On this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast we have Ryan Cochrane here with us. Ryan had a different path than most to get into the wood industry. He was an Olympic athlete who went to two Olympic Games, competed at the World Championships for many years, and was on the Canadian national team for sprint kayaking for 14 years. His time kayaking on lakes and rivers spurred on a curiosity about trees that he has had since childhood, and he had always intended to get into the wood industry after he retired from being an athlete.
After some more discussion, Steve asks about Ryan’s current wood business. Ryan explains that originally he was making charcuterie and epoxy boards and selling them through Etsy on the side. Now he works with his team at his new workshop making dining tables, benches, and many other types of furniture. Currently his role is the director of production which means a combination of directing the products to be built as well as researching and developing new ways to improve the business.
Olympic Efficiency
Ryan prides himself on his efficiency and how he loves to learn continually. Whether he is researching new ways to work with epoxy or coming up with new ways to use unusual types of wood, he enjoys getting to dig into new ways of doing things. Steve inquires about how Ryan’s time as an Olympic athlete has shaped the way he operates his business. Ryan explains that it’s helped him in how he handles both the personal and business sides of life.
“I’ve done it, I’ve done that and I’ve been the underdog. I learned how to overcome that adversity, I’ve learned how to push myself every single day in any situation, and how to work hard and the benefit of working hard because in this job, if you can hustle, you can make a difference.
Then there’s the next level where you have to use your intelligence and have to to try to be more efficient. As an athlete, one of the most important things was applying technique and efficiency to make the boat move faster in the water. And I tried to apply that to woodworking as well. How can we cut down the time on this table? How can we cut down the time on that table?”
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Ryan Cochrane
The Power of Instagram
Steve and Ryan take some time to talk about the challenges of working in a bilingual place and needing to handle legal documents in another language as well as some of the other peculiarities of operating a business in Canada. They then break down how Instagram has played such a pivotal role in his growth as a business as well as in his mental health.
“My goal when I first joined the platform was that my Instagram was my personal account. At first I said, Okay, I am going to try to sell products on the side as a side hustle. I mean, what woodworker doesn’t have some sort of side hustle at one point? Woodworking is the side hustle or for a lot of people.
So I tried to start doing that. But this really interesting thing occurred. I realized that there was something better than selling and trying to promote my products. I realized that I ran into this unbelievable maker, woodworker, and content creator community on Instagram. Everyone was super nice, super inclusive which was super important to me, because as I said, I live in an area that doesn’t have a lot of English. So this was my contact to be able to speak with other English makers and people and, and to kind of just make some connections. It was really good for my mental health and it was really, really fun for me because I have this drive and desire to want to help people.”
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Ryan Cochrane
Ryan goes on to say that he has met so many people through this online community that have spurred him on to develop the content creation direction of his creations. He loves the artistic and completely freeform nature of that work, and intends that to be a big part of the direction of his business. They spend some time talking about Ryan’s favorite tool brands and how he enjoys testing out new equipment and finding better ways to do things.
Steve’s Advice Corner
When asked what help he could benefit from, Ryan explains that while he loves his Instagram following as he has a very high engagement rate from them, he would like to grow his following and reach even more people to help them out. Steve notes that leveraging a personal Facebook page helps grow everything else, and the value of contests and giveaways. He advises that determining who you want your audience to be will shape a lot of the ways you invest time into your social media to create growth from them.
Steve goes on to say that since Ryan is a fan of Festool tools, he can offer something like that or one of his creations as a giveaway prize. He adds that this method can be far more effective than Facebook ads despite the upfront cost, noting that even complicated methods of signing up for the giveaway such as a combination of liking, following, and subscribing across multiple platforms will be effective in developing a wider audience.
Finally Steve suggests that Ryan use the network and the reputation he has already established for himself as a way to motivate people and provide them with aspirational goals. He explains that tips coming from a former Olympian will undoubtedly mean a lot more to many people, which will help Ryan in his overall goal of reaching and helping people.
To see more from Ryan Cochrane, check out his socials below!
Instagram: @cochranekayak
Etsy: RPCWoodWorks
This episode of The Woodpreneur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Uneedainc, go to https://www.sandpaper.com for more info.