The story

My name is Nick Bruno

I am 26, and currently based in central New Jersey. I have spent the past seven years working all over the country doing anything and everything that would keep me from sitting in an office and I’ve loved every second of it. Every May for these past seven years has started the exact same way, pack the truck full of tools and … start driving. Although fun, I have slept in the cramped back seat of my pickup in the corner of a truck stop more times than i’d like to admit. I love seasonal work and I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this if it weren’t for the strangers I’ve met along the way who inspire me to constantly reimagine what’s inside my comfort zone.

Growing up, I had always been the creative kid of the family. To me, hiding away in my parents basement carving wooden spoons, making rocking chairs, and forging knifes out of old railroad spikes was a normal thing for a 14 year old to do. I always felt the need to figure out how something was made, or how it worked and that obsession has never really left.

Since graduating high school, I’ve had the chance to run my business from a wide range of places; from my parents basement, to the bed of my pickup truck, to a 20ft x 10ft shed on an island in the Adirondack Mountains.

“Your talent is God’s gift to you, and what you do with it is your gift to God”

In early May, 2020, I packed the truck and headed north for the summer, unknowingly beginning my longest period of uninterrupted travel. This period included the roughest days I’ve yet lived, but equally the most beautiful I could Imagine. I traveled mostly solo, testing my attachment to comfort and my willingness to work with strangers in places I had only ever dreamed of. While living in Lake Placid, I met Jack Blake, Will Markway, and Nico Coady in a Price Chopper parking lot. I had just finished two long months of carpentry work and was heading east towards Belfast, Maine for a new job. Jack, Will, and Nico were driving with no destination in a free to them 30 year old RV dubbed the “ SS Ric Flair” and took little convincing to tag along. The next few weeks of slowly making our way to the Maine coast consisted of barefoot hikes, ripping pocket bikes around empty fields, morning cold plunges, and becoming friends with everyone we crossed paths with.

As summer came to a close, I stayed in Maine, the RV broke down in North Carolina, and we all went our separate ways to start something new. Jack to Texas, Will & Nico to Kansas City, and me, eventually back to New Jersey.

In 2023 I found myself down in Texas staying with jack. It was my first SXSW, and I was working as his First Mate driving yachts around Lake Travis. I met Ritwik Pavan after he chartered our boat for his 25th birthday. After a few conversations, and lunch at the best Indian restaurant I had ever been to, I started working for his startup KRAVA in Dripping Springs. While there, I worked as a design engineer with what seemed to be the best team in Austin at the time. We had designed a fully customizable modular housing unit (ADU) from scratch. From the physical panels and proprietary connection points to an inventory based ordering system. Being a part of this company is something I will always be proud of.

KRAVA got acquired by LADA Cube in January 2024, just three months before I would’ve stepped into a full-time, non-hybrid role with the company. The sudden exit sent everyone on the team in different directions, each of us chasing new dreams in new cities.

I had about a month left in Texas, no job lined up, and an Airbnb long stay in East Cesar-Chavez. Most mornings I would wake up, skate to my favorite coffee shop (Cosmic Saltillo) and spend hours trying to come up with a plan. I felt lost. One morning I woke up to a text from Rit asking if my “business” could fulfill a big order of cut parts for a modular furniture company. I said yes before I had even thought it through.

I didn’t have the proper equipment. I didn’t have a shop. I didn’t even have a real plan. That call made the decision for me. If there was ever a time to go all in and continue the momentum I had started with the KRAVA team, it was now!

After many long phone calls with my dad sitting at my fold out kitchen table, and a thrown together business plan, I too left Austin. I found a warehouse, bought the machines, and started building.

Bruno Supply Company is the culmination of these years of traveling, talking to strangers, couch surfing, and saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity that came my way. Despite the uncertainty on all these jobs, I have always found myself tucked away in a workshop with my guitar and a long list of things to build. Whether in the hot southern hills of Texas, the sunny central coast of California, or the green mountains of northern Vermont, I have always had a place to learn, to fail, and to be creative. While I’ve worked in plenty of these shops throughout my life, this one is all mine and its full of my favorite things (Guitars, Machinery, and Lone star beer)

Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing - moderation is for cowards

I officially opened the Bruno Supply Company shop in September, 2024 to create a space with limitless potential. A shop that combines skill & experience with state of the art manufacturing capabilities to produce an incredible selection of services & products for our clients.

We believe technology should not be a one-step solution but rather, an additional tool in the arsenal of a talented team of craftsman.

Whatever your project, big or small, our team is here to bring your vision to life.

“ Art is not freedom from discipline, but disciplined freedom”

Nick Bruno

Founder & CEO