Meet Shane Ellis

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

Hi Shane, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I didn’t have a plan to start my own business, and I don’t really know if I’d call it a business yet or not, more like a hobby, that breaks even. The whole reason I started any of this was to spend time with my uncle. He ended up receiving a plasma cutter about 4 years ago, and we’re still trying to get it to cut properly, but the experience of setting it up and actually creating things with him allowed me to do something I hadn’t done since before my accident. I loved the idea and feeling of learning the software and designing stuff, but our end results weren’t what we wanted, so I started researching new plasma cutters and software to see if we could fix our struggles. That’s where I learned about diode lasers. I started researching them and saw that you could engrave on metal, and thought it’d be a great addition to the plasma cutter, because now we could cut and engrave our metal designs, but instead we started engraving everything but steel. So now I design and run the laser, while my uncle sets the items up for me. I sell the items I make to cover the cost of all the different materials I order to try new ideas on. I really haven’t tried to promote my stuff very well, but it’d be nice to have a little more exposure, so I could make enough to cover golf rounds for my uncle in return for him putting up with me every weekend. To circle back, I just wanted to be able to make things and do similar activities with my uncle that I used to do before ending up in a wheelchair, and now I’m trying to test the waters of having an actual business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
If designing and lasering all day was my career, that’d be a pretty cool gig, but I also love my actual career. I’m a high school Special Education teacher, and I will be starting my 16th year. You ask if it was easy and if not how I overcame the challenges, which is somewhat difficult to explain in writing, but I’ll do my best to keep it short and to the point. No, it wasn’t easy. I wanted to be a coach like my pops when I was younger, but not necessarily an educator, though I considered it. I was studying Landscape Architecture before I had my accident and ended up in a wheelchair, and the accident led me back to education. While attending college, I was also rehabbing and learning how to live life in a wheelchair, so there were many struggles along the way. I guess the biggest lesson I learned is to never take life for granted, it’s shorter than we think. As for my brand, I love doing custom stuff for people. Let me put family pictures on coasters, slate, aluminum and/or other materials to give you a unique way to show off your family.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
People are going to think I’m a boring old man here, but my 2 best friends and I have been friends for over 40 years now, and our best times come from cruising the dirt roads chatting away and pondering life, or sitting in their garage, enjoying a beverage, and watching their kids play. We’ll hit up smaller bars/restaurants like Roma West to grab dinner and watch a sporting event, but the setting is smaller and quiet enough that we can have an actual conversation and catch up. I enjoy concerts and going out, but if I’m spending time with one of my best friends and we’re having the best time ever we’re probably sitting next to each other watching one of their kids play soccer, football, or basketball. To actually give the readers fun things to do though, the Budweiser tour and the draft horses are always fun, the drive-in theater in Fort Collins, Boyd or Carter lakes, or Horsetooth Reservoir. All of the local cities here in northern Colorado have upped their “downtown” game with local breweries, music, and restaurants, but I’d rather spend my time with my friends sitting in my chair in one of our garages, sipping a beverage, chatting, and spending time with each others families.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Uncle Bill deserves a ton of credit for all my design stuff. He let me send my lasers to his house, he put them together, he rearranged his shop for me, and he deals with me almost every weekend when I show up to create new items. My wife also needs a shout out for supporting me through this too, as she has to deal with me when everything builds up in my pickup, and I ask her to carry it all in.

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Other: ellisandellisdesigns23@gmail.com