We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Wesley Hutchinson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Wesley , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My name comes from a road in my home town of Camden, Alabama. It’s a small three red light town in Southern Alabama.

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

I started Whiskey Run Customs Calls while I was still in the Marine Corps. I would make game calls like duck calls, deer calls, and turkey calls. I did this up until I retired from the Marine Corps in 2016. I took a year off so I could adjust to life outside the Marine Corps. In late 2017, I started back making game calls and ink pens on my wood lathe. I wanted to do more with the business and take it into a different direction. So I started Whiskey Run Customs and turned my focus to Charcuterie boards, lazy susans, and small furniture like coffee tables and end tables. I also had discovered a cool way of burning wood called fractal burning. This was using a microwave magnetron to electrocute the wood. By doing this, the electricity would make this absolutely beautiful pattern in the wood. I then would take and clean all the burned wood out and this would give me a void in the wood. I then filled the void with colored resin to bring out the patter of the burn. Doing this took the look and design of my business to a whole different level. I started burning everything I made and started contacting resin companies about becoming an ambassador for their product. I needed to find a way to move my product. I had been to a few local pop up markets in Wilmington, NC. I thought a market would be perfect for my product. So in 2019 my wife and I started taking Whiskey Run Customs on the road doing markets. We never dreamed of how well we would do and how much fun we would have. Just as we were getting a good feel of how the market business ran. Covid hit and we came to an abrupt stop. Whiskey Run Customs was my income. I needed to figure out how to sell my product other than at just a market. I started by opening up social media platforms for my business and included a website to try and help. I struggled with understanding how social media worked and how to get people to see my product. I continued to make my product and post the pictures on Facebook and Instagram. I asked my middle son Trey what I needed to do to get more followers? He responded with #hashtags. Things completely changed after that. I started to get followers and that led me to Etsy. Etsy would become my new market place during Covid. I was able to continue making my products and bringing in an income with everything shut down. In 2021 we finally got the green light to have markets again. Immediately from the start people wanted to get out and spend money. Whiskey Run Customs had never been so busy. We were doing at least two to three markets a month and business was good. Whiskey Run Customs is still doing good, 2021 and 2022 went by like a blur. We are taking a few weeks off to enjoy the Christmas break. Then we are back to it bringing our Charcuterie boards, Lazy susans, and some new items that will showcase at the beginning of 2023.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I use Etsy to help sell my products. While still doing markets, Etsy gives me even more clients. Thanks to the word specific search engine Etsy has. I can be specific to my business name or a specific word that relates to my specific product. My biggest sale to date was this year. I had a client from Hawaii place an order for over $1500.00 in products. I thought I had been hacked or it was a new scam, but it was real. So I was able to communicate with the client through Etsy. Etsy has been great for Whiskey Run Customs.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Doing local Markets lile River Fest, Azalea Festival, The Burgwin-Wright House, American Craft Walk and others has been my greatest resource. The thousands of people that we come in contact with in a single weekend is amazing. We always have returning clients that bring or tell there friends about us.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Whiskey_run_customs
• Facebook: Whiskeyruncustoms

Image Credits
Wesley Hutchinson Whiskey Run Customs