When the pandemic hit, Matthew Peech had already started making TikTok videos to teach carpentry in a quick clips, but he expanded into more advanced videos on his YouTube channel. The popularity of those videos — he now has about 445,000 followers — allowed Peech to turn his woodworking tutorials into a full-time gig and leave the nursing world in 2022.
Peech lives in Hartford but worked for more than a decade at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital. Now, he’s putting his business degree — which he earned before obtaining a nursing degree — to good use.
Peech has been growing his social media presence as a self-employed creator, and through his eforts he was noticed by Carhartt representatives and asked to create a piece of art to hang in the company’s Detroit headquarters.
For the logo, Peech wanted to source the material locally and tie it into the community. Using pine from a local rickhouse and poplar wood from Indiana, along with saw blades from his family’s defunct sawmill, he worked with the Carhartt design person to decide the size of the “C” in their logo.
“They were sending ideas on how I could do it, but I didn’t like that,” he said. “I said, ‘I am more than honored to do this, but here is what I am thinking.'”
He shared ideas about the past and incorporated Carhartt’s original logo from the 1800s with the current version. He also wanted to use the train depot combination and tie it in with train cars.
Carhartt loved the idea.
“If [a visitor] read the plaque next to it, then it would be a lightbulb moment,” he said.
Beginning in April of 2023 and finishing at the beginning of August, Peech used the rickhouse barrel wood’s shape to create a basketweave and raised the Carhartt logo with sawblade metal.
“Everyone loves it,” he said. “I really kept it a secret except for those coming in and out of the shop.”
When Peech posted about the project on his personal Facebook page, he received positive feedback locally.
On weekends, Peech doesn’t record his digital content, and that is when friends and family stop by his shop to see his creations.
“They know what I do for a living, but many who live in Hartford don’t have a clue,” he said. “I don’t put a lot of it on my personal [social media].”
Peech said that many of his “crazy” pieces are more well-known than the Carhartt logo piece.
“Those pieces went around the world,” he said. “That’s why I put the Carhartt on my personal page. It’s the first art piece they asked me to do.”
Peech works every day in his shop creating, and he said that his workload depends on the pressure he puts on himself. He said that pressure caused him to launch an official website and learn digital platforms.
“It’s a company. It’s a brand,” he said. “I am reaching a lot and teaching a lot, so that’s good.”
Peech’s passion is teaching and he hopes to continue that effort and help others. At the end of his videos, Peech gives a lesson beyond woodworking and learning a dying trade.
“I use woodworking to teach about believing in yourself, but I am really talking about life,” he said. “Those deathbed wishes of wanting to do something more, I will not be one of those.”
Peech is proud of his digital content and Carhartt piece, and he is proud to represent his community.
“If anyone wants to learn, I am there to teach,” he said.
