Chapter 1 : The Dream
written sometime around 2010-ish
Not to sound too cheesy with this story, but Raw Urth was created because of a Valentine’s gift, a borrowed camper and a trip to Vegas… in just that order.
The Valentine’s gift was one of those gifts that was a means to an end, a perfect excuse. Stefan and I had been trying to find a company that could supply unique steel work for our landscape clients in Austin, Texas. At the time, we owned and operated Fluid Designs, a landscape business. I was the designer and Stefan ran the crews. My designs relied heavily on the principle of creating an outdoor environment through the use of hardscapes. Steel was the third element that complemented the stone and wood we had used. The problem was, we couldn’t find anyone who made what we were looking for. The solution, make it ourselves. We told each other, Happy Valentine’s. Proceeded to borrow my sister’s camper after dropping the kids off at Nana’s. Then, headed to New Mexico for a week of blacksmithing camp.
First steps…
We loved everything about that trip: the landscape, the open fires, smell of burning coal and, most of all, how steel can be manipulated and hammered. Our heads were spinning on the long drive back home knowing our paths had made a decisive turn. With an antique anvil bought from a family friend’s garage, a hand crank forge that needed more work than it was worth, a bag of leather gloves (although we could only ever find the left ones) and a couple of hammers, we started playing around with it. It became our passion and our clients couldn’t get enough of this new element.
As many young families do, we bumped around the country looking for the perfect spot to grow our business and raise our kids. Somewhere close to family, steps from the great outdoors. Someplace not too hot so that we could work over an open flame. We landed in an old church outside of Ft. Collins, Colorado and opened Raw Urth Designs. We were determined to be that steel company. The one committed to offering new designs, new twists on ordinary objects. A company that would hire employees as an extension of family and allow them the freedom to be artists in their own right, a company that believes in mutual respect, hard work and low environmental impact – our vision of a custom steel company.
What happens in Vegas…
All that said, you may be wondering how a trip to Vegas plays into this story. Actually, it’s two trips to Vegas. Back at the beginning of our story, after the Valentine’s trip but before making home in the old church, Stefan and I headed to Vegas for the International Builders’ Show. We were looking for inspiration and ideas for our house remodeling habit (another story) as well as ideas and products made from steel. After days of walking, bags of pens, countless stickers and yard sticks we were sure that there was a niche for us and our new approach to working with steel at that show.
On our road trip home (major life changing moments seem to happen to us in the car), we made a firm goal that we would really put our hearts and energy into this new business. We planned to leave the landscaping behind. When we felt like we were ready, we would go back to the International Builders’ Show. We would be that booth we had searched the isles for.
It seemed funny as we drove back across the desert, headed back to Vegas for the 2009 International Builders’ Show. Were we kidding ourselves? We built handcrafted pieces in America in a time when that just wasn’t the norm. We were launching our first “production item” because of a “car promise” made years earlier.
Range hoods became our product of choice. They were uniquely beautiful – clean modern lines with rustic, timeless finishes in traditional and contemporary collections. We wanted to offer an alternative to stainless steel hoods, copper hoods and traditional wood hoods. Using recycled steel, we built them in a shop that was devoted to reuse/recycle practices and powered through wind energy. We worked with employees who were devoted to making a steel company that was set apart and different.
The journey begins…
In short, we created the company we had been looking for. We produced the items we had always hoped to find and were finally headed back to Vegas to offer them to anyone who might be looking. Our hunch was right. Builders, homeowners, architects, designers and other exhibitors in our booth told us again and again that our product was refreshingly new. They found what they had been looking for. Impressed that we made it all in-house, with care and attention to detail, they, like us, appreciated a more human approach to the steel business without mass production and sameness.
So far we have shipped stove hoods from coast to coast. To northern cities and small southern towns each with our signature craftsmanship. We love what we do. Of course, we’ve had a lot of help along the way. We would never pretend that we could have done it alone. We can’t say enough about every person working with us at Raw Urth (check out our bios). Each new person we bring onto our team, shifts and affects the entire balance making us better and better.
So ends the first chapter of our story. You can be sure, however, that we have made many more promises as we drove back from Vegas on that last trip. We have so many new products to build and show you! We want to explore countertops, kitchen islands, fireplace surrounds, outdoor fireplaces, and on and on and on. You can be sure that our core principles will not change. We will bring our designs and products to you, one at a time, skillfully handcrafted and with our unique patina finishes.
– amy + stefan
Chapter 2 : The Build
written sometime around 2017-ish
Due to popular demand, we’re writing the second installment of our Raw Urth Designs story. Years have rolled by since that first chapter was written. Our kids have gotten older, as have we (is it wrong that I keep my original photo up on my own bio? Probably… actually,… yes), we have built some fantastic relationships with clients turned friends across the country and we have learned so much about what we do and how to do it better.
If you read Chapter 1, you know the story of Stefan and I dreaming, creating and jumping feet first off a cliff. That story is in line with a fairy tale because it is the story of a beginning without committing to what comes next. Something has to come after the jump. We love the quote by Reid Hoffman, “An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off the cliff then builds the plane on the way down.” If Chapter 1 was about the jump, Chapter 2 was about building that plane.
The garage project…
When Stefan and I were taking the leap to buy a trade show booth on credit cards and a dream, we did not have a lot of overhead. We were working out of our garage, using my cell phone as our business line and delivering everything in Stefan’s truck. The safety net was pretty secure when I think back on it although, it did not feel that way at the time.
As the business grew, we started hiring. At first, we had a guy or two come to our house to help out on projects as needed. Pretty quickly 2 turned into 3 then, 3 to 5. We all ate lunch together in our tiny kitchen and talked about everything we thought we could do with the company. I have to laugh at myself as I think about the way I gave a pep talk at the kitchen table. It was a comfortable way to work. We had the kids with us all day, everything was new, we had unlimited energy and we were never far from our own teapot. It was grassroots at its finest and, also (apparently)…..illegal.
Time to make it real…
One beautiful, sunny, Colorado afternoon, a woman in heels came walking down our gravel driveway with a clipboard in the crook of her arm. By this time, we knew we were crossing lines with 7 employees showing up to work daily. They parked behind our house at Grandpa Bob’s and punched a time clock next to our only bathroom off the living room. It was clear that it was not a couple of helping hands. When I saw her through the window, I knew it was a game changer. I remember walking out the kitchen door to greet her. I smiled and said, “We’ve been expecting you. I’m Amy Sasick, can I get you a glass of tea?”
We hit our first major speed bump. Time to start getting creative and thinking beyond what we were going to build next. It was time to begin creating stability and making a plan. The County did not shut us down but politely suggested that we find a commercial location. Seemed totally reasonable to us. Then, they actually found the shop we ended up purchasing and moving into! Larimer County was truly wonderful to work with during the entire process.
Doing it right…
About 1 mile from downtown Fort Collins, our new shop on Blue Spruce Drive was about 3200 sq ft. There was an additional 1200 sq foot building across the back lot that was more of a storage building than anything. There was a tired, old office at the front with blue carpeted floors and dingy walls. Stefan and I pulled all the carpet from the offices, painted the walls and concrete floors, knocked out a wall so we could share a space and hung new blinds. The guys that worked with us helped us make all the office furniture, steel base boards and casements and moved all our tools from the garage into the shop. We tried to give it a touch of home and fill it with household items instead of office items so it was all more cozy and in line with what we knew.
With the new space came more help in the shop, more tools, more raw materials, more trucks, more utility bills, more working relationships and more space to organize, create and clean. Stefan and I could no longer be in every step of every job. We could not continue the way we had been operating the business. As Tony likes to say around here, we were operating on tribal knowledge. He was right. It was time to build that plane and figure out what it takes to really create a business.
Finally on the runway…
Over the last 7 years, we have learned so much through trial and error as well as sheer determination. We have learned how to focus on less to achieve more. Our day job revolves around finding solutions and solving problems. Support staff to the shop, administrators, suppliers and clients, Stefan and I are here to make sure everyone else can do what they do best. That’s not to say we do not continually push towards more products and designs. We will never give that up!
Through this understanding and shift in perspective, Raw Urth has really become much more than us. This time has been about the building blocks of something great. Our time at Blue Spruce has given us the foundation we need to develop something lasting and strong.
We are equally as proud of what we have built with the company as we are of any product we build. It is exciting how much creativity building a company can demand. Road blocks, set backs and challenges are all part of the process. When they come, we do not get discouraged, we simply find the solution, step around, and keep pressing forward. When we look back, we see personal growth, development, and a little more understanding of the larger picture. Our empathy grew deeper and our management style gained purpose and structure. It has been worth the time. The plane has been put together and we look forward to the upcoming flight!
Leaning into Chapter 3…
As I write this chapter, it feels like it is coming to a close and we are stepping towards a very exciting Chapter 3. Our wings seem to be lifting and we are well on our way to something new. We have 24 people working at Raw Urth as of this summer, 2016, and really need quite a few more. Our real estate however, is completely maxed here on Blue Spruce! We honestly could not squeeze another person into our existing building. So, we are building a new one and moving a block down the road!
We will have a 16,000 square foot space with a real, working showroom! No more clients in the break room looking at hoods that hang over the lunch table and back stock of shipping tubes. It is exciting to move forward but also a great exercise to remember how we got here. I was feeling a little overwhelmed and nostalgic the other day, worrying that as we grew we might be tempted to change what makes Raw Urth special. I mentioned it to our son Manny. His response?
“Mom, our garage is just getting bigger.”
He’s totally right. Nothing has changed, the garage is just getting bigger.
We can promise that even through growth, our core values are the same as they were on day one at the kitchen table. Continuing to create the best possible product, in house with love and a human touch is the mission. We want to do it with the nicest group of people we can find, taking care of the world around us in the process.
If we build it, things will come. As if on queue, things have come!
As a full circle, I have been invited as the industry leader on all things metal and a guest speaker at the International Home Builders Show in January 2017! Yep, the same show that started it all for Stefan and I. This year, the show will be combined with the National Kitchen and Bath Show, so I will get to share all that I have learned about designing with metal with everyone there.
While at the show, we plan on launching 4 brand new products that we could not be more excited about. (As a hint, it involves the greatest generation, the Empire State Building, and an awesome metal must-have that is currently not on the market,…. anywhere!)
We would have never been able to make this step and start heading down this new and exciting road if we did not have the last number of years of learning and developing under our belts. We have the best group of people working with us ever, a brand new web page with all the bells and whistles and a gorgeous new cinder block building to move into and grow!
The next chapter will be a thriller! All the work, the lessons learned and the striving to be the best we can be is paying off. We could not be more proud of it all.
– amy + stefan
Chapter 3 : The Bumps
written sometime around 2024-ish
So much life has happened since I last wrote. Seems like we should be deeper than Chapter 3 at this point!
Thank you for checking up on our little family, and the custom metal range hood business we started in our garage almost 20 years ago. Kids are actually adults these days. One is married, and the other is living in California letting Stefan worry about fires and earthquakes in the middle of the night (as all good Dads do). We honestly could not be more proud of either of them, out in the world, making it all work.
That said, as any Hollywood director worth their salt can teach us, at this point in a saga, we need some conflict. Something that forces the hero to dig deep, push through, and keep going. I wish it wasn’t so, but if we are going to do this right, and not disappoint, it had to happen. The bumps came and they were white knucklers! And,… not just one splinter under the proverbial finger nail, but we are going to go ahead and serve up 2 whoppers for you!
Chapter 2 left off right around 2017 as we were chomping at the bit to get moved into our new, larger “garage”. At that point, we were still in the old building. We had 4 desks moved into a gutted Airstream trailer parked right outside the office wall. Running cords out the window, across the pavement and into the Airstream, we were able to plug in phones and computers to keep the gears turning. Hanging on by a thread, the new building could not come quick enough!
The First Shoe Drops…
As I’m sure you know, building projects are never linear. They don’t usually happen as fast as we imagine, or wish they would. We were prepared for it to go slow. But, because of that, we did not realize we were actually in trouble.
We were busy making range hoods, and letting our builder make sure the building was still rolling along. One of our all-time favorite clients, let’s call him FC (favorite client), a retired commercial builder (who was kind of a big deal in the industry) had been keeping an eye on the progress. He began calling with concerns it was all moving too slowly. I assured him that our builder was working hard to make it happen.
Over the next several months, FC’s check in phone calls kept coming. He was convinced that “something was wrong”. At the time, I was thinking his retirement must be lacking excitement if he was watching our little building. I thought he might need to take up a new hobby, or possibly travel more.
Then came the phone call that brought the new building project to a screeching, absolute, and utter stop. While Stefan and I were enjoying a little R&R with family out of town, FC called again. He announced that he had taken initiative, shutting down our job site, banning our builder from being on property, and asking the police to make extra patrols around the site.
As you can imagine, our stomachs dropped through our feet, jaws fell to the floor and mouths went dry. A client, who we really liked, but didn’t know that well, just stopped our building project! And,… alienated our builder!
Raising the Barn (garage)…
Not a day goes by that we are not grateful to our very core that FC saved us and the jobs of every Urthling.
Ultimately, we picked the wrong builder. It was 100% our fault. Being anxious about building costs, we chose the guy that could do it for “half the price”. We knew better, yet we did it anyway. Turns out he was stealing money, stealing materials and replacing what we paid for with lower quality subs, materials and practices. He robbed us every which way he could. Draining our construction loan almost completely dry, and leaving us with a poorly constructed, less than a half built building.
FC (now absolutely Favorite Client, not one of many, but the undisputed favorite), saved us again, and again, as we swam out of that mess. We could not have done it without him. He, along with a few others, swooped in and helped us survive that disaster of our own making. There was no personal or professional gain for any of them. They helped us because they are quite simply, spectacular human beings. Their kindness and generosity continues to astound us.
Coming out of retirement, donning a hard hat and becoming the builder of record, FC jumped in and found a way to keep the ball rolling! He showed up every single day, called subs, ripped out shoddy work and made it happen.
Subcontractors, who we had not known before, took turns donating time on Saturday mornings with their families to help us clean up the job site. We got to meet their kids, eat some donuts and get that bone deep connection with our community that I imagine raising a barn (or garage if we want to be literal here) back in the day must have felt like.
Back on track…
It is true that not all heroes wear capes. We were down for the count after being swindled, but for the generosity of a few spectacular humans, we were able to get back up.
We moved into the new building using patio furniture, tables and chairs from our house as well as scrap metal balanced on boxes as desks. As we began to get our feet back underneath us, and getting our momentum back. We were excited and determined to be back on track. It was time again for us to level back up!
We built our new desks, threw out the panels balanced on boxes, and started to feel like we were back in the game! It is worth noting that our patio table is still center stage of our showroom, however. Seems to be a crowd favorite. I have given up trying to sneak it back home at this point.
We had a big pep talk in January about how this was going to be our year! How we made it through the hard times, came out the other side stronger and were ready to launch!
The Second Shoe…
That was January 2020, “our year” lasted 2 more months before the world collapsed.
COVID changed Raw Urth, as it did the entire globe. It made us uncertain and maybe a bit less reckless at throwing ourselves feet first into anything we thought up. There was so much to worry about. We had a brand new building that had to be paid for. Urthlings and their families were depending on us to keep them employed. And of course, we had to juggle toilet paper and food runs like everyone else. In retrospect, that worry consumed too much energy, causing us to slow and stagnate, on so many levels.
As I am sure anyone reading this chapter knows, COVID was like some sort of time warp. It is even hard to remember those days with much clarity. It seemed as if we were just going through motions without the normal passion that usually drove us. We moved with rote memory and kept doing what we do, but our cups were not being filled and our passions seemed tucked away.
What I can tell you, and be very proud to tell you about that time, is that we kept everyone working, getting paid, and having a place to go outside of their homes.
Materials were harder to get, and the jobs shifted a bit, but we kept all of it afloat, everyone healthy and the wheels turning. Honestly, we give all of that credit to the Urthlings that went through that stormy time with us. They were all so flexible and kind to one another. All during a time when emotions and opinions were flying throughout the rest of the country like darts thrown at a board.
The After Shock…
We made it through the slow days of COVID. We did not really feel the damaging effect until a couple years later in 2022-23 when the after shock rolled through. Sales began to really die off for us after the storm had passed.
We realized that during the slow days of 2020, nobody met with architects or builders to plan building projects. Therefore, they did not break ground on new projects, and did not need show-stopping metal range hoods for the projects that should have been wrapping up. As a small business in America, it is super hard to keep feeding the boiler when the coal runs out.
This is the part of the tale when the digging deep kicks in. The time when the darkness, the sleepless nights and the pivot point finally catches up to us. What did we want our path to be, our legacy, and of course, our next chapter. Do we stop pushing and simply walk away, or do we decide it is worth holding onto a mom and pop shop, building products by hand, in America? Do we continue pushing, shoving and figuring out how to make all the ends meet? Stefan and I felt spent. Seriously. And, maybe for the first time ever, really questioned where we wanted to go.
Picking up the pieces…
We did not write pros vs. cons lists, or reason through any of it. We simply woke up and felt the low hum of the engine rumbling again. One day Stefan simply came in to show me a sculpture he was playing with, and invited me to come work on it with him. It felt good and familiar. Then, another, and another, and a ridiculously cool idea he had for some new range hoods that was so unique and spectacular.
We found ourselves hiding away in the shop again over the weekends building, creating and designing together. Our energy fed itself, giving us more excitement and a deep understanding that we are not done with all of this. We have so much more to offer, and remembered how much we truly, and wholeheartedly love to do it together.
Maybe we actually went through a typical mid-life crisis with the backdrop of possible financial ruin mixed with a little global pandemic and collapse. But we’d like to think that wasn’t it (not to mention we’d like to think we have not yet hit “mid-life”).
We experienced an organic and natural return to our first principles without even trying. It really let me know that our original mission is sincerely who we are, and what we want to offer the world.
Our kitchen table values are still very much alive and the driving force behind what we do and why we love it. We still want to offer something authentically unique in a world of mass-production for our clients, designers and home builders. Plus, we want to have fun making it happen, side by side with other salt of the Urth human beings. All while being aware of our impact on the world around us.
Back in the saddle…
So,… here we are again, seven years down the road from our last Raw Urth Story Chapter, excited and fired up! Ready to make another jump, feet first into our little garage project we started years ago.
With yet another new, more streamlined web page, we are ready to hit the ground running. We’ve honed in our systems, processes, and are working away on developing a designer program. It is so important for us to figure out the best way to support our designers, and help make their day to day jobs easier.
Stefan has been tucked away on the fab table crammed behind the storage shelves, and in the path of the receiving door, methodically coming up with so many new and impressive stunners. We can’t wait to show you. Now that the web page is up, we will start launching each new option, one at a time. We want to keep giving you the newest, best and most authentically unique range hoods and fireplaces. We know you need a steady stream of new ideas to set your projects above the sea of manufactured sameness!
Rolling Into Chapter 4…
Turns out 2025 (technically) brings our 20 year anniversary for the day we filed with the State of Colorado, and began our new business. (Of course that day was mid-December of 2025 so in reality, let’s call it 2021 for the party’s sake). Back when the kids were actually kids, and we had an unbelievable amount of energy, we set this path for ourselves. Down a road we could have never anticipated. And, even after driving down the tunnels and through the forest, I still would not change this view for anything in the world.
I am proud of what we have done, and choose to continue doing, with our lives. We have raised kids, raised a business, created beautiful work that we can share with others. We continue to hone in our communication and understanding of the humans around us, and hopefully just get better and better with every opportunity to practice. (Yeah, this is sounding a lot like the musing of someone who has in fact, hit “mid-life”).
Regardless, we are so happy to be here, with you, and look forward to what the next chapter will bring. We invite you to be a part of it with us. Anytime you are in Colorado, let us know and swing on by. We will roll out the red carpet and show you around. The relationships we make mean the world to us.
Until then, all our best,
– amy + stefan
A Little Post Script Note…
I did not have to say this in the first two chapters, but I think it is worth noting that this chapter was actually written, thought up and edited by me, myself. There was no AI used in the telling of this tale,… and I personally think that matters for human things like this.
Chapter 4 : Living it
As you read this, Chapter 4 is in the process of unfolding and writing itself. We know which direction we are driving, although we sometimes find we are also simply along for the ride. We will take notes and compile details so we can write it as soon as we see Chapter 5 on the horizon! You are welcome to come visit us in our showroom, take a tour and be a part of this next, great chapter! We’d love to have you!