Joseph J. Eberle II, owner and operator of J. Eberle Woodworking LLC, which is located directly in front of his home, began his woodworking business as simply a hobby in his garage, but quickly turned the hobby into his business. He said he would make furniture pieces and other objects, but had a full-time job elsewhere.
“I was climbing a ladder, getting up there, I was into a supervisor role, and I realized that the building that the ladder was resting against, wasn’t the building I wanted to be against,” he said.
He said he and his wife pray a lot and said they felt that God was telling him to go out and start his business about seven years ago.
He said the business has grown every year since.
His father is someone he says he looks up to.
“My father is Superman; he can do anything and does everything,” he said.
One of the lessons he said he learned from his father was to not be afraid to mess up.
“If you do something wrong, you just move on, you handle whatever repercussions come,” he said.
He recalls times when his father would allow him to help him out and hold a flashlight when his father would be doing work in the house.
“I was probably holding it wrong, I was probably not looking at the thing I was supposed to be looking at, but he had such patience with me,” he said.
Mr. Eberle said he thinks that people born and raised here have a thought that they need to leave the area, but he doesn’t believe people do need to leave.
“There are jobs, there are places to be here, there is value here,” he said. “That’s not the responsibility of the area to attract; that’s the responsibility of you and I to recognize that there’s value here.”
Mr. Eberle said he really enjoys getting to have conversations with clients that may not have anything to do with work.
“I would have no reason to talk to a lot of the people that I talk to, if it wasn’t for that shop,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times people have walked into that shop down there and they’re burdened with something beyond their project, and for whatever reason, people just kind of spill it… it has nothing to do with wood, nothing at all, but I’m supposed to be there and I’m supposed to listen to them and I’m supposed to pray for them or just kind of be a shoulder, that’s why I’m there.”
Throughout his journey Mr. Eberle said that he learned that there is more that he doesn’t know than he does know.
“I’ve learned that I don’t have to have the answers; I have to know who to contact for the answer or I need to know how to find the answer,” he said.
Mr. Eberle said that he has also had to learn how to be patient.
He said that normally he wants to make a more quick decision, but adds there is some “wisdom in just backing up just for a minute.”
He said that he has received advice from both his father and his wife.
Mr. Eberle said that people would be surprised to know how involved he is in the church.
“My wife and I, and my family, our relationship with the Lord, is very, very important,” he said.
He serves on the council at Faith Fellowship in Watertown where he has been a part of the church his whole life, and plays the drums for the Worship Team.
“Sundays, that’s church, that’s important,” he said.
Mr. Eberle said the best piece of advice came from a friend when his friend told him the Lord would say “You take care of my business, I will take care of yours.”
“So if we go about the day looking to do the work of the Lord, He’s going to make all the other things just kind of work out,” he said.
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