About Us

Our Story

This business has been a lifelong dream of mine.  Design, creativity, and woodworking in particular have been passions of mine for as long as I can remember.  Throughout my childhood, I was always enamored by the various woodworking and carpentry shows on public television.  The seed was planted early, and as I grew up, the dream of having my own shop began to evolve.

Throughout high school, I took as many shop courses as I could.  Through my teens and early 20's, life began pulling me in different directions, but the dream of woodworking always remained in the back of my mind.  Again, life took me down a different path in 2006, and brought me from my home state of Minnesota to Idaho.  Although my new job there wasn't centered around woodworking, I was fortunate to have access to a shop space and tools at work.  I could spend time after the work day tinkering in the shop, and scratching the itch to be creative.  My passions for the craft intensified, and the dreams of being able to design, create, and build were confirmed.

I continued to grow in my job in Idaho, and in 2011 I was lucky enough to purchase my first home, making it a priority to have a large garage to be able to set up a shop.  Over the next year or so, I was like a kid at Christmas, obtaining the essential tools to get started, buying them as I could afford them.  The dream was beginning to come to fruition!

In 2012, a friend of mine introduced me to Etsy.  I began to list small items there, and was lucky enough to make some sales here and there.  Over the next few years, the tool collection continued to grow, I kept honing my skills and learning new woodworking techniques, and the sales increased.

I knew I was on the right track, and I always hoped to make Red Fern Design a venture I could commit to full time, but expected it to take a long time.  Life has a way of not reading the script, and in 2017 I made the choice to leave the job I loved after 11 years.  I bounced around a bit for the next year, working other "real" jobs, but continued to sell on Etsy.

Finally, in the spring of 2018, I made the decision to move back to my home state of Minnesota and take the leap of faith into trying to make Red Fern Design a full time endeavor.  I built a large shop inside my family's old dairy barn, and got moved in and back to work about 6 weeks after moving back.  Since then, as I've committed 100% of my time to the business, I've seen substantial growth, and have received affirmation that the business can succeed.

I'm so happy to be doing what I love, and able to financially make it work!  Being a self employed shop owner isn't always easy, but overall, the experience is extremely satisfying!  I'm so thankful to family and friends that have helped the dream become a reality, to Etsy for providing a great avenue to grow, and ESPECIALLY to you, my valued customers, for the continued support and positive feedback!