We were lucky to catch up with Ryan Hagan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Almost everyone will tell you they wished they had started on any certain task sooner. That’s hindsight for you. Do I wish I started selling my products sooner? Of course. But at the same time it may not have led me today to this very moment. I don’t typically like to play games of “what if” because I find it pointless. Instead I always like retracing my steps.

I left my full time job in the summer of 2020. I didn’t have a plan, at all. My wife was incredibly supportive and in 2021 I organized this fiasco I call Hagan Trading Post. Then I met some people at an event that I now call friends. Then I met more people, more friends, all of whom I know o can lean on for support when I need it. Had I started sooner it could have gone very differently.

Perhaps I didn’t meet Dave, who sells gourmet popcorn. The very first time I met Dave he told me I should be a part of the local farmers market and encouraged me to expand my business. I hadn’t known him 2 hours and here he was, encouraging a total stranger to go bigger. Now, I’m returning that favor to him now that he is building out his very first store front.

Or maybe I didn’t meet Krista, a jewelry maker, at one of those farmers markets. At her very first market she perhaps leaned on me for support and now we’re great friends.

And there are many more who I offer support and advice to and far more who offer support and advice to me

So, under the guise of “everything happens for a reason” I don’t wish I started any sooner or later. I started exactly when I needed to.

It’s not been easy and maybe if I had started a year or two earlier I might be more successful financially but I am where I am now. My family is great, my friends are great, and my work is great. And that’s all any of us could ask for.

Ryan, 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 am but a humble woodworker out of Myrtle Beach, SC. I am mostly self taught aside from the occasional YouTube video and bouncing ideas off my dad, the greatest woodworker who ever lived.

I always liked working with my hands and being creative. It wasn’t until I dove head first into woodworking that I found something I am truly passionate about. I have been around woodworking since I was a kid and it never really sucked me in until I was grown and had my own home with a garage that I could work in. Now, it’s a job, hobby, and passion.

I mostly do festivals and farmers markets so I do a lot of small items and the mandatory cutting boards that seem to be associated with this sector of woodworking. I really enjoy making toys and games – chess sets, yo-yos, maze puzzles – that sort of thing.

Occasionally I do get to build a dining table which I find super fun and lately I’ve been asked to make different types of custom pieces that involve a family name or something sentimental. Knowing that somebody wants my work in their home knowing it will last for a long, long time is what brings me great joy.

Aside from the traditional woodworking that I do I also utilize digital fabrication to my work. A cnc machine and a laser engraver are a big part of my toolbox. I feel that if the technology is available, why not use it?

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

If you aren’t able to support an artist financially, which is totally ok, please don’t scoff at our prices or tell us that you have a family member that does the same thing. We know, and we don’t care. We are the ones out there offering our pieces for other to cherish. And if you genuinely do like what we do but can’t swing it at the moment, take a picture and share it to your social media. That goes a long way sometimes. Also, nice compliments help also

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Happiness is always the goal. The day I do this and the happiness is gone I’ll go punch a time clock somewhere

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Hagan Trading Post
• Facebook: Hagan Trading Post