Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by my page. I’m Jay, the owner and maker at Rescued Woodworks. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would have left the corporate world and traded it in to own my own woodworking business, I would have convinced you that you were not only wrong but also crazy! Long story short… I left the corporate world and when I did… my 5 year old son looked up at me and told me not to be sad. He told me that I should be happy that I can spend more time at home, and that because I would be home that we could get that dog I have always been telling him that we didn’t have time for… I realized 2 things at that moment… . Our son was clearly the child of two parents familiar with sales and marketing and second was that I should have paid more attention to the perspectives on life that my son had… So without any reservations I looked at him and committed to finding our family a dog.

We all need a little rescuing from time to time.  I never thought however that when I rescued our two dogs, StuPac and Biggie, that they would be the ones to rescue me.  

Before Stu got home, I wanted to let him know that he was special and that he was wanted.  I made him a raised dog feeder.  After posting to social media, I got a lot of interest and requests but didn't think anything of it.  I made another one when we rescued Biggie shortly thereafter.  Same response on social media.  Then I made and donated a couple to a local pet shelter as fundraising items in a silent auction and it wasn't until then that I knew I had something special!  I was a corporate executive that was a user and taker.  Now I am making up for it by making and giving back...  I reflect at the table saw, I atone with my sander... Now I am a woodworker and here is my story.  

I felt trapped.  I felt trapped in a career that I loved but required a lot of my time.  I felt trapped to the glitz and the glamour of life.  I felt trapped to a family I was an observer to. I felt trapped by the need to keep up with the Jones'.  I felt trapped by the need to "succeed."

I worked hard for what I have.  I grew up in NYC and went to the best high school.  I wanted a big college experience so I studied business at the UW-Madison.  I wanted to travel the world so I joined the US Air Force.  I wanted a career I could be proud of and that I would love, I had it.  I have been to over 60 countries.  I have experienced amazing things that most dream of.  I traveled a ton... too much.  I had an amazing, top performing team that I spend more time with than my family.  I have the houses, boats, cars, toys and family to show for it.  I thought I was living the dream, making success, creating options.

Then one day, my company unexpectedly dissolved my position and a career I had been so successfully building... was only... experiencing a mild hiccup because I was going to get back on the horse... find something bigger and better and write my own ticket!  I got to spend more time at home while I was on the hunt, interviewing, freelance consulting and... being at home.  I began to notice things, I bean to realize that I didn't even know what I didn't know about my family.  I spent more time with my son.  I spend more time with my wife.  I spent more time thinking.  I spent more time living... and I loved it.  I found myself volunteering at my son's school, and eating lunches in the cafeteria with him.  I found myself enjoying being a partner in house hold responsibilities.  I found myself enjoying more time with my wife.  Days on the job hunt turned to weeks and weeks turned to months.  I was slowly trading $400 tomahawk ribeyes for cafeteria meat and loving it.  I was slowly trading platinum statuses for bedtime reading with my son.  I was slowly trading room service and turndowns for being a partner in life to my wife.  My wife, a superhero in her own right, who was able to manage the household, raise our son and manage a very successful career in biotech during my time "away."  I still don't know how she did it... but I am committed to finding out.  

During this time we rescued our dogs.  I was home and able to give the dogs the attention they needed during the transition.  I found myself walking 10-15 miles a day in the the dead of the WI winters because they weren't able to be walked together.  A man does a lot of swearing and thinking on those walks.  A lot of thinking.  I wanted a career that would challenge me but not take me away from what I just re-discovered.  I wanted a career that would allow us to maintain our lifestyle but not have to sacrifice living it.  I spent time making things for my son and finishing honey do list items that were promised and long over due.  I started to build things for our home, because I enjoyed spending time in it.  I found and grew a love for rescued wood. Wood from trees that grow in cities that would end up in landfills when the city cuts them down. Wood that has a more intense grain pattern because it grows in the strife of urban streets.  I started to make cutting boards, dog feeders, furniture, kendamas with it... I gave them to teachers, friends and family as gifts.    I realized that for so long I was paid to work with my mind and had forgotten the simple joy of creating with my hands.  

My wife and a friend told me that I should start to sell my wares.  Start my own business.  Y'all are crazy I said.  It’s a passion not a career.  There are no benefits or perks!  But now, here I am, owner of Rescued Woodworks.  I have the best benefits... I get to spend more time with my family.  I get to be the father I want to be and the husband I need to be.  I have perks for days...  secret handshakes, being the cool dad on the block, cafeteria lunches, having a happy wife.  I get to give back, to contribute.  It's not enough but it’s a start.  

We all need a little rescuing from time to time... 

When I first started to explore woodworking as a hobby, I did what most people do and I purchased lumber from the big box stores. I am not saying this to demonize them as they definitely fill a need in the market for the occasional hobby woodworker or DIYer looking for one or two boards of hardwoods. As I became more engrossed into woodworking, I then started getting interested in the process of how the lumber went from being a tree to getting on the shelves. I was having trouble finding the kind of lumber that I wanted to create my dog feeders… I needed “jacket boards” or boards that came from second or third cuts into the trees so that they would still have their bark and “live edge.” The reason for the difficulty in finding these at big box stores was that super efficient operations minimize these offcuts or waste wood and smaller operations often considered these firewood or junk. I started shopping the “Urban Woods” at the Habitat for Humanity Restore and would occasionally strike gold! That led to me finding the supplier and sawyers… which introduced me into the world of urban wood. I met some amazing people along the way that loved spending the time to teach and share their experiences. I have found that the maker community, especially the woodworking community, is a very open and inviting one that seeks to pass down as much information and experience to the newer generation as they can. So when I learned what I know now… it seemed like a complete travesty…

Did you know that most trees that are cut down or fall in the US are thrown in the landfill? Most municipalities see downed trees as a costly expense. In years past, some of the downed trees were at least diverted from the landfill for use in making city provided mulch and wood chips as well as used for other services but that is not the case today. If we utilized the deadfall and felled trees from the municipalities in the US, it would account for 30% of all hardwood purchased annually. Instead, 70-80% of that wood ends up in landfills!!! So not only would using urban wood reduce the need for hardwood logging in the US by 30% but it also has the additional benefit of keeping hundreds of thousands of tons of lumber out of out landfills!