CLINTONVILLE, Wis. (WFRV) – Social media is a powerful tool. A Clintonville couple is using it to their advantage.

Jef and Jessica Behnke are the owners of Two Moose Design, a custom furniture and design company that specializes in handcrafted wooden items. The business’s name is inspired by the pair’s dogs. Jessica and Jef both had dogs named Moose, which Jess says is what got them talking. Jef’s dog passed away last year, but now they are dog parents to Moose and Manny.

“For the most part, we specialize in smaller goods that we sell on Etsy, and we also share a lot of content on Instagram and empower other makers to start building and start their business,” says Jef Behnke.

Jef and Jess are not your average woodworkers. You’ve probably seen them while scrolling on Instagram or Youtube, or they may have popped up on Tiktok. Jess, a former pastry chef, and Jef, a welder, didn’t exactly set out to start a business. Initially, they were doing a favor for a family member.

“My sister-in-law asked for a shelf and I was like I can build that and so we kind of put that online and started selling it snowballed, and now we have our own shop,” says Jess.

“We had no idea what Etsy even was at the time, and that was kind of like the ok, then it took off and we went all in. Right away we didn’t expect this to turn into what it turned into,” says Jef.

The couple started the business in their basement in 2017 and eventually opened their shop in 2019. It’s a small operation between the two of them. They are working out of their garage, yet they’ve managed to garner a huge social media following. They have over 155,000 followers on Instagram, over 27,000 on TikTok, and 13,000 and counting YouTube subscribers.

“On Instagram, we started posting all of our photos then occasionally we’d post a picture of me or her working, but then those photos were doing way better than product photography. I think that at like 10,000 followers or something crazy, I realized that most of the people that were following us were woodworkers,” says Jef.

Two Moose Design is a custom furniture and design company whose mission is to create quality products that will last for generations to come. For more information on Two Moose Design, click here.