In 2013, Chris Dehmer, owner of Dark Horse Woodworks in Atlanta, approached me about working on the content on his website.
I loved his story about deciding in mid-career to ditch his corporate job and start a custom furniture and cabinetry business, and after spending a lot of years writing about technology, I was happy to be writing about an entrepreneur doing such beautiful work.
Chris and I grew up in the same town, and we both had family members who loved wood-working and building furniture. Unlike me, Chris learned from his father and grandfather when he was growing up, and he carried on their tradition, doing wood-working on the side for pleasure after he was out in the working world.
His decision to take the leap and put his passion into a business turned out to be a wise one. Dark Horse projects have been featured in national publications, including Dwell magazine and The New York Times.
The work
Writing about Dark Horse and its creations is truly a pleasure; here are a few examples.
Check out this post on Murphy beds and this quick one on the kitchen that needed a library ladder.
The Oakview story in the project gallery tells you how mahogany that was originally harvested by the U.S. military for the construction of PT boat hulls during WWII ended up in a home featured in Dwell.
But there is one blog post I like best of all because it's truly the story of a risky dream come true – Chris's story:
... all hours aren’t created equal. When you pour hours into work you care about, and you know the final product is going to be something you’re proud of, those are hours well spent.
And shouldn’t we want to spend all of those hours on things that are satisfying?
If you want to help people translate their stories to "print" and still hear their voices when you read them, I find it's best to have a conversation – in the same room if you can or on the phone if you can't. When you hear them talk about things – literally hear it in their own words – I find that it's much more likely that their voice will also come across on the page. I believe that's what happened with this post noting the big milestones in the Dark Horse story.
I'm fortunate to find great clients who value both telling their stories and having a writer to help them do it.