Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Geddes.
Hi Jared, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started making stuff when I was a kid making Christmas presents for my siblings. we had a family rule that you had to make some part of the gifts for each other. Everything I made though was with a drill, a circular saw, and a jigsaw… so things were a bit rough. That got me interested in woodworking though. I then took some shop classes in middle and high school to learn the bigger tools and how to cut straight lines. I found that I enjoyed designing furniture as well as building it, so I decided to go into engineering. In college, I took a furniture design class in addition to my engineering classes, which taught me that the design was important too, not just functionality. Eventually, I started acquiring tools when I had my own house and garage. After seeing some poor quality YouTube videos of woodworkers that had lots of views, I thought I could do that myself. So I started making videos of my projects and eventually added in the engineering perspective. 10 years later, I now have a fun side gig/hobby that is self-sufficient that helps me have balance and still be able to be creative while holding down a full time engineering job, raising 5 kids,
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest thing for me in my maker journey has been balancing all of the other things in my life while still allowing time and space for creating and making. Throughout my journey, I have maintained a full-time job, served in volunteer church positions, raised five kids with all of the associated activities, moved from coast to coast, and stayed happily married. It would’ve been easy to just give up on woodworking as a hobby when I was young and will maybe pick up again when I’m retired, but it was important for me to be able to still have a creative outlet. My woodworking community has been so positive and supportive and I’ve been able to help many woodworkers expand their skills. That’s really what keeps me going and making videos.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Lead Design Engineer on a defense aerospace program where I lead a team of engineers to support and sustain military aircraft. One of the things I enjoy most in my career is being able to solve highly technical challenges and provide resolutions that keep aircraft production moving. I especially enjoy taking those technical issues or challenges and simplifying them down to something that is understandable for mechanics, managers, or anyone else who needs to understand it. That has helped me outside of work in explaining engineering concepts to woodworkers and my viewers on YouTube.
What are your plans for the future?
I always have plans for future projects and things I want to build. I wish I had enough time to do all of them, but one I definitely will be doing in the future is more indoor play spaces for my kids similar to the indoor treehouse I built in my last house. I also plan on getting my next big new tool soon (a lathe!) and doing more content related to turning which I have not done in the past.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://eveningwoodworker.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eveningwoodworker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eveningwoodworker
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EveningWoodworker
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@eveningwoodworker
