Meet Rick Griggs: Chief Wood Worker

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

Hi Rick, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk taking is when you don’t have a plan on what you are going to do and jumping into something blindly. Risk, however, is something that accompanies every decision we make; the risk of success or failure. The amount of success or failure depends on the level of risk involved in the decision. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started doing radio in high school and developed a passion for it. The idea is that you can impact someone’s life by entertaining them when they listen to the radio. When I did event appearances it was rewarding to have listeners tell me stories about how something I said on the radio impacted them. In radio the communication process is audio. That has helped me tremendously as I have evolved into photography and woodworking. My work is a reflection of my passion, curiosity and insight in the form or images (photography) and live edge tables and art (woodworking). I get satisfaction from being able to see an image or piece of work days, weeks and even months after it was created. With radio the work always disappeared into the air!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Great question! Definitely a Suns game, even though the team has had some rough years recently its a great experience as the fans at the games are passion and love the team. I wish Don and Charlie’s was still around, it was like having dinner in a baseball museum; it was definitely an experience. Have include the Cave Creek tour, too many unique venues there. Also a drive through Carefree just to show off the street names; the corner of Ho and Hum is a fav! The Botanical Garden is amazing to saunter through especially when they feature a special exhibit. I still remember how in awe I was when the first Chihuly exhibit opened; unbelievable!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people I cannot possibly name them all. I have been fortunate to work with and for some incredibly brilliant people that opened my mind and eyes to different aspects of business and life. Les Garland, one of the early pioneers of MTV in the 80’s was one. Les was an incredible motivator who constantly challenged you to think outside the box and do more than you thought you could. Barry Ackerley who owned a media company and an NBA team was a brilliant entrepreneur. Working for him was like getting a PHD in business. Stan Mak never rested with success but constantly pushed me to higher goals; he was a driver and made me crazy but I loved it (OK maybe not all the time). My two sons, Casey and Chris, who over the years helped me see things in a new and fresh perspective; it helped me evolve and not stagnate. But most of all my wife, Jan, who (and you can plug in your own analogy here) tirelessly supported me, put up with me, challenged me and has provided amazing guidance and encouragement even when it was a stupid idea!

Website: www.naturalwoodedge.com
Instagram: @liveedgecreations
Twitter: @naturalwoodedge
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rickgriggsaz
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeV1g1uTYBz-N9r5MesY9Cg

Image Credits
All Photos from Rick Griggs