We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrew Carrier. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrew below.
Hi Andrew, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started out making knives in 2018. At the time I had ten years of experience in skilled trades, I loved working with metal. My mental health was in ruin because I worked seven days a week and I needed a hobby. I made a knife and after posting it on Facebook made my first sale and knew I was onto something. I kept at it and kept selling and realized over time this hobby was a coping mechanism for my mental health issues.
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?
Handmade brass knuckles through two different processes. I do stock removal work, drilling cutting and shaping from bar stock and I also do sand casting. I started out making knives and I’ve dabbled in leather and kydex sheath making but the demand was always there for brass knuckles so I stuck with it. I make functional art to either be collected or used for self defense. I do not condone violence whatsoever.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
100% of my products are made in a two car garage by hand. This is why I can’t produce large scale output, I focus on small batches. I use a handful of tools and a small foundry.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I started doing this a lot of people mocked me and others thought I was wasting my time. There was so much competition on Instagram (my preferred social media) I had my doubts as well. I started my account with nothing and it took six years to build a following of 17.1k. I kept at it and never gave up. I owe my followers and customers everything.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @carriermetals
