Chip and Joanna Gaines’ go-to carpenter, who made regular appearances on the couple’s show Fixer Upper, was on the brink of financial ruin before he met the HGTV stars. And Harp, who’s own show Wood Work premieres May 9 on DIY Network, is opening up about his fateful run-in with the famous contractor in his new book, Handcrafted: A Woodworker’s Story.

In the memoir, Harp chronicles how he worked a sales job for years in order to provide for his wife, Kelly, and their three kids. But after leaving the comfortable paycheck behind in order to pursue his dream of designing and building furniture, the Harps soon found themselves in a tough situation when it came to their income, as he had no formal training, financing, a workspace or customers.

As luck would have it, Harp met Chip at a gas station one day. The pair decided to work together, catapulting his passion project into a longstanding career crafting custom pieces alongside Joanna — as well as a scoring a coveted Gaines-renovated home for his own family.

Now Harp has both a faithful fan base, and lifelong friends (he even recently served as team leader for the Gaineses’ Silo District Half Marathon), and is using his newfound fame to inspire others to reconsider their day jobs in pursuit of their side hustles.

Handcrafted will not only describe Harp’s journey from learning carpentry alongside his grandfather to his thriving current business, but will also include ideas for how to follow in his footsteps.

“I’ve wanted to write a book since high school, and that dream is now a reality!” he wrote on Instagram announcing his latest project. “It’s been a work in progress for almost two years now and I’m so excited.”

Handcrafted: A Woodworker’s Story will be available September 25.

This article originally appeared on People.

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