been about friendship, support, and the community that makes it all possible. So what better way to wrap it up than with three makers who represent the soul of this event: Jessie ( @building_jessie ), who began woodworking in 2018 by building things for h...

Leah Houghtaling and Amelia Mighty are two incredible makers whose work is rooted in bringing happiness to others through woodworking, finishing, and content creation. As self-described multitools, they've been a dynamic duo for almost 30 years, working for themselves for over 20 years. Their chemistry as partners—both in life and in the shop—is undeniable, and their passion for what they do i...

Morgan and Stone from Onefinity CNC have become the faces of Onefinity in the maker community, and get a chance to share what goes on behind the scenes of a CNC company that started from the ground up with makers in mind Morgan and Stone don't just show up at Workbench Conference to sell machines: they’re deeply invested in helping people learn, explore, and push the limits of digital fabricat...

As podcast hosts, we've come to love the feeling of being completely blown away by unexpected stories, and this one is definitely up there: it's a story of innovation, persistence, and entrepreneurship, about a banker who's invented an industry-disrupting tool for a field in which she had virtually no experience. Friend of the pod Leah introduced us to Channon, the creator of the Morga...

While the official kickoff of Workbench Conference happens Thursday Night, the first big all-community learning experience happens during the Friday morning Keynote, where this year Ryan Drapela, the mastermind behind Cutting It Close, spoke. Ryan who has built a thriving woodworking business from the ground up—literally. His journey started as a teenager in his parents’ barn, working with a $75 m...

Colton Hagler's (@coltcrit) path has taken him through unexpected viral success, hard-earned business lessons, and now, a furniture repair career with his sights set on ownership. He's also a host of the woodworking and goodtimes podcast Beat Around the Bench. Brendan Pozsgai (@varnishandgarnish) blends woodworking with barware, creating custom charcuterie boards, bottle openers, and other home go...

One of the best parts of getting to meet new folks in the Maker Community is hearing stories of makers who’ve taken the leap into full-time creativity. This time, we’re sitting down with Yesi, a woodworker and DIY enthusiast, introduced to us by our good friend and friend of the pod Jpaul. Yesi’s story is one of transformation—what started as home projects turned into a career shift from the legal...

Mush and Leigh sit down to recap Maker Camp 2024, and to get excited about what's next (spoiler alert: it's Workbench Conference!!). We had some tremendously generous support in making this Chapter of The Storyteller's Tavern possible, and we'd like to thank Total Boat , Kutzall , The Tasting Lab , and The Maker Camp   The Storyteller's Tavern is made and hosted by @ TheTinkerTeacher and @ MakerMu...

This is it—the final episode of Maker Camp 2024. The bonfires are burning low, the Maker Swap is done, and we’re winding down one of the best weekends of the year with a conversation that I think covers what this community is all about: mentorship, legacy, and the joy of passing skills forward. Joining us are Erik Curtis and Nancy Drumm —two makers who embody what it means to give back through cra...

It’s Sunday at Maker Camp, and before the weekend ends, we're getting to hang out with Sam (DIY Huntress) and Danie (DIY Danie)—two incredible makers who prove that DIY is about way more than just building things. It’s about confidence, creativity, and fully embracing your weird. Sam, aka DIY Huntress, is a powerhouse in the world of woodworking, home renovation, and making things ridiculously...

It's the end of night two of Maker Camp, and over at the Total Boat tent, the glow sticks are flying and the cyberpunk glasses are glowing. In the Martini Bar (commandeered this weekend as the Storyteller's Tavern), we’re sitting down with Justin “Call Me Mabie” Mabie and Larissa Huff, two makers whose paths took unexpected turns into woodworking, filmmaking, and teaching. Justin is a docu...

Day one of Maker Camp 2024 is winding down, and what a day it’s been—rocket launches, axe crafting, welding, forging—everything that makes Maker Camp, well, Maker Camp. The sun was shining, things were made, and now, we get to wind down with some incredible conversations. In this episode, we’re joined by two truly inspiring guests: Tamara Robertson and Kelly Combs. You might know Tamara from MythB...

Alright so this is a bit of a different episode. A little bit of background: if you're even tangentially involved in the Maker World, you've seen someone with a stunning black and white photograph that somehow perfectly captures their whole essence. The brilliance behind all of these photos is the one and only Mark Adams, who we were so fortunate to talk with last year - ⁠you can listen to it here...

Long time listeners of the show, or at least anyone who listened to the Maker Camp '23 Chapter, will recognize Emmett Newsome and Ethan Carter from a bit of an off-the-rails episode hosted by Leigh and beloved friend of the pod Leah Hartmann. Without giving away too much of what's about to transpire, this follow-up episode was kind of inevitable. You don't have to, but you may want to revisit that...

Leigh and I had lunch with the dynamic duo of Lindsay and Eric - married makers with amazing stories to tell. From her energizer bunny enthusiasm to his calm, collected wisdom, their partnership is proof that opposites not just attract, but thrive. As we mention in this episode, Lindsay was our first guest in the Tavern lo some many years ago, and it was so great to not just sit down again with he...