OUR STORY
Most of my adult life I have been an accountant in the Oil and Gas industry, but a few years ago I found a passion and apparent talent for wood-working. It mostly began after the passing of my dad at age 56 from lung cancer. He worked his whole life as a plumber and used to tell me as a child to “use your head for a living, and not your back”. He stressed this to me and I took it to heart. I graduated from UNO in 2001 and went back to get an MBA from Tulane, graduating in 2006. I have worked in finance ever since.
After my dad passed in 2012, I began a project I had been contemplating for some time. I wanted to build a bar area in my backyard. One of my dad’s many talents was woodworking. I thought it would be a growing experience for me to try my hand at this challenging project. I spent about 320 over the course of 6 months in late 2012-early 2013 working on the project. In the hours of sanding, cutting, chiseling, staining and varnishing, I found a much needed solace and peace in my heart. I felt close to my father in those hours and often “talked” to him during the process – I always knew what he was telling me in reply. Unexpectedly, I discovered that I had some degree of talent at the technical skills, but I was very surprised at how well my visions came out from a creative perspective.
After the completion of the bar, I began rebuilding my dad’s camp/home in Myrtle Grove that was destroyed by Hurricane Isaac. It had 4’ of water in it and we had to gut the entire interior. I had to wait until May of 2013 to begin to rebuild because we had it raised, and I had to wait until the raising process was completed. I finished the complete remodel in December 2013 and again the results surprised my family, friends, and myself.
After the camp was completed, I turned my attention to a project I had vaguely conceived of while building the bar. The idea essentially involved building a “man-space” that was portable so that it could serve multiple purposes. You could use it at home as a man-cave, at Saints or LSU games for a tailgate centerpiece, as a portable camp, etc. I thought I could build the first one and see if there was enough of a market out there that I could possibly leave the corporate world and do something that I truly love. I wanted to do something with my life that I could really be proud of, something that other people could enjoy and appreciate.
The first trailer was completed in January 2015 and the results were more than I expected. Despite how well it came out though,I still see all my small mistakes and strive to be better. It is something I love doing and I put my heart into each piece. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I enjoyed creating it.