Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Atwell
Hi Greg, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I originally started wood working about 10 years ago, when I was going through a rough time in my life. I needed something to distract me what was going on around me. I kept at it and learned over the years, and once my wife and i got together, she encouraged me to go into it full speed. We started an Etsy store and from there I started picking up local orders for custom wood working creations. A few years into it I got into social media, Instagram, Tiktok and started trying to grow a brand. To this day we are still trying to grow the business, and have focused on childrens toys and furniture. We really want to give people a local American made product instead of buying their children stuff mass produced overseas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been easy, growing a small business from scratch and navigating the legal, and financial sides of starting a small business can be tricky. Creating a company from scratch and trying to build a name for yourself is tough but with the use of social media, word of mouth, and creating a great product helps growth. Another difficult side is slowly improving a business, the more you sell, the more you can re invest into your business for growth. My wife and I are also parents to an amazing little girl, so much work has to be done late at night after our daughter has been put to bed.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have mostly specialized in children’s furniture and toys lately. Once I had a child myself, I sat around one day seeing how many toys and furniture items were made over seas, or out of cheap plastic. I discussed this with my wife and we decided to move into growing locally made alternative, we use wood that is air or kiln dried, no chemical processes, and all natural American made wood finish products with no harmful chemicals. This gives a safe, locally sourced, and locally owned alternative to parents.
How do you define success?
Success for me would be growing our business large enough for me to move full time and allowing me more time to focus on new products, new processes, and new markets.
Pricing:
- Most small items (teethers or toys) Range from 12-20 dollars
- Child furniture – such as chairs, stools, range from 20-50 dollars
- Custom Order Children’s furniture is quoted on request.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gandmdesignco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gandmdesignco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gandmwooddesign
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@gandmdesignco
