The Rough Ashlar Doesn’t Polish Itself.

I didn’t start The Trestleboard Project because I have it all figured out. I started it because I realized how much work I still had left to do.

There was a moment when I had to take a hard look in the mirror and ask myself a difficult question: Am I actually using the working tools, or am I just talking about them?


Like a lot of Masons, I love the ritual. I love the history and the fellowship. But I realized there was a massive disconnect between the man I was in the lodge room and the man I was in my living room, my marriage, and my career.


I had memorized the lectures, but I wasn’t squaring my actions. I wasn’t walking uprightly. I was treating Freemasonry like a social club and a history lesson, rather than what it was actually meant to be: a blueprint for living a disciplined, purposeful life.


Wisdom that never leaves the lodge is little more than theater.

Enter The Trestleboard Project

I am not a Masonic scholar, and I’m definitely not a life coach. I am just a regular Mason who realized that if I wanted to build a better life, I had to stop admiring the tools and actually pick them up.


The Trestleboard Project is my public accountability. It is a craftsman’s workshop where I am documenting the process of applying ancient Masonic principles to the very real, very modern challenges of daily life.
Through the podcast, the journal, and the writing here, I am sharing the exact frameworks I am using to try and become a better husband, a better father, a better professional, and a better man.


I make mistakes. I drop the tools. I let my foundation crack. But every morning, I step back into the quarry to try again.

The Blueprints We Build By:

  • The Work is Daily: You cannot build a temple in a day. Discipline is a daily choice.
  • Application Over Memorization: It doesn’t matter if you can recite the ritual perfectly if you can’t control your temper at the dinner table.
  • We Are All Rough Ashlars: The work of self-improvement never ends. There is no finish line, only the next stone to shape.

Grab Your Tools.

If you are tired of just playing lodge and want to do the actual work of building a better life, you are in the right place. We are in the quarry together. Let’s get to work.