In 2017, I started making jigsaw puzzles in the spare room of my apartment in Seattle, WA. I'd done laser-cut wooden puzzles before and loved how beautiful and tactile they were, and I was excited about the creative possibilities of laser cutting. I could make exactly the kind of puzzles I wanted to solve myself, and that I knew would delight the puzzling community.

The reality involved a lot of experimentation: sourcing the right materials, dialing in the production techniques, and developing fast but thorough QA processes. But since I love tough puzzles, every new challenge to overcome just fueled my passion to find the best solution.

The business grew from that spare room to a garage, then to a 1,000 sq ft space in a strip mall, and finally to a 2,000 sq ft office/warehouse with a roll-up door.

The Team

Ahnna was the first to join full-time, followed by Nina and Callie. We also brought on temporary help during busy seasons. Together, we built something special: a business where we could experiment, collaborate, and support each other's growth.

Where You Could Find Us

Many of our sales happened at local art, holiday, and summer festivals. We exhibited for many years at Urban Craft Uprising and GeekCraft. Markets were one of the places we made connections with artists we would go on to collaborate with for puzzle art. We worked with incredible local painters and graphic artists, as well as popular Seattle muralist Henry. Their art brought our puzzles to life in ways we never could have imagined on our own.

We started selling online on Etsy, then began to sell on our own website as well. We sold wholesale to many small toy stores and gift shops around the country. We got our first pallet-sized order from Uncommon Goods and were featured in their catalog twice.

Other places we could be found: Made in Washington, Signals, and Touch of Modern.

We also created custom puzzles for Starbucks Reserve Roasteries. Engraved puzzles were a new product for us and we had to determine how to do it and how to price it. We were inspired by this project to create many more engraved puzzles, some in partnership with Uncommon Goods.

What's Next?

After several years of growth, the business reached a natural pivot point. Our team members were ready to pursue new opportunities, and the realities of rising operational costs meant I had a choice: scale up or step back.

I chose to step back. I'd built Bewilderness because I wanted to create, and after 8 years, I'd done that. I was ready to return to the work I love in data and analytics, applying the same strategic, customer-focused thinking I used at Bewilderness, but on a different scale.

I'm proud of what we built, grateful for the community we connected with, and excited about what comes next. I look forward to returning to puzzle making someday as a smaller, hobby-scale endeavor.

Thank you to everyone who supported Bewilderness over the years: customers, collaborators, and friends.

— Whitney