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

Charles, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I actually spent about 5 years making knives as a hobby before I made the leap to becoming a business. I had a few years of finding my talents and teaching myself what the balance of beauty and function really was. It all started when I watched a gentleman at a renaissance fair working a blacksmithing stall. He made it look so effortless. It hold myself, “I can do this!” After a couple weeks of putting together a few simple tools and watching hours of how to videos on YouTube, I failed to realize that I could in fact, not do this. I’m a fiend for a challenge though. I tried and failed for months at hammering out a simple knife. Everything I made looked like a prison weapon for a good while. I kept failing and growing more hungry to be better. As I would become more adept with the strokes of the hammer and more in tune with hot steel, I actually had small strides in making functional hunting knives. This became a passion long before it became a trained talent. I wanted more than anything to be able to make the knives you only ever see in magazines. After a year or so, friends began to see what I was making and they would ask me to make them something. They were most likely just being supportive but they were the fire I needed. I grew more hungry to better my work. I started purchasing more specialized tools and turning a small shed into a forge. Over a few years, I got to the point that I wasn’t just giving away shanks and was actually capable of hammering steel into functional art. Still, I knew I had to better myself and find a community where I could both grow my skills and carve out a niche for myself. It wasn’t until 2020 that I felt even close to ready to take the leap into becoming a business. I had been on tv a few times for my bladesmithing and even been a part of a few publication write ups. My wife was the biggest supporter I could have ever asked for. She made my website, she got the cards done, she photographed pieces I made. She was the brain behind me while I had the easy job of just swinging a hammer. I started with only taking custom orders. I wanted to make customers the knives they dreamt about. (Little did I know, the customer is not always right) After a year and a half of honestly hating half of the knives I made, I decided that I would make what made me happy and it was the best decision I ever made. People across the globe wanted a piece of MY modern savagery. Blades from my perspective. These days I make what I want and if someone wants a custom piece, we have an in depth conversation about it. If we just cannot get on the same page to where I will make a piece I’m proud to ship out, I politely direct them to other Bladesmiths I know. That decision is crucial to maintaining my passion and drive in this world.

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

Broken Anvil Knifeworks is a one man knife shop. I strive to bring art into every day life. My knives are carried by people in 38 states and 7 countries around the world. I spent years carrying store bought knives that were either over complicated or seriously unreliable. I strive to never send a knife out that can easily be forgotten in a lineup of tools. While I make hunting and tactical blades, my passion lies in chef knives. There’s something special about being able to make a knife that thin and that precise. Knowing that either a chef in a kitchen is using my blade or a mother of three is making dinner with something that I hammered into existence; that’s a whole feeling for me. I’m not a machine and most people I work with understand this. Some blades are a two week process and some blades take months. I fail just as often as I succeed but that feeds my want to be better.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

A large thing for me with building my “image” on social media was being transparent. I’ve found that the guy on his lunch break and the mom having a bite to eat whit her kids are down for a nap want one thing. A REAL PERSON. Honesty and relate-ability are so attractive to normal people. People see the actual me on social media. I rant, I fail. I have genuine interactions. This makes people want to succeed with you. It invests them in who you are.

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

I had a client get a cleaver a few years back. She was part of a partnered social media influencer page with another gal. Probably the biggest online hype woman you could ask for. She would cook and food prep with that cleaver ALL the time. Eventually her friend asked me to make her a carry knife. All the frills. Damascus, abalone shell handles, custom work all the way. When the blade was complete, I sent her photos and videos to let her see what was about to mail out to her. To my surprise, she went on a tirade about how she absolutely hated it. I politely told her that I would refund her money and that I was going to sell that knife on my site. She said not to refund the money and to restart her knife. I begrudgingly agreed and went about posting the knife for sale. It sold in less than 20 minutes and on the 21st minute, she called me angrily. How could I sell her knife? Why can’t I contact the buyer and tell them it was a mistake? Could I please fix the issue by sending the knife to her and refunding the current buyer? She had changed her mind and wanted that knife and she wanted it now. I politely explained that I couldn’t do any of the above and that her new knife would be in production soon. Fast forward a month and her new knife was complete. I was pretty excited for her to see this one. Not only was it what she asked for to the T; I would finally be released from that situation. Surprise surprise, this new knife was NOT good enough and she let other people on social media know exactly how she felt about me this time. I had to refund her her money for my own sake. Enough was enough. After posting this blade on the site, it was gone that day and on its way to it’s new user. I learned from that situation that not being in the service industry, the customer is not always right.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.brokenanvilknifeworks.com
• Instagram: @broken_anvil_knife_works
• Facebook: Broken Anvil Knifeworks