How it All Got Started…
People often ask us how we got started with the business. Well, here is the story!
When our son Alex became a Tiger in Cub Scouts, Aaron became his Den Leader. The boys decided they wanted to go on a hike at Wekiva Springs, and another Tiger and his dad were going to join them. Aaron decided they needed hiking sticks, so he cut down a few Crape Myrtle branches. He skinned them and had me draw some triangles going around and put their names on them. Then he wood burned what I drew. It was very basic, but Aaron was proud of them. He sprayed them with polyurethane for some protection. That Christmas, Aaron decided he wanted to make all of his Tigers a hiking stick. So he went to his mum and dads house, cut down Crape Myrtle branches for them, and brought some home. So that was the very beginning…
So during Alex’s Wolf year, Aaron went to Woodbadge. He had been dabbling in wood burning, but nothing very serious. Well, when he came home from the first weekend of Woodbadge, he wanted to make a special hiking stick for his Course Director. He told me what he wanted, and I got what he needed. He made his first detailed hiking stick for our friend, Nick Meola.
So, the discovery of being able to do detailed things on hiking sticks made Aaron’s head spin. It was time consuming putting the patterns on things, but we worked together to perfect it the best we could. And this is where I came in to all of this. I was the one doing the patterns and Aaron was doing the wood burning. Honestly, he didn’t trust me not to burn myself while using one! lol
And from this, things have grown, as you all know. Between our friends Nick and Chip, they kept encouraging us to start a business. Every time they saw Aaron, they would ask him about it. I didn’t know this at first, though. Aaron was working full time at Lowe’s and part time at council, so it wasn’t an option to start up a business. Until it all of a sudden was. We decided to have a store at University of Scouting in January 2018. We had boxes, clocks, coasters and hiking sticks. It wasn’t much, but it got the idea out. And so this awesome journey began. We have added items, discontinued items, changed the way items looked… and we are still here. We absolutely LOVE what we do. We love going out to events and meeting new people. We love getting calls from organizations asking us to do plaques for them. We love all of you for loving and supporting us. Thank you for helping us to succeed and thrive!