Today we’d like to introduce you to Derik VanVleet.
Hi Derik, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am, by training and education, an Information Technology Consultant, but I have been building furniture for over 20 years. I started out building furniture when my wife and I bought our first house. It was very much a fixer-upper and because of that, we did not have a lot of extra money for much furniture. I started building a couple of bathroom vanities, then a blanket chest and it just kept snowballing from there. Over the next several years I built more and more furniture for ourselves as well as friends and family. Fast forward to 2017 and I decided to leave the Technology industry and focus full-time on building a woodworking business. I used a lot of my technology and business experience to lay the groundwork for what has become VanVleet Woodworking LLC.
All of my pieces are 100% custom to what my clients need. They come to me because they are unable to find what they are looking for in the big furniture stores, or they want something higher quality. I have me some fantastic people of these years; I have the best clients anyone could hope for. I’m looking forward to many more years of continued success!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Starting a small business, or any business, is not easy. However, because I already had a well-paying, full-time job while I was laying the groundwork of my business, it made the process a lot easier than it otherwise could have. Before I cut over to full-time woodworking, I get my LLC established and all the other legal things needed to run a business. I hired a creative marketing company to design my logo and website so that was up and running day one. I also started to get the word out and do some local advertising so I had a nice pipeline of clients once I was ready to go full-time. During the start of Covid, there as a definite lull in business, but after a couple of months, I was slammed busy; busier than usual. It has pretty much remained that way so we shall see what the next six months looks like.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I design and build custom furniture using solid hardwood material. I work closely with my clients to help understand exactly what they want from their custom furniture pieces. Everything from the physical design of the piece, the materials (wood choice) and the type of finish. I would say that I am known for letting the natural beauty of the wood speak for itself. I like to use continuous grain patterns in which the grain seamlessly wraps around the furniture or flows across the entire front of a piece.
I use all solid wood material, no plywood, which I think makes for longer-lasting furniture. I use all-natural finishes on my pieces so my clients do not have to worry about harsh chemicals in their houses. I am proud that I am able to bring high-quality furniture to the market, but still at a very affordable price. Everyone should have furniture in their house that they are proud of and able to pass down for generations. That is the market I feel I am reaching.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up in a very small town in Southwest Michigan; a country kid. I played around in muddy fields, climbed trees and all sorts of things kids used to do growing up in the middle of nowhere. I have always played sports as well. Growing up, I played baseball, basketball and football and continued playing baseball for a couple of years in college. Looking back, I was probably an ADHD kid before anyone knew that was a thing; I was always on the move and school was always a struggle for me. I am a doer; I learn by doing. I think that is one reason I enjoy woodworking so much.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.VanVleetWoodworking.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanvleetwoodworking/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanvleetwoodworking
- Other: https://nextdoor.com/pages/vanvleet-woodworking-llc-atlanta-ga
