Weaving Success with Ryan Feldthouse of Feldthouse Family Woodworks

 

“It doesn’t require decades of skill sets to try something. It requires decades of trying something to accumulate a skill set.”

• Ryan Feldthouse

 

Hello and welcome to Building a Furniture Brand with Ethan Abramson, the show that talks about the business behind the furniture business. In this episode, Ethan sits down with Brian Feldthouse, owner of the Fresno, California, furniture company Feldthouse Family Woodworks.

 

Although Ryan’s primary business right now is cutting boards, this episode is not only an episode about cutting boards. Ryan has spent his entire life in the building trades, making him well-versed in the industry and what it takes to thrive in it.

 

Their conversation goes deeper than just talking about building or business. It also goes into the type of passion you need to stand apart. And the way you judge your ideas of failure and success. Follow along as they talk about ignoring industry fads, how to think about intellectual property, the importance of strong role models, and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

Focusing Energy on the Right Place

 

“When I was in school, I was a very active kid. A lot of the schools tried to diagnose me with ADHD or whatever and would say I was disruptive, a problem child, or whatever I was. I had a lot of difficulties in school for a long time, and I would regularly be suspended or expelled from all kinds of schools. I just had a lot of energy, and I just had a really hard time being in that type of structured environment, which would present a lot of challenges. 

 

So when I was in seventh grade, we finally had a woodshop at this new school that I started going to with an awesome instructor named Mr. Mitchell. He was one of those guys that had this presence about him. You wanted to present your best self to impress him. He inspired greatness in yourself just because you wanted to be able to impress him. 

 

So I started woodshop projects, building boxes and stuff like that. I was getting suspended all the time in school, but I would sneak back onto the campus just to go to his woodshop class, and he wouldn’t notice. It was literally the only thing in school that I enjoyed doing, and I really enjoyed the projects in his class.”

• Ryan Feldthouse

 

Eventually, Ryan was expelled from his high school, but he continued to sneak back into Mr. Mitchell’s class as often as he could. Although his first exposure to woodworking was somewhat unconventional, Ryan found his passion in those classes he attended and snuck into. After his expulsion from high school, Ryan’s father realized that a school environment didn’t suit his son, so he hired him at the construction company he owned to help Ryan develop his newfound passion.

 

 

The Value of Consistency

 

“What has helped me the most is consistency. It’s so important for people to be able to rely on you. If people know that they can depend on you, that’ll pull you away from the pack, which I think is essential because there are many very inconsistent people. I’m not just speaking about people’s work, but also work ethic, things like showing up daily. 

 

For instance, I’m a small business owner; I wake up every day at 5 am, and I’m out there in the shop and getting stuff done. The most important thing is showing up and just getting moving and moving forward. For other advice, I have found a lot of benefits in passive income, like the tutorials that I mentioned earlier in the podcast. 

 

We had about a month and a half of total downtime where stuff was not selling. I wasn’t moving any of my pieces, boxes, or anything, but the tutorials kept selling. There wasn’t a lot of income, but it was at least enough to keep me moving and just to keep stuff moving forward.

 

Even though we weren’t making sales, I’m still out in the shop, filling past orders and waking up every day to get out there and keep progress. That’s the main and most important thing to success, especially when you’re first starting and establishing your business.”

• Ryan Feldthouse

 

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/FeldthouseWoodworks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feldthousefamilywoodworks