Izzy Swan is an incredibly prolific person. Between furniture design, a truly prolific array of YouTube videos, and spending time with his children, Izzy still considers himself "as retired as he's going to get." Izzy found success by forging his own path. He has emerged as a prominent figure in the maker community with a reputation for creative problem solving and playful designs. Listen to our conversation with Izzy as we discuss:

• Having children and maintaining playfulness
• Finding one's place in the world
• Not finishing college
• Enjoying what you do: The right job versus the right people
• Prioritizing happiness over wealth
• Problem-solving and creativity
• Learning from frustration
• The importance of growing community

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Curtis Buchanan makes chairs, but not just any chairs. He makes Windsor chairs the way they have always been made — by hand, starting from logs. A poor student throughout his academic career, Curtis found his passion only after leaving college without much of a plan. A succession of odd jobs and over 100,000 miles of hitchhiking gave Curtis a thirst for experience and a tolerance for risk that would serve him well in his career as a maker of fine furniture.

This episode was originally published on April 1st, 2016. Due to an error in the feed, it has been republished here. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

podcastformakers.com/curtis-buchanan

Will Holman is a maker and furniture designer with big ideas. His book, "Guerilla Furniture Design," comes from a lifetime of living the nomadic lifestyle, often leaving belongings behind when moving from place to place. He is also an architect and the general manager of OpenWorks, a future makerspace in Baltimore. Will hopes to provide a space for community members to learn, work, teach, and start their own businesses. Our conversation with Will covers many topics, including:

• Experiencing failure
• The 20K house project and restoring dignity
• The impossibility of perfection
• Making makers

podcastformakers.com/will-holman

podcastformakers.com/patreon

Patrick Laperrière, better known as Pat Lap or Le Picbois, makes woodturning videos that combine skill, humor, and heavy metal. Working out of his grandfather’s workshop in Quebec, Pat began making videos as a way to get more time in the shop. Pat’s sincere enjoyment of life and his love for both making and the community of makers is evident in everything he does. Join us as we talk to Pat about:

• YouTube and the maker community
• His relationship with Paul Jackman
• The origins of UNSUBSCRIBE
• Keeping perspective on life
• Poutine
• Making the most of limited shop time
• Being happy with life

podcastformakers.com/pat-lap

In his own words, Steve Blom makes beautiful things. Through his business, Sawtooth Woodshop, Steve creates custom items from reclaimed wood. Coming from a family of makers, Steve has a lifetime love of learning and a drive to create new and interesting things whenever he can. Listen as we talk to Steve about:

• The entrepreneurial spirit
• Tinkering and encouraging curiosity
• Working with reclaimed materials
• Frustration, education, and satisfaction
• Pricing your work
• Developing your personal style

podcastformakers.com/steve-blom

podcastformakers.com/patreon

@podcast4makers

@sawtoothwoodshop

Callye Keen is a product designer with a long manufacturing history and over 200 products under his belt. Coming from a family background in low-volume, high-precision manufacturing, Callye now runs Red Blue Collective, a group that aims to help hardware startups get off the ground. Our conversation with Callye covers a range of topics, including:

• The satisfaction of manufacturing: holding a product in your hand that you designed and made
• Transparency and community engagement via showing the process
• The importance of makerspaces, the maker movement, and social media
• Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything.

podcastformakers.com/callye-keen

podcastformakers.com/patreon

Twitter:

@podcast4makers

@callyekeen

Joseph Mapes is a third-generation tailor. As the owner of Oliver & Rowan Bespoke in Chicago, he is a maker of men’s clothing - suits, pants, shirts, and coats, made from paper patterns precisely cut for each individual client’s measurements. Bespoke is the pinnacle of tailoring, but Joe never planned to become a tailor.

podcastformakers.com/joseph-mapes

podcastformakers.com/patreon

Bill is a photographer, musician, lifetime learner, and maker. This interview with Bill covers a range of topics, including:

• STEM/STEAM programs and their role in eliminating the Skills Gap
• Integrating different domains, especially engineering and the arts
• Learning from failure (and being willing to fail)
• Taking pleasure from small successes
• The evolution of technology, education, and technology education

podcastformakers.com/billvanloo

podcastformakers.com/patreon

Tony Rouleau is a maker. Tony's Hillview Wood & Metal specializes in custom wood and metal work, machining, welding, 3d printing, and design. Listen in as we discuss where machinist jobs have gone, how they are coming back, and why machining is a very rewarding way to be a maker.

podcastformakers.com/tony-rouleau

The guest for this episode is Phil Pinsky. He is a maker, a podcaster, and a content creator on YouTube. Together with co-hosts Bill Lutes and Tim Sway, Phil discusses life as a maker, both part time and full time, on a great podcast called Reclaimed Audio. Reclaimed Audio can be found in iTunes.

podcastformakers.com/phil-pinsky

podcastformakers.com/patreon