Conversations with Brooke Carpenter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Carpenter.

Hi Brooke, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Where do I begin- at first I never would have thought I’d ever take my last name literally, but here we are. My path isn’t very linear, but I landed exactly where I’m supposed to be. I took a traditional route at first by going to college for nursing before deciding I wanted to work in the criminal justice field. My first career pivot: I began working as a correctional officer in a Georgia prison where I worked for almost 5 years. After a while, a desk job started to sound really good.

Career pivot number 2: I traded the handcuffs for spreadsheets. I switched to accounting and did that for 4 years. The career was rewarding and gave me insight into financials and what it took to run a business from a financial perspective. Yet again- I was left yearning for something to fill my cup. I needed something hands on, to create, to build something unique, to build community and get back to my roots.

The ultimate and final career pivot: I traded the spreadsheets for sawdust. I took a leap of faith and haven’t looked back since. I found my true passion through a hobby-woodworking. My wife and I just bought our first a house and wanted a king size bed. We quickly found out how much the mattress was and couldn’t afford the bed frame we wanted. So whether it be delusion with unwarranted confidence, or just sheer determination to have a king size bed, I had an idea – I’ll build one! Which brings me to how one of the pillars for my business was formed- affordability. Why should anyone have to choose between what they want or what they can afford. Why can’t it be both? With LevelUp Woodworking, we meet people where they are, because we wanted someone to offer us the same courtesy.

So back to the dream, the vision and what got me hooked. There’s just something about taking the raw lumber and watching it turn into a structure that was both useable and visually appealing. I fell in love with the craft and wanted to keep building.

Growing up I always enjoyed taking things apart and putting them back together. My parents were constantly fixing things around the house and taking on all the DIY home improvement projects. I was always the helper, and was able to see how to use power tools and fix what needed to be fixed. They also owned their own printing business where I learned about long hours, discipline and the art of perseverance.

Fast forward to 2023: the bug kept biting, I felt the calling, and with my wife’s blessing, I took the leap of faith. I quit my job. Bye bye Corporate America — hello sawdust, freedom, and a permanent layer of wood glue on my hands. I traded spreadsheets for sandpaper, meetings for measuring tape, and honestly, I’ve never looked back. It’s been a wild mix of trial, error, and triumph, but every cut, every splinter, and every late-night build has been worth it.

The first hurdle was how could I make money while also building a company from the ground up with no extra money? I joined TaskRabbit. I set up a profile for all things home improvement. My skills I learned growing up were about to pay off and give me an “in” to my dream. I was able to go to people’s homes, do the handy work I was hired for, and network. I had been practicing building things at home from towel racks to wall shelves. I dove into learning. Experimenting, doing research, watching tutorial videos. And for the first time- these tasks didn’t feel like work, this information was invigorating, impactful and encouraging. I was finally enjoying the path I was on and happy to have fun homework.

I started from square one: creating a portfolio, taking any woodworking job I could. I wanted experience. I wanted to learn. And that fire inside of me led to many refinishing jobs on different kinds of worn furniture and parts of some home renovations. I created my own website, set up a google business page and social media.

My customers on TaskRabbit quickly started hiring me for things outside of task rabbit. Furniture refinishing, and custom builds.
I was blessed that my client base grew so quickly through word of mouth and social media. This was the old American dream coming to fruition: hard work, integrity, and community.

My amazing and kind customers are what have made my business what it is today. They share my work on their neighborhood Facebook or tell their friends. The rest is history! And I cannot wait to see where I get to Level Up next in my career.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh, smooth road? Definitely not. More like a dirt road with potholes and a few nails sticking out. My biggest hurdles were money and time — or really, the lack of both. I didn’t have a marketing budget or a fancy website. I started with a couple of hand tools and a whole lot of YouTube tutorials.

I was the definition of a one-person band. I built the pieces, taught myself how to refinish, figured out social media marketing, learned to take credit cards, made my own website, and handled all the customer service — all while squeezing in TaskRabbit gigs to keep the lights on. Somewhere in there, I tried to remember what sleep felt like.

There was no blueprint for what I wanted to do. Custom furniture isn’t exactly a booming impulse buy next to the IKEA aisle. But I knew I didn’t just want to make furniture — I wanted to make functional art. And if that category doesn’t officially exist yet, I guess I’m in the process of inventing it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I like to say I specialize in all things wood — restoring old furniture, building custom pieces, and turning sawdust into something worth keeping. Most of my customers come to me after searching endlessly online for that perfect piece that just doesn’t seem to exist. That’s where I come in. I take their vision and build it — real wood, real craftsmanship, and none of that particle board or MDF covered in plastic pretending to be wood. I take pride in knowing that my pieces will actually last — the kind you can pass down, not throw out after a couple of years.

I’m also big on sustainability. I’m a bit of a scrap hoarder, honestly. I try to keep waste to a minimum, and every build includes some reclaimed wood or leftover pieces from a previous project. There’s something really satisfying about giving new life to old materials — kind of the same reason I still love refinishing. My slogan for that side of things is, ‘Why buy new when you can bring the old back to life?’ It’s not just catchy — it’s something I live by.

A lot of people think their scratched or broken furniture is beyond saving, but most of the time, those pieces just need a little love. They already have a story, and I get to help them keep telling it.

Honestly, I’m most proud of how far I’ve come — building this business from the ground up, literally. There’ve been plenty of late nights, setbacks, and “what am I doing?” moments, but I never quit. My passion for creating and problem-solving always pulls me back in.

At the end of the day, I want people’s homes and offices to actually feel like theirs — not something out of a catalog. That’s where my other slogan comes in: ‘Treat yourself to something as unique as you are.’ Everyone deserves a space that reflects who they are, no matter their budget. That’s what sets Level Up apart — it’s furniture with personality and purpose.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I’ve been really lucky with the majority of my customers. They’ve been kind, patient, and supportive — and the fact that so many of them have referred me to their friends and neighbors has been a huge part of my growth. Word-of-mouth has truly been my best marketing tool, and it came from genuine connections, not a strategy meeting.

As for bad luck… I don’t really call it that. I just call those moments ‘hard lessons.’ Like during my first year, when I managed to cut off the end of my left thumb on the table saw. That little incident earned me a month off work and a permanent reminder to slow down. The silver lining? I now have mismatched thumbs — they have a before and after story of their own. So if anything, I’d say luck and lessons go hand in hand… even if one of those hands looks a little different now.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.Levelupwoodwork.Com
• Instagram: @levelupwoodwork
• Facebook: @levelupwoodwork

Image Credits
All the images are my own personal.