Exploring Life & Business with Bill & Tristan Godwin of Copper State Forge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bill & Tristan Godwin.

Hi Bill & Tristan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to introduce yourself.
About 7 years ago, we started a kettle corn company and put together a metal fabrication shop to build our own trailers. Tristan took up blacksmithing and made his carbon steel skillet a hobby when he discovered online that makers of hand-forged skillets had extensive waiting lists. He also made a few for friends and family. All the kettle corn events stopped when Covid hit, and we started looking for something else to do. We combined our passions for cooking and blacksmithing/metalwork to make carbon steel Skillets. We had a great potential clientele base among the wonderful people who attended the local farmer’s markets. These people cook, buy organic, and probably prefer not to use cookware with chemistry-set “Poly-Razzamatazz” non-stick coatings. Thankfully, Bo at Uptown Farmers Market was nice enough to let us do our initial “market research” there. We were gratified and humbled by the response and have been working to settle into our niche providing heirloom quality, artisan carbon steel cookware.

You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
Our start-up has been a challenging road. But that wasn’t unexpected. The one thing we knew going in is that we don’t even know what we don’t know. Our initial struggle was learning if we even had a market for what we were doing. Once we found that out, our second struggle was capacity, just being able to keep up with even the light demand we were able to generate. When we took every pan we owned to the market, we used to joke that it was our dream and our nightmare to sell everything we brought. We’ve gotten better and more efficient now, so we’ve temporarily solved that dilemma, but we certainly need to learn how to add productive capacity and expand our markets. Between production and marketing, our first year in business has been a 7-Day per-week job for both of us. So that’s not sustainable long-term, but it’s how many businesses have to start. Our next big challenge is online sales. We need to have something fairly consistent that doesn’t require us to be physically present to work.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Copper State Forge?
Copper State Forge is a Father and Son blacksmith shop specializing in handcrafted, high-performance cookware. We make every piece of our cookware by hand. We utilize Plasma CNC cutting for some steps of the process, and the rest is done at the forge and anvil- the way our ancestors did. Because old technology (forging) is used, you can achieve highly high-performance cookware, which also benefits handmade beauty. We are proud of how we make our skillets and utensils- every since piece passes through Bill’s and Tristan’s hands, and no corners are cut. Every piece is unique yet perfect in its way. Our skillets are what we are most known for. They are a third less weight than cast iron, naturally seasoned, non-toxic and safe for your family, and are a joy to use. It is most important for our customers to know our story and why we make these skillets- it brings us much more joy when using our products. We sleep well at night knowing that our products are safe for your family, bring beauty o the kitchen, and make people want to cook for themselves and their families. We are open to custom orders and love to hear new product ideas from customers- we want all of our customers to know that we are open to their suggestions. Our prices reflect the premium materials and the strenuous labor that goes into our products, so we ensure that every pan, spatula, or bottle opener will serve them for the rest of their lives. We are proud to make products that will stand the test of time- our skillets and utensils are heirloom products and will last generations.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Tristan: I was the kid constantly pushing the limits. I was creative and enjoyed making things from an early age- from a fort in the backyard to helping cook dinner with my mom. I was an okay student- but my grandmother always said, “Tristan, you learn despite your teachers, not because of them.” I was a handful. Most of my energy was spent cruising the neighborhood on a bike and looking for treasures in the alleys behind the houses of our Phoenix neighborhood. I was constantly looking for something I could bring home to turn into something new or cool. I was always an entrepreneur as a child. My best friend growing up, John, and I had a lawn mowing business- Roadrunner Lawn Care, that we had for several years. We even built a trailer to pull behind our bikes to carry our lawn mower and other lawn tools. I knew I always wanted to work for myself doing something I loved, and that passion is the same today.

Bill: Would it surprise you to learn that I didn’t grow up as a child dreaming of making carbon steel skillets? Other than that oversight, I had a pretty idyllic childhood in Phoenix. I grew up when free-range childhood was more the norm than the exception. I ran around all summer, drank from every cooler hose lying on a lawn learned a lot. Still learning a lot living my second childhood.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://copperstateforge.com
• Instagram: @copper.state.forge
• Facebook: @copperstateforge