By Barbara Bonner

Meet The Works

Hi. Fancy seeing you here. If you're new to The Works you might be wondering, "What is The Works? What do you do? Where did you come from? Who are the folx behind everything I see online?" We're here to answer those questions, and more! Keep reading....

Our founder, Kellie, believes that lasting change starts at home, and that’s what she aims do to at The Works. A passionate kid with plans to change the world, Kellie grew into an adult who spent more than a decade working in environmental education and climate change consulting. And while that work does change the world, ultimately Kellie realized the change she was most passionate about was much more local - creating a place to gather, connect, and share skills.

Kellie first came up with the idea for The Works while working with Seattle Farm School, which offered classes and a community in the art of urban homesteading. When the founder of the farm school handed the reins over to Kellie to go on a new adventure, Kellie knew Seattle wanted more than homesteading. She decided to expand the offerings into other hands-on and DIY classes, including cooking, crafting, and gardening. The Works was born.

In the last two years (our anniversary is May 8!) of being The Works, we have expanded to hosting classes almost every day, teaching at private events, and building partnerships with incredible local makers and businesses to expand our retail offerings in our shop. Since having to close shop temporarily in March due to COVID-19 we have moved our classes online (both instant access and live via Zoom), have moved our retail online, and have created class kits to accompany some of our instant access classes to further reduce barriers to learning and creating.

The Works team really is a family. Every person involved brings their own expertise to the table, whether they are a teacher, a social media expert, an operations guru, or a merchandiser extraordinaire. The teaching often extends beyond the classroom. We believe everyone has something valuable to share so we are always connecting with each other to offer suggestions, advice, and lend a hand when needed. As they say, we may be small but we are mighty. There's nothing this team can't do.

We are honored every day to be a part of this special Seattle community. We look forward to the day we can open the shop back up for in-person classes, but in the meantime we'll see you on Instagram, Facebook, an instant access class, or a live class. Thank you for being here. You keep showing up for us and we're going to keep showing up for you.