We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jason Heisler. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jason below.

Hi Jason, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I’ve always been a Maker at heart. Growing up, I never had the confidence to act on it. I always assumed that making things was complicated or above my skill level. One day in 2014, I was at work and just randomly decided that I was going to make some paracord braided keychains and survival bracelets for myself and my wife. I did, and I instantly got positive feedback from my coworkers. They asked if I was selling them, and I said yes. From that point, I just started making the things I wanted and showing them to people. My skills grew, and I went from braiding paracord, to making archery bows, woodworking, leatherworking, and eventually took up blacksmithing. Every order I received, I reinvested the profits to further build my shop eliminating the need to take out loans or lines of credit. I learned that craftsmenship and pride in your work go a long way, regardless of skill level. Theodore Roosevelt said, “For the things we must know before we can do, we learn by doing.” That quote has been my guiding star through my shops journey.

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

Historically, a blacksmith mainly took custom orders and repair jobs. For things like nails, you went to the Nailer. For armor, you went to the Armorer, and so on. In my shop, I take custom orders for my customers, as well as repair jobs, hardware, ornimental iron railings, and tools.

While forge work is what I am known for, I also take on leatherworking, woodworking, and artistic jobs. My shop values Handcrafted quality along with simplicity, and we strive to inspire others to pursue a career in the trades.

When I’m not working on custom orders, I sell my wares on my website, and share my journey on social media.

While these trades are my passion, my goal moving forward is to open a location for like-minded individuals to practice their trades and share their work with others.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In general, the most common question I get asked is, “what use is there for blacksmiths these days?”. This is a common problem that tends to drive most smiths away from starting a business. Myself, being one of them, until I decided to just do it. Eventually. The work comes and you find your niche. The challe.ge is to keep it paying for itself, and not take too large a risk, unless you can guarantee a return on your investment. This is how I’ve managed to keep my shop running as a part time job, without needing to use money I don’t have.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When you don’t have access to classical education in a particular feild of study, you’re forced to re-learn how to learn. I found myself diving deep into YouTube University and teaching myself how to filter out bad information from the good information I could find. I probably spent over six hundred hours over the course of a year in just basic blacksmithing videos before ever picking up a hammer.

Now, I don’t recommend this approach if you can help it. The takeaway from this is to stay flexible. Adapt to your situation, and learn what you need to continue down the road you’ve chosen.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.shopmpw.com
• Instagram: @modern_primitive_workshop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernPrimitiveWorkshop
• Linkedin: Jason Heisler
• Other: [email protected]