Seth and Arnold grew up out in the backwoods of Southern Illinois, on a little rise locals call Tom Dick Hill. Life there was simple—mornings started with fog rolling off the river bottoms, and evenings ended with the sound of whip-poor-wills echoing through the trees. They weren’t city folks, and they weren’t trying to be. They were hillbillies in the best sense of the word—resourceful, stubborn, and tied heart-and-soul to the land that raised them.

One hot summer afternoon, while chopping wood and jawin’ on the porch, the two got to talking. Seth had been noticing how the forests around there community weren’t as thick and healthy as they used to be. Arnold brought up all the trash and waste they’d seen along trails and creeks. “Somebody’s gotta do something’,” Arnold said.

That’s when the idea hit them—what if they built something bigger than themselves? Not another odd job, not another backwoods hustle, but a way to use the internet to protect the forests they loved and raise money for other nonprofits fighting the same fight. At first they laughed—two hillbillies from Tom Dick Hill starting a website to help save the earth? Sounded crazy. But the more they talked, the more it made sense.

And so Straight Out the Woodz was born. A website built from scratch, fueled by heart, and dedicated to giving back. Every product, every project, every penny raised goes toward protecting forests and supporting organizations that fight for clean air, clean water, and a cleaner planet.