We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Auga and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The thing that has made me grow and succeed is the fact that I simply love making NEW things. I have an itch to make new and creative things. It’s satisfying to make something new and sit back and look at it. But shortly after it’s made, I get the itch again to make something new! I don’t care whether or not it “will sell” it’s not a concern to me. My concern is the challenge of the new and people recognize that and usually someone comes forward that likes what I made!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
After making sculptures for 8 years and seeing how much my work has improved, the thing I’m MOST proud of is to say that I made a sculpture that is now in the move, “FREE GUY” with Ryan Reynolds! It’s a massive achievement to me! My biggest challenge has been with time and experimenting with tools and processes. It’s frustrating having an idea in your head and you simply can’t get it out and you don’t know how to do it! Many many times have I spent money on a new tool, grind wheel or something to try something new and it didn’t work out. A lot of time and money goes into trial and error to find that right effect or process to get the result you want

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many cool restaurants and bars all around Phoenix! I used to hate the typical “bar scene” but Phoenix has very classy, unique and fun themed bars and some really delicious hidden-gem restaurants. I am also a pilot so I love taking a meal close to spot around sky harbor and watching planes land and depart for hours! Phoenix also has many lakes to have fun in all day and as long as it isn’t 115 degrees out, there are countless places to hike! Traveling up north to Sedona or flagstaff in the summer is always a blast!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Honestly, the internet as a whole deserves a shoutout! All the welders, fabricators, metal-finishing videos and how-to articles on forums and all over are the reason I was able to learn. Information is available on the internet! Just depends on how much you wanna dig! Genuine shoutout to anyone that’s ever posts welding or metal working info or videos from forums to YouTube! And Kevin Caron on YouTube was a huge influence to me and he taught me so much!

Website: Www.kyleskinetics.com
Instagram: @kyles_kinetics
Youtube: Youtube.com/kyleskinetics
Other: TikTok: @kyles_kinetics