BY ANDREA PALMER
Anna Williams began Pens Ink as a 10 year old
girl with an interesting hobby. That hobby
has turned into a burgeoning enterprise.
In 2009, at age 8, Anna saw a YouTube video
of a teenager making pens on a lathe and
thought it looked fun. For two years she begged
her father, Mike Williams, for a lathe on which
to make pens. Finally, he bought her a starter
lathe and she began turning pens as a hobby.
A two-page website with photos was created
for friends and family to keep up with Anna’s
pen-making and give her encouragement.
In 2011, at age 10, Williams received an inquiry
for pens from Australia. She was shocked.
Said Williams’ father, “At first we thought it
was spam mail, but then we realized it was for
real. At that point we knew we needed to think
about Anna’s hobby as a legitimate business
opportunity.”
Williams and her father took a trip down
to the county clerk and registered Pens Ink
as a DBA.
Williams began to go to festivals, church
bazaars and arts and crafts shows, setting up a
table with her pens and business cards. Pages
were added to the website and a professional
logo was developed. Williams developed different
styles of pens and expanded her line of
products to include other items.
Business picked up when Williams joined
her local Chamber of Commerce a year later.
A contact at Curtis Lumber suggested she join the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County. The
Chamber asked Williams to bring her lathe
and hold a pen-turning demonstration at an
upcoming mixer being held at Curtis Lumber.
It was here she met Pete Bardunias, CSSC
president and CEO. From there, Williams received
her first Presidential Order (a pen made
of historical wood), after a customer heard
Williams during a radio interview with Melody
Burns on Talk 1300. Williams was featured in
several magazines and papers, and most recently
CBS News. The recent exposure on CBS
News has brought an onslaught of new orders.
Williams cites joining the Chamber as one
of the best decisions she’s made with her business,
stating that it gave her legitimacy as a
business and not just a fly-by-night young girl
with a hobby.
“As years went by, I started gaining respect
within the Chamber community. People started
realizing I was there to stay. It has opened
a lot of doors for me through networking and
relationships,” she said.
Williams has wood from the Erie Canal,
Brookside Museum, Adirondack Lake, the
Swallowtail Lighthouse, the USS Constitution,
the USS Intrepid, Certified Bethlehem Olive
Wood, and soaking barrels from the Jack Daniels
Distillery–just to name a few. Williams
works with a supplier for her presidential and
historic woods. She has wood from Stonewall
Jackson’s Prayer Tree and from the estates of
both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Historical woods come with a certificate
of authenticity.
Williams and her father believe that the
excellent craftsmanship of Williams’ work sets
her apart among other pen-turners.
“The pen-turning world is predominantly
retired gentlemen doing this as a hobby or very
small business,” said Mike Williams. “Anna is
competing with people who have been turn ing pens for 30-60 years and are passionate
about the hobby aspect of pen-turning. I told
Anna, you can either sell cheap, or you can sell
quality. Even at age 10, she went with quality.”
Williams works with many area professionals
and businesses with employee incentive
and corporate gifting programs. Many of her
customers are professionals who special order
personalized pens for long-time clients, or
employers wishing to give a special thank you
gift to an employee. Though Williams has an
inventory of pre-made pens, every pen special
ordered from Pens Ink can be customized and
personalized.
Pens Ink has expanded its product line to
wine stoppers, cuff links, purse hangers, letter
openers and golf ball divot repair tools. All
items can be special ordered and personalized.
Materials available include a variety of exotic
wood including historic wood and chestnut,
acrylic, stone, sterling silver and other materials.
Williams is working with a jeweler to
provide the option of precious metals for pen
casing and components.
Williams’ father does all product photography
for the website. He developed the
company website. The family basement houses
Williams’ office and work studio. Williams tries
to answer all emails and website inquires as
soon as possible–after her homework is done,
of course.
So where does Williams see herself in 10
years? “I’m going to let this business take me as
far as it will take me. When I’m ready, I want to
open other businesses as well. I like the business
world. It’s fun, it’s hard, it’s complicated
and a lot of work, but I love it.”
The website is www.pensink.com
Photo by Andrea Palmer