About Us
My wife Kristin and I met while we were attending college at Northwest Missouri State University in 1989. Once Kristin graduated in 1992, we were married, and celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2022. We have two children, Zachary and Elizabeth, 28 and 26, two grandsons, ages 6 and 4, an almost 2 year old old granddaughter, and two step grandchildren who we call our own. We have lived in Jewell for 25 years now, having moved up here from northern Missouri in 1997. Kristin is currently the HR Manager at another family-owned business, Mary Ann's Specialty Foods located in Webster City IA.
About Stanley's Woodworks
As we said on the front page. Kristin and I started Stanley's Woodworks in February 2012. I was in between jobs after 20 years in the swine industry, and while looking for employment began filling my time making decorative shelves. Woodworking had always been a hobby for me, and I had the time. I entertained the thought of earning extra money by trying to sell them online. While researching on the internet as to the best way to go about that, I ran across a site talking about how building bunk beds could be a business opportunity. After doing some research and some serious conversations, we took the plunge.
We set up our own website, did some advertising on Craigslist, and established our business Facebook page. Working out of our basement(which caused no end to the dusting that Kristin had to do), it was slow at first. But in August 2012 things suddenly picked up and haven't really slowed down since. In August 2014 we made the move from the basement to a shop that we purchased in Jewell, and we have been operating out of there ever since.
In the coming up on 10 full years that we have now been in business, we have filled 550 orders to date, some of those being multiple bed orders, had families come back and order again, and supplied beds for the Hamilton County Parks Dept. We also supplied beds for Michaels House, a halfway house organization in Omaha. We have beds in 11 states now; Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennesse, Ohio, and Texas. (That was a road trip, let me tell you. Dallas in a pickup and trailer, rush hour. Try it sometime!) We had a family who bought a bed move to Florida and take it with them. Same with California. We have been contacted by people from New York, California, South Carolina, and even Scotland. (I told her she didn't even want to know the shipping costs) We might want to cut down our Google search radius.
We have learned a lot over the last 12 years. That owning and running your own business is both very rewarding, and a lot of work. Balancing shop time with all of the other things that go along with running the business is a challenge to say the least. Always being on the lookout for newer and better ways of making our beds is another. New products are a third one. Some of our designs, and even improvements to our existing ones come from all sources, but mainly you, our customers.
When we started, the intent was to build bunk beds, build a business out of that, and make a living. We are doing that. But there is one thing that we didn't see coming, and that was interacting with you, the families we meet. We have found out that literally the funniest and most rewarding part isn't making the beds but delivering and setting them up. Seeing happy parents and ecstatic kids is something else. Truthfully, it is the kids we get the biggest kick out of, and the BEST stories. If you are reading this, be assured, your kids are normal. We see pretty much the same everywhere we go. We pass on stories of the most memorable ones, and in the process get more stories. No last names though, so relax.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading a little about us and our history as a company, an Kristin and I hope to get the chance to work with you sometime in the future! Thank you again for visiting our site.
We set up our own website, did some advertising on Craigslist, and established our business Facebook page. Working out of our basement(which caused no end to the dusting that Kristin had to do), it was slow at first. But in August 2012 things suddenly picked up and haven't really slowed down since. In August 2014 we made the move from the basement to a shop that we purchased in Jewell, and we have been operating out of there ever since.
In the coming up on 10 full years that we have now been in business, we have filled 550 orders to date, some of those being multiple bed orders, had families come back and order again, and supplied beds for the Hamilton County Parks Dept. We also supplied beds for Michaels House, a halfway house organization in Omaha. We have beds in 11 states now; Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennesse, Ohio, and Texas. (That was a road trip, let me tell you. Dallas in a pickup and trailer, rush hour. Try it sometime!) We had a family who bought a bed move to Florida and take it with them. Same with California. We have been contacted by people from New York, California, South Carolina, and even Scotland. (I told her she didn't even want to know the shipping costs) We might want to cut down our Google search radius.
We have learned a lot over the last 12 years. That owning and running your own business is both very rewarding, and a lot of work. Balancing shop time with all of the other things that go along with running the business is a challenge to say the least. Always being on the lookout for newer and better ways of making our beds is another. New products are a third one. Some of our designs, and even improvements to our existing ones come from all sources, but mainly you, our customers.
When we started, the intent was to build bunk beds, build a business out of that, and make a living. We are doing that. But there is one thing that we didn't see coming, and that was interacting with you, the families we meet. We have found out that literally the funniest and most rewarding part isn't making the beds but delivering and setting them up. Seeing happy parents and ecstatic kids is something else. Truthfully, it is the kids we get the biggest kick out of, and the BEST stories. If you are reading this, be assured, your kids are normal. We see pretty much the same everywhere we go. We pass on stories of the most memorable ones, and in the process get more stories. No last names though, so relax.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading a little about us and our history as a company, an Kristin and I hope to get the chance to work with you sometime in the future! Thank you again for visiting our site.