He added that he might also have been influenced by his favorite childhood book, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst.
Mr. Heyser said that when the book’s main character often said, “I think I’ll move to Australia.”
That’s what the couple did, arriving May 5, 2015. (They both now have Australian citizenship.)
Mr. Heyser initially found work at a furniture store — and when a studio above the store came up for rent, he took it. “I thought, I’ve got this studio, might as well do something with it,” he said, adding that he had been drawn to metalwork, as had his father, Dwayne Heyser, a machinist in Kentucky, and his paternal grandfather.
So in October 2017, he established 13 Knives, a play on a childhood nickname. (He moved the business to its current location in 2018.)
Mr. Heyser said he and his father, who died a few years ago, often talked about knife making during his calls home: When he had a problem, his father would call back a few days later with an idea. “It was a good way for us to stay in touch,” he said. “I’m not great at just FaceTiming family.”
But he added that his mother, Brenda Heyser, also was a big reason he has been successful. “I grew up watching her work day and night,” he said, “raising two kids, put herself through college and busting to become partner of the C.P.A. firm she was working for and now she has her own firm.
