Kicking goals in woodwork and mental health messages
Sustainable woodworker Amy Hay of Trafalgar is kicking goals as a woman working in woodwork and a mental health advocate.
Her business The New Red, produces sustainable, custom furniture made from recycled material, and doubles as a platform for Ms Hay to promote her work and encourage mental health conversations.
Ms Hay began her business in November 2019 after quitting a job that she said was destroying her mental health, leaving her looking for a way to keep the income flowing in.
Woodworking has always been a part of Ms Hay’s life and she learnt a lot in her early years from watching her father work on various projects. However, she is primarily self-taught and most of what she knows comes from years of trial and error.
Ms Hay thought she “would be lucky to last six months” when she began her business, but three years on it is still going strong.
“It’s been a very organic growth,” she said.
“I started in a little three by five metre shed that flooded when it rained, it had no power, it had no lighting and I had to keep everything propped up off the floor
“Now I rent a commercial workshop...it’s a bit surreal.”
Ms Hay now partners with Haymes Paint for her furniture projects, and recently used their paint to create a rainbow staircase in her home. “The previous owners, Jodie and Paul, had lived here for 10 years and renovated the house the entire time,” she said.
“It was everything we had been looking for - it’s perfect for us.”
“We’ve been here two years this month...they did such a good job with the basis and the little things we’ve been doing are just putting our own stamp on things.”
A walk through Ms Hay’s house is like a showroom of her creations. The majority of the furniture inside are pieces she has created in the past three years - a demonstration of what sorts of items now exist in her clients’ homes.
“At the moment I make custom furniture. Someone will come to me with an idea, they’ll bring their own piece or I’ll source it,” she said.
“It’s just taking what we have and making what we can from it.”
Ms Hay only uses reclaimed, recycled materials. Whether it is old furniture from Facebook marketplace or a follower who has called her after pulling down an old barn.
She also works with a sub-contractor to make smaller pieces, also made from sustainable wood.
“Together we make small timber items, little trays, earring racks, scrunchie racks...the items that are still made from reclaimed timber.”
“We quite often work with other small businesses - so we make earring racks and sell them with earrings from another small business, or scrunchie racks.”
Ms Hay also runs online woodwork tutorials through a Patreon account. People wanted to learn how to create certain pieces or develop their skills can watch uploaded videos and ask questions along the way.
“I also make DIY build plans that they can follow along...plant stands, bath trays,” she said.
Ms Hay said she had been lucky as a woman working in a trade. Because she runs her own business she can decide who she interacts with and has not had many of the experiences she hears about from other female woodworkers.
“Every man in the trade who I’ve come across has always been overly helpful.. just genuinely wanting to give advice,” she said.
“If anything, I think people underestimate you.”
Another part of The New Red Ms Hay enjoys
is the ability to reach people through platforms like Instagram. As someone who has had her mental health challenges, she said she can use her platform to share her own experiences.
She said receiving messages about the impact of her personal stories and woodworking classes on others makes it “all worthwhile”.
Recently, Ms Hay has also created a line of merchandise with a women-in-trade focus, featuring slogans like ‘I’m pretty...damn good at my job’, and ‘Get in loser, we’re going tool shopping’.