22
people
THE CRAFTSMAN words Liesel Schmidt IMAGEs courtesy Aaron Price
Over the past twenty years, we’ve become increasingly reliant on technology. We can’t seem to function without our cell phones, tablets, and computers, depending on them for everything from simple communication to more crucial things that greatly impact the way the world works. It’s a complicated balance, and when one thing breaks down, it can have enormous consequences. It was while facing some of those consequences after his laptop was stolen from his car one night in 2017 that brought software developer Aaron Price to the realization that he wanted to get back to basics and create something more tangible. “I lost five years of software development on that laptop,” says Price, recalling the incident that inspired him to make a drastic life change. “I should have backed it up, but I didn’t.” Not backing it up, while no doubt seemed catastrophic at the time, was actually an Aha! moment for Aaron, making him see that he could do something with his life that had absolutely nothing to do with computers. Having spent decades in technology—first, building laser engraving machines, then as the co-founder of a successful cell phone repair company in addition to developing software—his fate seemed inexorably written in code. But when the wakeup call
came,
Aaron
realized
that
he
could go offline and use his talents on something decidedly more old school. A
self-starter
entrepreneurial Aaron Price
with side,
a
very
strong
Aaron
taught
himself woodworking, utilizing as many resources as he could find to learn the best practices and refine his techniques. “I've taken a few online courses and
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