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

Hi Tim, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I wish I had started pursuing my creativity much sooner. I know it was there, and the busy-ness of life persists, but I’ve learned all the other things feel a little more manageable when I can step away from the rush of life and make something with my own two hands.

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?

My grandfather was a master craftsman. I still have some pieces of woodwork he made, and I was always fascinated with his workshop. I still remember the smell of the sawdust, and the array of tools that I had no clue about. Like many people, life slowed down quite a bit in the spring of 2020 and I found myself with a little extra time on my hands, along with a modest collection of power tools. So I got to work. I started dabbling in different areas of the craft, but I fell in love with the idea of drawing out the natural beauty that lies within the wood itself. My main area of focus became making cutting boards geared toward the cooking enthusiast.

Woodworking is about the craft, but for me it’s also about relationships I build through the individual project. Cutting boards are about food, and few things bring people together like food does. I want those interested in me and my brand to know that an important part of each commissioned piece is the relationship I build with my clients. When I take on a project, I want it to represent something about that person or organization. I don’t want it to look like 100 other cutting boards or butcher blocks. I want them to be excited when they see it and be proud of their new piece, not tuck it away in a cabinet somewhere to only be used occasionally.

Early on, I was focused on moving as much product as possible. It was exciting to see so much movement. The quality was adequate, but generic. I learned from my brother, a small business owner and creator, not to cut corners or take the easy way out. I started striving to produce high end, quality products that are one of a kind that will last many, many years. I want my customers to not only have something functional, but something they want to show off to their friends and family.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I recently discovered a flaw in a custom product that was practically complete. I was on a tight deadline and was just barely threading the needle. Honestly, the customer probably never would have even noticed the mistake, at least not for a while. But I knew it was there, and it compromised the long-term integrity of the piece itself, let alone my own standards. I contacted the customer before shipping and explained the situation, and the solution to provide the piece for them to temporarily use, and start from scratch and make a brand new piece. While they were disappointed about the workpiece, they expressed their gratitude many times for my high standards and my commitment to seeing they get what they paid for.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

First off, I still draw in stick figures. I can’t paint a landscape, and definitely not a portrait. However, through my journey I have become a firm believer that if I’ve got an artistic streak somewhere inside me, then we all must have one. Sometimes it takes some digging, or in my case, sanding away some of the rough exterior, to find what our interest is. It means trying something new. It means making many, many mistakes, and being able to learn from them and move forward, rather than give up. I’m humbled by the look on people’s faces when I see them look at their new cutting board for the first time. I greatly value the texts and phone calls I get when somebody receives a package from me saying how their expectations have been exceeded. And I greatly value the mistakes I make, because each one presents an opportunity to learn something I did not know before.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messer_woodworks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MesserWoodworksLLC
• Other: [email protected]