Rowan Woodwork founder Suzanne Walton is a student of the Let My People Go Surfing philosophy of business. Among many progressive workplace ideals—like on-site childcare and ample parental leave—the book by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard champions giving your employees enough trust and freedom to be able to live a good life.
In the marketplace, however, that's more complicated than it sounds. "There's always a deadline and it's the most important thing in the world," says Walton. "But it can wear you out and suddenly this thing you love doing is a burden."
In the case of Rowan Woodwork, the Kingston-based custom cabinetry company she founded in 2014, it was the combination of their in-demand style of minimalist, high-end projects, strategic team expansion, and use of advanced modeling technology that finally made the work-life balance equation click into place. As a result, the team is now doing five days of work in four.
Other businesses might take on more projects; instead, Walton and the team of five designers and cabinet makers are looking to expand their impact outside the walls of their Midtown workshop. "We have grand visions of making Rowan an example of what a utopian business might look like," says Brady Jennings, Rowan's CTO. "We hope to foster a coalition of Hudson Valley craftspeople from all the trades, who make it their goal to pump resources directly into the community in the form of money, education, and support."
The team is currently planning an annual benefit auction using pieces they can duplicate from other custom work or passion projects the team is starting to explore in their gained time. Fridays at Rowan Woodwork are now spent in pursuit of skills outside the ones the team currently employs for clients. They run the gamut from painting to upholstery, welding, and more.
And with Midtown Kingston's industrial buildings filling up again, a coalition of craftspeople is already ripe for the making. Rowan Woodwork shares the 10,000-square-foot former auto body shop it made its home in 2019 with upholstery company Ommella, New York Heartwoods, and Hammerheart Forge. The building is on the same street as Great Life Brewing, Technical Coatings Corporation, and Caliber Granite.
The city's blue collar past is part of what drew Walton to it when she relocated there from Manchester in the 1990s. "That very industrial, working class history lends itself to people being creative," she says. Her upbringing in England, where young people often discover their line of work through on-site apprenticeships instead of the classroom, has helped fuel another of Rowan Woodwork's aspirations.
The team is still working out the details, but there is a strong drive to introduce younger people to practical skill sets and trades like woodworking. "The hope is that marginalized and otherwise poorer youth in the community who might not ever have the opportunity to learn a craft will be introduced to it and become the next generation of tradesmen and women," says Jennings.
The enthusiasm for the kind of workplace that thinks beyond profit is something the entire Rowan Woodwork team shares. "I'm excited that we all have the same passion and goals to be a part of and help the community," says Ryon Emerich, who moved to Kingston to join Rowan after 14 years as a union carpenter in New York City. "There is so much change that is taking place. Some good, some not. It's refreshing to be a part of something good in these challenging times."
