We were lucky to catch up with Jeffery O’Connor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeffery, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The Mission of O’Connor Woodworking is to Inspire, Educate, and Motivate Combat Wounded Veterans in the area of creative arts to help heal the invisible wounds of war…PTSD.

My Story:

I am Jeff O’Connor, a retired U.S. Navy EOD (Bomb Squad) Master Chief and a former Chicago Law Enforcement Officer.
In 2018, after multiple military combat deployments, I was diagnosed with several explosive blast-related Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Shortly after my diagnosis, I began searching for a way to better deal with my inner demons. That is when I discovered and applied to the Purple Heart Project. I was accepted to attend the PHP which is a 5-day hand tool woodworking course for Combat Wounded Veterans taught by world-renowned woodworker, Rob Cosman.
Although I had been a woodworker for 25 years, this weeklong course showed me a new method of woodworking as a distractive therapy for my PTSD and changed my life forever. After this inspiring course and my military retirement, I launched O’Connor Woodworking and never looked back!!
I share this part of my life, not for sympathy, but as a hope that other struggling veterans will read this and perhaps inspire them to find their peace.
I currently reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia with my custom sewist wife, Kim, the owner of Snippets and Stitches. Together, we create custom work in wood and fabric for clients around the world.
Proceeds from every project are donated to various veteran organizations such as the Navy Special Operations Foundation and the Purple Heart Project.

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?

I have been woodworking for 25 years. Making a living in woodworking can be a real challenge if it is not approached correctly. I am lucky to be part of a mentorship group called a Mastermind Group which focuses on the principles of business found in Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich. Meeting on Zoom 3 days a week for an hour each time helps to grow my brand, test out ideas and get real-time feedback from others in my industry.

I specialize in custom home goods for a wide demographic of clients both in Virginia and around the globe. My products range from furniture to personal goods such as shaving bowls and brushes.

About 50% of my work in Virginia is antique restoration. I love bringing a family heirloom back to life into a usable work of art and memory. This area of my work can be quite challenging but is the most rewarding. I enjoy seeing the family’s reaction when they see their restored heirloom.

I believe the level of attention to detail I put into my work separates me from other woodworkers. I make sure I would want to accept the work as a customer before it leaves my shop. I think my clients really appreciate this aspect of working with me.

I am most proud of my ability to be an inspiration and mentor for our suffering veterans. Distractive Therapy involving the arts has been proven to be an excellent method of healing and escape for those with PTSD. When I have a veteran in my shop or we discuss woodworking over social media and it impacts them on a positive level, I feel the Mission is a success.

I am also involved with Rob Cosman’s Purple Heart Project and make every effort to spread the word that there is more to PTSD treatment than medication and counseling.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first started O’Connor Woodworking, I had no idea how to price my work. As it turned out, I was pricing way too low in the beginning. Part of that was not having a mentor in the industry, I cannot stress enough how important it is to find a mentor that not only works in your industry but is SUCCESSFUL in it. Plenty of people have great ideas on paper but a person that is a living testament to their business ideology is huge. When I first began my business, I paid myself $10 an hour and the cost of materials plus 10%. It didn’t take long to be completely overwhelmed with work with not much financial return.
The Mastermind group helped me with pricing and I eliminated my prior method for a new mentality. I now choose work that “excites me” to make and I price it more fluidly as you would with a beautiful painting,

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social Media has helped me a great deal in growing my business. I primarily use Instagram and creating reels has really grown my audience. I realized that my audience really liked instructional videos or working videos set to music compared to the product pictures that dominated my early posts. Content that has a captivating first 10 seconds, good lighting and great sound is very important. Find a successful social media account in your industry and take a look at the type of posts they do and the hashtags they use. This helped me a great deal.
I also find that LinkedIn has brought in a lot of work for me. I am pretty tied to veterans and their supporters on LinkedIn and using hashtags like Navy EOD (My military job) brings in new customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ocwwvb.com/
• Instagram: @oconnorwoodworking
• Facebook: O’Connor Woodworking
• Linkedin: Jeffery O’Connor
• Youtube: @oconnorwoodworking

Image Credits
Image credits; Grace O’Connor