Meet Derick Wyman of California Hardwoods in Liberty Station

Today we’d like to introduce you to Derick Wyman.

Derick, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m the CEO and founder of California Hardwoods. I just turned 24 years of age last December. To give you a little backstory I’m originally from a small town in Northern California called Cottonwood, population 3,000. My family owns and operates a small lumber mill in that area. My father and grandfather opened the mill about 30 years ago making me the 3rd generation.

How I ended up in San Diego?
Coming out of high school, I did well academically and aspired to receive a 4-year degree and attended law school. I ended up attending Point Loma Nazarene University where I ended up receiving my B.A. in Political Science. While I was working on my undergrad, I’d come home during the summer time to work in the mill. The summer after my 2nd year I got more involved in helping my dad out on the business side of operations. He was showing me some of his clients who were retail slab/ lumber yards & furniture designers, along with the prices they were getting vs. what he was selling to them for. With this knowledge, I approached my dad with a proposal of us opening our own operation in San Diego. I was so ambitious that I wanted to start it right away. I founded California Hardwoods while I was finishing up my last year of college.

I found a small gallery space in The Arts District at Liberty Station that was a great fit at the time. The rest has been history. Last April we moved into a bigger 3,000 sq. ft space with a shop/ showroom setup at Liberty Station and I’m about to hit my third year of business.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
From an outsider’s perspective it might look like it’s been a relatively smooth road due to our fast growth, but from my perspective it feels like I’ve been driving on a backcountry dirt road full of potholes.

The first few years were difficult. Operations are sailing much smoother now but that comes with the territory. To be a young entrepreneur the best quality to have is resiliency. I’ve had to do what I’ve had to do to get to this point. Make deals I didn’t feel comfortable with. Cut ties with toxic relationships. Borrow money to keep things afloat. You name the challenge as a small business owner and I’ve came across it. With these challenges though, every punch I have taken has only made me stronger and more competent at my job.

I opened California Hardwoods with literally almost no working capital and have operated on a ridiculously low budget. I’ve had to nickel and dime everything. I grew up relatively simple (poor) so I’ve been accustomed to operating that way. I was super naive jumping into things but if I knew what I know now I most likely wouldn’t have taken this beautiful adventure of creating my own company. I’ve grown to appreciate the process.

Please tell us about California Hardwoods.
California Hardwoods is a furniture design and manufacturing company. We specialize in making custom furniture. The wood we use in our pieces comes from my family’s mill, Wyman Enterprises, in Northern California. Our mill practices urban forestry. Which is the sustainable practice of removing trees because they are in danger of falling over, diseased, or new construction. Most of our material comes from either city properties, agriculture, or private property from about a 40-mile radius in the Chico, CA area.

We incorporate a lot of metal work into our designs. Within the last 3 years I’ve formed a strong relationship with a few great metal fabricators in the San Diego area. Shout out to my dudes Allan Jones, owner of Titan Steel and Dave Seward, owner of Direct Sheet Metal.

We also pride ourselves on using green finishing practices. Not only are our finishes safe to the environment but they are extremely durable. We brought in Darren O’Hare finishing instructor at Palomar College as part of our team because it’s important to us to have the best finishes in the industry.

The rest of our California Hardwoods crew includes Luke Turner, a fellow Point Loma Nazarene grade whose background is in graphic design & marketing. I also got my brother Dave Wyman to move to San Diego to help. We are hoping to be able to expand the team this year and make a few more hires.

Project wise we do everything from small residential jobs to large scale commercial work. Cutting boards, dining room table, conference tables, decorative walls, etc. We work with end users, designers, and distributors. Once of my goals for 2018 is to come up with a pseudo-custom line and catalog.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Never have opened a business…. JK.

I would have been more strategic and planned out the business better.  I’ve improved in this area a lot since then. I’ve learned everything on the fly. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t know if I would have jumped into it if I didn’t do it like this. I don’t regret anything. I have definitely made my mistakes, but I just see them as learning experiences. To me failing is not the end. I don’t see it as a negative. I use my failures to gain more knowledge.

Pricing:

• Cutting boards, bowls, small home decore items ranging from $35 to +$300
• Smaller coffee tables, end tables, cocktail tables ranging from $350 to +$3000
• Dining room tables and large tables ranging from $2,000 to +$10,000

Contact Info:

• Address: 2590 Truxtun Rd. Ste 106
  San Diego, CA 92106
• Website: calihardwoods.com
• Phone: 619.501.5027
• Email: info@californiahardwoods
• Instagram: @calihardwoods
• Facebook: @calihardwoods –California Hardwoods

Image Credit:
Luke Turner

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