Slippery Rock Gazette

Sarah Rohr

Special Contributor

The Slippery Rock Gazette presents a conversation with Aaron Crowley of Crowley’s Granite Concepts and Fabricator’s Friend. Aaron is a long-time contributor to the Slippery Rock, an inventor of stone fabrication gear and services like the RemnantLocator.com.        

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

–Steve Jobs

There’s that time-worn adage, “Don’t reinvent the wheel” – It is this interviewer’s guess that phrase doesn’t weigh heavily on the mind of Aaron Crowley. 

Aaron has a knack, one could even say a gift, for taking an idea or concept from a different discipline or field of interest and solving a relevant problem in the stone fabricating industry by asking the question:

What’s not working…and how can I make it work, and not just work but work really effectively? 

For example, take the The Stone Sleeve™. According to the Fabricator’s Friend these “fabricator sleeves are the solution to wet polishing and working around natural stone with water-fed tools. The fabricator stays not only dry, but also warm, as he can wear a sweatshirt or jacket underneath. The wrist seal is soft, comfortable, and absolutely waterproof, guaranteed. The sleeve itself is a waterproof, poly-coated Cordura. They are manufactured to the same specs as military dive suits and are essential for any shop using water and wanting dry, productive fabricators.”

This product has a regular following due to its inherent usefulness. Many years ago, Aaron was having a conversation with a friend and fellow fabricator who was waxing on about his love of waterskiing in every season, even in winter. This concept was baffling to Aaron, who then asked his friend about how he maintained his body heat in the water in winter’s seemingly perilous conditions. His friend then stated that he donned a dry suit; Aaron said, “ You mean a wet suit?” 

“No, a dry suit,” his friend clarified and then continued and outlined how his body could stay completely dry in the winter due to the wrist suction, and ankle and neck suction on the dry suit. This story occurred before the rampant use of the Internet; Aaron called around and found that there was a waterskiing shop in his neck of the woods that sold dry suits. He called the company and asked a pair of sleeves cut off of a defective suit, which he would wear throughout the winter and also sell a handful to his buddies. When it was clear that this was more then a passing craze, an idea that warranted attention as it had already become an indispensable piece of fabrication gear to area shops, the doors of opportunity began to swing open and he started selling/ marketing his very useful product.

Looking for a wider market for his product, Aaron Crowley forged a bond with Braxton-Bragg when they agreed to promote Stone Sleeves in the Express, their catalog, and later the Slippery Rock Gazette.  As Crowley recalls, “They (Braxton-Bragg) pointed out that sometimes it seems like a sure bet that a certain product will sell, and then it doesn’t.” In this case, Braxton-Bragg took the risk on a great idea and promoted a product that turned out to have an almost magnetic attraction for their customers, and far exceed their expectations and Crowley’s. Now, Crowley and Braxton-Bragg have a well-established relationship as Fabricator’s Friend continues to reinvent and challenge the status quo of products for the stone industry.

Another potent example of Aaron’s skill of seeing a familiar resource in a new way, (note that Aaron himself, will probably be humbly blushing when reading this, as he’s not the self- aggrandizing sort) occurred with the typical, often flimsy aprons that hung on the backs of fabricators and by all accounts had a half life of … well frankly, a supplier’s delight and a purchaser’s annoyance. The Bullet Proof ™ Apron was born out of a need, for a sturdy and highly durable protective garment. If you’re not familiar yet with the product…

“BULLET PROOF™ Fabricator Aprons are lighter, more durable, and safer than any other apron on the market. With the neoprene neck strap and lightweight yet ultra-tough Cordura, you won’t even know you have it on. It is extra long and wide to keep your legs drier, and it buckles behind you to keep you safe.”

Aaron noted that the effectiveness of his product is so significant, that he wondered aloud …if the long-lasting quality of his product would run him out of the market, after he surveyed some of the customers who had purchased aprons some five years ago. He was informed that their gear was still going strong.

In a time where planned obsolescence is a prevalent marketing strategy to intentionally create, distribute and sell products that have a limited life span, The Bullet Proof™ Apron would make the craftsmen of old mighty proud as it is defying the current trends and standing that heretofore forgotten, test of time. 

Interestingly, the production of these aprons began to take hold and spread across the stone fabrication industry during the second Iraq war. Aaron mentioned this pertinent fact, because during that period he wasn’t always able to meet the demand for the product as a result of the U.S. military’s war-time orders that took legal priority over domestic manufacturing. Although the military and law-enforcement still take the lion’s share of production, a solution was found for the shortfall in material.

The Drive to Succeed

Think of the people in your life and home in on the ones who are go-getters and up starters – heck, this may even describe you. Recall the intensity of their drive and ambition. This full-throttle approach to life is a major driver in Aaron’s motivation to fulfill his ambitions and succeed. At one time in his life, this drive took hold of him and steered his ambitions toward creating a business that could run without him at the helm so that he could pursue his dream of changing the world through the platform of politics. 

In retrospect, Aaron has concluded that a shop without a shepherd is a much more difficult task than he could have ever imagined it to be.

In 2010, when Aaron was simultaneously running his businesses, writing a book, on his local planning commission and running for public office, all the while having a bustling and beautiful family and church to which he was committed. 

It was to Aaron’s great surprise, that a wave of relief washed over him the night he did not win his primary in his election for State Legislator because he knew that if he continued on the path that he was trailblazing with all his might, it could in some way or another be his demise. 

Thankfully, he re-evaluated his trajectory and through that process of reflection and a clarification of his values, he realized that he had been striving to make a difference in the lives of people he may never know personally while not having enough waking time to spend with those who mattered most to him, his own family.

Being a person with direct access to his creativity, Aaron realized that the people he wanted to impact the most were his own children. 

Know that when you purchase a Fabricator’s Friend product, it will most likely have been packaged under the watchful eyes of Aaron and his children, who he began employing in the business, empowering them to perform age-appropriate tasks. This choice to bring the business home granted him more true quality time to spend with his kids and engaged them in his business, which he hopes will foster a sense of responsibility and an awareness of how work gets done. 

This last innovation is one that generations ago would have been a natural occurrence. It is now commonplace that parents go away to work and their children may have little to no idea what it is that their parents actually do at work. Aaron instinctively challenged this societal disconnect and by doing so he honored his calling to make the world a better place, starting with his family.

Aaron’s visionary ability to make lemonade out of material or mechanical lemons is not unique to him and yet it is part of what defines who he is and what he creates in this world. 

Next time something just isn’t working and you’ve reached your wits end, recall this story of a man taking what wasn’t working and creating those things anew, and in doing so leaving a lot of people warm and safe, in his wake.

For more information on Fabricator’s Friend products, call Braxton-Bragg at 800-575-4401 or visit the website www.braxton-bragg.com.