The Glass Root

Around February of this year I was done. I had been chasing this dream for over a year…building hand crafted things from wood, dumping countless hours, funds, and sleepless nights. I have been making things from wood since I was walking. I’ve remodeled multiples homes. Built many pieces of furniture. Why wasn’t this working?

Audience.

No shade to Burleson County; we call this little area of Texas home, and it is great as that. Beautiful rolling hills with oak trees, great neighbors, calm, peaceful.

The more I got out in the public, the more I chased trying to build custom furniture around the city of Caldwell, the more I kept being told: “We live in Caldwell, we don’t do business in Caldwell.” At first I didn’t believe it. I tried everything I could.

a. Ask local businesses if I can display or some type of wholesale/consignment. NO

b. Farmers market. NO

c. Side of the road like the Watermelon Man. Nope

d. Start a farmers market to include makers. Nope

e. Start a retail store to display custom pieces. Nope

f. Social media. “Will you take $200 cash?” MFer, this is hand crafted, not Walmart

More of the old timers kept repeating: we live in Caldwell, we don’t do business here. What I eventually discovered to validate the old timers advice about Burleson County is for another post/day. The facts were simple: the more I pushed the more pissed off I got. And the more pissed off I got, the more I started to look for other avenues.

I was done.

After so many failed attempts, I scheduled some interviews, stopped posting on socials, and decided to go back to the desk job, sales, door greeter, something. This wasn’t working, and these people suck, and I’m mad at everyone.

I had focused on what I saw on socials and surrounding places selling furniture…the farmhouse style. I demonstrated I had the ability, I just needed the buyers, and if I made what they were looking for, the commissions would roll in and this little shop would kick off with a steady hum of clients. Wrong.

So in my last ditch effort before I went back to working for the man, I wanted to do one more piece for me. A total vanity play. Something no one had ever seen before. Something unique, not to anyone’s taste. Something that would take me weeks to build, while I went on interviews for jobs I didn’t want. A proper fuck you to everyone. Glass Root project was just that. And damn it, I was going to show people what I could do, mic drop, donate this piece, go get a day job and watch the internet boards in BCS light up with someone asking “so I got this weird table at Goodwill, and it has this tree branded on the bottom…anyone know what tf this is or where it came from?” That’ll show ‘em.

I give up.

I documented the process. Showed me constructing the stack, pulled out a chainsaw to rough cut the shape, angle grinder with a grater attachment that has left some without fingers, flap wheel sander and smoking equipment. All that. Posted it all. Showed this whole weird progression. Nothing. I got a “cool man” from a friend, a couple of “what is that supposed to be” and my wife supporting me saying: “this should be in a high end hotel lobby somewhere. Like this is amazing…like what you would find in an interior designer studio.” She gets it. But my thought was, well maybe this is more out there into functional art and is no longer furniture. And it’s weird. Nobody cared. I played in the sandbox, now its time to hang it up.

So I shelved it. I placed a couple of the photos here and there and just got on with life. I didn’t hang it up. A series of strange events started happening, and Redbud Timberworks is still humming along, doing better now than ever. I stopped focusing on Walmart shoppers in Burleson County, and started showing up in Bryan/College Station where the serious small business owners are. Clientele, well that’s the funny part… Caldwell people don’t buy anything from people in Caldwell, they go to College Station… to buy things from people who live in and around Caldwell.

It has taken me awhile to really figure out what it is I want out of this whole venture. It’s not about the money, but bills need to be paid. It’s not about getting any type of notoriety, but that does help. It is about family and community: starting my own business and having the flexibility to show up for my kids. Interacting with people, getting to know one another. Giving back, and helping our little slice of this world. The thing I had ignored…it’s about taking something not impressive, and turning it into something beautiful and functional. Something unique. A story to tell the kids.

It’s not about chasing trends. It’s about being yourself, warts and all. It’s about the friendships you make along the way, the stories to be told. Get to the Root of what makes you happy, and lean really hard into it.

Take care of yourselves friends.
>Mike