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

Kevin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

From an early age my parents pushed me to excel in school and develop hobbies outside of the classroom. Through this I became very proficient at math and developed an eye for creativity and design, which I did through the Lego that covered half of our basement. After discovering woodworking in high school, my parents allowed me to create a small workshop in a corner of our basement to take what I was learning in school and perfect it at home. After getting a computer engineering degree and realizing woodworking was my true passion and what I wanted to pursue in life, they fully supported my decision and suggested I move my workshop from the basement to the garage to have more space. It was in this garage where I would start Obrecht Woodworking.

Kevin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I discovered woodworking through shop classes in high school and instantly took to it and excelled at it. In my first semester I finished all of the curriculum so quickly I had extra time where I would design my first piece, an artistic knife block that still sits on my parents’ counter. After the taking the two allowed semesters of woodworking, I took an independent study with my teacher and first mentor, James Messer. Throughout the semester I built a workbench for my house, and a mission style rocking chair for my mother. It was during this semester that I really saw just how fun furniture making was when the builds become more technical and complex.

I went to Purdue University and got a degree in computer engineering but by the end I was burnt out on writing code and designing circuits. I also discovered a small workshop in a friend’s basement on campus and suddenly after three years away from the craft, I remembered how much I loved it. I spent the rest of my time rushing through my homework to go work on projects. It became clear that woodworking was my true calling and I’d never be happy pursuing a career in computer engineering. I spent a year living at home after college and using a small workshop i set up in my parent’s garage, I began to seriously pursue furniture making, working everyday to develop my skills and teach myself new ones while making pieces for clients around my home town of Oak Park, Illinois. After a year I moved to Colorado Springs where I set up a much better shop to further expand the business.

I create all kinds of custom furniture and millwork for my clients. Whether it be desks, credenzas or shelves, Obrecht Woodworking is here to tackle any space in your home and transform it. Lots of thought goes into the design, engineering and wood and grain selection to ensure pieces are unique, suited to the customer’s home and aesthetic, and built to last a lifetime. I am most proud of my ability to create custom pieces that display the natural and unique beauty found in every species of wood. I carefully examine grain patterns, how different wood species might look together, and how they will flow with the design of the piece to ensure harmony throughout the piece.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My biggest pivot in life was deciding not to pursue a lucrative career using the computer engineering degree I just worked tirelessly for four years for, and instead decide to pursue my passion for woodworking and start my own business.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

One of the best sources of new clients for me is word of mouth through previous customers. Since a lot of time and effort goes into each piece, they’re sure to stand out and become a talking point of a home. This leads to friends and family of old customers contacting me to commission their own custom work after seeing my work in their friend’s house.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://obrechtwoodworking.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obrecht_woodworking/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Obrecht.Woodworking/