The signs are all there. Austin Luecke isn’t the average college senior.

For him, being a student isn’t just a chance to get an education but a chance to put his passion, woodworking, into practice.

Luecke runs his own business creating custom wood signs. The business, Awesome Austin’s Creative Creations, became officially recognized by the state back in April 2016 and is run out of his dorm and home back in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Luecke’s business arose primarily from his love of working with his hands.

“It’s an art, and it takes a lot of time. I’ve spent a lot of time working with wood,” Luecke said. “My family has had a decent impact on my passion. My dad does a lot of his own creating.”

Not only does Luecke get his passion from his family, but also some of his resources. He and his dad split the cost of a Computer Numerated Controlled router, a wood cutting device that takes designs created in a computer software program and automatically inputs them into the wood cutting router. This helps with accuracy and efficiency.

Luecke has worked with wood for longer than he can remember, but it was his decision to use CNC routers that convinced him to turn his hobby into a business.

“It’s cool to (work with CNC routers) as a hobby, but since we made the decision to buy the machine, I need to do something to pay this thing off, and starting my own business seemed like a really cool way to do that,” Luecke said.

Luecke’s ability to work with his CNC router has helped jump start his business. He is also working on developing a website and obtaining retail space to expand his business but hasn’t had enough time lately to achieve these goals just.

A typical order for Luecke starts with a customer requesting his services via email.  

“Depending on what they want, we discuss either through email or over the phone what they want in terms of size, what the sign will say, what design patterns are on it,” Luecke said. “After our meetings, I’ll come up with a couple of designs so the customer has some choices, and once they pick the one they want, I’ll put it on the wood.”

Luecke completes the design process in his dorm on his computer, which has the necessary software.

“There are a lot of software options that let you choose the tool paths on the wood and make all of the designs, so you can see what it’ll look like beforehand,” Luecke said.

After a design is created and approved by the customer, Luecke then takes the design over to his house in White Bear Lake — where the router is — so it can be carved into wood. This carving process usually takes about an hour, though Luecke said it can take another 3-4 hours if the sign needs to be stained and finished.

“I could do one a day if I had a consistent amount of time,” Luecke said.

On top of operating his own business, Luecke also interns for Tendyne Holdings medical company, is an apartment coordinator in Morrison Hall and has a full load of classes. This schedule doesn’t allow for much free time, and Luecke has had to give up a lot to make it work.

“I used to be very involved in a variety of clubs on campus and use to hang out with people all the time, (but) I had to give up my involvement and I have cut my time from hanging out with friends a lot,” he said.

Even though he wants to pursue a full-time career in mechanical engineering, his major, he knows that his sacrifices have been well worth the long days.  

“I would like to have a job that utilizes my degree,” Luecke said, “and that’s still Plan A. But this is the time to try things out. I’d rather try making a company now than regret never trying.”

Noah Brown can be reached at brow7736@stthomas.edu