I Started a Company Because It’s All I Could Do

 

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2014, during a family crisis and right before being let go from what was a pretty good job. Having settled into a relatively happy, comfortable life, I was thrust, without warning, into chaos and uncertainty. Everything was suddenly up in the air - in addition to my newfound anxiety about my health, I no longer knew how I would even begin to pay for the medicine I now needed. Suddenly I had a lot of time on my hands and a growing dread about how and if it would all work out.

All the while, the costs mounted.

In order to occupy my time and take my mind off what might be next, I started making things. One day my girlfriend, now my wife, showed me a ring she was thinking about buying. I thought I might be able to make something similar, and I needed the distraction.

I got to work.

It turned out pretty well, I thought. I posted pictures of it on the internet and people started asking me to make them one too. A light bulb went off. Maybe this is a solution to cover some of my costs and keep my head above water.

Within a few months, I was making pieces for friends, family, and complete strangers. I was paying for my medical expenses and my workspace was completely taking over my house.

The name “In God We Must” comes from the motto on the coins that have become the centerpiece of everything we do. It refers to that Pioneer Spirit and the fact that we all must do what he have to in order to survive and thrive. If there’s a mission to this craft, I want it to be to inspire people to get out and do what inspires them. To show people that if I can take this uncertainty and dread, and turn it into something productive, then they can push through the things that are holding them back. That we can all forge a path forward through whatever is thrown at us.

That is the essence of the Pioneer Spirit.

This is In God We Must.

- John, Founder of IGWM