Hi. My Name is Derek but most people know me as "D-Rock" and I'm the one man band behind Rock Woodworks. The name "D-Rock" was given to me by my dad when I was little as I was stubborn, resilient, and didn't really listen much. The nickname stuck with me into high school, college, and eventually my business.
I got into woodworking 6 years ago when I settled down and started a family. I bought a few tools and started making butcher block, cutting boards, and other useful household items. People loved them and were willing to pay for my work so I started Rock Woodworks. I’m always expanding my ideas, exploring new techniques in woodworking, and adding tools to my workshop.
I started out working in kitchens in my teen years and that lead to a passion in culinary arts but I quickly learned that lifestyle has grueling hours, low pay, and consumes your personal life. So, I got out and had an early life crisis struggling to find my purpose.
After some conversations with my dad, he suggested whitewater guiding for the summer. We always went camping and took a few rafting trips as a kid. After that first summer of raft guiding my mother mentioned college to pursue education in the tourism industry. After completing my associates degree in Ecotourism, I went on and made a career in the adventure travel industry. Trip Leading groups of people down the river, instructing courses, and then moving into management overseeing operations at an adventure resort was an incredible 17 years and I continue to work part time guiding down the river.
Recently my focus has shifted to my family and starting my own business. My wife and I decided to settle back into our roots and move back to the area that we grew up in, the foothills of Appalachia. I couldn't be happier about that decision.
I have a small workshop that I run out of my garage and hope to grow my business out and into a bigger space someday. I do everything myself from making the product, selling the product, running the website, and filling the orders. I'm a one man band and if you choose to buy something from this website, you'll be supporting a small business.
Thanks for reading about me...
D-Rock