We were lucky to catch up with Jason Adams recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jason, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
I feel that in the maker industry it’s common for small businesses to create a handful of products that sell and then pump as many of them out as quickly as possible. In my opinion, this type of model leads to boring, repetitive work and the possibility of loss of quality in the items being made. I personally try to take jobs that are unique. This keeps me interested and it also puts me in a position of constantly learning new things – which I enjoy. One way I found to get the best of both worlds is by using my CNC machine to do the repetitive tasks while I can be working on other unique projects at the same time.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve been interested in woodworking for quite some time but never really did much with it until about 5 years ago. This was when my wife and I purchased a lake home and had to furnish it. We had been looking at furniture and nothing at the big box stores was really catching our eye. We had started looking online for ideas and came across live edge slab tables. Many of these tables had epoxy rivers which enhanced their uniqueness and we decided we really wanted one for our cottage. However, we realized it was something we weren’t able to get locally at the time, and being in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (a 16 hour drive northwest of Toronto) shipping a dining room table would be expensive. I remember saying to my wife “I’ll make one.” That led to countless hours on youtube, and many more in the shop, learning not only woodworking but also how to incorporate epoxy into the woodworking projects. I started out doing small projects like serving boards and coasters. I then moved up to adirondack chairs and a farmhouse style bedroom set. Some friends and family started to notice the work I was doing and starting asking for me to make small items for wedding gifts, birthday gifts or just for themselves. With my hobby starting to get busier I started making walnut and epoxy coffee tables and end tables for the lake house. After posting them on instagram they would quickly sell so I was back in the shop making more. I finally turned it into Raising Grain Woodworking about three years ago and have been enjoying the journey ever since….and I am happy to say I finally just started the dining room table I promised my wife five years ago.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
About a year and half ago, I had a mishap that led me to injuring my right knee and needing major surgery. This had me laid up for almost six months. At first it was quite frustrating not being able to do anything. After pouting about it for a while, I decided to use the time to get back online and learn. I can’t say how many hours I spent on youtube watching woodworking tutorials but it was a lot. I had also been looking at getting a CNC machine for the shop before my injury, so I spent a lot of time researching the machines and learning the software to be able to run it. After not being in the shop for 5-6 months, I had a lot of new things to try when I finally did get back. This really enhanced my excitement about getting back to creating new projects.
How did you build your audience on social media?
As far as social media goes, the main platform I use is Instagram. It was first suggested by my daughter to create an account and start posting pics of my projects. I quickly learned what a welcoming place the Instagram woodworking community could be. As my followers started to grow, I would get more and more personal messages either complimenting some of my work or asking questions about it. I then started reaching out to other similar woodworkers with questions I had. I’m not sure if all instagram communities are similar but I have found the woodworking community so helpful and welcoming. It seemed the more consistent I was at posting pics, the more followers I was getting. This led to more interactions and bouncing of ideas with fellow woodworkers.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/raising.grainww/