Woodworking in Newnan GA
with Dwayne Gowen of DBG Creations
Dwayne Gowen with DBG Creations can handle any home or business woodworking need large or small. Through FireTrackapp.com, Dwayne can fulfill any custom order you may have including patriotic wooden flags, veteran decor, first responder decor, furniture, door hangers, etc.
What department do you work for, how long have you worked there and what is your current rank?
Peachtree City Fire Rescue
In 10th year of service
Lieutenant FF/Paramedic
What other special skill/certifications/awards have you earned within the Fire Service?
SWAT Medic, Wildland FF, Inland Water Rescue Swimmer, Bike Medic
Your Business Name and Classification:
DBG Creations, Woodworking
What does your business offer and what sets you apart from “normal contractors”?
We offer anything from simple handcrafted items to intricate CNC designed products. We give the same attention to detail to all of our products no matter the cost or size.
What is the job you are most proud of that you have done within your business?
Not necessarily a particular job, but I'm proud of the fact that I was able to teach myself how to design within a CAD program and bring that design to life via my CNC. I had no previous experience with anything close to that and it was a very steep learning curve. Still learning all aspects of woodworking every time I'm in the shop.
What is the funniest thing you have seen while doing an estimate or job?
I've made some pretty ugly stuff through the years. You have to be able to laugh at yourself every now and then.
Where do you see your Fire Department career in 5 years?
Improving my role as a leader and moving towards the next level of leadership as Battalion Chief.
Where do you see your business in 5 years?
Ideally I would be able to rely on my own business as my only part time job. Right now I have a good thing going with FPW during the warmer seasons, but would be nice to get to the point where I can focus on my business more.
What is the best advice you can offer a potential client looking for services like yours in your industry?
Don't go with the cheapest option. The tools, time and knowledge required to create a quality product is worth paying for!
What is your why? (Why do you get up every day and go to the FD or your other job(s)?
As cliché as it sounds, I have a passion for the fire service, it's unlike any job I've ever had. I truly love going to work, though all days aren't great, at the end of the day we have something to be proud of. As for the woodwork, I've always had a bit of an artistic side and love creating things for others to enjoy.
If you could change one thing in the business world, Fire Department or private sector, what would it be?
While we all knew we wouldn't get rich becoming firefighters, it would be nice for us be fairly compensated for the multitude of jobs we have to remain perficient in.
Video Transcript:
Mike Dingler: Hey everybody, we're here with Dwayne Gowen, he is the first firefighter Friday that we're going to do! Mr. Dwayne here runs DBG creations out of Newnan, Georgia. Newnan or Sharpsburg, where are we at? Newnan. All right. We're down here in his shop and I wanted to get him on film and ask him a few questions about what he does, why he's on FireTrack, why he works on his days off and his career at the fire department. So Dwayne, nice to see you!
Dwayne Gowen: Thanks for having me. Nice to have you on here.
Mike Dingler: So tell us a little bit about your company when it was formed and what all that you do for customers.
Dwayne Gowen: So my wife and I decided to start this company about five years ago now. She needed a few things around the house, I made her a few and we decided it would definitely be a good idea to keep going with it and make some money.
Offering Woodworking In Newnan GA
Mike Dingler: So was the first thing you made for your wife?
Dwayne Gowen: It was a coat rack. When we moved into this house, she needed a few things hanging on the wall. So I did that, took care of it and we decided to keep going with it. This past year we decided to go completely legit, so we got a business license and the whole nine yards and we're trying to take it a little further now.
Dwayne Gowen: Sweet. Tell me about the storefront you have in Peachtree city.
Dwayne Gowen: We're part of Heirloom Market. If you're not familiar with it, it's a group of different vendors that come in and sell their handmade products. Some of it's not handmade, but all ours is. I'm not even sure the number of vendors, but there's a lot of people in there. They've got a small bakery and a coffee shop downstairs.
Woodworking Products
Mike Dingler: Okay. What's the most common items that you make here at DBG?
Dwayne Gowen: Mostly, fire department things. We started off making Maltese cross door hangers. I've got a ton of those under my belt.
Dwayne Gowen: That's my wall of shame. I was looking at there. Mike Dingler: Whats a wall of shame? It sounds familiar with Firehouse Pressure Washing.
Dwayne Gowen: Yeah, it's messed up in here though. All the detailed blew out.
Mike Dingler: So I'm looking at these and they look awesome, they don't look messed up at all, but you're saying these are messed up and the good ones were in the store. So guys, if you're looking at these and thinking they're awesome, these are the ones in his mind that don't look awesome and they're even more perfect in the store. I can vouch for that, i've been to Heirloom Market and I've seen his work and I've actually stepped back and observed other people looking at his work. That's what's most impressive when you do like a secret shopper kind of deal. I stood there and watched other people admire his work you know, this stuff right here, it's pretty awesome. So what else do you make besides fire department related things?
Dwayne Gowen:
Anything from furniture to the door hangers. There's really not a limit as to what we can do here. So it all depends on what people were looking for, what they come to me with and we try to bring their ideas to life, okay.
Dwayne Gowen: What's common right now is the door hangers that have the people's initials or has people's last names and they're all what's it called? Monogram. And you do a lot of that with the CNC machine right here. Right. That's, that's the reason we want, like I said, we started off making multiple door hangers and I was using a scroll saw doing it all by hand and it would take about two hours per item. I had about 50 or 60 orders backlogs and I realized I had to do something to take care of that or I was never going to stay in business. So I decided to spend the money on this thing and it helped me out tremendously, it paid for itself very quickly. We're only as good as the tools you work with, right? We try to invest with some quality tools. You have to invest a lot in tools and equipment and materials are not cheap at all, especially when it comes to hardwoods and stuff like that. So, um, you definitely have to charge for it.
Mike Dingler: What's the thing you're most proud of as far as the products that you make? What type of product is it that you made that you're most proud of? Every time it comes off the line here and every time it comes off the saw?
Dwayne Gowen: Patriotic stuff. I have a passion for, you know, the, the service service-based items. Uh, I really enjoy seeing people's reactions when it comes to the 3D American flag that we've made. That's all done by hand and you know, the, the different service flags that I cut on the machine. I really enjoy making that stuff.
Mike Dingler: So speaking of a patriotic stuff, what's your career in the fire department?
Firefighter in Peachtree City, Ga
Dwayne Gowen: I work for Peachtree City Fire Department. I've been there for going on 10 years now full time. This'll be my tenth year, I'm currently serving as a Lieutenant on the B shift
Mike Dingler: Nice! Yeah, company officer. So as Steve jobs said, if you want to be everybody's friend sell ice cream, don't become a leader. So how are you doing with that right now? You've just been promoted, right?
Dwayne Gowen: Yes two months now as Lieutenant, its s going, well, I've got good crews. I've got a good leader ahead of me, so it's really not any different than what I was doing.
Mike Dingler: Do you ride on the ambulance or the fire truck mostly?
Dwayne Gowen: Mostly on the ambulance right now, as I'm a Paramedic, we've got a shortage going on right now so we do what we have to do to take care of the citizens.
Dwayne Gowen: Okay. What's your number one goal being listed on FireTrack as a woodworking professional within the app?
Dwayne Gowen: Ultimately I want to be able to depend on this a little bit heavier than I do. As a firefighter we all have second jobs, third jobs sometimes. We kind of knew that getting into it. So we'd come in with a game plan to make extra money on the side and this, this turned out to be mine. Um, you know, right now I work for Firehouse Pressure Washing. It helps out a lot, I love working there, but ultimately my goal is to make this the only thing I have to do.
Entrepreneur of Woodworking in Newnan GA
Mike Dingler: The last question I have for you right now is what is your why? Why do you wake up in the morning and not only work a full time career at the fire service and take all the classes you can like wildland firefighter, structural fire control, fire officer, fire instructor and SWAT medic. Why, you know, why do you subject yourself to all that and then come home and come down here into this awesome shop and work again? Why do you feel the need to do that? What is your why behind working at DBG creations and building your company up?
Dwayne Gowen: You know as far as the fire department goes, it's as cliche as it may be, it's a passion. It has to be. If it is just a job to you then you're not going to get very far with it. It's going to drive you insane. So it truly is a passion. I love learning everything that I can about the job to make myself better and to help others. So as far as the woodworking goes I've always enjoyed making things. I've always been a little bit artistic. So I enjoy coming down here. It's a huge stress reliever and it helps get my mind off of stuff that happened the day before. You know, be it good or bad. It's always a help to come down here and focus on something completely different, you know, different topics. So it's good.
Door Hangers, Patriotic Flags, 3D Wooden Flags, Wall Decor in Newnan GA
Mike Dingler: That's awesome. So if FireTrack clients that download the app for free and look for door hangers or patriotic flags, 3d flags, wall decor, anything like that can find custom made products on your website or where? Where would be the best place for them to see some of your work besides in the Firetrack app? So in the FireTrack app, you're going to have the opportunity to load up to 10 photos of your work and have it part of your bio, but if they wanted to look at you further, where, where would they go?
Dwayne Gowen: Currently we don't have an actual website just because of the logistics of making it to where people can select a product and order it, you know, and pay through the website. It's kind of a tall feat at this point.
Mike Dingler: So no eCommerce yet. I totally understand. That's a lot of work.
Dwayne Gowen: Mainly off our Facebook page. Which is DBG creations.
Mike Dingler : What does DBG stand for?
Dwayne Gowen: It's my initials, Dwayne Benson Gowen Creations.
Mike Dingler: Simple enough. So Google DBG creations or simply load up the FireTrack app. So what zip codes do you plan on servicing within the FireTrack app to distribute your work?
Dwayne Gowen: We're really not limited, if it's necessary for us to ship things we can work that out, and if it needs to be shipped, the price will be adjusted to take care of shipping, we can absolutely handle that if it's not too big of an item.
Mike Dingler: Sweet. So not only are you going to service Sharpsburg Newnan, Senoia, Peachtree City, Fayette County, Coweta County, but the option to go on there and check out your work and if somebody wants it shipped, you know, across the US or a different state or anything else, you're able to do that. That's awesome. So Dwayne here will be with DBG creations within FireTrack as a nationwide vendor ultimately that's our goal, but right now we'll baby step it up to that and we'll get all the zip codes that he services where he can come meet you or you can come meet him or hit him up on Facebook to get your order ready and we'll go from there. So that's one example of business growth brother! You're going to sign up for the app and then hopefully we'll get you nationwide to where you can ship things to Texas, California, Ohio, wherever you find some customer opportunity. Yeah! Anything else you want to add?
Dwayne Gowen: I don't think so.
Mike Dingler: You good?
Dwayne Gowen: Good.
Mike Dingler: Dwayne's a little nervous that he didn't know what to do and say. I appreciate you letting me see your shop and showing me your, see what is it called? CNC machine and all the tools and everything. If y'all check out the pictures that I'll splice into this video, but he is super organized, like surgically organized, like an engineer would be as far as all this stuff he's got. The saw dust reclamation unit and everything else to make sure he's safe down here and I've seen a lot of his work. I fully suggest you check them out; DBG creations on Facebook or check them out within the FireTrack app. Thanks for tuning in to Firetrack's Firefighter Fridays and we'll see you on the next one!
Dwayne Gowen: Thanks guys.
Bloopers:
Mike Dingler: Ready? Yup. All right. You ready? Here we go. Yup. Yup. Okay. Hold on.
Dwayne Gowen: I look like an idiot before you do it again.
Mike Dingler: All right, so we're back rolling. Um, first time being a FireTrack Firefighter, first time for me interviewing a Firefighter Friday. So the camera started beeping. It kind of freaked me out, but I don't think there's anything to it, and I'll probably just edit all this out so I'm just going to keep talking and put my hands up like Ricky Bobby anyway.
Dwayne Gowen: Oh, this is my first time on film as well. So if I sound like I'm having a stroke personally, because I am.
Mike Dingler: This is going on the blooper reel, we are going to have one of those.