The Woodpreneur Podcast

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Cathy Cohne, fifth generation at Melrose Lumber Co. in Austin, New York. The company was founded in 1922 by Cathy's great-great-grandfather, and when he passed away early, his wife, a Russian immigrant with no English, stepped in and kept the doors open during the Depression. That grit runs through the whole story. The family later operated Manhattan Lumber Company in the city before New York's Urban Renewal program purchased the location, and a fire in the 1960s forced a move from the Melrose section of the Bronx to where they are today.
Cathy grew up in the business. If she wasn't in school, she was stocking shelves, helping customers, and making sure everything looked right. She went on to earn a business degree with a minor in marketing and later an MBA, always with the family business in the back of her mind. After COVID, she stepped fully into a leadership role alongside her dad, and the two manage the operation together with her mom handling the books.
Melrose Lumber Co. is about 70 percent lumber and the rest hardware, essentially a miniature home center. They carry plywood, dimensional lumber, Douglas fir, pressure treated, cedar, PSLs, LVLs, and a full hardware selection. Cathy walks through the realities of sourcing from major suppliers, fielding quotes by phone and email, and competing with the big box stores on price while offering something they never will: real customer service and a personal touch.
A big chunk of the conversation centers on marketing and staying current. Cathy launched an e-commerce website in October and has been working with a media company on SEO for about a decade. The data from those efforts is already shaping how she runs the physical store. When analytics showed that walking sticks were the number one search keyword, she stuffed the rack full and let foot traffic do the rest. She also talks about the early days of AI-generated quoting, her hesitation to give up control, and how ChatGPT started sending brand new customers through her door during an ice dam season.
The conversation touches on COVID-era challenges, the shift from cedar everything to more economical Douglas fir as budgets tightened, fuel surcharges driving up order minimums, and the balancing act of inventory management when you refuse to run out but also refuse to overstock. Cathy's philosophy is simple: stay organized, stay efficient, and listen to what customers are actually asking for.
Tune in, be inspired, and don't forget to follow the Woodpreneur Podcast. New episodes drop every Thursday morning wherever you consume your podcasts.
Chapters
00:00 A Russian Immigrant Runs a Lumber Company in the 1930s
05:10 What Melrose Lumber Co. Carries and How They Source It
09:36 Launching the E-Commerce Store and Navigating AI
18:23 Lumber Trends, Cedar to Douglas Fir, and Economic Shifts
22:06 Education, Family, and Choosing the Business
27:55 Tariffs, Fuel Surcharges, and Adapting to Rising Costs
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
 
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
 
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
 
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
 
You can connect with Cathy at: 
www.melroselumber.com
https://www.instagram.com/melroselumberco/
 

Every tree tells a story. The question is whether we treat it like a resource or throw it away like waste.
In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger welcomes John Melvin, Assistant Deputy Director of Resource Protection and Improvement at CAL FIRE. The two have worked together in the urban wood movement for over 15 years, and this conversation traces the journey from its earliest days to a program now granting hundreds of millions of dollars.
A central theme is language. John makes the case that calling removed urban trees "waste" teaches the public to see them as garbage. Reframing the conversation around resource and value opens doors for municipalities to build wood utilization into their arborist service contracts, saving disposal costs while keeping material out of landfills.
He walks through CAL FIRE's role in building the urban wood industry from the ground up, starting in the late nineties with five mobile sawmills and four dehumidification kilns made from converted shipping containers. Those early investments seeded real businesses and put a sawmill at Palomar College that still runs today. As the program grew, CAL FIRE funded urban wood utilization grants and backed the creation of the USRW Certified Urban Wood Standards.
Today the scope is enormous. John highlights the green schoolyards initiative transforming over 170 paved campuses into outdoor learning spaces with tree canopy and urban wood features. He also discusses AB 2251, the legislative mandate to increase California's urban tree canopy by ten percent by 2035, and a forthcoming strategic plan to get there.
Chapters
00:00 Growing Up in the Woods and Choosing Forestry
03:17 Losing a Childhood Home in the Caldor Fire
10:00 Municipalities, Cost Avoidance, and Policy Solutions
16:28 Why Standards Matter for Urban Wood
22:25 How CAL FIRE Built the Urban Wood Industry from Five Sawmills
31:09 Green Schoolyards and AB 2251
38:15 Legacy: Helping People See the Bigger Picture
40:24 One Small Change Everyone Can Make
 
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
 
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
 
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
 
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
 
You can connect with John at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-melvin-7a5118275/
 

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with three team members from Edmund Allen Lumber out of Illinois: Nick Morrison, Sales Manager; Brian Studebaker, Millwork Manager; and Brandon Romine, Marketing Director. Together they reveal how a 129-year-old cedar and Douglas fir wholesaler has evolved into a full-service custom millwork operation that regularly takes on projects nobody else will touch.
The company serves a dealer network of roughly 450 customers across Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana, sourcing the bulk of its Western Red Cedar from Canadian mills and manufacturing everything else in-house. Brian walks through the millwork department's capabilities, from a 54-inch McDonough resaw and six-headed molder to a CNC that lets them replicate any historical molding profile. Brandon explains how he moved from sales into marketing and rebuilt the company's web and Instagram presence to solve a recurring problem: customers kept saying, "I didn't know you did that."
The standout story is a clock tower restoration in Madison, Wisconsin. Lightning struck the tower, and the team had to replicate nine or ten unique molding profiles, fabricate stack-laminated corbels, and get everything hoisted by crane a hundred feet in the air while watching pieces swing in the wind. It captures exactly what Edmund Allen Lumber does best: the work nobody else wants to figure out.
The conversation also covers the custom design process from architect sketch to final CAD, the economics of quoting without charging design fees, tariffs pushing cedar costs up as much as 45 percent, and the shift from new single-family construction toward remodels and multifamily. The team's message is simple: if you can dream it, they can probably make it.
Chapters
00:00 What Edmund Allen Lumber Sells: Cedar, Douglas Fir, and Beyond
03:27 Inside the Millwork Department
05:24 Wholesale Model, Dealer Network, and Architect Partnerships
06:35 From Instagram Screenshot to Final CAD
09:51 The Clock Tower Restoration in Madison, Wisconsin
14:34 Brandon's Journey from Sales to Marketing Director
23:12 Where to Find Edmund Allen Lumber
32:36 Educating Customers on Checking in Cedar Timbers
35:11 Tariffs, Supply Chain, and the State of the Market
41:18 Fifteen Years of Change: Expanding the Mill Shop
44:41 New Construction vs. Remodels and Where the Market Is Heading
 
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
 
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
 
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
 
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
 
Connect with Edmund Allen Lumber Team at:
https://edmundallen.com/
https://www.instagram.com/edmundallenlumber
https://www.linkedin.com/company/edmund-a.-allen-lumber-company/
 

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Luke Gaskin of Good Old Wood in Vancouver, BC. Luke shares how his business evolved from a full-service salvage operation called Salvage Vancouver into a focused reclaimed wood company. The name change wasn't just branding. It was a turning point. Dropping the salvage identity and committing to Good Old Wood meant letting go of the junkyard mentality and zeroing in on what he actually loved: working with the wood itself and turning it into something new.
Luke talks honestly about the growing pains that came with building a self-taught business from scratch. He had no woodworking background, learned everything from YouTube, and operated on a fake-it-till-you-make-it approach for years. He tried partnerships that didn't work out, scaled up to a big shop with four employees before COVID forced him to scale back down, and spent the better part of seven years scraping by before the business started gaining real traction. Through all of it, he grew organically without big loans, slowly building his understanding of the craft and the market.
The conversation covers the practical realities of working with reclaimed material. Luke explains why he stopped doing the demolitions himself, how free wood started coming to him once word got out, and why Vancouver's salvage mandate for older homes created a natural pipeline of material. He breaks down the economics of selling individual mantles and floating shelves versus landing larger commercial projects like feature walls and flooring installs, and why the bigger volumes are where the real money lives. He also talks about the challenge of staying true to the DIY customers who supported him early on while building a business that can actually sustain itself.
One of the standout stories in this episode is Luke's current project with Aesop, the skincare brand recently acquired by L'Oreal. He's building out an entire flagship store in Richmond Mall using over five thousand board feet of reclaimed wood. The material is coming from large timbers salvaged from a deconstructed Dairyland facility in Burnaby, and the design was inspired by an earlier project using wood from a wooden roller coaster at Vancouver's Playland at the PNE. The whole store will be reclaimed wood, designed around Luke and his story, and he describes it as the kind of project where, if it were the last thing he ever built, he'd feel successful.
Jennifer and Luke also dig into the marketing side of the business. Luke admits he hasn't done much formal marketing, relying mostly on word of mouth, Instagram, and Google searches. He talks about the love-hate relationship with social media, the challenge of documenting your own work while you're in the middle of building it, and why he's bringing someone on to handle content creation, especially heading into the Aesop project. Jennifer emphasizes the importance of professional photography and long-term storytelling, reminding Luke that this one project could fuel his marketing for years.
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
 
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
 
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
 
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
You can connect with Luke at:
https://www.goodoldwood.ca/
https://www.instagram.com/goodoldwoodco/
 

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Joshua Morvant of Revival Timberworks in Louisiana. Joshua shares how his journey through woodworking started with taking apart pawn shop guitars as a teenager, moved into cabinet making to pay the bills, and eventually led him to an apprenticeship with a luthier just outside Quebec City. Living among some of the oldest colonial architecture in North America, buildings constructed in the 1600s that were still standing strong, something clicked. The idea of building something with your hands that could outlast you by centuries became the driving force behind everything he's done since.
What makes Joshua's path unique is that he had no formal apprenticeship in timber framing. He taught himself by visiting historic buildings across the East Coast over a five-year period, studying joints, reading failures, and building a mental toolbox of what works and what doesn't. He talks about how broken braces, undersized members, and insufficient relish behind pins taught him as much as the structures that survived, and how those observations now inform every project Revival Timberworks takes on.
The conversation covers the real-world complexity of integrating timber framing into modern light-frame construction, why the phrase "it's just decorative" has become a trigger for Joshua, and how working closely with engineers from day one leads to smoother, more cost-effective projects. Joshua breaks down how Revival Timberworks operates across multiple client channels, from partner builders and architect relationships to homeowners who find them on Google, and how customizable pergola and timber frame kits have found an unexpected niche with landscape companies looking for turnkey outdoor structures.
Jennifer and Joshua also explore the supply side of the business. Joshua talks about watching Douglas fir log sizes shrink over the past 15 years, the disappearance of old growth material, and why he's become a strong advocate for mass timber and glue-lam as ways to use younger trees more effectively with less waste. He shares his perspective on the 200-year growth cycle needed to produce quality timber and why the conversation about sustainability in the Southeast needs to go deeper, especially on smaller private woodlots where education and attention don't always follow.
Chapters
00:00 Origin Story: From Cabinet Shops to Guitar Building to Timber Framing
04:07 Learning from Old Buildings: What Lasts, What Fails, and Why
09:31 Structural vs. Decorative: Integrating Timber Frames into Modern Construction
12:44 Client Relationships: Builders, Architects, and Homeowners
16:03 Customizable Kits and the Landscape Company Niche
19:36 Marketing Through Relationships and a 15-Year-Old Website
21:41 Bonsai, Yamadori, and the Parallel Path of Working with Living Trees
27:29 Material Sourcing: Shrinking Logs, Thermal Modification, and Mass Timber
34:20 Sustainability, 200-Year Growth Cycles, and the Future of Wood
40:04 What's Next for Revival Timberworks
44:29 Legacy, Mentorship, and Where to Find Revival Timberworks
 
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
 
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
 
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
 
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
 
You can connect with Joshua at:
https://revivaltimberworks.com/
https://www.instagram.com/revivaltimberworks/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger welcomes back returning guest Mike McGarry of Urban Lumber in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. What started as a one-man pilot project to prove to three levels of government that diseased urban trees could be safely salvaged has grown into what may be one of the largest urban tree recycling and hardwood production operations in the country, processing three to four thousand trees per year with a team of eleven employees.
Mike walks through the early days of navigating government roadblocks, building chain of custody tracking, and developing disease mitigation protocols for working with Dutch elm disease wood. He explains how the elm bark beetle carries the fungal spores, why getting the bark off within five days is critical, and how Winnipeg's brutal winters actually work in his favor.
The conversation shifts to how Urban Lumber evolved from a sawmill operation selling raw lumber into a fully vertically integrated company. Today, ninety percent of the lumber they produce stays in-house for custom furniture, architectural millwork, boardroom tables, and floating shelves sold online across Canada. Mike talks about the equipment upgrades that made this possible, including a modified Wood-Mizer LT40 extended to handle massive urban logs and an iDry Turbo vacuum kiln that finally solved the challenge of drying American elm without excessive degradation.
Jennifer and Mike also dig into the business side: why your next hire should be a dedicated marketing person, how to build a company culture that keeps people around, the economics of smaller bandsaw blades when you're hitting metal every day, and why staying nimble keeps Urban Lumber insulated from market volatility. They close with a candid conversation about the economic climate between Canada and the US, cross-border tariffs on blade prices and shipping, and shifting species trends from maple to walnut to white oak.
Chapters
00:00 The Origin Story: From Forestry Student to Urban Lumber Founder
02:29 Government Roadblocks and the Pilot Project
04:19 Disease Mitigation: Dutch Elm, Bark Beetles, and Chain of Custody
08:03 Scaling Up: Equipment, Employees, and Closing the Waste Loop
13:46 Kiln Drying Breakthroughs with the iDry Turbo
15:05 From Sawmill to Fully Vertically Integrated Operation
19:01 Custom Furniture, Architectural Millwork, and the Shaper Origin
21:04 Building a Team and Keeping the Culture
25:20 Marketing, Inventory, and the Business of Running It All
29:01 AI in the Shop: Time Savings and Cautionary Tales
30:56 What Keeps Mike Coming Back Every Morning
33:15 Economic Fears, Tariffs, and Staying Nimble
35:38 Species Trends: Elm, White Oak, and Shipping Challenges
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
You can connect with Mike at:
https://www.urban-lumber.ca/
https://www.instagram.com/urban_lumber_mb/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mcgarry-967152166?originalSubdomain=ca

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Ben Pierce, a sixth-generation family member at the Holt & Bugbee Company, one of the oldest hardwood lumber businesses in the United States. At 201 years old, Holt & Bugbee Company has survived recessions, industry shifts, and the rise of synthetic flooring by doing what it's always done: adapting. Ben shares how the company evolved from importing mahogany from Central America to becoming a premier domestic hardwood wholesaler serving the East Coast from four branches in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York.
You'll hear about what it was like to start working at the family business right as the 2008 recession wiped out 40 percent of their revenue overnight, and how the company held onto its sales team and pivoted toward higher-end, longer-length, wider material for luxury residential projects and architectural millwork firms. Ben talks about the shift from selling truckloads of commodity lumber to filling precise, high-dollar orders for coastal homes and custom molding work, and how COVID unexpectedly rewarded the company's ability to source, produce, and deliver when competitors couldn't.
Ben also shares two of the best marketing stories you'll hear on this podcast. First, how he got Holt & Bugbee Company featured on This Old House by donating a white oak floor during their 200th anniversary year. And second, how a chance sighting of a century-old ghost sign on a Boston building during a duck boat tour led to a nine-month restoration project that landed coverage from WBZ, the Boston Globe, and local NPR. Both stories are masterclasses in creative, relationship-driven marketing in an industry where traditional advertising doesn't always apply.
Jennifer and Ben also dig into the state of the hardwood industry, from the challenge of competing against synthetic flooring to why the next generation of consumers may actually swing the pendulum back toward authentic, sustainable, locally sourced wood products. Ben closes with advice for anyone born into a family business: get experience somewhere else first, then come back stronger.
Chapters
00:00 Meet Ben Pierce and the 201-Year History of Holt & Bugbee Company
04:09 Surviving the 2008 Recession and Pivoting to Premium Lumber
08:11 Selling Strategy: High-End Markets and Custom Millwork
15:33 Marketing a 200-Year-Old Brand in a Modern World
20:55 Getting Featured on This Old House
24:48 The Ghost Sign: A Century-Old Discovery Turned Marketing Gold
29:49 The Future of Hardwood: Authenticity, Sustainability, and the Next Generation
35:37 Advice for the Next Generation in Family Business
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
You can connect with Ben at:
https://www.holtandbugbee.com/
https://www.instagram.com/holtandbugbee/
https://www.facebook.com/holtandbugbee/

At 41 years old, with no woodworking background and tools made from hot-glued blocks of wood, Craig Hedges won a YouTube scholarship that changed the trajectory of his entire family's life.
In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Craig Hedges, the new owner of Goliath Hardwoods in Evansville, Indiana. Craig's story starts with a $250 check from a YouTube woodworker's scholarship fund, a circular saw, a jigsaw, and a drill. What began with cornhole boards made alongside his wife and four kids eventually grew into pen turning, laser engraving, craft shows, and ultimately the purchase of a nearly 30-year-old hardwood retail business that was days away from closing its doors forever.
You'll hear about how Craig and his family funded a trip to Disney World entirely from cornhole board sales, and the car ride home where the kids declared they were done making them. You'll hear about how he discovered Goliath Hardwoods as a customer, watched the sale fall through multiple times with other buyers, and negotiated an owner-financed deal that let the business pay for itself from day one. Craig also shares how he inherited a loyal customer base, kept the existing staff, and immediately went to work building a social media presence from scratch with his son Ian behind the camera.
You'll also hear about the incredible historic restoration project that landed on Craig's doorstep, resurfacing 130-plus-year-old flooring from the old Cargis building to be installed in 121 new apartments. Craig talks about his plans to create custom wood urns with military branch scroll work for local funeral homes, his vision for a dedicated maker space, and the heartwarming story of helping a pair of newlyweds build their first dining table in his shop. Jennifer and Craig also dig into sourcing strategies for small retailers, from Facebook Marketplace finds to building relationships with larger local suppliers, and how to use social media to stop the scroll and find the wood you need.
Chapters
00:00 Meet Craig Hedges: From YouTube Scholarship to Business Owner
05:56 Buying Goliath Hardwoods and Keeping a Legacy Alive
10:05 Building a Social Media Strategy from Scratch
11:46 The Historic Cargis Building Flooring Restoration
18:01 Custom Urns, Maker Spaces, and Creative Revenue Streams
25:50 Sourcing Wood as a Small Retailer
34:19 Challenges, Community, and the Power of Just Trying
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
You can connect with Craig at:
https://goliathhardwoods.com/
https://www.instagram.com/goliath_hardwoods/
https://www.facebook.com/goliathhardwoods/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Marty Parsons of the Wood-Mizer Pennsylvania Authorized Sales Center. What started as a side hustle while Marty worked as a diesel mechanic at PennDOT quickly exploded when he and his wife Lisa sold 65 mills in their very first year. A quarter century later, Marty has built a family-run operation known across the East Coast for its hands-on training, free tech support, and the kind of honest, no-nonsense advice that has made him a go-to voice in the sawmill community.
You'll hear about how the authorized sales center model got off the ground, the early pushback from within Wood-Mizer, and how Marty earned respect one perfectly aligned mill at a time. You'll hear about the real reasons sawyers get wavy cuts, why Marty swears by the 747 blade profile for mills of all sizes, and the fuel maintenance mistake that ruins more engines than most people realize. Marty also walks through common calls he gets from customers, from thick-and-thin lumber issues to power feed rebuilds on older mills, and explains why a simple phone call before you start wrenching can save you hundreds of dollars.
You'll also hear about the people behind the scenes who make it all work: Lisa, who keeps the books and the business running, son Nick who handles technical calls and wiring, Andrew and Tristan who are learning the trade hands-on, and the Resharp team keeping four grinders and two setters humming. Marty talks about the shift from doing 25 trade shows a year to reaching thousands through social media reels, his collaboration with channels like Outdoors with the Morgans, and what it was like to bring the second WM5500 in the United States to his region.
Whether you're a new sawyer trying to figure out why your boards aren't coming off flat, a seasoned mill owner looking for better blade performance, or someone considering getting into the sawmill business, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and real-world experience.
Tune in, take notes, and don't forget to follow the Woodpreneur Podcast. New episodes drop every Thursday morning wherever you consume your podcasts.
Chapters
00:00 Introducing Marty Parsons and Wood-Mizer Pennsylvania
01:54 The Origin Story: From Auction Mill to Authorized Sales Center
06:31 The Resharp Program and Building a Service Team
09:13 Social Media, Reels, and Reaching Sawyers Nationwide
17:23 Top Service Calls and Troubleshooting Tips for Sawyers
27:03 Fuel, Maintenance, and the Myths That Cost You Money
42:53 Advice for Sawyers and Supporting Your Local Sales Center
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
Connect with us at: 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
You can connect with Marty at:
https://woodmizer.com/us/contact-us/wood-mizer-pennsylvania?srsltid=AfmBOorEGprvw8Tv3RRFSIRoJokqHO6T89kfnMNqC6wFrfq93nnDaGxG
https://www.facebook.com/marty.parsons.50/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Bob Kloes and Matt Schmitz of Kloes Specialty Hardwoods, a Wisconsin-based business specializing in curly maple, bird's eye maple, flame birch, and other figured hardwoods. What started as Bob's lifelong passion for custom furniture evolved into a lumber business when his wife suggested he start selling the stunning figured woods he had been sourcing for decades. Now, with Matt at the helm after purchasing the business, the two share a partnership built on mentorship, shared passion, and an unwavering commitment to quality.
You'll hear about how Bob built relationships with sawmills over 20 years and developed an expert eye for selecting figured wood in the rough. You'll hear about the process of buying green lumber, working with a neighboring vacuum kiln operation, and sorting material by species, figure density, and customer specs for everyone from furniture makers to guitar builders and pool cue craftsmen. Bob and Matt also get honest about the challenges of marketing a niche product, navigating social media algorithms, and the real cost of shipping in today's market.
You'll also hear about Matt's journey from federal government career to business owner, how a summer sales slump nearly broke his confidence, and why having a built-in mentor made all the difference. Bob shares stories from his furniture-making days, including secret compartments, his "high country style" designs, and why he believes in over-delivering on every order. The conversation also touches on the declining availability of bird's eye maple, the puzzling drop in cherry prices, and the broader challenges facing the domestic hardwood industry.
Whether you're a woodworker searching for the best figured hardwoods, a small business owner navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, or someone who appreciates the art of letting natural wood speak for itself, this episode is for you.
Tune in, be inspired, and don't forget to follow the Woodpreneur Podcast so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Thursday morning wherever you consume your podcasts.
Chapters
00:00 Meet Bob Kloes and Matt Schmitz of Kloes Specialty Hardwoods
01:04 Bob's 40-Year Journey from Furniture Maker to Lumber Dealer
03:06 Matt's Path from Customer to Business Owner
06:25 Sourcing, Drying, and Sorting Figured Hardwoods
14:47 Selling Retail, Shipping Nationwide, and Managing Costs
19:26 Marketing, Social Media, and Industry Challenges
28:22 Favorite Projects, Quality Philosophy, and Lessons Learned
The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 
For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com
See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com
Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io
Connect with us at: 
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/
Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork
Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork
You can connect with Bob and Matt at:
https://www.kloesspecialtyhardwoods.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kloesspecialtyhardwoods/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/kshardwoods/