Small Business Spotlight :: DragonflyWoodWrights

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Four hours. That's how long Rhode Island resident Margery (49), spends commuting each day to her workshop- two hours each way.  It's there that she spends her days teaching math to fifth graders through hands-on experiences in a boat-building class in the Boston Public school system.  She hates the commute, but she loves her job.  “There’s nothing more pleasing to my eyes than a child holding up their finished product and squealing with delight!” And when she's not helping little eyes see the beauty behind the numbers, from first cut to last sanding, she's still working. 

Margery working in her shop

"After work, I spend quality time with my family and head off to my home studio where planks of wood and power tools come out to play! I love this time of day... when my mind is at peace and the only sound that cuts the silence is the buzzing of my table saw."

Margery attributes her handmade journey to her mother.  

“When I was a child, my mother took great pains to keep me busy creating handmade works of art. She was never the type of mother to insist up on cleaning my room or tidying up my bed.  Instead she taught me all about love and discipline through the process of creating handmade goods with my own hands.  We often sat at the kitchen table, where she would give me wood to stain or maybe even some cake batter to whip.  I cherish those memories.  And through the experience, she taught me so many of life’s lessons including- patience, perseverance, and courage to forge my own path.  As an adult, I naturally gravitated towards a job that would allow me to create.  I became a boat builder and cherished every day on the job creating seaworthy vessels that would sail the high seas as I happily waved goodbye from the shore.”

Since then, Margery has always made gifts for family and friends.  “A few years ago, I gave a cutting board to a friend and she said I should open an Etsy shop.  So I did!”

One of Margery's cutting board designs

The journey has not always been easy.  Margery first opened her Etsy shop DragonflyWoodWrights creating wooden kitchen accessories in 2010, but had to put a halt on her creations after a move left her without a workshop.  In 2013 she started her current job as a boatbuilding instructor.  “With the love and support of my children, I decided to merge the better of the only two worlds I ever knew- boat-building and parenting.  So it was only natural that I would become a teacher!”

While teaching has been rewarding, Margery knew it was time to take her love for wood crafting to the next step.  So in 2016, DragonflyWoodWrights was reborn!  Even now, there are late many late nights.  “I really want to make it work.  I love working in the shop creating and would really love to be able to do it full time and make a living while doing it.  This year my New Year’s resolution was to put everything I have into DragonflyWoodWrights and make it work.  I really would like to quit my day job and do this full time.”

Currently, Margery is doing at least two “big shows” a month, advertising wherever possible, and even looking into potentially doing home parties.  She believes strongly that, “If you really want something you can achieve it with hard work and dedication.”

Her Etsy shop has truly become a “labor of love” and is constantly being updated with new products.  While cutting boards are a main feature, napkin rings, coasters, lazy Susans and more can all be found amidst the inventory!  Margery also enjoys the opportunity to create custom orders, and being a part of her customers’ special moments.

One of Margery’s biggest sources of inspiration comes from her sons, particularly her youngest son Xavier (13).  “He is an amazing young man who suffers from severe social anxiety. He is also dyslexic which has caused lots of learning disabilities in school, but he gets up every day, and goes and does everything that is asked of him- even if it is terrifying for him. […] He takes care of me, he always makes sure I eat when I’ve worked all day at my day job and then come home to work on DragonflyWoodWrights.  He will sit up late at night with me and help me pack orders, sand boards, [or] run to the post office to ship orders. […] He truly is the light of my life. I don’t know how I got so lucky to be his mom.”

And then there's her oldest son Zack (26), who actually inspired the name DragonfyWoodWrights.  After watching Dragonfly, a movie about the bond between a mother and child, Zack has always given his mother gifts of dragonflies.  “I love my boys with all my heart, they are my world.” 

Margery's sons Zackerie and Xavier

When Margery isn't working on her business, she is spending time with her boys, her fur-babies (boxers) Clash & Izzabella (the problem child), or catching the rare opportunity for sleep.

“I am just a kid at heart and I love to create.  My happy place is in my workshop ripping wood on the table saw or routing something with the router.”

  

If you'd like to support Margery's business you can browse her shop here!  Please contact Margery through Etsy if you would be interested in ordering a custom order!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonflywoodwright

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