We were lucky to catch up with Glenn Becker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Glenn , appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was a finish carpenter for 35 years. During the last few years of that career, I started making gifts for family and friends to give out for Christmas and birthday presents. It was an easy transition into being a craftsman because I already had all of the tools. Everyone loved them so much that I started to expand a little bit. In 2005, I became very sick and had some operations that required me to come in from installing doors and windows. That is when I decided to make this more of a full time gig and started putting in more creative designs and color combinations.

To make this a true family business, my oldest daughter runs the tech and customer communications part of the business, my wife does the behind-the-scenes and tax work, my youngest daughter creates some designs, and one of my son-in-laws is in charge of media acquisition. All of this effort allows me to focus my time and effort into creating in the shop.

Glenn , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I was 20 years old, I moved out on my own to California from Illinois. I got a job as a carpenter three days after I moved to California. I worked as a carpenter ever since. I built houses from the ground floor up and finally settled into a niche of finish carpentry. I’ve worked all over Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. I’ve done small remodels and large scale reconstruction. My company was the carpenter of the “Hollywood stars” for five years and I’ve met many unique people along the way.

I’ve incorporated the knowledge and the contacts from construction work into my current company, Exotic Chopping Blocks, to create a seamless transition. We offer gift items made from exotic hardwoods from all over the world. We use 120 different woods from six different continents. We never repeat patterns and strive to make every piece unique. Our purpose is to create and supply a beautiful piece of functional art. Since one of our main goals is customer service, we go out of our way to make the customer feel included in the creative design with updated pictures on custom orders and being available at all times.

I’m most proud when people tell us we have the best product and the best booth in shows. We work with every client individually to make sure the size, colors, and patterns are exactly what they want, when they want it, and will fit in the color scheme they are trying to match. We stand behind our custom-made products 100%.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The biggest thing going for us and our reputation is that we give the customer what they want. If we don’t have something to match their envisioned product, we will make it. If there needs to be an alteration of any kind, we will do it. We listen to the customers with intention and give them exactly what they want every time. We treat our customers as individuals and therefore, they get individual attention from my staff and me. We take very little as down payments on special projects and keep the customer informed through text messages and photos of progress. We are also available by phone if that’s better for the customer. When our customers are happy, we are happy. We also encourage people to come by the shop and design their own pieces. Then I take over and complete the project.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

My daughter, Laurie, who is part-owner, runs the entire technological side of our business. She is well-versed in all kinds of social media. She is able to converse with our clients in whichever medium they choose. We continue to update our website with news about our business, our upcoming shows, and any new products. We also have a running email list that receive multiple email blasts throughout the year. We continue to expand our products and our following by constantly trying to upgrade and reach out to whoever we might meet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://exoticchoppingblocks.com
• Instagram: exoticchoppingblocks

Image Credits

Sam Carmichael