Today we’d like to introduce you to Jon Beaulieu.
Hi Jon, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For more than 15 years, woodworking was simply a hobby for me, something I loved doing whenever I had free time. I always enjoyed creating things with my hands and working with natural materials, but I never imagined it would eventually become my full-time business.
After being laid off from my sales job in 2024, I found myself at a crossroads and reevaluating what I wanted next. I knew one thing for certain — it wasn’t sales. Instead, I decided to take a chance on myself and see if I could turn my passion into something bigger. At first, I thought the business would focus on furniture, home décor, and custom woodworking projects. However, the direction evolved over time to a natural pivot. I spent my early career in the culinary industry working in kitchens and I found that I had a natural skill for it! I cook daily for my family now and am quite the home chef. I appreciate how a good kitchen tool can elevate a dish and decided to combine this with my love for woodworking. The concept of Rustic Yet Refined was born. And there was one tool that started the whole line!
Our family tries to live as sustainably as possible. We grow vegetables in our garden, started a mini orchard, and truly value using natural materials with purpose. After the major winter storm that swept through the Austin area and destroyed many local trees, I couldn’t let that wood go to waste. I began milling lumber from the fallen trees myself and started making wooden kitchen tools for our own home. One of the first pieces was what we now call the Taco Chopper, an all-in-one meat chopper and skillet scraper made from our fallen Bartlett Pear tree. I originally designed it for my own grip and used it daily before realizing other home cooks would love it too. Once we replaced plastic utensils in our kitchen with handcrafted wooden tools, it solidified the direction of what Rustic Yet Refined would become.
I started designing more kitchen pieces focused on both function and beauty, and my family and I debuted the collection at local farmers markets just to see how people would respond. Almost immediately, we knew we had found something special. Weekend after weekend, many of our products sold out, and the support from the local community was incredible.
Over the last 18 months, Rustic Yet Refined has continued to grow far beyond what I originally imagined. Our small business as become something that can sustain our family and gives us real purpose in the community. One of the biggest surprises has been the maker community itself — the camaraderie, encouragement, and support between small businesses is something we truly value. Being surrounded by other like minded makers sharing their passions is something that always resonates with us after each show. “Market life” has also been special to share with our 6 year old, Arya. She’s seeing her Dad live out his dream and it’s the best life lesson I can share with her. I’m proud she gets to see to her Mom and I build this from the ground up. She looks forward to every market, loves exploring the other booths, and has even made friends with other makers’ kids along the way.
My wife, Johanna, has also played a huge role in our growth. With her background in branding and corporate gifting, she has helped shape our brand image and online presence while we continue building relationships with customers both in person and online. As we rounded out our first year, one of the most rewarding moments has been seeing returning customers come back to buy more pieces for themselves or gift them to family. Those moments always take me back to the beginning — standing in my garage making that very first batch of kitchen tools and hoping someone else would love them as much as I did.
We’ve now expanded from local farmers markets into regional craft shows and artisan events throughout Texas. One of our biggest milestones to date was being accepted into Market for Makers at the Palmer Events Center this July. It’s a curated market made up of artisans and small businesses who truly handcraft and create their products. The application is competitive which made the acceptance feel even more meaningful to us.
All these small wins honestly make all the countless hours covered in sawdust mean something bigger. Building this business has always been about more than just making products for us, it has been about creating something people feel connected to. What we’ve built resonates not only in person at markets, but online and within our community as well.
For our small business, everything this past year feels like we’ve truly made it in our space. I took a chance and it worked!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges in building Rustic Yet Refined has been learning that truly handcrafted products take time, patience, and persistence to perfect. What may look like a simple wooden spoon or spatula is actually the result of countless hours of design, testing, and refinement. We went through dozens of prototypes — adjusting handle shapes, bowl depths, edge angles, wood thickness, and overall balance — until each tool felt just right in the hand and performed exactly how we wanted in the kitchen.
There were plenty of failed designs along the way, but those failures became part of the process. Every version taught us something new about comfort, durability, and functionality. That commitment to continual improvement is what helped shape Rustic Yet Refined into what it is today: handcrafted kitchen tools designed not only to look beautiful, but to become trusted everyday essentials in the homes of our customers.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Today, our business focuses on our signature line of handcrafted cooking utensils, baking tools, and chef-style cutting boards. Every single product is still handmade by me with a focus on quality craftsmanship, sustainability, and creating pieces that people can use and appreciate every day.
We’re also continuing to expand our custom gifting options for businesses, client appreciation gifts, and especially realtor closing gifts. The goal will always be to ditch the plastic and get our quality kitchen tools in every day homes. We’ve had customers say they had to come back to buy a second since their relative will take theirs!
What makes Rustic Yet Refined truly special to me is that it’s a family business in every sense of the word. I’m the sole craftsman making each product by hand, and my wife plays a huge role behind the scenes building our brand through photography, social media, and helping identify trends and new ideas. Even our 6-year-old daughter loves being part of the business by helping with packaging, stickers, and preparing orders. She’s also become quite the salesperson so don’t be surprised if she convinces you to buy something!
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
What started as a hobby in my garage has grown into something our whole family is proud to build together — a business centered around craftsmanship, community, and bringing beautiful, functional wood products into people’s homes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ryrwoodworks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rusticyetrefined/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RusticYetRefinedTX
