From a young age I have always enjoyed working with my hands. My father taught me the fundamentals of woodworking and we spent hours in his shop creating projects together.
Some of my fondest memories of my dad are built into the projects we made together. He instilled in me the value of craftsmanship and his oft repeated saying “no matter what you do – whether you’re sweeping floors or building a house – make it the best!” still rings true for me today.
Having grown up and attended High School in Napanee, I went on to graduate from the Business Administration program at Loyalist College in Belleville.
From there I managed businesses for Tim Horton’s for over a decade, but something kept calling. And each day I’d race home from work to start a new project or find something I could build with my hands.
Then it hit me. It wasn’t enough to spend days off and evenings working late into the night on projects. I needed to build every day.
Sometimes luck steps in to help us find the right path in life – and something lucky sure happened to me. A carpenter friend of mine invited me to work with him at one of Ontario’s leading landscape companies. I went from part time carpentry to full time and I’ve never felt like I’ve “worked” a day since!
I’ve been fortunate in life; I have a beautiful wife and an amazing son and each day I spend pursuing my passion for carpentry just doesn’t feel like work. It’s a love…
The desire to build, to craft beautiful things with wood has been a lifelong passion for me. Creating a local business presented me with the chance to build things for neighbors and clients and friends – but it has also to given me a chance to help support our community as as local business operator, job creator and volunteer.
In founding Stirling Carpentry, the idea of fine craftsmanship is at the core of everything we do. Each detail reflects our commitment to honest old-fashioned craftsmanship produced from the finest materials and our results show it.
I am proud to bring together my three greatest passions and sources of pride – family, fine craftsmanship and carpentry, and the community where I’ve grown up, gone to school and put down roots – in the creation of Stirling Carpentry.
Each day I wake up and do my very best to build things that will wow my clients – and carry on my business with the kind of honesty, integrity and ethics I learned working in the wood shed alongside my father, all those years ago.
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Ryan Cooke
Founder, Stirling Carpentry