The Wood Pastor Shares His Plans and His Business. Meet Him at IWF—Podcast

Stephen Michutka, owner of Lumberton, Texas-based The Wood Pastor, is a craftsman who learned woodworking by doing, following plans, and picking up technique along the way.

“I began building several years ago because well…I’m cheap. My son needed a bed and I was determined to figure out how to design and build it myself,” Mitchutka says. “Plans can teach you a lot about how to frame and join furniture correctly.” After accumulating a variety of builds under his belt, Mitchutka decided to start a business, which he talks about in this podcast episode, with host Ethan Abramson.

Michutka, who will appear at the IWF Woodworking Influencers Lounge, runs a one-person shop, and is proud of that. His goals are not to grow, not to expand, but not because he can’t. He turns a large percentage of work away. Though that might sound strange to some business owners, growth is not what Michutka is after.

His goal is to build a lifestyle company, one that covers his bills, keeps him interested in his daily work, and lets him spend ample time with his family. One day he may decide to expand, but for now, he is happy where he is.

Follow along as we talk about what it takes to make the jump into working for yourself, the importance of community to keep you positive, why growth is not always the end goal, and much more.

Following plans led Mitchutka to designing and creating many of his own builds, and he launched a YouTube channel, so others could learn from his processes and mistakes as well as how to make their own plans. One of these, for a rustic farmhouse table, has been viewed 765,000 times on YouTube. In it he cuts boards on a Felder sliding table saw (IWF Booth B7537), laminates the boards into a tabletop using Franklin International’s Titebond glue (IWF Booth C2546-2550), applies wood filler to smooth the solid pine surfaces, smooths the filler in with a Mirka sander (IWF Booth A10547), and finishes and then screws together the table components.

Michutka, aka The Wood Pastor, is among the 20 popular online industry personalities you can meet at IWF 2022 August 23-26 in Atlanta, at the Woodworking Influencers Lounge, sponsored by Shaper Tools at Booth A10620.

In each edition of IWF Network News, Building a Furniture Brand host Ethan Abramson talks to your favorite furniture makers and woodworking professionals to give you a look at the business behind the furniture and cabinetry business.

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