Big News and Her Debut
November 17, 2022
Well folks, we’re opening a store. Like an actual storefront right in the downtown of our little town. We’ve sold 13,000+ tables on the internet, but this will be the first time selling anything in person and it’s pretty dang exciting. We live in Monticello, FL, which is the epitome of a rural smalltown, and there’s like genuine excitement around here that we’re doing this. The closest bigger towns (30 minutes away) are Tallahassee, FL and Thomasville, GA, and I’ve heard from a bunch of people via social media that they’re pumped about it too. Pretty cool. I started this woodworking journey on the tiny balcony of our 4th floor apartment almost 10 years ago, with no intention (or even thought that it would be possible if I wanted to) of ever trying to make money off of it, much less that it would launch careers for myself and multiple other people (7 of my employees have been with me for over 2 years now), and yet here we are. Like I said, pretty cool.I will say though, we’re TIRED. My wife (Lindsey) and I have a tendency to throw ourselves into things and not chill out. I’ve been talking to my therapist about it because I don’t really know how to relax. And Lindsey has the same energy, just in different ways. We just came out of a really stressful time and were actually out to eat celebrating the end of that stressful saga when we came across the space that is going to be the store. It’s in a really ideal location and we went from, “Wouldn’t that be fun?” to “We’ve signed the lease and paid the deposit!” in about 4 days’ time. Honestly, I don’t know what we were thinking. Because it’s not like we’re just going to throw some tables into an empty space and call it a store. This is the first time my name has been on something so physical and tangible (other than the 13,000 tables we’ve sent out, but you get the point), so we’re going to make every effort to do it really, really well. Lindsey is in charge of the whole thing and has so many incredible ideas, but that means WORK. We’re remodeling the space (not just paint: we’re tearing walls down, putting walls up, new floors, new counters, etc.) and it’s not like I’m at the point in my career where I just pay contractors to do all that stuff…it’s me and my father-in-law and Isaac from the shop doing all the work. And then we have to fill the space. We have 48 tables in production to be in the store, and in stock at the store, plus over 100 smaller items. And wait, did I mention that we have 4 little girls, ages 4-9, that Lindsey homeschools, that we try to keep off of devices and away from the TV, and who need fed constantly and also enjoy (and kinda need) their parents’ attention and to be tucked in and bathed and all of that? Because that’s a huge part of why this is so hard. Childless Tyler could do this all the time. But 4 kids Tyler has responsibilities from the moment he wakes until the moment he lays down. Honestly, I’m so exhausted that any other time I’d be terrified I was about to totally burn out and do all the self-destructive things I do when I get burned out (mostly activities that include Oreos, brownies, pasta, not sleeping enough, and avoiding anything positive or life-giving while I wallow in my self-sabotage spiral), BUT there is a bit of a difference right now, because I also am extremely excited about this. So I’ll hold off on my burnout brownie binge until after the store opens.
Before I go, let me get to the thing I’m most excited about. This store is kinda my wife’s debut into the world. Ha, that’s a weird sentence. How can I say it better: I believe Lindsey has an eye for design that is so incredible that she could have easily launched a career much more successful than mine if she had chosen to do so. Her aesthetic sensibility for spaces is better than anyone I’ve ever met. But up until now, it has only really been displayed in our own home and in the staging of our product photos. We always say that my design eye is micro, while hers is macro. Meaning I can design an incredible table, but I have no clue what the room around that table should look like. Whereas Lindsey can design a whole room or house. She did our own house and I think it’s incredible (you should check it out on Instagram or even our product photos on the website…any photo in a house, that’s our house and she likely staged the photo). And she’s going all out with this space. She has every section of it planned and organized in her little notebook. So I’m stoked for this store to open so folks can see how talented she really is. Hopefully you can come see it too! And now she just needs her boy (me) to stop writing and get back into the shop and build the things she has written down in that little notebook.