Meet William Dohman. He is a craftsman with a conscience and, like Aveda, a native of Minnesota. So it’s only logical that William and the company would cross paths several times—most recently when the artisan created one-of-a-kind upcycled wooden boxes for a special contest to celebrate the launch of Aveda’s Tulasāra™ line.

William’s earliest intersection with Aveda was not as a woodworker, but as an architect, when he was at the small South Minneapolis firm that was in charge of designing Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher’s New York City apartment. Like Horst, who started as a celebrity stylist in his native Europe and ended up changing career lanes (ultimately creating a beauty empire), William was trained to be an architect, but eventually found himself at a crossroads. He was working in architecture, but making interesting wooden objects on the side. “I was going to stop woodworking and just do architecture, but my wife encouraged me to stick to woodworking. She urged me to sell my creations online, and it got to the point where I became a featured artist,” he says. “I made little robots and a lot of wooden signs. But mostly, I’d find scrap wood and ask myself what I could make out of them.”

Several years later, once William’s newly formed woodworking business, Oh Dier, a home-décor, entertaining, and kids’ toys company made from ethically sourced wood, had taken off, he once again found himself with a connection to Aveda – a woodworking project with the company. The result? A bespoke, limited-edition wooden box that will be used to house the entire Tulasāra™ collection, including the Radiant Facial Dry Brush, Radiant Oleation Oil, Firm Concentrate, Bright Concentrate, and Calm Concentrate.

(Click here to find out how you can win the limited-edition box with the Tulasara™ products— Valued at $335!)

The materials for the box come from a local cabinet shop, which manufactures large custom cabinets and pieces of furniture for corporations. “They have high volumes of wood coming in,” says William, “but, of course, the grain for those projects must be flawless and all look the same, so there are many pieces they can’t use.” Normally, wood scraps would be burned, but William buys them to craft the Tulasāra™ boxes. “Each box is truly unique. So I’m after just the kind of wood that they don’t want.” It’s a win-win.”

The late Aveda founder once said, “If it’s not love, stop doing it.” Thankfully, William continued following his passion—and everyone is better for it.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS?

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