Why canes?
Shawn, the craftsman and owner of Gillis Canes LLC, began making walking sticks as a young boy with woods he found close to home. At first he was mostly just trying to teach himself how to use woodworking tools like hand planes and files and loved designing and combining beautiful shapes with beautiful woods. He never considered selling them, even when they were piling up in his closet. It was just for the woodwork.
Originally, Shawn saw himself going into the corporate world upon graduating from business school. He enjoyed management and as he progressed through school, realized more and more that he was really good at it. However, in hindsight, he was also always looking for ways to work with his hands. He couldn’t sit at his computer all day and night, he would go crazy! So all that time through college he made walking sticks and canes as his creative, hands-on outlet.
It wasn’t until he graduated without any leads on a job and needed something to fill the gap (and pay for that engagement ring he was aching to buy!) that he started thinking seriously about selling canes. He had an etsy shop, but wasn’t very active. That summer 2013, Shawn and Kendra started intentionally working to build a cane business on Etsy, which we originally named Walking With Wood, and it’s been growing ever since.
As the shop grew, Shawn also grew in his woodworking skills. He (quite miraculously considering his only real woodworking experience was self-taught) became a Cabinet Maker at L & J G Stickley and grew a LOT in his craft. He was doing woodworking all the time and loving it. However, Kendra and the kids were not loving it. Shawn was spending too much time either at Stickley or at home in the shop building canes for etsy. Why couldn’t he just give up on canes? It wasn’t like he wasn’t getting his “working-with-my-hands” fix – that’s all he did.
We quickly realized that cane making had become much more than a hobby for Shawn to learn his way around wood and woodworking tools. We were connecting with and building relationships with really interesting people. We were blessed to hear people’s stories of why they needed a cane and how Shawn’s work was helping them navigate through their difficult journeys. Shawn was challenged to create more and more unique pieces for collectors and art enthusiasts.
Our cane company became an amazing platform where we were able to connect our love of wood to our love for people. We are proud of the work we do because it’s more than just a beautiful piece of wood. It’s our way of entering into your story and building you something that helps you walk through whatever circumstance you face. We use wood as a way to walk with you.