My father, a retired schoolteacher, had always enjoyed woodworking as a hobby.

So one year I decided to find out for myself what he loved about his long-time hobby. I borrowed a woodworking tool from him over Christmas vacation with the goal to finish a woodworking project of my own: a log firewood rack to tidy up my fireplace.

My first wood craft project, a log firewood rack

Since I was working as a paralegal at the time, I thought that woodworking would simply be a fun weekend project. But when I brushed away the sawdust and put the finishing touches on my beautiful log firewood rack, I was hooked!

Creating and building new woodworking projects was my obsession from that moment on. I spent hundreds of hours studying YouTube videos and tutorials, teaching myself how to use new tools and make different projects.

As I tackled bigger and bigger projects, I purchased new tools and equipment. Eventually, I found myself with a fully-equipped woodworking studio.

Dozens of people started coming to buy my wood crafts by word-of-mouth, and before I knew it, I was selling my work at small craft shows around my hometown in Wisconsin. 

As the business grew, I expanded to selling my crafts online. My small business grew so quickly that the choice was clear: running a woodworking business was my calling. It was at that point that I decided to pursue woodworking full time.

Outdoor Fire Pit Pokers

One evening early on in my woodworking career, I was sitting around the campfire with a few other friends enjoying a pleasant night of cocktails.

But then… every time the fire went out we found ourselves looking around for a stick to stir up the embers.  

After the umpteenth time poking around the bushes for a stick, we decided it sure would be nice if we had something decent to keep the fire going so we didn't have to keep looking for sticks all the time.

And with that comment, the wheels in my mind began to turn.

We put together our creativity and determination and started talking about designs for an outdoor fire pit poker.

We knew that it would have to be rugged.

It would have to be long.

It would have to look good and feel sturdy.

I searched the web to see if this fire poker already existed, but all the fire pokers I found looked the same. They were flimsy, short, and frankly looked pretty bad.

So when I got back from our camping trip, my creative drive took over. I put my woodworking skills to the test in creating the best-looking handle I could design, and we worked the metal tip to make it functional, yet elegant.

After months of refining the poker to perfection, the original outdoor fire pit poker was born.

Since then, we have made many improvements to the original design. Our fire pokers are now consistently beautiful, hand-crafted works of art that we’re proud to put our name on.

The Name “Ame High®”

My name is Amy, and everyone calls me Ame. I’m also a United States Air Force Veteran, and the Air Force motto is “Aim High.”  So, I decided to name my business Ame High®!

Amy Beck is a USAF veteran with 3 tours under her belt, including Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. After serving her country, she worked as a paralegal for 12 years at a law firm in Medford, Wisconsin.