We’re excited to introduce you to Trevor Smith, who we found interesting and insightful to chat with. We hope you’ll also enjoy our conversation with Trevor below.
Trevor, thank you so much for making time for us. We admire your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
When I think about risk the first thing that comes to mind is not living my life well. The risk of not living my life well. From a young age this type of question has been with me. What does it mean to live a life well? How do I enact my morals and what should my morals be? What should I do with my time, given there is so much suffering in the world?
In my teens and early twenties, I found alcohol and drugs, and that seemed wonderful at first. It made my brain a more comfortable place to be. But as happens with alcohol and drugs, that quickly led to serious addiction. I got sober when I was 24. I’m 38 now. I am so fortunate to have learned how to be an adult sober. Learned from so many mentors and received so much guidance. Learned how to admit mistakes and find courage to completely start over. Learned how to ask for help. And crucially learned how to understanding what living a life well means for me.
So what do people mean when they say “risk”? My wife and I lived in NYC during the 2010s and were thinking of moving out of the city in the next couple of years. One day my wife saw a house for sale online that was on 42 acres of land. She showed it to me at dinner. We got in the car after dinner and drove 15 hours through the night to see it the next morning. We bought it the next day. This wasn’t impulsive and didn’t feel reckless on our part. We had put so much time into learning who we are as individuals, as a couple, and what our values are. When we saw that house we just knew this is what works for us.
A lot of times, risk is talked about in relation to money and an idea of security. Right now as I write this, we started the cabinet company a bit over a year ago. My wife and I put all our money into it. It’s been quite stressful at times with the finances. We have had to sacrifice our family time together and the emotional ease that comes with a steady income. But we knew going into it we had friends who would support us if we needed, we knew that we both had skills we could use to get other jobs, and most importantly, we knew that nothing is actually certain. Our lives could end any day. A big business job could result in layoffs. We’ve already seen multiple economic crashes.
We like to contemplate: at the end of our lives, whenever that time comes, what will we have contributed to this lifetime? What positive impacts or right livelihoods will help bring peace and ease to our hearts? We have landed on caring for nature, family, and spirituality. Our cabinet business, Smithy Works, brings together all three. Sustainable, values-driven woodworking that we hope to pass on to our children or other community members. If we keep returning, redirecting back to these positive impacts, there is no risk. Only continuous change and inspiration.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Most of my career has been in education technology.
None of us got to choose where we were born. Given that fact, I think we should put our energies as human beings into ensuring everyone has food, housing, medicine and education. I’ve built teams and companies in edtech, and recently was grateful to have the company I co-founded get acquired.
The tech industry was becoming not as interesting to me – for a lot of reasons. I’ve been wanting to do something more local. The area I live in is very beautiful and as such there are an inordinate amount of second homes and with that comes a large class divide. The people who live here and support the second homes cannot afford good (or recently any) housing.
I’ve been drawn more and more to the woods these past years. The Earth as we know it is forever changing and suffering due to how we live. We need to live differently to better support our Earth.
These few threads – local, Earth and woods – drew me to creating a sustainable cabinetry company with my brother. It’s early days yet. Our hardwood comes from local forests, sustainably harvested. We took the time and effort to get FSC certified and collaborate with a local family-run mill that focuses on reducing their environmental footprint. The finishes and glues we use are non-toxic – good for people and the environment, and come from one company who shares our values. We’re still getting to the point where the business is becoming self-sufficient. A few more contracts and then we’ll focus on creating jobs for others. We’re especially interested in supporting people who haven’t been as drawn to or accepted in the trades due to racism and misogyny.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Meditation. This has been one of the most important things in my life. I spend so much of my time being distracted, looking outward. When I take the time to listen (and this can be annoying/painful/not fun!) I get to learn about myself. Theravada Buddhism. For me this has been an instruction booklet for how to be a person. It continues to help me grapple with my morals and how to be in this increasingly overwhelming world.
Find people who you look up to and ask them for help. Vulnerability opens a door.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Right now Smithy Works is doing fully custom cabinets. Our goal is to create our own line of fully customizable, sustainable, toxic-free cabinets. You get a home that you want to live in for a long time, that makes you proud, and yes, as you reflect on the investment, feel secure. I’d love to connect with any artists, designers or architects who are interested in this sort of thing. Also if anything in my story resonates please reach out!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thesmithyworks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmithyworks/
