Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Burns.
Hi Jack, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
After retiring in 2005 (at 55), I spent the next 10 years visiting islands and ports throughout much of the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans, solo, by sailboat.
I then settled back in Oregon to be close to my kids, and growing family of grandkids. Being a lover of woodworking, (learned from my dad), I began crafting wooden gifts for those special toddlers in my family, and in 2015, opened my Etsy shop, Captain Jack’s Workshop, now Nimblewoodkids, offering quality handcrafted picnic tables and large dollhouses for other kids, throughout the US, to enjoy.
Throughout the following years I have had the opportunity to build a wider variety of custom projects for local customers. These projects included special furniture, cabinets, boxes, cutting boards, chess boards, train tables and more.
As the costs of materials and transportation have increased significantly, I would like to focus more on the local market and with the smaller items and custom projects.
I have just started to look at ways to increase my exposure in the local markets, and welcome your invitation for the chance to get a spotlight in your magazine!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One challenge has been coping with wild fluctuations in sales volumes month to month. In the first few years, sales grew gradually until COVID came along. Then, surprisingly, sales suddenly quadrupled and stayed high through the next couple years of COVID, requiring me to hire help and lease a much larger shop. At the end of that period, my sales suddenly dropped to half what it was before COVID, forcing me to give up the leased space and let the help go. Even this year, sales have gone along pretty slow but suddenly in June, alone, had orders for half of all last year. Then nothing in July and August.
The majority of my sales throughout have been through Etsy, and of those sales, the large majority require shipping to the East Coast.
Meanwhile, the costs of selling through Etsy have increased significantly over these years.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Although many of my customers have disagreed, I don’t consider myself to be an artistic person. I think of myself as being a craftsman who listens to what the customer’s vision is and work with wood, tools, and equipment to achieve their vision.
I encourage customization of even my standard offerings. Many of these have resulted in a new standard offering.
I have one repeat customer, a remodeling contractor, that comes to me when he has a customer with a vision he thinks his standard carpenter crew cannot do. I have told him that every project he brings me is for something I have no experience doing. He replies “And you always figure it out, and the client is always thrilled”
I am proud of the fact that I have received only full 5 star reviews throughout this endeavor.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
In my life I have had many careers and many mentors along the way. I have never purposely sought out a mentor but have always purposely observed the attributes and qualities of those I admired and who were successful in their careers, and have worked to incorporate their examples in developing what I strive to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nimblewood.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/nimblewood/
