Avery Earwood: Wild Edge Woodcraft

Today we are thrilled to have Avery Earwood from Wild Edge Woodcraft on the show! Wild Edge Woodcraft started officially in August of last year when Avery transitioned from a 25-year corporate career in healthcare into his new full-time role as a Woodpreneur. His services include  tree removals, sawmill work, kiln drying, and custom furniture building. Wild Edge Woodcraft is located in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area of North Carolina, known locally as The Research Triangle, or The Triangle. 

From Corporate To Craftsman

Avery discusses how truly overwhelmed he has been by the amount of success and the fun he's been having in this new career. He dreamed for many years about transitioning from corporate life into this new career as a Woodpreneur. He goes on to discuss how meeting all of his new clients has become one of the best parts of the job for him. His clients range from people who simply need trees removed from their property to woodworking enthusiasts looking for the perfect slab to make a river table, and finding out how to help each person brings him a lot of joy.

Avery underestimated how much time he would spend personally handling wood, and how amazing that part of the job would be. When he takes down a tree, he loads it onto his trailer and moves it through the entire process of cutting, drying, preparing it for the end product and delivering it to his client. This very hands-on process gave Avery a real appreciation for how often he picks up that same piece of wood throughout its lifecycle.

The Full Value Chain

Avery designed Wild Edge Woodcraft around what he calls the full value chain. By taking down a tree in someone's yard, milling it, drying it, and turning it into furniture that goes back into that person's home, he feels that is the best possible service he can provide to a client. However, Avery is still happy to offer only pieces of the overall chain. If he removes a tree from one property and makes it into furniture for someone else, that's fine too. He's satisfied by working on any link of the chain, but he is happiest if he can complete the full 'tree to table' experience.

Avery lives on a 25-acre farm with hardwoods taking up about 15 of those acres. He explains that the climate and rainfall present in North Carolina blesses the state with tremendous amounts and varieties of trees, many of which grow to be vast and elderly. He was surprised initially when he realized that there's no shortage of raw materials, just a shortage of use. 

Growing Into The Future

In the future, Avery would like his business to keep pace with demand, and a big part of that is scaling up rapidly from a one-person operation. By the end of the year, he would like to have a staff of between 4-6 employees, and he would like to be able to upgrade his equipment. Specifically, Avery would like to upgrade his current mill to a wider one, go from one kiln to two or three, and do ten tables a month instead of his current limit of two. All of these updates require more infrastructure, but the demand is high enough for the end products, there is plenty of supply, and he feels that these are reasonable goals.

Website: https://wildedgewoodcraft.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildedgewoodcraft/

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