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

Josh, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

I love this question because it’s pretty loaded. The best investment I ever made was in myself. After working for others for years I finally decided to take a chance on me. We could talk tools, shop space, or websites all day but none of those things would be possible if it wasn’t for me being tired of making other people money. After losing my last job over a very unethical and unprofessional situation I told myself, no more. I had been doing woodworking on the side for a few years and was building a decent clientele and was curious if I could actually make a living at it. It has been the best decision I ever made for myself.

Josh, 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?

I like to consider myself a creative, but my woodwork started as just another job. After college I got a job as an apprentice carpenter doing remodeling, decks, cabinetry, fences, and more. I honestly never thought so many years later I would be creating tables, serving trays, shelving, and so much more. The truth is a friend of mine’s father passed away years ago and she gave me all of his woodworking tools. So as a way to honor him I started making gifts for friends, little things for myself, and eventually moved on to larger items such as dining room tables, desks, and more. As I started gaining clients and making a little money here and there I would reinvest in the business as well as educating myself to have a better understanding of the craft. I think one thing that makes me unique is my eye for detail, and my ear to listen to what a client is specifically looking for. I truly enjoy working with clients that know what they want but also respect my artistic ability and give me the freedom I need to create a one of a kind piece. That is definitely something I am proud of.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

As of now the best strategy I have found is word of mouth and shamelessly promoting myself to businesses I think would be interested in what I do. My marketing budget is nearly nonexistent at this time so I do what I can.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I love this question because I have had the worst luck with ecommerce. I tried etsy for a while and got so frustrated with their administrative hoops they make you jump through. I had my account suspended twice for absolute ridiculous reasons. I also find that my work gets lost among so many other similar pages (there are a million charcuterie boards for sale). As a creative I just don’t feel the uniqueness of my work shines through on sites like that. I am currently getting my business facebook page up and running and plan on launching a website later this year.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @tainowoodworks
• Facebook: tainowoodworks

Image Credits
my dad lol