Mrs. Beverly Robinson is an amazing lady who retired from Better Barns a couple of years back but still works for us as needed. She published a monthly newspaper for our rural area prior to working for us and worked for another newspaper in a nearby city for many years.
When she came to work for us, she let her newspaper die, but her desire to write and publish did not die with it. We talked seriously about publishing a magazine for the shed industry, but running a small manufacturing company just did not leave enough time to ever actually publish anything.
So, we were thrilled to discover Shed Builder Magazine in late 2015. I immediately reached out to Matt Poe and offered to help in any way.
Better Barns was one of the earliest companies featured (February/March 2016) in the magazine. I wrote my first column for the April/May 2016 issue.
As time rocked on, Matt made the decision to move my column to the back page. My little column of useless information has rested there ever since.
Being a part of this magazine has been a source of pride and satisfaction for me. I love the shed industry!
I, along with so many of you, have watched this industry grow through the lens of this publication. It looks like the industry will continue to adapt to new challenges and opportunities as we work together in the future. I’m excited to be a part of it!
However, I have decided that I will no longer be able to write my monthly column.
The well has dried up. My column has been a place to share stories of building sheds, but I stopped building sheds over eight years ago. It seems that my last few columns have been simply an effort to recycle some old story and I am not willing to continue down that road.
You deserve better than that.
Whether the team at Shed Builder Magazine finds another shed-building storyteller or replaces my column with a totally new idea, I am confident that this magazine will continue to provide shed builders everywhere with great information and a bit of entertainment.
Thanks to Matt, Marty, Debbie, and the rest of the team at Shed Builder Magazine for allowing me to be a small part of this great publication. It has been an honor to work with each of you and get to know you.
Because of this experience, I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream to write and publish a book. (Shameless plug—I now have three books available: Three Men and a Barrel, Treasure at Fort Arbuckle, and You Gotta Dig Two Graves.) I will forever be grateful.
Thanks to all of you fine folks who stopped me at the Shed Builder Expo to tell me you enjoyed my columns. Honestly, I would have quit a couple of years ago had it not been for your encouraging words.
Thanks to the Shed Geek for inviting me to the podcast to talk about my work. It seems that a rising tide is indeed lifting all the boats in the industry.
Thanks to Better Barns for allowing me to share these stories. So many of my friends and coworkers have made it into print in less than flattering ways. Perhaps they have forgiven me.
Thanks to each of you who supports this industry in some way. Let us continue to build one another up. There is no value in tearing one another down.
We need each other!While this is my farewell column, I have no intention of leaving the industry. May God be with each of you as you face another day in the life of a shed builder.
