Woodywally
Member
Good evening all!
Joe from Sussex here, right on the south coast. I'll cut straight to the chase.
I've been a woodworker since I was twelve years old. My father was a fairly handy craftsman so I learnt quickly from him. Between the age if 18 and 32 I was stuck in the rat race in finance, most recently just before covid hit I was a financial advisor. Made redundant 1 week before lockdown (the finance market clearly knew more than anyone else!) So was left stranded with a wife and a 10 month old son. I took 4 months off looking for work to spend time with them and to watch my son grow up a little, as due to early mornings and coupled with late returns home I only really saw him sleeping.
Anyway... I had to get back to the job search as I needed to top up the kitty again and was getting a little restless. I made the firm and correct decision to NEVER go back into a corporate environment and especially not back to finance. My sister had a friend that co-owned a log yard/sawmill and they were looking for a driver. I figured that I could do that for a couple of months, fill the pockets although, not that fully and hopefully enjoy the freedom a little. Also, to help them out as they're a family run company and could do woth a delivery driver for the busy winter season.
Well, a couple of months went by... very quickly indeed. I was there two and a half years in the end. It was very varied work as I was utilised everywhere in the summer months as delivery work slowed down a little. Building them rustic furniture for them to sell. It completely reignited my passion for woodwork. It had never gone away entirely I just didn't see it being anything I'd ever get to do professionally.
Right, long story short....
Damn, I think I said something along those lines right back at the start... three paragraphs ago!
I now have my own woodworking shop. I get up in the morning and can't wait to open those doors to my dream. The long story short here really is the fact that there was certainly a silver lining to being made redundant at one of the most terrible times. Something amazing happened from something quite awful.
I hope I get talking to many of you in the near future and I already have so many questions!
Apologies for any grammatical or English formulation errors made... I'm writing this without checking and it's heading towards midnight.
Joe
P.s, that was the short version of the story. Honestly, you just can't write it... figuratively or literally!
Joe from Sussex here, right on the south coast. I'll cut straight to the chase.
I've been a woodworker since I was twelve years old. My father was a fairly handy craftsman so I learnt quickly from him. Between the age if 18 and 32 I was stuck in the rat race in finance, most recently just before covid hit I was a financial advisor. Made redundant 1 week before lockdown (the finance market clearly knew more than anyone else!) So was left stranded with a wife and a 10 month old son. I took 4 months off looking for work to spend time with them and to watch my son grow up a little, as due to early mornings and coupled with late returns home I only really saw him sleeping.
Anyway... I had to get back to the job search as I needed to top up the kitty again and was getting a little restless. I made the firm and correct decision to NEVER go back into a corporate environment and especially not back to finance. My sister had a friend that co-owned a log yard/sawmill and they were looking for a driver. I figured that I could do that for a couple of months, fill the pockets although, not that fully and hopefully enjoy the freedom a little. Also, to help them out as they're a family run company and could do woth a delivery driver for the busy winter season.
Well, a couple of months went by... very quickly indeed. I was there two and a half years in the end. It was very varied work as I was utilised everywhere in the summer months as delivery work slowed down a little. Building them rustic furniture for them to sell. It completely reignited my passion for woodwork. It had never gone away entirely I just didn't see it being anything I'd ever get to do professionally.
Right, long story short....
Damn, I think I said something along those lines right back at the start... three paragraphs ago!
I now have my own woodworking shop. I get up in the morning and can't wait to open those doors to my dream. The long story short here really is the fact that there was certainly a silver lining to being made redundant at one of the most terrible times. Something amazing happened from something quite awful.
I hope I get talking to many of you in the near future and I already have so many questions!
Apologies for any grammatical or English formulation errors made... I'm writing this without checking and it's heading towards midnight.
Joe
P.s, that was the short version of the story. Honestly, you just can't write it... figuratively or literally!
