"Phil McConathy grew up under the influence of small business owners. His dad and uncle were tenant farmers in Fayette County, but his own journey into self-employment wasn't immediate.
"I took the safe route: a company with benefits," he said of his 35-year stint with the water company. His latest position with KAWC was director of human resources, and when he turned in his retirement papers in January 2002, he decided to turn his woodworking hobby into a business, McConathy Woodworks. "I would be on my own, with no one else working for me," he said. "I would be responsible for it and take the blame or the praise."
McConathy spent months researching how to set up his business and his shop and what niche market to go for, settling on custom individual pieces of furniture for people who couldn't find what they wanted. "I guess I guessed right," he said, because requests for his custom pieces have been steady. From the beginning, he chose to work with real wood. "If I'm going to be a woodworker, I don't want to mess with veneers," he said.
His dad had a log cabin on a farm that dated back to the 1820s. "When I built my house ten years ago, I asked if I could have it. He said I could if I restored it. I made it part of my house, and he died a year after I finished it, but he got to see it." McConathy's two-story log cabin is 1,000 square feet and is connected to the main house. Building his own house helped hone the skills he would need for his woodworking business. "I did the walls, trim, cabinetry and woodwork," he said. "My wife and I did all the wood floors and the tongue-and-groove ceilings." Now his daily commute is walking 200 feet from the house to his shop. "Sure beats driving to work," he said.
McConathy meets clients at their homes or offices to see firsthand where they want their custom furniture pieces, such as coffee tables or sofa tables, file cabinets or built-in wall cabinets. "It's a thrill to deliver to someone's house and see the look on their face," he said. "They can't believe it looks better than they thought it would." One guy wanted McConathy to refurbish a special unit. "After 15 minutes of talking to him, I could tell that no matter how I did that job, it wouldn't satisfy him." So he respectfully turned down the project. "I'll never take a job if I can't give the person what they want."
Reconfiguring raw wood into a piece of furniture is a labor of love and an art form. At the point when onlookers might say, "It looks great," McConathy will notice a spot that needs to be smoother, or a hinge that needs to be adjusted just right. One of his tricks of the trade to prevent a shelf from bowing is to join smaller pieces of wood together. "The wider the piece, the more prone it is to bowing or cupping," he said.
Does the woodworker have a favorite wood? "I use all kinds of different woods," he said. He has a supply of American chestnut, which is rare in this area, that he uses for special pieces.
McConathy enjoys working on projects for architects, because they draw out detailed specifications. One architect commissioned him to build a six-foot-square playhouse in her daughter's room. It had a swinging split door, like a horse stall, and windows with shutters that opened. He constructed the playhouse in his shop, then dismantled it and reassembled it in the client's home. "That was a fun project, and a challenge," he said.
He's been pleasantly surprised that one of his most popular items is a simple wooden wine holder. "I've probably sold 50 to 75 of them," he said.
Most of McConathy's work comes from referrals. He credits networking and volunteering for getting his business started. "I quickly got involved in the chamber," he said. He chaired Commerce Lexington's Independent Professionals Network in 2004 and received the Chamber's 2005 Volunteer of the Year award. He is now on the board of the Eastern Kentucky University Colonel Club. "I work my day around my fun," he said.
McConathy likes to stay busy. To offset the physical labor in his shop, he recently bought a license for a computer-based business to process electronic medical claims for Central Kentucky. "You can't live forever," he said, "so you'd better enjoy part of every day. The mirror is a tough audience."
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