Leeward is a bespoke furniture company created by us, John and Gina. We started this company in April of 2018 when our daughter, Miki was just 3 months old. The idea back then was to create a means of providing for ourselves by doing work that we love, while creating a lifestyle that allows us to raise Miki the way we want to. Now a few years, a global pandemic, national reckoning, and some major personal life events later, we’re still here doing what we love. In the midst of the madness that is parenthood and business ownership, we constantly wonder how this work will grow. Not only as a business, but in its capacity to join in the work of reconciliation as a society and as fellow creatures on this delicate and precious earth.

Woodworking seems to have this uncanny ability to connect us to ourselves and to the natural world. It is accessible enough that anyone who is interested can learn it, but deep enough that you can spend your whole life mastering it. It uses, in some ways, the most foundational material in our world, which then forces anyone who engages in it to consider the sustainability of the craft and our lives. The patience and concentration it forces upon the worker is medicine for mental health, while the product it produces has the power to bring harmony to a space and a sense of stability to its owner.

Today, we make custom furniture out of locally sourced lumber here in Kensington, Philadelphia. The work of building long-lasting, well designed pieces is still so fulfilling, but we dream of finding ways to use this work to build connection and provide space for healing in our community. There’s so much work to be done, but as with our personal lives, we can’t start looking out until we’ve looked in. So we will continue to learn and develop our craft as we stay open to the possibilities of tomorrow.