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Inspiring Conversations with Ian Orlikoff of Naples Live Edge Wood by Orlando Voyager Magazine 8/19/26

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Inspiring Conversations with Ian Orlikoff of Naples Live Edge Wood

Inspiring Conversations with Ian Orlikoff of Naples Live Edge Wood – OrlandoVoyager  (click this title to read on the publication site if you like)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Orlikoff.

Hi Ian, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?Naples Live Edge Wood sells live edge wood slabs and creates custom live edge furniture for homeowners, interior designers, contractors, builders, and architects across Florida and nationwide.

Ian and Stephanie Orlikoff bring decades of arboriculture and sustainable wood experience to Naples Live Edge Wood. From 2002 to 2020, we owned and operated Signature Tree Care in Naples, FL, building a respected, ethics-driven tree service.

Founded in 2016, Naples Live Edge Wood allows Ian to combine his experience as a climbing arborist with fine woodworking and sustainable furniture design. His background includes arborist consulting, guest teaching with the University of Florida/IFAS Extension and GI-BMP program and leading his team to a national accreditation from TCIA, proving a commitment to industry excellence.

We responsibly source live edge slabs from Florida, North Carolina and vetted suppliers, including reclaimed wood. Arborist-led slab selection ensures stability, structural integrity, and long-term performance resulting in furniture that is both visually striking and built for lasting use. With decades of hands-on experience working with trees, we preserve each wood slab’s natural edges, grain patterns, and organic movement. Every wood slab tells the story of the tree it came from, transformed into a lasting statement through custom live edge furniture. We don’t simply work with wood; we respect its origin and legacy.

We partner with One Tree Planted, planting one tree in Florida for every live edge project sold. This commitment reinforces our dedication to sustainability, responsible forestry, and environmental stewardship.

We are an Interior Design Society member, Naples chapter.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?Starting a business mid-pandemic was not exactly smooth sailing. But we had a head start as we owned and operated Signature Tree Care in Naples for 18 years and selling live edge slabs was already part of what we did. So when we sold the tree service in October 2020, took a quick two-month breather, and launched Naples Live Edge Wood in January 2021, we weren’t starting from scratch. Same workshop, familiar market, with a new focus.

Still, year one had its challenges. Startup costs ran higher than expected, and building a client base for custom live edge furniture took time, even with some name recognition already in our favor. Word of mouth carried us early on, along with people discovering us online and connecting with the story behind every wood slab. Once people hear the tree’s story, they understand why custom live edge furniture is worth the investment.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Naples Live Edge Wood ?We are the premium, arborist-led live edge wood company backed by decades of experience working with trees and wood. We sell live edge wood slabs and create custom live edge wood furniture. What sets us apart is that Ian sees wood through an arborist’s eye first and a woodworker’s eye second. As an ISA Certified Arborist, he knows how to spot a trunk with high figure and unique character before it ever hits the sawmill, something most live edge furniture makers, who haven’t spent years climbing and studying trees, simply can’t do.

We mill some of our own wood using our sawmill, have a 50″ drum sander, and source from necessary urban tree removals and carefully vetted suppliers. Clients often come to us wanting a specific tree, sometimes one with sentimental value, that has to come down, milled and turned into custom live edge furniture, giving it a second life instead of an ending.

Ian’s arborist background lets him read a wood slab’s growth rings, old injuries, and healed decay like a story, tracing a tree’s history from seedling to survivor. That’s what we highlight when selling live edge slabs, the character other vendors overlook. We appreciate the whole tree, roots to canopy, and believe every part has its own beauty and purpose.

We’ve tackled some big projects too, including an 8-foot diameter African Mahogany that came down after Hurricane Wilma in 2005 that was planted in central Florida in the 1940s. That’s the kind of tree with a story worth preserving.

We’re also proud to be a #onetreeplanted partner; for every live edge project we sell, we plant a tree right here in Florida.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?Risk has always been part of our story, but we believe it works best paired with a plan.

I grew up around wood, watching my dad build furniture as a hobby, and that love carried into a 25-year career as a Florida ISA Certified Arborist. I was always curious what was hiding inside a tree, on lunch breaks, I’d cut into unusual growth patterns just to see the figure underneath. I knew someday I wanted to share that hidden beauty instead of watching it get hauled to the dump.

Our first big risk was buying a sawmill in 2016. That first slab we cut hooked us instantly and planted the seed for Naples Live Edge Wood. Selling Signature Tree Care in 2020, after 18 years in business, was risk number two, stepping away from something established to build a business around selling live edge slabs and custom live edge furniture, in the middle of a pandemic. But we weren’t starting blind; we had the mill, the workshop, and years of relationships already built.

Every fall, we sit down with our accountant for a full business review, which has taught us more about smart risk-taking than anything else. Staying on top of our numbers means we can pivot quickly instead of reacting in a panic.

A few things we’d pass along:• Learn lean systems like 5S or Six Sigma.• Everything takes longer, and gets bigger, than you expect so plan for it.• Protect your work-life balance and know your strengths and weaknesses.• Push your limits, and celebrate small wins.• Set short- and long-term goals and stay flexible enough to adjust them.• Be ready to move when opportunity shows up.

Risk isn’t something to fear. It’s something to prepare for.

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