CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1482727
CityViewNC.com | 37 cluster of hotels and restaurants off Cedar Creek Road by the exit from Interstate 95. e lumber is for sale to customers, but it's also the wood that Ballash and Gaede use for their custom woodworking ventures. It's mostly domestic hardwoods but some exotic woods, too. "If it's made out of wood, we do it," says Erin Zynda, 36, who is now Ballash's partner in his private life and a full-time collaborator at work. ey have been together for about a year. Zynda says she never met Ballash's wife, Jamie, and notes she has not replaced her at the shop. "I'm not an artist, and I don't have graphic design skills," she says from her office. But she has become an integral part of Kurt Ballash's business. Around the shop are projects in the works that include a printer stand made from ash wood; a handicap-accessible crib; a bar top on which a logo for a military unit on Fort Bragg would be cut out; an oak-stump coffee table; an ash pedestal table; a Wenge cigar humidor; and a couple of so-maple conference tables. "We're booked three to six months out now," Ballash says. He hopes to boost the retail side of the business by making more items like cutting boards, coasters and cornhole game stands for commercial outlets. Gaede says right now, they sell those items at the Downtown Market in Fayetteville. Aer a long spell of struggling with inner demons and a lack of purpose, Ballash has found a way forward. Jamie gave him direction when he needed it most. "When Jamie passed," he says, "it was a painful experience. But the community of people that have rallied behind me, despite that loss, was transformative on a number of levels for our business. I believe 100% that Jamie is up there with God and interceding on our behalf, dropping little hints into the right person's ear. We always just make it. Whenever we're shy or whenever we're feeling stressed, whenever we're kind of on the verge, we always make it. "I feel like that's partially her, still kind of doing what she always did best. Seeing the better in me. Seeing the better in the people that I have around me. And trying to provide for us." Military Honors, Burial Flag, Coordinate with Veterans' Cemeteries Highland Funeral Service & Crematory SULLIVAN'S 910.484.8108 | www.sullivanshighland.com 610 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC 28301 Proudly honoring those who have sacrificed for our freedom Proudly honoring those who have sacrificed for our freedom