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Brian Brace is all about balance these days.
Brace owns and operates his own furniture business, Brian Brace Fine Furniture. Brian Brace Fine Furniture has been in business in Black Mountain since 2010.
He began his woodworking career at age 16 in Vermont. He said he was able to do an apprenticeship with someone who worked with the state to help him complete an 8,000-hour electrical apprenticeship-based apprenticeship.
Brace still has handwritten records from his apprenticeship, showing the work he did and the hours he put in each day during his four-and-a-half year apprenticeship.
By the time she graduated from high school, she had already put in 2,400 hours and said she was “on track” to graduate. He was trying to decide what he wanted to do, whether to go to university or continue an apprenticeship, but in the end, he said, an apprenticeship came first.
Brace said that even though she had been with her apprenticeship teacher for six years, she still didn’t know everything about the job.
“Even after six years, I still haven’t learned everything,” Brace said. “You can’t learn this business in six years.”
When his boss decided he wanted to go back to work alone, he said, he gave Brace a month to find a new position. Brace said he took advantage of the opportunity to follow another tradesman he knew to Naples, Florida.
In Naples, Brace said he worked several different woodworking jobs. He originally planned to build wall units and entertainment centers, but his new boss told him he didn’t have the skills. Brace, in his fourth job in Naples, he said he has learned over time and then he gets to supervise others doing the same job.
Brace said he got “bored” with the job and missed making furniture, so he started his own shop in the back of the small house he was renting.
“It was July of 2007,” Brace said. “Within three months, the economy was down, so I said, ‘I should learn to swim.'”
He said he took everything he learned and took on every job and project he could “to pay the bills.”
He said he eventually grew tired of Naples and the constant heat and worried that a hurricane would come and destroy his store and business. Brace moved to Black Mountain in 2010.
Since coming to Black Mountain, Brace said he has had success. In April of this year, he was selected as North Carolina’s only Roycroft Master.
He said he also had great success with Greene & Greene style pieces and sent them to California for the original Greene & Greene home.
He also created exhibits for private collections, including the witch’s hat case from “The Wizard of Oz,” the helmet from “Saving Private Ryan,” and Superman’s cape.
Now, Brace is embarking on a journey he calls “From Tree to Delivery.” For the first time in his career, he harvested wood from the area and used it to make furniture.
“It’s something I never dreamed I’d want to do,” Brace said. “I never thought I would end up cutting and processing my own wood and delivering a piece that literally has an entire story to tell.”
Looking to the future, Brace said he hopes to build his own artisan village where he can take in more apprentices to learn skills, continue working and grow his business.
Brace said that because of her busy schedule, finding a balance between work and home life is important in order to live life to the fullest.
He said that even though he’s so passionate about his job, interacting with customers is often the best part of the job.
“Sometimes I’m really exhausted at the end of the day,” Brace says. “But the relationships, and offering the work and seeing people’s reactions…and other people taking an interest in what I do and my involvement in the community, is really the best thing. It’s a passion. .”
Brace said it’s important to her to love her job and she wants others to do the same.
“You have to really love this business,” Brace said. “You’re not alone in this trade. You’re a craftsman, a craftsman. If you really don’t like what you’re doing, you’re honestly just wasting your time. Find something else.” If you don’t like your job somewhere, just find something new and you can rock and roll.”
more: Black Mountain Holiday Gift Guide: Shop Local for Everyone on Your List
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