It is time to start up the 2025 Young Wood Pro program. I am excited to continue this year as your host, coach, and contest judge (one of several) of this reputable national competition and education program. As promised, I will be doing things a bit differently this year by bringing on monthly guests to add more valued perspectives and lessons in professional woodworking. In the spirit of starting off emphatically, this month I interviewed last year’s #YoungWoodPro winner, Joel Keener.

Joel and I were able to sit down via internet chat for about 30 minutes and catch up on what he has been up to and talk about what he has learned from the professional side of things. Since winning the competition, Joel graduated from Thaddeus Stevens college where he received technical training in woodworking and has been working at a local architectural millwork facility. 

Putting skills to work

Joel expressed how much he is enjoying getting the chance to put a lot of the skills he learned to work on real on-the-job applications and situations. Joel expressed his enjoyment of being able to go into work, receive his cut list with instructions and just be turned loose on building.

I will admit I am a little jealous. This is a great situation for Joel to get the opportunity to build his confidence and gain experience doing the actual work part that all professional woodworkers love doing, such as cabinetry and even bent laminations. He also discussed getting some new experiences with new techniques that can come into use in trades work, such as using PVC blocks heated to shape for paint grade moldings. 

That experience broadened his perspective on how there are many different ways go about aspects of woodworking and how important that is. He also mentioned how many little tips he has picked up from coworkers who have years of experience. As someone who has employed young woodworkers before I can tell you that Joel’s attitude is absolutely the right one for him to keep getting better and be a pleasure to work with. 

The key factor that I interpreted is that Joel is getting a chance to just work on broadening his skill set and acquiring more experience without the distractions of running the business. I think Joel has made a really great choice for himself, and I love that he's getting the opportunity to enjoy the work while learning about running a business before jumping into owning his own woodworking enterprise.

Helpful suggestions

From my coaching perspective to all of you Young Wood Pros, Joel's path thus far has some very helpful suggestions that I think could aid many of you as well. First, there's nothing wrong with going and getting some on the job training in real time to deepen your skill set before starting your own business, and that might even be a wise choice for many. An apprenticeship is also another variation of this. I have taken on a few apprentices over the years for this purpose.

The second helpful suggestion I find is that Joel is learning about running a woodworking business without the responsibility of actually running a woodworking business. What I mean is that when something goes wrong at the job and can cost time or actual money, Joel is getting all the benefits of learning how that can affect the business without actually taking any hits in his own pocket or increasing his stress levels as it would if he were to be the owner. 

Financial losses and burnout are big factors in why people walk away from this line of work. If the person in this situation (being Joel ) is self-aware and  observing, he is picking up lessons on how to run a business well in the future by paying attention to how a business is being run that he's working at now. It amounts to getting paid to further his education as an aspiring professional. That is a wonderful situation. We discussed several examples of this that have come up in the time he's been working there. 

Cost of mistakes

One of the best lessons we discussed was how a small mistake can become so costly. He talked about a recent experience where a specific part was forgotten for a cabinet set at his work after the order had left for install and the drive to install was three hours away. That meant the ownership had to pay somebody for a total of six hours of driving just to get that needed part to the installation site on time. Joel commented how that was a moment where he realized being attentive to the smaller details is extremely important for making deadlines and not losing money or being inefficient. 

He also discussed learning about the importance of saving time on certain tasks when it was relevant to free himself up to doing other tasks. He is learning how to manage time at work, being mindful of setup times and his process decision making. These have been large lessons for him. Basically, Joel has been learning firsthand a lot of the lessons that I have been writing about and shooting video about for you for the last couple years. I love that for him because there's nothing that's going to stick with you better than learning it in real time, first hand.

New saw still waiting

Joel and I also discussed how the new Grizzly table saw he won in the competition from #YoungWoodPro was working out and he unfortunately had to report that he hasn't had a chance to get it set up yet. Surprisingly, I wasn't even disappointed in his answer even though I was anxious to hear him talk about it. 

Who doesn’t like talking machines and equipment with other woodworkers? He hasn't had the time because he's been so busy working at his job and I can tell you from his enthusiasm when talking about it in the interview that he is really enjoying his job, spending a lot of time there. I have no doubt he will have that saw up soon. There is nothing wrong with wanting to wait and getting a piece of heavy machinery set up right the first time instead of rushing just to do it for the sake of doing it. I commend him for his honesty and plan on getting back in touch soon to see if he set it up yet.

Last, Joel and I discussed his approach in his thinking with his entry last year that ended up being the winner. Joel's entry was a textbook example of all of the ways I have been coaching potential contest entries on how to actually enter the #YoungWoodPro contest. 

From the quality of his work, choice of quality hardware, the way he actually staged it, and the way he photographed it. When discussing his approach to putting his entry together Joel revealed that at Thaddeus Stevens College, part of the curriculum for woodworking was actually knowing how to have your work photographed and marketed properly. 

So, now you know the last two years all the stuff I'm telling you is also in line with an accredited school of technology and trades. All facets beyond just being good at building something come into play when you want to make a living doing it. Marketing matters. Obviously, Joel talked about how he was taught that and how he wanted to make sure he used those teachings in his submission to the contest. 

I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Joel, and it even reminded me of lessons that I needed to be reminded of. It's nice to have young guys like Joel around to jog this old pro’s memory. Speaking with Young Wood Pros is my favorite things about this program. I’m looking forward to doing more of it.

You can watch the full interview on video below.

#YoungWoodPro is a contest and an educational program sponsored by Grizzly Industrial to help novice professionals improve their skills in business and woodworking. Entries open March 10 for the 2025 contest. Learn more about the 2024 winner and finalists.