Check Out Dylan Haskins’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Haskins.

Hi Dylan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up on an acre, in the middle of a corn field, outside of a tiny town called Arcola, IL.

From an early age I had an intense desire to create things.

I had a few phases with drawing and music, but in the back of my mind I always wanted to be a woodworker.

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Life goes on, and 5 years ago I found myself moving to Memphis to become an Elevator Mechanic.

Leading up to the move, I had been dealing with some pretty heavy depression. When I got here, it actually got worse.

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Luckily, I stumbled into yoga and that gave me time to think about ‘where my happiness comes from’.

At around 30, I decided to finally start teaching myself how to woodwork.

A year and a half ago, I officially started WildWood Studio.

Last year we did 7k in sales, sold our first floor lamp and things have been growing fast even since.

Honestly, I’m pretty blown away.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Anything worth doing is hard work.

My wife and I are 100% self taught at what we do.

In the Information Age that we live in learning isn’t the hard part. — With Pinterest, instagram, YouTube, ChatGPT, and enough time I’m pretty sure I can build a jet engine.

After that, it’s just trial and error.

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Finding time is my real struggle.

Like a lot of the the weekend warriors out there, my goal is to take WildWood full-time one day.

Right now, I build elevators throughout the week and WildWood over the weekends.

Elevator work is bothmentally and physically taxing. — Some days it takes a lot out of me.

It’s a constant balancing act; Putting time into WildWood, and while also making sure I get enough rest.

A lot of the time I’m sanding or finishing lamps when I’m exhausted.

I give myself Saturday to create.

My wife Adrianne has been a blessing through all of this. She handles backend stuff, ships packages and most recently, she’s been making these beautiful hand-sewn lamp shades.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We make handmade wooden lamps and home goods under the name WildWood Studio.

Most of what I do is turned on a lathe — I work with raw logs, usually ones I find locally here in Memphis, right off the side of the road.

We specialize in one-of-a-king pieces. I rarely go into a project with a design in mind. Instead, I let the shape, grain and natual inperfections of the wood guide me.

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What I’m most proud of is how far we’ve come.

Two years ago, I never would’ve believed anyone would want to spend good money on something I made.

Today, we’ve shipped all over the world — Hawaii, Australia, London, Israel.

Heck, I never traveled outside the midwest until I was in my late twenties.

And I’m eternally grateful for everyone who’s supported me through my work.

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I think what sets us apart is the quality of our products and the uniqueness of each design..

Our goal is to create something functional that also adds warmth and character to a space.

I try not to over-design and let the wood speak for itself. — especially when it comes to knots, spalting or wild bark lines.

That’s where the personality of each lamp comes from.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
1000% The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

This book is a guide to overcoming resistance and doing the creative work you were meant to do.

I’ve read it three times and think about it weekly.

Podcasts are huge for me.

Top Picks would be:
The Huberman Lab, JRE , Financial Audit, Lex Fridman, The Tim Dillion Show

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wildwoodstudio.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildwood.studio