Welder, woodworker, business owner, and father

Crawford describes his furniture and decor as custom rustic. Since his work is almost exclusively custom, it varies in size, shape, and function. Images provided by WeldedWoods

There isn’t much Jamie Crawford didn’t try, do, or aspire to be. In fact, it might be easier to list the things he hasn’t done or tried. The 35-year-old from Kingsville, Ont., Canada, wanted to be a golf pro but instead became a factory welder, enrolled and then dropped out of business school, graduated from welding school, and got a job as a prototype welder.

He has always been artistic, good with his hands, and a bit of a risk-taker, but no matter what he did, it didn’t feel quite right. And then he became a dad, which completely changed his priorities.

His dissatisfaction with his career trajectory boiled over the day his job interfered with his single-dad responsibilities.

Something had to change.

The result was WeldedWoods, a custom rustic furniture business that has allowed Crawford to do fulfilling work, lean into his entrepreneurial spirit, and still be there to be the kind of parent he felt his daughter deserved.

The Breaking Point

Life changed for Crawford the day he gained sole custody of his then 2-year-old daughter.

At that point he was a supervisor of a prototype department working 12-hour days and constantly being pulled in different directions.

“My whole life had changed, and I had to accommodate that. Figuring out child care was difficult, especially with my work schedule. I typically would start work early in the morning, but it became impossible to do that and make sure my daughter was being taken care of. I had to rely on my mom a lot. I’d just end up being late to work and I’d either quit or get fired,” Crawford explained.

In the middle of all of this he had, just for fun, started tinkering with making wood and metal furniture and decorative items and selling them. He noticed the aesthetic of the work he was doing was very trendy, so he continued to tinker.

The breaking point came on the way home from a funeral for his grandparents, who died within a short time of one another. Both were entrepreneurs, which got him thinking about his own life and the legacy that he’d leave behind some day.

WeldedWoods has allowed Jamie Crawford to combine his welding and woodworking abilities to create custom furniture and decorative items. As a single parent, he now has the flexibility to make a living and be around and available for his daughter Faith. Photos courtesy of Brigita Adomaityte.

“My boss started calling me wondering where the hell I was. I had just left the funeral, I was already miserable, and I was just like that’s it, I’m done. I quit right then and there,” Crawford said.

“On my way home I saw pallets on the side of the road, and it hit me that I could make things to sell online. So, I grabbed a pallet, came home, and made a coat rack with a saw, a drill, and a couple of hooks. I posted it on Kijiji, and it sold in like half an hour.”

Even though he was leaving the professional world of welding and entering the world of woodworking, he also knew he’d find a way to incorporate welding somehow. That’s where the name WeldedWoods came from.

And things progressed more quickly than he had ever dreamed.

The Spark

Crawford describes his furniture and decor as custom rustic. Since his work is almost exclusively custom, it varies in size, shape, and function. Most of his furniture incorporates both metal and wood, like his barnwood coffee and end tables, barstools, and shelves; sliding barndoors; and live-edge dinner table. He uses mostly locally sourced materials, such as steel from Tilbury Steel Service, live-edge wood from Lakeshore Tree Service, and reclaimed barnwood from Thorpe Farms.

Crawford recently has become more active on Etsy, a website dedicated to helping artists and crafters sell their work to the masses. He saw a big uptick in orders during the COVID-19 shutdown earlier this year, which was a nice shot in the arm given that he had to close his shop temporarily to be home full-time with his daughter.

One of Crawford’s most memorable and rewarding projects is the 7-ft. live-edge walnut table he built for his dad’s boss at Ford Motor Company. The other is that first coat rack he ever built that opened the door to this whole new life of his.

While business has grown and he’s the happiest he’s ever been, all credit, he said, is due to his daughter.

“Having her with me full-time was the spark that was necessary to start this whole thing. She was a huge part in WeldedWoods coming together and in helping me see my own potential,” Crawford said.

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