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

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Deciding to follow my path and pursue bladesmithing full-time is the biggest risk we have ever taken. I had been working full-time as a bladesmith since February of 2022, but Alyssa (my business partner and girlfriend) still worked a full-time job to help us through slow times. In September of 2022, Alyssa lost her job and it became apparent that the decision in front of us was going to be life-changing. She could either pursue another job, and we could continue trying to do 7thDragon on the side, or we could take the risk of us both becoming full-time with our business and devoting ourselves to making it work. Owning our own business was the dream, we wanted 7thDragon to work. I am passionate about bladesmithing and Alyssa is passionate about me following my passions. So, with all of this in mind, we began devoting every second of our lives to 7thDragon, it was no longer just income on the side.

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

I am Michael Kerley, also known as “Spicy Mike”. I have been bladesmithing for 14 years and have appeared on History Channel’s Forged in Fire and Knife or Death twice each. I am a Forged in Fire Champion and a Knife or Death Champion and Super-Champion Runner-Up. I own 7thDragon Knifeworks and specialize in forging high-performance chef knives, with a major focus on function and beauty. I offer a select number of premade chef knives, but really enjoy custom commission work so I can provide food enthusiasts and chefs alike with a knife truly customized to fit their needs.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect for me as a creative is seeing the joy people feel when they receive their first custom chef knife. Seeing people that have used production knives their whole life, even high-end production knives, feel the difference in quality in a knife created especially with them in mind makes the hard work so worth it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Something I think non-creatives will struggle with is the value of our products. At the beginning of my career as a bladesmith and up until even recently I greatly devalued my work. I sold my blades for far under what they were worth just to simply make a sale. I fell into the trap of pricing my blades low because they didn’t take me a super long time to make. I didn’t take the years of skill building to become efficient at my craft into consideration, and my prices reflected that. I was struggling financially to even break even, when I had customers raving about how much they love their blades and repeat customers often. Recently I have made a huge effort to price my blades for what they are worth, and I am looking forward to seeing how that changes our finances going forward! If I had to advise other creatives it would be to consider your skill and don’t let non-creatives that have very little idea of the skill it takes to produce your art tell you what you’re worth.  

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.7thdragonknifeworks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/7thdragonknifeworks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/7thdragonknifeworks

Image Credits
Michael Winkler