Why I started a woodworking business...

My story

I am a Father, a Husband, a full-time loan officer and cancer survivor. In February 2018 I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. In those days of recovery following surgery it gave me a lot of time to think; to think about what I’ve done and what I haven’t done. I was fortunate to be able to walk away from this when others have not, and in those moments, I came to realize it was time for a change.

I was given a 2nd chance.

So now what do I do? I spent most of the following days laying around watching YouTube videos and feeling sorry for myself. Although I had an extremely high survival rate, it had not fully sunk in that shit could have gone a whole different direction. And as life has shown us, sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better.

So how did I end up starting a woodworking business from having cancer? Good question. In the years leading up to all this I have been making things around my home like a mantle over the fireplace, big 5-foot round clock, Edison Bulb chandelier and other things I made because I am too cheap to buy. Then I got the idea to start making pens to give to my clients for when they are signing their loan documents. I had seen enough videos on turning pens that I felt like all I needed was a lathe and I could do that.

You see I am the type of compulsive perfectionist person that if I am going to do something, I go all in. That’s usually not a good thing because for me it’s usually short lived, but this time it was different.

I got the tools I needed and set everything up, and like a fish out of water, I turned my first pen. It’s something anyone can do and it’s a pretty low investment to get started. So, I was making pens pretty regularly and then things slowed down. My motivation was gone, I felt like coming home and having a couple beers instead of going into the garage and making things and I was becoming a different person. My diet was terrible, I didn’t exercise and I usually went to sleep between 2 to 3 o’clock in the morning. I was not living a healthy lifestyle, and little did I know this tumor was growing in my right testicle and was going to change my life.

Fast forward to about 2 weeks after surgery and I was feeling a little better and thought I would go into the garage and make a couple pens. It always made me happy so why not. I was a little rusty, but I did it. It was about 2:00 in the morning when I finished, and I shut everything down. As I walked across the garage and looked at the mirror on the wall, I stared at myself for a moment. (My wife uses the other half of the garage for working out so there are 2 large mirrors).

Now I have never done this where I talked to myself in a mirror before. It wasn’t one of those moments where I was complementing myself on how good I looked; it was more like “dude you need to get your shit together’’ kind of moments. I spent the next 30 minutes beating myself down then picking myself up and taking accountability for everything that happened and reminding myself that I had a purpose; that I had a wife and 2 beautiful little girls that needed me, not this sorry man who wasn’t feeling happy. I told myself that tomorrow you wake up with a smile on your face because you got a 2nd chance and you better not waste it.

The next morning, I woke up and sure enough I had a smile on my face. I got dressed and started getting my girls ready for school. I was smiling and moving quick around the kitchen and it showed that I had a lot more pep in my step. My youngest daughter who was 6 at the time said to me, “Daddy you look like you’re feeling better.” And I replied, “I am feeling better”. She told me “that’s good because that makes me happy”. I couldn’t look at her because I couldn’t hold back the tears running down my face. I didn’t realize how perceptive my kids were and that they could see the pain I was going through and how I could change that quick and she could notice it. This was the boost that I needed.

Tim McIlrath from the Band Rise Against said it best, “we have a moral obligation to leave this world a better place than the way that we found it”. What had I done to make this world a better place? Also, what was I leaving behind for my family? A bunch of debt and some power tools? That’s super lame.

No this was different, this was bigger than me. I had purpose. I had a vision. And so, I decided to start 2nd Chance Workshop with the reminder that I had a 2nd Chance at life, but it was also a place of making things which could help and benefit others. If I was going to do this, I had to give it everything I had so I made the decision to cut the alcohol out of my life, to start eating healthy, exercise regularly and most important to go to bed at normal time. Those changes are what’s fueled my ability to get this going.

2nd Chance Workshop will be more than a place to buy something, it’s also an idea. My life, our lives, they are all workshops. My workshop will be shared so that others can learn and be inspired. I will also utilize YouTube which is more than making videos, it’s leaving a legacy behind in a way. My kids and their kids can watch me decades from now and it will be a way that we can connect. I would have loved to watch videos of my grandfather, but the technology wasn’t around back then. It is today so I am going to embrace it.

Life wouldn’t be complete without giving back. If this little business makes any money, I will donate a portion of the profits from every single sale to cancer research for Men, Women and Children. I said I wanted to give back and this will be how.

I’m not a Carpenter or trained Woodworker; but I really like to make stuff. If YouTube was a university, I would probably be a doctor by now. I have learned with the same resources available to anyone else.

And so, the journey begins, hoping that I can leave this world a better place than the way that I found it.