The Maker's Studio Fayetteville: Kristian Sorensen

Photos by HuthPhoto LLC

Just 10 minutes down the road from Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, a veteran-owned makers space is looking to bring the community together to build, learn, and teach in a community-oriented hub of creativity. 

Kristian Sorensen, a U.S. Army veteran, created The Maker’s Studio Fayetteville, a creative hub with 3D printers, woodworking supplies, specialized tools, and much more designed to bring people together to explore new skills and hobbies.

“After my retirement from the military I wanted to start my own small business,” says Sorensen. “My goal was to have a place where I can build things, fix things, make things, but then also teach things and share things with my friends, community, and fellow veterans.”

With that goal in mind, Sorensen found a building in Fayetteville and began working to make it a collaborative makers studio for the community. As he sought financial capital to help make the dream of his business a reality, Sorensen found Carolina Small Business Development Fund through a referral from the Veterans Business Outreach Center in Fayetteville and began the process of acquiring a loan. 

Working with the team at CSBDF, Sorensen was able to solidify his business plans, gather a greater understanding of small business ownership, and work through the lending process to open The Maker’s Studio Fayetteville. 

“CSBDF has been instrumental in helping us get our business started,” says Sorensen. “There were some things that we thought we knew. There were other things that we knew we didn’t know. CSBDF helped us through the entire process. One of the biggest obstacles was not knowing how the timeline and process worked, but CSBDF was able to talk us through that timeline, keep us informed, and let us know the things we needed to do.”

Sorensen secured a small business loan from CSBDF in October of 2023, and The Maker’s Studio opened the following year. For Sorensen and his family, having the resources available to succeed and open this business for the community was pivotal. 

“Being a small business owner, it just helps to have a lot of people on your side,” says Sorensen. “CSBDF was there to hold our hand and guide us through the scary parts of starting a business.”

Now as The Maker’s Studio Fayetteville starts to grow, Sorensen has big plans on serving his community with the space. The business offers memberships to community members to come and learn new skills and is a welcoming place for families to come and learn together. 

For Sorensen, he now wants to use his space and experiences starting a small business himself to help bolster his fellow veterans and community members with similar ambitions.

“We want to teach different skills to people as they come in from the community,” says Sorensen. “I would love to help other people get started as they look to start a small business and steer them in the right direction. This community is very supportive. CSBDF is a resource that we love to share with other people.”