We were lucky to catch up with Matthew Paul recently and have shared our conversation below.
Matthew, appreciate you joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
My mom was a full time single mother for a long time she raised 4 boys and a daughter with very little help from anyone ..she was able to keep us fed ..and a roof over our head ..she worked 2 jobs as well as a side hustle cleaning houses and had no more motivation than just doing it for the love she had for her kids. I watched her break down her body, and whittle her fingers to the bone. She eventually got to the point she could barely walk. But she showed me to never quit. Never give up no matter how hard you have to work. For her, her dream was her kids and to her that was worth sacrifices. So whatever your sacrifice has to be, no matter how hard you have to work . Never give up that’s what I learned from her.
Matthew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started laser ebgraving as a hobby, just something that interested me as I was always kind of a science nerd. So I started small with a little Amazon desktop diode laser engraver, I burned cheap wood key chains and wallets just for fun and to pass the time. As most things do they evolve and I ended up getting a bigger gantry style diode laser ..more powerful but slow so for a year or so I made wood signs and sold them at swap meets and trade shows. People would begin asking me if I could engrave metal. Glass, acrylic etc. I found through these questions I was missing out on various markets..although I knew nothing about lasers other than what taught myself I took the next logical step and got a glass tube k40 c02 laser, for the most part it was pretty plug and play the software was buggy but easy to use and I really started stretching my creative legs making tumblers, led illuminated acrylic signs and cutting boards but still had gotten several requests for aluminum and jewlery so slowly expanding I now own a galvo c02 and galvo fibre laser to meet the needs of most requests asked by customers. I personally am most proud of my slow evolution, and learning as I go and wanting to give up but not doing so. What sets me apart is my process I love working with each customer and tweaking each design until its exactly the vision they had in their head. I most definitely would want people to know the process of having something made is rewarding and fun it’s a neat thing to see come alive with just a few Ideas.my motto has always been ” the only limitation is your imagination”
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The most important thing is owning your mistakes and be willing to correct them. If you have to eat the cost of something to keep your customers sometimes it’s necessary so if you have to budget for that or factor it in on the price of something sometimes it’s just a necessity, I know negative word of mouth reaches far more people than positive word of mouth so the goal is always make sure your customers are always happy.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.desertpyrography.com.
- Instagram: @desertpyrography
- Facebook: Www.facebook.com/DesertPyrography
Image Credits
Matthew Paul Desert Pyrography