Redefining Reclamation: Woodward Throwbacks’ Co-Founder Bo Shepherd on Reuse, Mission, and Constant Evolution

By Patrick Dimond

Bo Shepherd is the Co-founder and Head of Design at Woodward Throwbacks, a sustainable design studio that designs furniture and spaces using reclaimed materials salvaged in Detroit. Originally from New Jersey, Bo moved to Detroit to pursue a degree in Transportation Design at the College for Creative Studies. Upon graduating, she worked as a Car Designer designing interiors for General Motors for five years.

In 2014, Bo's passions shifted from designing interiors of automobiles to furniture, and now residential interiors, after she and her partner Kyle started Woodward Throwbacks, a passion project of gathering illegal dumping of construction lumber and furniture left on the street to repurpose into furniture to furnish their own homes. Since leaving GM, Woodward Throwbacks has grown into a team of eight and resides in a 24,000 sq ft former car dealership that they converted into their showroom, warehouse, and workshop.

Woodward Throwbacks' ethos is to redefine how the world sees reclaimed and found materials by transforming them into functional art. Whether it's creating a single piece of furniture or designing a full interior, the focus is always on reusing the materials that everyone else leaves behind, and sharing the narrative of the materials past and present.

PD: Tell me about your foundational years. Where did you grow up, and what did you do as a kid?

BS: I was born and raised in New York, and my parents later moved to the Jersey Shore. I'm West Indian, so my family is vibrant and colorful. They are creatives, and during my parents' upbringings, their parents weren't as approving when it came to pursuing the arts, so my parents made sure to push us to express ourselves in as many mediums as possible. We traveled a lot to the Caribbean, so I found inspiration in the environments I was raised in. I had a great upbringing in the sense that I had a lot of creative expressions.

It's fascinating to hear how people's roots inform their design foundations.

Oh, yeah. My parents moved to the States when they were fourteen and fifteen. Introducing their native island to us was essential. I attended summer school in Jamaica because they wanted to expose me to different parts of the world, especially when it came to education.

What did you learn about yourself when you were studying design?

I learned that the possibilities are endless when it comes to design. When I was younger, I first wanted to be a fashion designer, but later fell in love with cars which by the way, back then I had no idea that designing cars was even a thing. It wasn't until I was flipping through a Car and Driver magazine and saw an ad for a summer experience course at the Academy of Art University in San Fransico for transportation design and I was like, oh my God, is this it? This is what I want to do? That was my introduction to design in a serious way, where I realized I could do it for a living.

So after high school, I moved to Detroit, the world's automotive capital, to attend the College for Creative Studies (CCS). After that, I worked as an automotive interior designer for General Motors for five years. It was a wild experience. When you're in the Midwest, especially Detroit, knowing someone who works in the automotive field is quite common, but it's a novelty anywhere else. Detroit didn't have the most positive rep, but my parents supported me in following my passion. The creativity found in this city is second to none, and I thrive being here.

Leftover Collection. A by-product of the manufacturing process, the studio made unique surfaces using the shop's wood offcuts mixed with a plant-based resin. The result is an eye-catching new surface that can be applied to tables, end tables, and bar carts. Photo by Gerard Belvender.

Leftover Collection Bar cart. Photo by Gerard Belvender.

Custom millwork in a home renovation Woodward Throwbacks designed and built. The table and banquette millwork is made from salvaged white oak. The table base is made from repurposed lolly column supports from the home's basement. Photo by Gerard Belvender.

I'm also a Midwesterner, and I grew up in Indianapolis. My twin brother lived in Detroit after graduating from college and lived off Woodward Avenue, and that's how I found your shop. I love the city's grit and how you have captured Detroit's entrepreneurial spirit. Tell me how you began working within the built environment. What was the transition like from automotive design to designing spaces?

My transition from car design to furniture design happened organically. My partner and I started Woodward Throwbacks as a passion project in 2014. Illegal dumping was a huge issue in Detroit back in the day, and its when contractors and even homeowners would dump construction debris and unwanted materials in the street. My partner and I love exploring the city by bicycle, and that's how we picked up materials that appealed to us.

During that time, we were fresh out of college and had always been passionate about working with our hands. Seeing the discarded raw materials in our backyards opened something up in us. We wanted to share our love of natural, honest wear and texture in the material in our furniture and spaces.

Fast forward from 2014 to now, and we have been designing furniture primarily with salvaged or reclaimed materials. Our ethos is to redefine how society uses and sees salvaged material. We are not just working with reclaimed wood, which is standard; we are working with metal, glass, and acrylic and applying them in ways that don't require us to reinvent the wheel.

We have incorporated reclaimed, redesigned furniture and custom millwork into spaces for years. And what makes our process unique is that we not only salvage pieces but share the story of the material in a modern and fresh way.

For example, during one of my favorite projects, we salvaged a 14' hardware display cabinet from a woman-owned hardware store in a neighborhood. The hardware store was just shy of being a hundred years old. I was sad it closed because I shopped there in college. And as soon as I saw the cabinet, I knew I wanted to design a space around it. So when the right client came around, our team integrated the cabinet into the kitchen millwork. Sheer coincidence, my client's loft was in the same neighborhood as the hardware store, which became a coming-home story to the cabinet.

“I want to redefine what salvage can look like, and I would love to work with developers, building owners, and homeowners to look at their spaces through a different lens.”

— Bo Shepherd

The most sustainable thing to do is reuse, right? Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Exactly. However, not everyone is educated on reclaimed materials, so you need to educate them. For example, most believe if you're using reclaimed wood, the end product will look rustic. And that is 100% not the case. Finished furniture using reclaimed wood can be clean and modern, but what sets it apart from other products is its story, the texture, and, most of the time, the quality is way better!

Can you elaborate on how your work evolved? Did your aesthetic change after working as an automotive designer? I realize it's a different discipline, but how has your aesthetic changed or maintained the same?

My aesthetic is constantly evolving. My experience working in a corporate environment gave me the discipline I needed. I am the type of person where I'm always going against the grain. I don't like it when people say “no” or try to put me in a box. Regarding design, like I said, working with non-traditional materials is my passion, and it's a constant evolution.

Custom console unit made from a handpainted wood advertisement. The sign is significant because it represents the business of a thriving neighborhood razed to make room for the new manufacturing plant. It's functional art. Courtesy of Woodward Throwbacks.

Custom console unit. Courtesy of Woodward Throwbacks.

Portrait of Bo Shepherd. Photo by Drake Harthun.

Congratulations on the new storefront. This next question segues into that. Where are you at in your career today? You're seeing a lot of success and popularity on social media. Does it translate at all to the ROI?

Thank you, moving our showroom downtown was a huge step for us. Without a real marketing budget, being able to showcase our work in an area with natural foot traffic is already proving to be a success for us. Also, we are officially the only furniture home store downtown. So fingers crossed that the move will increase sales and help share the story about re-imagining what reclaimed materials could look like.

[laugh], you guys do it all.

Oh, yeah.

Looking back at it, what has been the biggest challenge? How did you manage through a disappointment or perceived setback?

Setbacks are inevitable. So it's important to stay cool, calm, and collected. You must believe in your process, work, and, most importantly, yourself. And most likely, you'll get through it.

“I am the type of person where I’m always going against the grain. I don’t like it when people say ‘no’ or try to put me in a box.”

— Bo Shepherd

What are you most excited about right now?

I'm excited about the store because it will lead to more design opportunities. Our brand identity is growing, and we will get some amazing jobs. We are looking for clients who trust the process, materials, storytelling, and that we can create valuable spaces. We can create a home or a space our clients will enjoy being in, and being downtown will be good for us.

What is the impact you would like to have in the world? What is your core mission, and what does success in that look like to you?

To be more sustainable. As I said, I want to redefine what salvage can look like, and I would love to work with developers, building owners, and homeowners to look at their spaces through a different lens. I'm not a preservationist, so let's clarify: I'm interested in how to manipulate materials in different ways. Suppose you can't save it; instead of tossing it, try to find someone who could use that material. Otherwise, it's all going to the landfill.

[Laugh] This is music to my ears. I totally agree.

I love that. Thank you. I'm like, hey, at the end of the day, it's probably going to get thrown away. Would you rather that piece get tossed or have me build something awesome with it? I want to partner with demolition groups and be able to obtain materials in bulk and do large-scale, limited-run collections.

Milwaukee Loft Project. The 100-year-old hardware display cabinet is the red unit that was modified and integrated into the kitchen. Photo 4 shows off the custom bar cabinet made from salvaged church pews and white marble from a historic college, Marygrove College in Detroit. Photo by Gerard Belvender.

Milwaukee Loft Project. Photo by Gerard Belvender.

What advice do you have for those starting in their career, and what advice would be different for women?

Never give up. You will experience wild things [laugh], and you will have bad days and amazing days, and you're going to have days where you're just like, holy hell, I don't think I can do this anymore. If you are working in this industry, you must believe in yourself and your mission and figure out ways to make it work. If you are choosing to be an entrepreneur, then it's about the hustle. Do you know what I mean? It's all-day hustle, and having the ability to believe in yourself confidently, will bring success.

For women, it is more challenging. I was in one male-dominated field and transitioned to another when I started working with architectural salvage and demolition. It's one of those things where at the end of the day, make sure you are completely okay and know your worth, and that's hard, so when you get to that point, know that you made it.