We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda & Ben Breard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda & Ben, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We didn’t actually set out to start our own business, our first intent was simply to solve a problem that we had. We inherited a mid-century-modern lounge chair and were unable to find a replacement cover (the previous manufacturer had gone out of business). We documented our process in making our personal replacement cover and wrote a blog post to help anyone else recreate a cover, and thought that was the end of it. People kept reaching out to us and inquiring if we would make a cover for them (rather than making their own) and the glimmer of the start of our business came into being. We started small, to make sure we could keep our overhead costs low, while sourcing quality materials and slowly growing our business; we started with a waiting list to take some of the pressure off of our development time and measure the demand for our product in the marketplace. We saw a need in the marketplace and we are fulfilling that need.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We love interacting with our clients and hearing the stories of where they acquired/inherited their Barwa lounge chairs and seeing the old photos too. Our personal touch, quality, and authenticity sets us apart; we hand make each piece and a lot of time, passion, and care goes into each one. What started as hauling a rusty and dusty piece of patio furniture home in our car after a family get together has turned into a fulfilling boutique business for us.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We love living in the DFW area, there’s so much to do! The Dallas World Aquarium is a big hit with our kids, as is the nearby Perot science museum;

afterwards you can stroll over to Klyde Warren Park and grab lunch from one of the many foodtrucks and relax on the lawn. Musicals at Fair Park or opera at the Winspear if your tastes are more high-brow. We are also big fans of the Fort Worth water gardens and a feast-worthy TexMex meal at Joe T. Garcia’s.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We would like to thank our family for their support, Ben’s grandparents for having excellent taste in furniture and keeping the pieces in the family (the source of our inspiration and business), and Ben’s parents for passing their fantastic Barwa lounger to us. We’d also love to give a shoutout to the WordPress community for making e-commerce affordable and available to newbs like us. We still get goosebumps every time we get an order!

Website: www.barwachair.com

Instagram: @barwachair

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.