One great thing about being creative: you can take a woodworking class and make your own furniture. Imagine all the money you’d save if the right side of your brain worked on hyperdrive and you weren’t lazy?

That’s what this guy, Matthew Parrish, a creative director over at the Rooftop Agency, has been doing since he could remember (well, actually, as far back as high school). He always loved the outdoors growing up, and was that kid who would build forts and tree-houses for his friends. He must have been pretty good at it even then, because as soon as he entered his teens, he took his first woodworking class and discovered he had a serious passion for building things with his hands. His first job? Building skateboards and then selling them for a pretty penny (for a high school student, that is).

Even though Parrish drifted away from that world when he entered the ad biz, he never forgot it, and eventually joined two of his best mates, Justin Brady and Drew Davidson, to open the Island of Saints workshop. It’s essentially a collective creative space that he shares with his friends and business partners, and after five years, they’ve managed to turn it into a fully-functioning business, where people can purchase their custom-made artwork, decor and furniture. The best part? He gets to use his talents at Rooftop, where he occasionally applies his woodworking chops to the client projects that come through the shop’s doors (and no doubt impresses the boss man/lady while he’s at it, too).

(Oh, and if you’re interested in owning that “M” down below, then be sure to come to the AToMiC Awards on May 26 in Toronto — it’ll be up for grabs in the silent auction for NABS).