Ryan Autumn is the founder and CEO of Autumn Woods Collective, a company specializing in custom wooden gifts. He established the business in September 2009 and has been leading it ever since.
Autumn Woods Collective began with Ryan’s passion for woodworking, using tools left to him by his grandfather. He started by selling his first handcrafted pen online, which fueled his belief in the business’s potential. After selling the business in 2020, he recently reacquired it in January 2024 with a focus on increasing profitability and community impact through a donations program.
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OGC Solutions: Welcome to the Think Factory podcast, where ideas are made, built, and brought to life. Each week we sit down with creative minds, bold entrepreneurs, and industry leaders who are reshaping how we think about work, innovation, and success.
Today’s episode features someone who truly lives at the intersection of vision and craftsmanship, Ryan Autumn, founder and owner of Autumn Woods, as well as other businesses. And what started as a passion project with Autumn Woods has grown into a standout brand known for its thoughtful design, quality, and story-driven approach to business. In our conversation, Ryan is going to share the real story behind Autumn Woods, the early hustle, the defining moments, and the hard lessons learned along the way. Whether you’re a billionaire business or just curious about how great brands are born, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.
So let’s step inside the Think Factory. Hello, Ryan, how you doing?
Ryan Autumn: I’m good. How are you doing?
OGC Solutions: Great. It’s such a pleasure to have you. Thanks so much for joining us.
Ryan Autumn: Of course.
OGC Solutions: And let’s get started. So I’d like to start out by going into the beginning, and please tell us what inspired you to start Autumn Woods, and what was the original vision for the company?
Ryan Autumn: Yeah, so I like to say that entrepreneurs are born. It’s not as much of a choice. And so it was really a necessity out of high school. I didn’t want any of the normal jobs. I didn’t get accepted for them anyway.
But I had some of the woodworking tools in my shed. My grandfather did some woodworking. My uncle did as well. And so I started tinkering around in there. Ironically, at the time, I wasn’t into woodworking. Even in class, I would have other students build my projects for me, which was probably a bit of a foreshadow for business.
OGC Solutions: Right. The entrepreneur from the beginning. [laughter]
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