MY story.
Late Night Woodworking was officially established in December 2023, but the journey started long before that.
Looking back, I think it all began in elementary school when I built a catapult with my dad. I don’t remember how much I actually contributed, but I do remember feeling incredibly proud of it. That feeling—creating something with my own hands—has stuck with me ever since.
Throughout grade school, I was always working on projects. In middle school, I made a Gatorade commercial and a slideshow music video to Superstar by Lupe Fiasco. In high school, I took woodshop. I started with the classic cutting board in Woods 1, made a sword in Woods 2, and by Woods 3, I was building an electric guitar. Looking back, it’s obvious how much I loved creating, but at the time, I was just another teenager playing sports and not doing enough homework.
When it came time to apply for college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I only applied to Eastern Washington University, and in the fall of 2015, I became an Eagle. I started out as an economics major, but a random conversation at Thanksgiving changed everything. Someone asked why I was studying economics, and I didn’t have a good answer. They suggested I look into computer science—good money, remote work, even the possibility of working from the beach. That was all I needed to hear. The day I got back to school, I switched majors.
It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. Computer science was challenging, creative, and full of problem-solving—everything I loved. Four years later, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and landed a job at NOAA developing applications. If I really wanted, I could have worked from the beach.
Then COVID happened. Like many, I found myself working from home, but my setup was terrible—a plastic folding table as a desk. I wanted something better but couldn’t find anything I liked that I could afford. So, I decided to build one. I had the skills from high school woodshop, and my brother-in-law had the tools. That first desk was the beginning of something much bigger, though I didn’t know it yet.
After nearly two and a half years at NOAA, I lost my job due to COVID-related restrictions. At 25, I was unemployed but had some savings. I spent months grinding—studying, preparing for interviews—only to get rejected over and over. Finally, I got an interview with Pinterest, made it through all the rounds, and waited. Then, the rejection came.
After eight months of hard work, I was crushed. I knew I had value, but if companies couldn’t see it, I had to prove it myself.
At that point, I had started making YouTube videos, but they weren’t about woodworking—my first two were wakeboarding videos. That process awakened something in me. Video editing felt like a digital canvas where I could create anything. When I decided to go all-in on my own path, YouTube was the way. That’s when 206 Golf was born.
I was so dedicated to making golf content that I burned through my savings, moved back in with my parents, and somehow ended up in more debt than I had in college (thanks, Washington’s ESD). But I was committed. I had nothing to lose.
For a year and a half, I made golf videos while woodworking on the side for extra income. Then, I started watching woodworking YouTubers and thought, I can do that. Just for fun, I posted my first woodworking video—a chessboard build. One of my best friends, who hated my golf videos, texted me: I want more.
So, I quickly made my second video, an Elmwood foyer table. On Christmas Day 2023, that video hit 20,000 views—and kept climbing. In all my time making golf videos, I had only gained about 500 subscribers. But from one woodworking video, I gained 1,500. That was all the confirmation I needed.
I dropped everything.
Since Christmas 2023, I’ve dedicated all my time and energy to Late Night Woodworking. Now, just over a year later, I’ve passed 10,000 subscribers.
So why am I telling you all this on the About page of a woodworking website? Because this is my story.
And it’s far from over.