Meet Geoff Feder
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Geoff , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Being a Blacksmith isn’t about hitting hot steel with a hammer. It’s the physical manifestation of a cleared mind. Being organized with the procedures of how to transform the volume of a piece of steel combined with practiced technique, all while everything is cooling and harder to move, demands you to learn to be efficient and decisive. At the end you see every miss hit and how to get better. I’ve used tenents of forging as a philosophy that i apply to my business and personal life .
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Geoff Feder is the owner of Feder Knives, a custom knife company in the heart of the Hudson Valley. Graduating with a BA in Studio Art at Kenyon College, Geoff focused on color and design making steel & wood sculpture. His love for food lead him to culinary school and the connection between making sculpture and cuisine resonated. “Cooking and making sculpture is the same: Taking ingredients and executing good technique to create an experience for someone”.
Geoff has worked as a sculptor, blacksmith and cook to combine all his experiences to make beautiful and functional knives. The fundamentals of the blacksmithing mindset has permeated every step of his life, focusing on complete understanding and discipline contrasting with the colorful spontaneity of humanity Geoff falls somewhere in between.
How did you build your audience on social media?
After years of working with Art Galleries and depending on others for my success, I embraced social media from the beginning showing the building Sculpture, forging and culinary knives, telling my story organically, consistently and trying to enjoy it
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I in the late 90’s I sent a lot of Sculpture to a gallery from NY to San Francisco with the promise of a solo gallery show. a few Weeks later there was a UPS note saying a package was delivered to the shipping center and I had to pick it up across town. When I got there a giant box with all my sculpture was poorly packed from the gallery. when I called the gallery to see what happened, the gallerist told me they hated the sculpture and i’m a terrible artist. I carried all the work back home curled up on the couch and felt like a huge loser. The next day I went back to the Shop and started again. I became relentless and worked through this huge blow
Contact Info:
- Website: Federknives.com
- Instagram: @Federknives
- Facebook: Feder Knives
- Linkedin: Geoff Feder
- Twitter: @federknives
