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

David, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It all started with a dream, working on small hand carved pieces in my basement. My initial inspiration came from finding a large scrap piece of copper in the road, which lead into going to my local home improvement store buying copper pipe to make a ring. I was able to experiment with varieties of shapes and sizes of copper to see different visions come to life. It was shortly after this inexperienced period of finding my style that I moved states and discovered one of biggest biker jewelry companies in America while walking through the mall. I loved their style and decided to apply to see what skills I could learn. Upon interviewing, I brought some of the items I made to show my uniqueness as I felt it would be what they were looking for. It was! I learned how to hone my craft over the next year and a half with them. In my later time with them, I started to have design ideas of my own. I took the dive into making my own business with my own designs. I find inspiration in the most random places and will wake up in the middle of the night to sketch out my next ideas. I’m extremely excited to continue to evolve in my designs and see where the future takes my business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I offer unique designs and styles ranging from jewelry to beads that tie into my name, Demented Steelworks. I offer custom pieces and have done many collaborations, creating exclusive works with other makers. I always have my customers in mind when it comes to quality and sizing, I have the ability to create every size needed for rings. I’m aware that not all love large pieces that are offered, I am able to rectify this by making current designs smaller or bigger. I’m most proud of being able to do what I love and offer a quality product at an affordable price. I take pride in what I offer.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I was able to build my audience base by being part of the community myself. I found Facebook pages that shared similar interests to my own and aligned with my offerings. I post and interact with people within the different communities on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to help create personal connections to potential clients. I have built great relationships and connections this way. Utilizing hashtags has been a significant way to help others discover my page, my work and what I offer.

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

As with many small businesses, Covid has impacted me within the last few years. I’ve had to be mindful, making sure what I keep in stock is relevant to the current market. I have a list of ideas and designs I want to make but can’t be too over zealous producing them. Things are now starting to pick back up again. I am looking forward to producing new pieces and new adventures in the future!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dementedsteelworks
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/dementedsteelworks

Image Credits
David Lewis