How I got here

Approximately seven years ago I got the not so wild idea that I should learn how to sharpen my own knives. I was about to go on my first ever multi-day backpacking trip and as things happpen these days I was doing research on YouTube. I watched a well known YouTube backpacking “guru” sharpening his knife while sitting on a log next to a creek and I thought “I could learn to do that. How hard could it be?”

A couple of weeks later while in my local hardware store at the time in Felton, CA I noticed a single $8 whetstone sitting on the shelf. I figured that was all I needed. I bought it that day and took it home and soon started trying to sharpen my own kitchen knives and my pocket knife.

Well I’m sure you know how the story goes. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. So more “YouTube university” lead to more and better whetsontes which lead to trying to sharpen my friend’s knives which lead to friends saying “Shouldn’t I pay you for this?”

Now I had a little side hustle sharpening knives for friends and friends of friends and the question I had to ask myself was if I should try to grow the business or not? I had been working as a massage therapist specializing in deep tissue & sports massage for 25 years and I was ready to forge a different path. (Pun intended)

I purchased my first sharpening system, ordered some business cards, and started hitting

the restaurants in the area. (I lived in the Santa Cruz, CA area at the time). To my surprise in the first month I signed up six restaurants to get monthly or every other month sharpening. What happened next ruined all my plans though… the pandemic. All the restaurants closed and my plans to start a sharpening service went straight down the drain.

In an unexpected twist of fate I ended up getting into a relationship with an old friend who happened to live in Carson City, NV. Eventually I ended up moving to Carson City to live with her and after a couple of years I finally decided to take my sharpening service from a little part time side hustle to my a full time job. It’s been challenging. It’s been a learning experience. It’s been super rewarding.

Now I’ve done professional training, I have a great home workshop, I do several farmer’s markets, and I have customers who mail me knives from around the country to sharpen. I’d say that’s the whole story but the story of my business is ever evolving. Thanks for stopping by.

- Warren