Mike Murphy
I began my professional woodworking career (Trident Fine Woodworking) in 2012, just months before my first son was born. I had decided to transition out of my career as a Navy SEAL and was looking for something that would allow me to remain close to home, something I loved and could leave a lasting legacy with my family. My father has built and operated his own business for nearly 50 years and he always told me that no matter what you decide to do in life you will spend a lot of time doing it so might as well make it something you enjoy doing.
Woodworking created a relaxing and fulfilling outlet from my previous job. I quickly discovered that many of the same skills I had acquired in the military like attention to detail and the ability to push ones self mentally and physically were present in the field of a craftsman. The part that was different and that I still enjoy the most is the ability to explore and push my creativity on each and every job. Much like other creative art forms one can spend a lifetime and never stop growing and learning. I spent hours teaching myself the art of woodcraft and furniture making by reading, studying other artists, and simply putting in the time and doing it. Whats great about the craft is that there are no short cuts or substitutes for hard work and putting in the time to do it right. If one tries to cut corners it will show in the work. There is a wonderful aspect of accountability and honesty in working with wood, a sort of dance between the medium and the maker in order to achieve the desired results. My family and I built the shop that sits about a 100 feet from our back door and we have created a lifestyle around woodworking. Not only is it a place for work, but a tranquil environment to encourage creativity and build family memories. Having my boys work by my side has become a routine for me. I have gleaned many things from this experience, patients being a big one. I have watched the boys work and tinker at their own workbench with tools and wood as I have worked on my own projects. While observing them, I quickly saw that many of the life skills needed for children's development can be taught and discovered through woodworking. We homeschool our boys as well and it didn't take long to figure out that a tape measure and a piece of wood is a great way to teach fractions, addition, subtraction etc. Children have an innate desire to be creative, that desire is like a muscle, if it is exercised and used it will grow. Unfortunately we have lost many of the opportunities children once had in public schools to pursue the industrial arts, which is why I felt called to expend my own woodworking business into a shop experience for others. Woodworking is a great hands on approach for kids to learn critical thinking skills, see practical applications of math, encourage focus, concentration, hand eye coordination, determination, perseverance, and hard work. After these skill are applied you get to see and touch the end results of your efforts. This tangible portion of woodworking is what separates the craft from so many other aspects of todays lifestyle where kids spend much of their time seated in a classroom or in front of a screen. Our goal is to expose children to the beautiful old world craft of woodworking and to give them the opportunity to see why thousands of people throughout the generations have fallen in love with it.
Theresa Murphy
I am not a professional woodworker by trade, but I certainly have spent many hours assisting my hubby with his business/projects and tinkering around the shop with my own two boys to know my way around the workshop. I am a Pediatric Registered Nurse and a homeschool mama that has seen first hand how much the woodshop can positively influence growing minds. In a time where so many children/adolescence were cooped up and having to do virtual learning, I noticed a shift of increasing mental illnesses in the pediatric hospital setting. It was heartbreaking for me to witness the amount of patients we were seeing with mental health issues. I've been in the hospital setting for more than 20 years, and never had I seen anything like it. I felt as if there must be a way to offer other outlets and learning experiences to kids that were affected by all the changes in our world. I've watched my boys spend hours in the shop and as I started reflecting on the past years, I realized how blessed we are to have such a great set up for our own boys to learn and create in and what a blessing it would be to share it with others. I also realized in homeschooling my own two boys that a little hands-on goes a long way. They much preferred learning about the Medieval period while making their very own sword and shield instead of sitting around just listening to mom read to them out of a text book. The shop can make learning a lot of fun and the more learning styles that are used such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic reading and writing, the more information can be retained. Often times we find ourselves "doing school" in the shop.
I feel pretty lucky to have the loving support of my husband, allowing me to share his shop space with us and together we have created The Murphy's Workshop, with the goal in mind of sharing our own love for woodworking with others. I want to share our shop with those that want a hands-on experience in a professional workshop setting. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to work alongside my own family and share our love of woodworking with others.
I love spending time with my family, going on hikes, being outdoors, gardening, music, road trips, traveling and experiencing new things together. Being able to work alongside my family brings me so much joy and is really a dream come true.
Michael & Ryan
Michael (9 yrs) and Ryan (6 yrs) have grown up working in the shop with their daddy. There have been times when they sneak off and are found working in the shop making a surprise for a loved one. These boys love working in the shop and creating new projects. They also love to ask their daddy to stop what he's doing to help them make a new sword or something "cool" to play with, which their daddy often obliges.
They both also have a love for sports, especially baseball. Both are on teams and they enjoy practicing together at home. Their daddy coaches them and he and their mama loves the sport just as much as they do. Michael enjoys riding his dirt bike and building legos. Ryan enjoys building legos as well. He has a love for animals and will drop everything at a chance to catch a lizard. He's pretty good at it too. They are are each others best friends and they spend hours playing together. They are wonderful helpers in the shop and are a blessing to us.
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