The benefits of being a hobbyist

We’ve all had that moment. Perhaps it was in your garage workshop. Maybe you were watching your grandparent make something so delicate and skillful you were fascinated by the process. Or you may have been like me, sitting in your college dorm room with DVDs of woodworking projects (yes, I remember the days before YouTube) taking in the woodworking gospel as ravenously as a congregant at a tent revival. And the thought hits us. We stop, stare off into the distance for a brief moment, and mutter to ourselves “This … this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I’m going to be a professional woodworker.” It’s a profound moment. But looking back at it 15 or so years on, I would ask myself a different question: Do you want simply to make beautiful objects or do you want to be a small business owner?

Now I’ll give the spoiler right here–if I were to do it all again,…