We were lucky to catch up with Rachele Guasti recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachele , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Everything started when my dad decided to buy an electronic pantograph for his carpentry. On weekends, just for fun, I began drawing the initial graphic designs on my computer and learned to use the machine. Today, from that playful beginning, I’ve built a company called Woodartly, where I work every day with all members of my family to create custom wooden pieces by creatively recycling leftover wood from my dad’s carpentry. Woodartly is a dream that becomes reality with each passing day because, in addition to turning ideas and projects into tangible creations, I can contribute in my small way to environmental conservation by reusing scraps that would otherwise become waste. And I do all of this with my special “wood artist family,” from which the name Woodartly is derived (WOOD – ARTist – famiLY).
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Woodartly is my “dream home,” where every idea and wooden creation comes to life through the passion, experience, and craftsmanship of all members of my special family. Every day, we strive to invent, design, and craft personalized wooden creations, magical home decorations, unique gift ideas to surprise friends, and scenic wooden setups for shops, businesses, gardens, and public spaces.
This entire world originated from my idea but is increasingly coming to life every day, thanks in part to the work of my brother-in-law Lorenzo, a carpenter in my dad’s carpentry, and a longtime builder of wooden boxes and objects. He specializes in artistic creations with the laser engraver, and we collaborate on projects and creations.
Then there’s my dad, Aldo, without whom nothing would have been possible. It’s with him that I choose the best pieces for the creations and discuss technical aspects based on his experience as a wood artisan.
My mom, Cristiana, is my right-hand woman in the workshop. From the sketches of the creations to be made, through the stages of painting and finishing, to packaging, she transforms every creation and gift package into something unique and inimitable.
In this adventure, I’ve also involved my husband, Davide, who takes care of all communication aspects, both on the website and social media pages. Together, we plan the marketing strategy for all creations.
Finally, Rebecca, my sister, officially in charge of snacks, is the one who takes care of the fuel for work. She’s the one who, besides giving advice on creations and selling at markets, always brings something to eat. She says, “because a tasty break is needed every now and then,” but in reality, it’s because she’s always hungry!
We are a great team! We like to call ourselves “Unique Pieces,” just like our wooden creations that are never identical to each other. They come to life by creatively reusing leftover wood from my dad’s carpentry, which would otherwise become waste. We give them new life by transforming them into magical, personalized decorations, all hand-painted.
Because we believe in the value of true artistic craftsmanship, we strive every day to keep alive the traditions and values of high-quality Italian craftsmanship. We put our maximum creativity, care, and dedication into crafting each piece.
We enjoy innovating, exploring new solutions, and making each creation a unique, original, and artistic piece. We use high-quality materials, aiming to minimize waste by valuing every tiny leftover piece.
We believe in the value of collaboration and are open to considering any of your ideas and projects to best interpret your needs and transform them into a unique creation. Each creation comes to life from the digital designs I create, cut, engrave, finish, paint, and hand-decorate down to the smallest details, resulting in something original, unique, and unparalleled.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The number one piece of advice is: always believe in your dreams, give your best every day, and never lose the desire for that dream to come true!
In life, I never thought I would find myself working in a carpentry workshop. But life is unpredictable, and here I am, telling an incredible and unimaginable story that was not even on my radar a few months ago.
I’ve never waited for life to hand me opportunities; I’ve always created them by studying and working. From my first experiences to earn the first money to live on my own, to the initial experiments at home with my computer to enter the world of graphics—a world that has always fascinated me and where I worked for some time.
Then came the dream of creating something personal, a business tailored to my life. I didn’t know what idea, but I longed to find it.
The rest is the story I am telling you now
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Every day, for a company venturing into this complex world, is a challenge. Coming up with the best ideas for consistently unique and special creations is a challenge. Setting up work schedules and defining roles precisely to ensure that all mechanisms function well is a challenge. Understanding how to save time, resources, and money in production is a challenge. Defining sales plans, promotion strategies, and logistics for shipments is a challenge.
There are many challenges, and they are all part of the daily routine for all companies. The important thing is to “take one step at a time!”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.woodartly.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodartly/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091753460032
- Other: woodartly.official@gmail.com
