Meet Ben Petersen | Creator of Knife Schtuff

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Petersen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’m a glutton for punishment! 4 a.m. hikes in the snow? Yes please. Backpacking into wild canyons? Count me in. Waterskiing at 6 a.m.? Let’s do it. Work a 60 hour week for my employer? Of course! Stay late and make it happen? Sure thing. Applying a “full send” mentality to a corporate job means I accomplished really cool things, but I found myself fraying at the edges. I was building castles in someone else’s sandbox at my own expense. I figured I could put similar effort into my own ideas and build my own sandbox. I could start to create the world I wanted to see.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Knafs is a goofy little garage business that designs and sells pocket knife schtuff. We make things like folding knives, Tool Burritos (look it up), and knife accessories. My wife, Athena, and I started the business in 2018 as a side hustle. We took it full-time in May 2022. It’s been an alternating roller coaster of elation and chaos. But I wouldn’t trade it. It has given wings to ideas that have been fluttering in my brain for years. It has forced us to grow as a couple and take risks with our financial life. It’s our own little spot to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. We sell pocket knives, sure. But I also like to think we’re selling a dream– the dream that you can step into the discomfort of the dark and craft the world into a better, kinder, and more inspiring place.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Shoot. Where to even begin? I mean, it’s Utah. This place is magical. Are we talking winter? You better believe we’re skiing and praying for powder. Spring and fall are for exploring the desert. I love to poke around old mines in the West Desert on dirt bikes and wander around Native ruins in the Four Corners area. Springtime in St. George is unbeatable with a million miles of hikes. Summer in the mountains is exquisite, and you can’t beat the morning dew in the Wasatch Range. We’re probably packing our food and moving fast and light somewhere where the cell reception is spotty and the stars are brilliant. At the end of the road trip, we’ll find a greasy spoon restaurant in a small town that complements our dusty, dirty week of nastiness. We’ll tip the server extra because we smell like death.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shucks. How do you point to legions of people that deserve the credit in my story? My wife, parents, friends, bosses, mentors. There are so many. My second grade teacher Mrs. Chambers was a rock star. She instilled in her students a love for art and she spent her own money to make her classroom a place where learning was magical. In high school, Mrs. Robertson let me be the yearbook editor, and she encouraged my creative shenanigans. My boss Joel Bornzin taught me how to think about Data and how to use it wisely. I could play this game for days with college professors and friends who have influenced the way I think and how to do vlookups in Excel and how to build and audience and how to be kind and how to see the world differently. I am the aggregate of thousands of conversations, friendships, and findings over the past 35 years. It’s humbling to think of all their faces and the efforts expended for my success.

Website: knafs.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knafs_co/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KnafsCo

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAe48wigT6-Ct4_PP7LiSWg

Image Credits
Jamie Gregor