Kelly DeWitt
As a woman who doesn’t hesitate to jump into maledominated pursuits, Austin’s Kelly DeWitt is no stranger to forging her own path. She’s a woodworker, welder, furniture designer, and teacher—and, as her own star rises, she’s set on bringing others along for the ride.
Like many creatives, Kelly DeWitt’s career started on a different path. She was a marketing manager at a museum in Austin, but she began designing and building furniture after work. Late nights, early mornings, and weekends, you’d find her creating everything from coffee tables to credenzas. By 2013, demand for her designs was so high that her side gig became her full-time focus—she launched KKDW Construction at the age of 24. Today, her business includes custom furniture design, doors, windows, and storefronts, as well as educational welding and woodworking classes. Women who have never used a power tool can leave a KKDW workshop with a fully finished piece of furniture, created by their own hands.
When did you first discover your love of design?
I’m not sure when it developed, but I’ve always been interested in and experimented with design. From how I dressed myself in high school to how I decorated my room in college, I liked being a little adventurous and independent in design. I’m also a very hands-on person–I’ve always loved trying to make things, fix things, do things myself. Even as a little kid I remember thinking, oh why would people buy that, I could just make it. And then I would try just that–from making lemonade for my lemonade stand to making clothes. I didn’t always succeed in my endeavors—if ever—but in attempting to create something one has to consider design in some way or another. I think, unbeknownst to me, I was exercising that muscle and becoming more comfortable with design, and from that place of comfort the love grew stronger and stronger.
How did you learn your trade?
In those early days, I was so enthralled by the prospect of turning something from an idea in my head to a real, functioning piece of
furniture. It didn’t matter how hard it was or if I was good—I was in love. Woodworking and welding seem, on their surface, like burly and brutish trades. But in practice, you have to be delicate, patient, tender, attentive. I think I had a predisposition to those tendencies going into it, which was why it perhaps felt natural to me, but the fact that the work requires gentle finesse while also being so hugely physical surprised me.
Luckily my boyfriend at the time (Travis Norman, now husband and KKDW Director of Design & Operations) had a cabinet shop with all the tools I needed and the willingness to show me how to use them. I remember him showing me the table saw—so long ago now—and explaining that you need a healthy fear and an ever-present respect for it—I’ve never forgotten that and say the same thing to the students I teach. This world really is a dance between just enough and not too much. It’s delicate. It’s a calm confidence.
Have you experienced any sexism in the industry?
There are certainly people in this industry who hold limiting and destructive beliefs. While the sexism I’ve experienced over the years has been at times infuriating, confusing, and demoralizing, the best thing I know to do is to keep working, try to lift up others around me, and do whatever I can to make sure we as a company work to actively bring a tenderness, a kindness to this industry.
Kindness is the first principle of your business. What does this mean to you?
I wrote our mission statement after having a particularly unsavory experience with one of our clients years ago. I came home and vowed to myself that we’d never make anyone else feel that way, and it starts with kindness. To me, kindness means having awareness, doing what’s right, and being authentic in your consideration of others and yourself. Our goal is to add some beauty into the world, and that’s more than just aesthetics, it’s a state of mind. It’s the way we interact with people; it’s the way we think about ourselves and others. kkdw.co