We had the good fortune of connecting with Ron Hardman and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Ron, how does your business help the community?
We are community at Kilroy’s Workshop. It’s why we exist. We do blacksmithing, welding, jewelry, and more, but our product is relationships. Student ages range from 9 – 99 (your 100th birthday party is free!), and that cross-generational community set in the family-friendly atmosphere of Kilroy’s Workshop makes for a unique place.
I’ve seen people become fast friends in the shop and they meet up there and enjoy the camaraderie. Sometimes others want a place to be among people, but they prefer limited interaction, and that is possible too. We have groups like Wounded Warrior Project, River Deep Foundation, Operation TBI Freedom, and others who come into the shop monthly and they get time to focus on a fun activity and learn a new skill. We host birthday parties, semester workshops, special events, work groups, homeschool groups, and so many more.
All of us were created to create, and Kilroy’s Workshop is a family-friendly place to do just that. With blacksmithing, bladesmithing, welding, jewelry-making, casting, glass-fusing, and so much more, the only thing that is missing — is you!
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?
We’ve built a wonderful community at Kilroy’s. While we make beautiful metal objects in the shop, our product is people and community. We even have a “family” lunch once a month where people in the shop get to hang out and have a great meal together.
Kilroy’s grew out of the need for youth trades education. I started teaching a handful of kids some smithing and woodworking skills out of an airplane hangar. Through word-of-mouth advertising, we grew over the first five years into a larger airplane hangar, and finally into a permanent building. We’ve now expanded into a full campus with blacksmithing, welding, fabrication, CAD, 3D printing, jewelry, glasswork, casting, and more. Last year we served more than 4,000 students who came through at least one class and we teach both youth and adults, and we have had more people from our shop on the History channel TV show Forged In Fire than most states.
Nothing about this journey has been easy, per se. It has been rewarding though, and even painful things had lessons attached to them. I have learned to be flexible and to always look for opportunities even in the negative things that might happen. To paraphrase something that I read in the book “Range,” we don’t necessarily know if something is good or bad at the moment. Sometimes what is negative has a positive outcome, so try not to judge circumstances too harshly.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite spots in the city are outdoors. Colorado is so beautiful, and so I would have to take visiting friends to see Rock Ledge Ranch (with my friend Andy Morris in the forge, of course) and Garden of the Gods. We would need to go fishing, of course. Hike Seven Bridges or hit some of the trails at Fox Run Park for an afternoon picnic. If they didn’t visit from sea level, a trip up Pike’s Peak would also be on the list.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife and kids: Kilroy’s is all about the community, but the support started at home. My wife said “Go for it” when others thought I was nuts for wanting to teach trade skills to kids, and my kids jumped in to help in the shop as soon as they were old enough. Any business person knows that without support at home, no business will reach its potential, and they continue to support our mission.
My parents: What the support from my wife and kids did for the launch, my parents – and my dad the shop teacher in particular – did for the inspiration. I grew up in a home filled with projects, and when I wasn’t playing soccer after school I was with my dad in the shop. That experience informs every day for me, trying to pass that maker-experience to each person who comes into the shop. They never got to see Kilroy’s, but I know they would approve.
Parents of students: When I told people that I could teach their sons and daughters how to do blacksmithing and welding — and they said okay — that made what we do possible. We only taught kids for the first five years and there was no model for it anywhere. Growth was slow initially. We had no budget, and everything was word-of-mouth, but people shared their experiences and more students came! The parents believed in us and in the idea that kids can create amazing things. A number of my early students are now employees and they are helping to train others. What an amazing thing to see kids you trained go on to pass their knowledge on to others.
The crew: I have the best crew working at Kilroy’s – seriously – it’s beyond contestation – if you met them you’d agree. They are rock stars and they treat everyone who comes into the shop like family.
Where we work: Finding a space to do this was surprisingly easy thanks to Dave Bennett, who leased me space in his airplane hangar to get this off the ground. Again, it wasn’t logical to give me the contract, but he believed in what we did and became a friend in the process. When we were ready to expand, Jim Benner and Tony Wetherbee again did the unthinkable — they agreed to lease me space in their new building so we could expand, and they have been amazing through our entire time there.
Masters and mentors: Jim Benner, an American Bladesmith Society Master Smith and ABS board member, believed in us and presented our shop for consideration to the board for approval. He also taught the first ABS class and continues to be a supporter of what we do, along with so many other smiths who have called our shop home for weeks at a time. Thanks goes to all of them!
Friends: Al Carmickle, Weston Paas, Josh Monjure, Jesse Hoffman, Jeff Odegard, Brian Netzel, Lynn Hamilton, Nic Meyer, Geordon Savoy, Greg Waldheim, and so many others speak into my life and the lives of those in the shop. Honestly, I could go on all day.
Kilroy’s Workshop is community — and that’s what built it.
Website: http://www.KilroysWorkshop.com
Instagram: instagram.com/KilroysWorkshop
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kilroysworkshop
Facebook: Facebook.com/KilroysWorkshopOnline
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kilroysworkshop