When one workday ends, another begins for the men behind Cerberus Wood Co. in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Brothers-in-law Jordan Leach, who works as a teacher and a football coach at Daviess County High School, and Dustin Taylor, who works as a manager at U.S. Bank, often can be found woodworking late into the night at their shop at Leach’s parents’ house in Owensboro.
“People think you are crazy when after working a full work day you want to go work in the shop until 10 p.m.,” says Leach. “It’s relaxing, refreshing, and it doesn’t feel like work. It’s really cool to see something that is in your head come to life. If I get an idea in my head during school, I get anxious to get out there and to try to see if it works.”
Cerberus Wood Co., named after the three-headed dog who guards the gates of the Underworld in Greek mythology and matched with the pair’s love of their three canines, was born in November 2015 and has seen a consistent flow of customers longing for a custom piece.
Taylor and Leach, who both learned woodworking from their uncles, make and sell dining room tables, coffee tables, bed frames, fireplace mantels, and decorative signs featuring the outline of Kentucky or wood-burned images with your choice of design. The pair encourages any request no matter how odd or interesting — they’ve made toy barns, dog bowl holders, wedding bands, and an engagement ring box Leach used to propose to his fiancé Suzanne Holt, who helps with marketing and social media. The wood used often is repurposed from old barns, schoolhouses, found, or donated.
While it’s a source of extra income, it’s also a creative outlet, says Taylor, who lived in Nashville as a musician before moving back to Owensboro. In May 2013, he married Leach’s younger sister Shelby Leach Taylor, who helps process orders and serves as the liaison to shops and venues.
“Creating something with my hands is something that is fun to watch,” says Taylor. “Whenever my wife or I have something needed around the house, we will build shelves, make tables, or anything that comes up.”
When not making products for others, the pair creates furniture for their own homes.
“If we build a piece of furniture that doesn’t last as long as you live, we didn’t do it right,” says Leach. “It’s always going to be quality and we aren’t going to cut corners. It’s going to be stuff that you are going to pass on to your children.”
For more information about Cerberus Wood Co., email cerberuswoodco@gmail.com or visit cerberuswoodco.com.
