It is with a great sense of both joy and sadness that I announce that I have resigned my position at Wolff Industries this past month. The sadness comes from walking away from the daily activities and family like relationships I've build there over the past 20 years, but the joy comes from new opportunities and the excitement of starting something new. So with that said, I'd like to focus on the positive and not the negative side of this decision in this post, but first let me tell you the main reason why I made this choice.
The Why
While Wolff has been incredibly good to me over the years, it was never my intention to stay there forever. I was already a sharpener when I came to them, and I always intended to return to that in the future. When I started sharpening back in 1991 another friend and fellow sharpener started at the same time. Over the years he developed into an excellent sharpener with a stellar reputation. About 10 years into working for Wolff I started talking to him about buying him out when he retired. By the time he retired my kids would be out of high school and at least my two oldest would have been done with college, but as with most great plans, this wasn't how things work out. My friend got sick and had to retire earlier than expected. This meant I needed to make a choice, do I take a risk or not? I chose to take a risk. So, what does this look like?
The Sharpening Side of Things
Simply put, I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I've bought my friend out and I'm on the road sharpening daily again and enjoying every minute of it. Believe me, it's had it moments; like when I snapped my first shear blade by week three and dealing with a pair of convex shears that were beveled at 30 degrees, but I'll talk about some of that later. For the most part though, it's been exhilarating being back in the field and I'm glad to be back to learning new tricks of the trade every day while exercising old ones I've been teaching for years.
I'm Not Just Sharpening Though
While my daily activities are centered around sharpening, that's not all I'm doing. I'm still selling Wolff's sharpening equipment. I'm a distributor for them now and offer all their units at a discount. So when you're ready to buy your next piece of sharpening equipment, be sure to give me a call at 864-381-8697 or email me at otenews@gmail.com and I'll go over those discounts and some of the personalized assistance I offer when you buy direct from me. I'm also selling the CS-101 Clipper Blade Sharpener and I may add a few other complementary machines to the list in the future. I'm still offering technical support to the industry, I'll just be doing it through On The Edge instead of Wolff Industries. So if you need me, please feel free to call or email me. I'm also still doing sharpening training, and I'm really excited about this, because I can already tell that being back in the field will help make me a more effective trainer. So please, use me! I'm still here to help you just like I've been doing for the past two decades now. That part of what I do will never change.
What else am I Doing That will Benefit You?
First, I will be chronicling what I'm doing. I've run into all kinds of crazy things just in this first month and I will be sharing those things with you both here and in my newsletter On The Edge (www.otenewsletter.com). I will also be doing some repair videos showing how I fix some of the "trouble" shears I've been running into in the field and writing articles about them. There are a few other things I'm working on that will benefit the industry as well, but I will discuss more of that in time. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.
So finally, I want to thank Wolff Industries for an incredible 20 years. I'd also like to thank my colleagues at Wolff, leaving them was my toughest choice because they are like family to me. I know I'll still seem them often, but it won't be the same. So like I said when I started this post, while I'm sad to leave I'm also excited to see what the future holds. Please, please, please! If you have any questions or if I can help you in any way call me, again the number is 864-381-8697. It's been my pleasure to serve this industry over the years and I fully intend to continue to do so. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
The Why
While Wolff has been incredibly good to me over the years, it was never my intention to stay there forever. I was already a sharpener when I came to them, and I always intended to return to that in the future. When I started sharpening back in 1991 another friend and fellow sharpener started at the same time. Over the years he developed into an excellent sharpener with a stellar reputation. About 10 years into working for Wolff I started talking to him about buying him out when he retired. By the time he retired my kids would be out of high school and at least my two oldest would have been done with college, but as with most great plans, this wasn't how things work out. My friend got sick and had to retire earlier than expected. This meant I needed to make a choice, do I take a risk or not? I chose to take a risk. So, what does this look like?
The Sharpening Side of Things
Simply put, I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I've bought my friend out and I'm on the road sharpening daily again and enjoying every minute of it. Believe me, it's had it moments; like when I snapped my first shear blade by week three and dealing with a pair of convex shears that were beveled at 30 degrees, but I'll talk about some of that later. For the most part though, it's been exhilarating being back in the field and I'm glad to be back to learning new tricks of the trade every day while exercising old ones I've been teaching for years.
I'm Not Just Sharpening Though
While my daily activities are centered around sharpening, that's not all I'm doing. I'm still selling Wolff's sharpening equipment. I'm a distributor for them now and offer all their units at a discount. So when you're ready to buy your next piece of sharpening equipment, be sure to give me a call at 864-381-8697 or email me at otenews@gmail.com and I'll go over those discounts and some of the personalized assistance I offer when you buy direct from me. I'm also selling the CS-101 Clipper Blade Sharpener and I may add a few other complementary machines to the list in the future. I'm still offering technical support to the industry, I'll just be doing it through On The Edge instead of Wolff Industries. So if you need me, please feel free to call or email me. I'm also still doing sharpening training, and I'm really excited about this, because I can already tell that being back in the field will help make me a more effective trainer. So please, use me! I'm still here to help you just like I've been doing for the past two decades now. That part of what I do will never change.
What else am I Doing That will Benefit You?
First, I will be chronicling what I'm doing. I've run into all kinds of crazy things just in this first month and I will be sharing those things with you both here and in my newsletter On The Edge (www.otenewsletter.com). I will also be doing some repair videos showing how I fix some of the "trouble" shears I've been running into in the field and writing articles about them. There are a few other things I'm working on that will benefit the industry as well, but I will discuss more of that in time. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.
So finally, I want to thank Wolff Industries for an incredible 20 years. I'd also like to thank my colleagues at Wolff, leaving them was my toughest choice because they are like family to me. I know I'll still seem them often, but it won't be the same. So like I said when I started this post, while I'm sad to leave I'm also excited to see what the future holds. Please, please, please! If you have any questions or if I can help you in any way call me, again the number is 864-381-8697. It's been my pleasure to serve this industry over the years and I fully intend to continue to do so. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
