In My Hands

100% Bikes, 100% People: Shawna Williams at Free Range Cycles in Seattle

Shawna Williams is the owner of Free Range Cycles, a 790 sq ft bike shop in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. She graduated with a political science degree and bought the shop at age 27. She helps us understand what it actually means to run a small business, the unexpected intimacy of a bike shop, learning how to charging what your work is worth, and building a space where people who've been othered feel genuinely welcome. There's lots to love about Free Range, including sweet steel frame bikes, custom bike packing rigs, and the party pace life of cool bikes and great people. There's also so much hiding just under the surface. This series is built on a framework from Dustin Kiskaddon's ethnography on becoming a tattoo artist: "⁠Blood and Lightning: On Becoming a Tattooer⁠ [https://www.sup.org/books/sociology/blood-and-lightning]." Watch on ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ [https://youtu.be/RzvdJ2FnBFk] :) Chapters (00:00) Intro / Shawna at Free Range Cycles (01:42) How she got here (06:40) People: the human side of bike repair (15:46) Building an inclusive space (17:37) Bodies: the physical qualities of human experience (24:56) Money: charging what your worth, and earning bread (36:59) What she'd tell her younger self

In My Hands. Trailer!

A sociologist enters a bike shop, a human composting facility, and a pottery studio. In My Hands is a series of conversations with folks working at the intersection of people, bodies, and money. Whether they're small business owners or nonprofit directors, they building something specific and tangible. Part character study, these aren't success stories or cautionary tales. They reveal hidden contours of everyday life, reminding me (at least) that the things I care about most are the things I interact with on a daily basis.  Partner with my curiosity, I’d love to have you along for the ride. The show is a passion project of me, Dustin Kiskaddon, author of Blood and Lightning: On Becoming a Tattooer [https://amzn.to/46R99mH]. Videography and promo reel editing by Sean Ryan. Photographic and conceptual help from Caroline Colón.