From Spreadsheets to Sawdust
Here’s Wade’s version—straightforward, no-nonsense, with a touch of grit and reflection:
Most of my adult life, I worked as an accountant in the Oil and Gas industry. Numbers, spreadsheets, and meetings. Exciting, right? About seven years ago, after my dad passed at 56 from lung cancer, I stumbled into woodworking. He was a plumber, and he used to tell me, "Use your head for a living, not your back." I took his advice, got my degrees—UNO undergrad in 2001, MBA from Tulane in 2006—and spent years in finance.
When he passed in 2012, I decided to build a bar in my backyard. My dad had a knack for woodworking, and I figured it’d be a way to connect with him. Over six months and 320 hours, I taught myself the hard way: cutting, sanding, chiseling, and staining. It wasn’t just a project—it was therapy. I “talked” to him the whole time, and weirdly, I always knew what he’d say back. Turns out, I wasn’t half bad at it.
Since then, I’ve been at it nonstop, sharpening my skills and figuring out my style. My work changes constantly—what I do now is nothing like what I did last year, and next year, it’ll be different again. Stick around if you’re curious; you might like where this goes. Or not. Either way, I’ll still be building.
