Making Something From Nothing: Doc Wright Of The Wright Edge On How To Go From Idea To Launch

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Learn how to read and write contracts. This was one of the harshest lessons I ever had to learn. I had three hotel jobs crated and ready to ship out, but due to construction delays, payment was delayed until they were delivered, which was 3–4 months later. That was 3–4 months of me eating the cost of materials and labor until payment came. That one hurt.

As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Doc Wright.

Owner and founder of The Wright Edge, Doc Wright was a member of corporate America but wasn’t happy, so he started woodworking in his spare time. Although he has spent most of his life working with his hands, the live edge woodworking discipline was a new one. He discovered an unexpected level of passion and creativity in the craft, and has been dedicated ever since. A proud graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in Geology and a minor in Chemistry, Doc went to work in the oil industry as a Geologist upon graduating. He traveled across the country for his job, which took him as far as Northern Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and much of the Central U.S. Once Doc discovered his true passion for artisan custom woodworking, he left the oil industry behind to solely focus on this new path in life. Doc lives and breathes for this passion, and his meticulous scientific approach to custom woodworking brings a new level of innovative craftsmanship to each and every Wright Edge piece.

The Wright Edge is a high end, custom artisanal woodworking shop specializing in functional art. We are located in Dallas’s Design District. We are wood artisans, working to breathe life into custom woodwork furniture for our customers. Every piece is 100% hand made from start to finish. We create unique, custom pieces for each of our clients, involving them each step of the way to ensure their visions become reality. The Wright Edge handles every step of the custom woodworking process from beginning to end, including cutting, drying, sanding, planning, and even custom epoxy and frames. We do our own metal work to ensure each of our live edge tables is honored with the highest quality materials all-around.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?

I was born in Smithville Texas. We moved to Houston from Kindergarten through half of first grade. After my parents got divorced, we moved to Maine. From there, we moved to New Brunswick Canada. Halfway through 5th grade, I moved to Boston, MA to live with my dad and stepmom. We then moved to Cedar Park (North Austin) right before 7th grade. I stayed there for the remainder of middle school and high school. I played all sports, but really came into my own with wrestling.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You will never be criticized by someone doing more than you”. This quote became relevant when I started the business and really started getting involved with social media. It began weighing me down mentally and emotionally until one day, I read this quote. Nothing really phases me anymore when it comes to social media or anyone who’s outside of my circle.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I always tend to read or listen to Dr. Jordan Peterson. His book “12 Rules for Life” is an absolute must read — it puts a lot of things into perspective. It resonated with me because when the weight of running a growing business gets to be too much, it always makes me stop, set my list of priorities and work from there.

There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?

You must learn to jump when you’re most afraid. Simple. I have found that most people will spend too much time creating a “perfect” business plan, but zero time executing it. It honestly doesn’t matter how good of a plan you come up with, it doesn’t account for any curve balls that you WILL run into every week, every month, and every year. It’s the forever gift that keeps on giving. So, you better get used to be uncomfortable.

Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?

There is 100% a niche market for every single thing on this planet. If you have a semblance of an idea, vet it out, and talk to some people. Find someone in a similar space and bounce some ideas off of them. If they think it’s a good idea, then it would be worth your time to really research. A prime example, Turo, it’s like AirBnB, but for your car.

For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to source a great materials and a bit about your unique creative process?

This might be a long answer……… Sourcing comes from all over the world. From Costa Rica, Thailand, Indonesia, California, Oregon…whoever has what I’m looking for and for the right price. With that being said, once an idea has taken shape, step 2 is to find the perfect piece of wood. Whether I have it on hand or not, I will find it. Once approval is given from the client and the deposit is received, the real work begins. I can see the final product in my mind, so it’s just a matter of filling in the steps to achieve that. From flattening the piece, carving, epoxy work…depending on the piece, there are a variety of steps that could be taken. Once it starts taking shape, then micro adjustments are made, because NOTHING ever goes perfectly to plan. Once it’s all done, a white glove moving company is used to either crate or load the piece and deliver to the client.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?

1. Get an accountant right away, it makes life so much easier. This is just common sense because you can’t do everything yourself.

2. Get a website ASAP. After the first year or so, pay a professional to completely revamp it. In today’s world, this THE most crucial thing when it comes to presentation and appearance.

3. Learn how to read and write contracts. This was one of the harshest lessons I ever had to learn. I had three hotel jobs crated and ready to ship out, but due to construction delays, payment was delayed until they were delivered, which was 3–4 months later. That was 3–4 months of me eating the cost of materials and labor until payment came. That one hurt.

4. Be very careful and cognizant of who you let around or affiliate with your business. It honestly doesn’t take much for someone else’s actions to reflect negatively on you and in turn, hurt your business.

5. Don’t listen to the noise of others. If they’re not paying your bills or putting food on your table, their opinion is irrelevant. Trust yourself, trust your gut, make the best possible decisions that will benefit your business. Too many people get caught up with this and it honestly couldn’t be more irrelevant.

Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?

Similar answer to a previous question. Except, if you’re going to invent something, you need to apply for a patent first. That way, whatever your wild idea is, you will have 100% intellectual property.

There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?

My advice would be to find a business attorney. They have clients and connections everywhere. I tend to go with recommended people vs blindly calling someone. If it comes from a recommendation, there’s a little more weight there for it to be taken seriously for all parties involved.

What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?

That purely depends on what you want your business to be and what your product is. I was told by a hotel developer to never take on a business partner, because once you do, you’re stuck with them until you either sell the business, or close it down. That being said, I have friends who have done both and there are arguments for both sides. If you need working capital, I would much prefer to take out a loan or a line of credit vs bringing on investors and giving up equity or a % yearly return. Take a hard look at your business model and speak with a consultant (recommended from your business attorney of course!). That should help point you in the right direction.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I’ve had the privilege of speaking to high school seniors about to go to college. Also, I’ve teamed up with my alma matter, Texas Tech University, to tell my story and to let these kids know that the path less traveled isn’t the wrong path for some. Anyone who was raised like me was told “You go to high school, then to college, then get the job. Stay at said job, get the 401K, stock options or pension, buy the house, get the dog, get married, have kids and……..that’s it.”

For someone to achieve this like I did by the age of 31, I was incredibly depressed. I thought “This is it?!?!?!?!!? I’m sooooooo underwhelmed and bored”. So, I took a chance on myself and wanted to start my own business. No two people’s paths are the same, so if yours is a little different, that’s absolutely ok. Just be smart and educated about it. Learn, grow, evolve, and conquer. You can 100% do anything in this world you put your mind to. Hard work will beat talent any day of the week. It’s when hard work meets talent, is where the fireworks are.

You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I’m 38 years old. I’ve gotten to the age where I’ve been blessed to see a great deal of things. Some good, some tragic. Mental health for men is very important to me. As men, we are not the best communicators, especially to other men. There is a social stigma for men not to be open about their emotions; to just keep your head down and grind until things get better.

Unfortunately, this had led to a few friends from high school and college, who were crushing it in life, very happy, in relationships, tragically pass away. They never spoke to anyone about their inner turmoil. This is what your inner circle is for. Find a few, very close friends, and just start by reaching out to them, seeing how they’re doing and vice versa. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the response and how deep some of those conversations can go. They can be life changing and most importantly, lifesaving. Be the pilar of strength. Someone who can be open, accountable and be leaned upon in a time of need. When you need it, have your support system there. I can truthfully say, this has saved my sanity and at times, my life.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Joe Rogan, hands down. Joe is a beacon of hope over the last five years and is still continuing to be. He has the ability to host people on his podcast from every walk of life, belief, political view, and opinion. He has a very open dialogue with them, regardless of if he thinks the same way. It’s absolutely refreshing to witness. He forever has my respect for being that publicly open and pushing these types of conversations.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.