When Wisconsin native Shane Henderson began a weekend project with his son in their tiny Manitowoc garage, little did he realize that he was about to take a four-year journey, called The American Dream.
Shane’s hobby of making metal American flag wall decorations was a natural outpouring for both his passion for the metalworking craft, and his enormous sense of patriotism. Having his son work with him was just a way to get some quality time together and for Shane to pass on the skills he had learned over the years. Creating these pieces for at first, his own home, and then for family and friends, was reward enough for Shane, but when his son suggested posting some of their creations on social media, things really began to take off.
Shane and Justis’ art went viral, and along with that came requests to buy the incredible steel flags from people all across the country. Shocked by the response, but able to see the potential, Shane turned his one time hobby into a business, and Metal Art of Wisconsin was born. As the fledgling business grew, Shane expanded the range of metal artwork to include Military insignia and other forms of patriotic art, boosting their already astonishing growth to an almost uncontrollable level. With every new design, came more success and Shane and Justis soon found themselves devoting more and more time to fulfilling orders. Before long this became unsustainable, and their weekend project in the garage, became a full time business with it’s own workshop.
Four short years later and the Father and Son team are giants in the field of metal arts, boasting not only a hugely successful business, but also the largest metal art instagram following on the planet. A true Social media success story and proof positive that the American Dream is still alive.
Shane and Justis are extremely grateful for all of the success, that is why they give back to our country’s heroes through their project “Flags For Fortitude”, a charitable program that donates personalized flags and patriotic metal art to “heroes” that are nominated on their website www.flagsforfortitude.com Veterans, Police Officers, First Responders, Fire Fighters, Paramedics, anyone who is a “hero” and making a difference in their community.
Get PERKS and Support Community Journalism | SUBSCRIBE