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Let’s celebrate our PiBurners of the week:

 

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Todd and Misty Tomlinson

owners of

Higher Grace Creations

 

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How it started, and how it evolved

Today’s PiBurner is special. It’s not just one person, but a truly inspiring couple that we can all learn a lot from.

Todd and his wife Misty are the co-creators and owners at Higher Grace Creations. They started as a screen-printing and jewelry-making business focused on the addiction recovery market.

But as the market changed so did their business.

They began focusing more on small orders that most screen printers wouldn’t touch. They also moved into personalized items with the help of their newly purchased Thunder Laser Nova 51 and the PiBurn 3.0.

This pivot, along with their investment in top-of-the-line laser and rotary equipment helped them expand their offerings to cover faith and family markets and run FOUR successful Etsy shops. Read on, the shops are linked below.

“We’ve found that personalized items are the niche market where our skills and capabilities match the demands of the market. There’s something about seeing your name or a significant milestone date on a piece of jewelry or a coffee tumbler that brings an additional level of appreciation and goes well beyond something you can buy at your local retail store.” – Todd

We couldn’t agree more. Personalization is a mega-trend in the market and a big opportunity for many of our amazing PiBurners.

 

An “Upgraded” Rotary experience for Thunder Laser

Todd is no beginner at using a rotary. But since his business shifted to micro orders – small quantity orders of highly customized drinkware, his rotary needs changed too. He had a decent rotary before the PiBurn but his changing needs required a better rotary design. For instance, he wanted the rotary to allow for faster and pain-free swapping of tumblers between jobs. He needed a faster horizontal adjustment. He also needed more precision and rigidity than his current rotary provided. He really needed a powerful rotary like the PiBurn!

But there was an issue. The PiBurn at that time was still not compatible with Thunder Lasers! Not to be deterred, Todd ordered the PiBurn anyway. And, with his generous help, we made a Thunder compatible version, that now works with ANY thunder laser, 7 or the older 5-pin plug configuration, right out of the box. There were a few hiccups where we thought Todd will surely give up and ask for his money back. But nope, he stuck with us with a friendly “That’s just part of the process, boys.”

He officially became our first Thunder Laser customer (even though a few brave pioneers before him have adopted the PiBurn to Thunder by fitting it with a hybrid servo motor themselves!)

And it all paid off. He loves his new rotary experience so much, he could play it like a flute! He even made a comparison video with his old rotary:

 

About Todd and Misty

Todd and Misty live on the outskirts of Portland Oregon and love to spend time with their kids and grandsons.

But there is a lot more about this amazing couple than meets the eye!

Todd has spent the last 40 years as a senior executive in the technology industry and has been at the forefront of technical innovation, working one-on-one with some of the industry’s greats. Including even… Steve Jobs!

Todd was an early pioneer in factory automation, distributed computing, and electronic document management  (say that three times fast!) and pivoted to the web in the mid-1990s. He is widely known as one of the world’s leading experts on web technologies and eCommerce, with six published books focused on web development. That’s serious talent! Think we’re kidding? Check him out as a best-selling author on Amazon! 

Misty worked for one of Portland’s premier law firms until she exited the legal world to focus 100% of her efforts on her custom jewelry business. And boy, is this work rewarding…

“The level of satisfaction we get when we hear stories about how our products touch the lives of those we serve it makes the long hours all seem worth it. Hearing the heart-felt stories from parents who gave their child a piece of jewelry, t-shirt, of laser created and how it inspired them to continue in their recovery makes all those long hours worth every second.” – Misty

What keeps Todd and Misty going?

It’s the magic of creating something new – going from idea to reality where you control the outcome. Or in Todd’s words:

What motivates us each day is the ability to move from concept to creation of a physical product in a matter of minutes.

A bit more from Todd:

If an idea pops into our heads while having coffee in the morning we can have that product produced and listed in our online stores before our coffee gets cold. With our Thunder Laser Nova 51 and our PiBurn 3.0 we’re able to tell a prospective customer “Yes we can!” and that is with confidence that the product is going to be perfect.

Another reason is a lot more personal and really makes you think:

When we hear the stories from our customers about the impact that something as small and seemingly insignificant as a coffee tumbler with the serenity prayer and their sobriety date has on their life it makes us realize how easy it is to make a positive impact on someone’s life.

If that tumbler keeps them from taking another drink of alcohol and prevents them from using drugs, then all the investment and hard work were more than worth it. We’ve said that if we only change one person’s life by doing what we do then it will all have been worth it. Three years later we’re humbled to say that we have stories from so many people on how our products changed their life, or someone they love. Our advice to you – do something that matters. At the end of the day its not all about the balance of your bank account, but the impact and legacy that you leave behind. Do good things.

How inspiring, how beautiful, and how wise is that! Now, we know for sure that you will check out their products and social pages.

Todd and Misty’s Shops and Facebook Page

 

Check out Todd and Misty’s main shop on Etsy: www.highergracecreations.com (The page takes you to their Etsy shop)

www.highergracecreations.com

 

There, you can find apparel with uplifting themes and faith-inspired designs from hoodies to caps to (our favorite) custom cups and tumblers.

Besides their main shop, Todd and Misty run four other shops on Etsy. Visit them and browse through their unique and uplifting selections below:

 

www.12stepshirts.com

www.spokenheartgifts.com

www.highergracejewelry.com

 

Don’t forget to check out their Facebook page, and make sure to “like” it!

https://www.facebook.com/highergracecreations

 

 

Favorite Projects

Some of Todd’s favorite projects are the personalized coffee tumblers they do with the help of PiBurn 3.0 on their Thunder laser.

And in time for Halloween, Todd’s signature Pumpkin Pi:

To finish up with a quote from Todd

Len and Stan, the work that you do is like dropping a pebble in a pond – it has a ripple effect. Your diligence and commitment to excellence enable us to do the work that we do, which in turn impacts the lives of so many people. You don’t just create the best rotary in the market, you enable those of us in the market to make things that have an impact. Thank you for all that you do.

Todd and Misty, it is we who are thankful we met you and learned about your wonderful journey and your meaningful mission in life. You are truly inspiring and you honor us by being our customers and more importantly a part of the maker community. Thank you!!!

 

That’s all for today my friends, and Happy PiBurning!

Stan & Len

PS: Want to be a featured PiBurner yourself? Find out how!

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