We're always inspired by the stories of creative people for whom following their passions or honing their art led them to starting a business. These are the very kind of people who inspired us, a model and musician, to turn our passion for coffee into something tangible we could share with the world.
We also love when opportunities to collaborate with such creative people arise. Such was the case with Kelle Ramsey, and it happened in a very synchronistic way.
Often overlooked or taken for granted, the coffee scoop is a crucial and treasured part of our home coffee set up. Learn why here.
Long story short, we were looking for a local artisan who could make a wooden coffee scoop, and do it to consistently hold around 17-18 grams of coffee. That's right around the time Kelle reached out to us, offering to do exactly that! A collaboration was born, and we're very excited to offer Kelle's handcrafted wooden coffee scoops on our online shop.
We wanted to learn more about Kelle's story, and are happy to now share it with you! Enjoy.
You’re a creative of multiple mediums, and it seems you’re consistently expanding on the types of things you create. Could you share a bit of the path that brought you to today?
It has taken me a while become okay with the fact that I’m not content doing just one thing. As an artist, I used to think I had to focus all of my energy on one medium, but that's just not my style, and I thrive when I am working in different areas. I went to school for photography, but I have found that when I indulge in other mediums, and do different art forms, I don’t get burnt out as easily. I just follow and trust my curiosity, and sometimes its a dead end and sometimes it opens up whole worlds.
How did you get into wood-working? Is it something you saw yourself doing in the past?
My father is an incredible woodworker by hobby, and I grew up building and making things with him. It’s in my nature to create, and build, but I never pictured myself being a woodworker. I honestly stumbled into woodworking. One day while living in New York, I had a weird desire to whittle, like I did when I was a kid camping with my dad. From there, I went to the hardware store with my best friend, we bought all the wrong things to carve with and decided to whittle some spoons. They turned out awful, truly ugly spoons! But I loved the process, and continued to teach myself proper techniques. What started as a mere curiosity, over the years turned into a business. It happened naturally.
What are your morning rituals?
Rise early, take a few moments to myself with meditation, make coffee in the Chemex, and sit outback with my dog and husband. The early hours of the morning are so sweet to me.
What do you love about what you do?
I love that I get to create with my hands. I like the challenge of working with wood, and it feels good to collaborate with a natural element.
Running a business as a creative requires using both sides of the brain. Do you ever find that challenging? Do you have any best practices or tips that help you reconcile?
I am not a business oriented person, and it has taken discipline for me to create habits to help my business thrive. In my ideal world, I would just create and all the business and money would take care of itself, but thats just not real! Instead of becoming overwhelmed, I have found it empowering to teach myself about how to run a business, save for taxes, how to market, etc. And I have sought a lot of help from experienced business owners! Asking questions to set up my business properly from the start has saved me a lot of headache.
Where (or how) do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in shapes, textures, lines, colors, and tangible things. I love seeing the texture of an object and trying to translate that to my woodworking. I’m inspired by older generations, and other countries where things are still made by hand. If I’m struggling to find inspiration, I step away and do something entirely different.
What do you see yourself getting into next? What are you excited about over the next 6 months?
Over the last few months, my woodworking is turning more sculptural, and object related. I’m currently working on a woodblock stamp series, and will be having a show soon!
All photos by Tyler Phillips
