Episode 137 // Josh Smith of Montana Knife Company

Jan 12

“I refused to believe that the American dream’s dead, that you can’t build a brand in the US. And I think there are people out there that will pay a little bit more for an American product.”
- Josh Smith

We are back for season five of the podcast and we have an incredible interview to kick off the year with Josh Smith of Montana Knife Company and Josh Smith Knives in Frenchtown, Montana (pop. 1,741). Josh started making knives at age 11 and went on to become the youngest Journeyman Smith and youngest Master Smith. Fast forward to two years ago and a meeting with country artist Thomas Rhett where he got the push he needed to quit his job and go all in with this business, and from there it exploded practically overnight. He’s sharing how he organically grew the company, why American made matters, what sets MKC apart as a knife company, and so much more.

Everything Josh does is done with excellence and his company and everything it stands for is so impressive. This was a business 20+ years in the making, and Josh persevered and kept going and kept building this until the timing was right to go all in. And then, when he did, everything fell into place.

Be sure to check out the show notes below and follow him on socials so you can keep up with the latest blade drops and other info!

Listen right here or on these platforms:
APPLE | GOOGLE | SPOTIFY | STITCHER

“Small towns are amazing but a lot of times you have small town thought as well. And it’s hard to think you can grow a huge brand or become somebody big in the world in your own little tiny town.”
- Josh Smith

“The excuse that you’re in a small town now and can’t make it is completely BS. The internet makes the world absolutely tiny. And we’re showing it. We went from 200 prototypes in 2020 to a little over 50,000 blades in production today.”
- Josh Smith

“I was making good money, I had benefits, retirement, everything that everybody kind of wants, to quit for the complete unknown.
At some point you have to push all your chips in the center of the table. And once we did that, then things just launched.”
- Josh Smith

“People see a brand like ours explode and it seems like it’s overnight, but it’s been brewing in my head since I was 19. I didn’t launch it until I was 39.”
- Josh Smith