Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paul Angiolillo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Paul, thanks for joining us today. Is there a historical figure you look up to? Who are they and what lessons or values have you learned from them?

I look up to two historical figures, one would be Henry Ford and the other is within my own family my great grandmother who I have never met. Throughout my journey building this ironware, although somewhat strange both their stories really resonate with me. With Henry Ford it would be his journey with discovering production techniques and inventing the process as he goes. With my great grandmother it would be her immigrant story making it in the US and surviving by hand making cheese that would eventually grow into a large scale business.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello, my name is Paul Angiolillo. My career in blacksmithing started over a decade ago with being a Farrier (also referred to as “the blacksmith”). One half of the process of shoeing horses is forging shoes for the horse, where I quickly found a passion for hand making my own horseshoes for my clients. The passion for the forge has never left. It is a demanding trade where there is no substitute for skill, you cant buy it. Independent Ironware was birthed by wanting to take those hard earned skills and grow it into something accessible to more people.

However the journey with creating a product around food is not foreign to me, it is almost like returning to my roots. For generations my family has been deeply rooted in the food business specializing in Italian cheeses. It all started when my great-grandmother came across the Atlantic by boat and made her way by selling her hand made cheese in her shop. This skill allowed her family to survive the Great Depression and thrive. It created a culture in our family that food is everything, and what you put into your body is imperative to your well being. And most of all take pride in what you do, and put in the work to be the best you can be.

It’s values like these that I bring into making my cookware. They are built on tradition. In hopes that one day you will pass your Independent Ironware on to the next generation.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In my life I have hit rock bottom. I have failed too many times to count. I have learned all my life lessons by taking them to the chin. Six years after hitting my rock bottom, it seemed like it was about to happen again, but this time not from my own stupidity. That moment in time is when I decided to start Independent Ironware. Because really the only option in life is to take one step forward, and then another. I started this business in a horse trailer that I converted into a little metal working shop, because I knew I just needed to start and I was going to begin by any means necessary. I had to boot strap the entire endeavor by working as many jobs as I could. It was a humble beginning and it is still the beginning. But now I am out of that horse trailer, and I am in a shop. I have more tools than I can count. And I am still here making this cookware. Taking that one step everyday is the best decision I have made in my life, because it compounds. Don’t ever stop.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

When I got started making my product, I did not have a clue how to do it! I new I had the fundamental metal working and blacksmithing skills to make it and make it well, but I had to figure out every process along the way. I make an artisanally manufactured product, it is very hands on. It was an absolute challenge to figure out how to get metal to move in the ways you want it in order to achieve your vision. That is kind of the artisan part. You have a vision, you forge that hot metal into what you want to see. But what I enjoy the most is after I achieve that goal, I light up on finding a way to produce it. Finding the most efficient sequence of all the tools and actions to create each element of the ironware is an awesome challenge. And is my favorite part of the whole process.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.independentironware.com
• Instagram: @independent_ironware
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAIbIqU9aY

Image Credits
Della Fredrickson (all color photos) black and white are mine