Sean Harmer: Sean Harmer Woodworking

Sean Harmer: Sean Harmer Woodworking

 

Welcome back to a brand new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere sits down with Sean Harmer from Sean Harmer Woodworking. Steve and Sean met at the Denver, Colorado, Woodpreneur meetup, and Sean is now bringing his knowledge and expertise to the Woodpreneur Podcast.

 

Sean is coming up on the five-year anniversary of his woodworking journey. Like many other woodworkers, Sean gets a great deal of inspiration from his parents. Both his father and mother were artists and creators, and they have passed on that passion to Sean.

 

“In 2018, I was working at a startup in Boulder, kind of like a commercial real estate thing, until I got laid off. So I took some of that severance money and invested in some tools and a CNC machine, and I wanted to expand it to like a whole new thing; I wanted to be creative. 

 

Fast forward a couple of years, the pandemic hit in 2020. At that point, I was a couple of months into having a little boy, and I still wasn’t working and was having a hard time finding a job. I looked around at my friends and the opportunities they were looking for, which led me to create my company, Hardwood Climbing, where I made hang boards, which are like a training board that you mount above your door for rock climbers.”

 

  • Sean Harmer

 

 

Photo Credit: @seanharmer_woodworking

 

 

Taking Advantage of the Times

 

Living in Colorado, there are many rock climbers, and during the early stages of the pandemic, most of the gyms and stores that cater to that audience shut down. So Sean took advantage of a gap in the market, creating these hang boards and selling them locally. As time went on, he began to implement his creative side to make the boards more aesthetically pleasing. There’s no reason something practical can’t look nice too.

 

“The pandemic was, surprisingly, really good for me. At one point, I was literally sleeping next to my CNC machine pumping out hang boards constantly all day long and then shipping them around the world. Developing this brand over the last couple of years has been exciting and fun. 

 

I now sponsor six semi-pro climbers who are just the most incredible people you’ve ever seen, doing one-hand and one-finger pull-ups and that kind of thing. So I send them stuff, and they send me content that I can share and create a community around my products. 

 

I’ve always wanted to be a woodworker, creator, and specifically a furniture maker. Having that consistent product coming in enabled me to do so much. I have my own shop space, and it’s given me the time and money to invest in my own designs and look for tables and things that I could expand on.”

 

  • Sean Harmer

 

 

Photo Credit: @seanharmer_woodworking

 

 

Steve’s Advice Corner

 

“I had the benefit of you just putting on a great seminar. But you suggested reaching out, getting yourself out there within the local community, particularly going to a non-profit. I thought that was just brilliant. My next step is to use Instagram, use the hashtag #denverinteriordesigners, for instance, and go through the list of designers that I find, start a conversation and relationship, and show them some of my work. But I can keep pushing; that’s the hard part that I think everybody struggles with.”

 

  • Sean Harmer

 

Building more business locally is essential for most companies, especially those that deal with local products. However, to build a name and business locally, a lot comes down to making yourself well known in that space. Fortunately, Steve has years of experience working for and running a non-profit, and he has some ideas to help Sean out.

 

“So how to build more local business, right? Working locally with a charitable organization is probably one of the best things you can do to feel good, but the people involved feel good too. They have similar good-hearted, good-minded values. 

 

If they know how to put together a gala, and the gala costs more than $100-$200 per ticket, and the tables are selling for $1,000-$10,000 a table, that’s where you want to be because those people can afford custom furniture. So what you want to do is to go out and connect with them and let them know that you exist.”

 

  • Steve Larosiliere

 

Website: https://www.seanharmerwoodworking.com

 

Instagram: @seanharmer_woodworking

 

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