Business & Tech
An Old Trade Carves Through Culver City
After a vivid daydream, Gary Silverstein quit his office job to become a mobile knife sharpener.
Ten years ago, Gary Silverstein was working a steady 9-to-5 job, stuck in an office sorting through financial medical records. Today, he's sharpening knives and scissors for the wardrobe departments at Fox, Paramount, the Ahmanson and Mark Taper Forum, to name a few.
He said the idea of a career change came to him in a vivid daydream, where he saw a mobile knife sharpener pull up in a truck where he and his buddies were playing stickball. After awakening from the daydream, Gary quit his job and researched extensively online to teach himself this obscure trade.
Gary's Knife Sharpening Service started out at farmers markets, where he quickly gained a following and financial momentum. Now he sharpens knives, scissors, gardening tools and a variety of other cutting instruments all over Southern California.
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"It's not uncommon that I'll be at a farmers market and people will walk by me, do a double take, and say 'I love you--where have you been all my life?' " Silverstein said. "That's how important it is for people to have sharp knives, and they just don't have the where, when or who to go to have it done. When they see me, the light goes on."
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