If you’re looking for Greg Hankerson the quarterback, you’ve got the wrong guy. I build furniture.

I’m the Greg Hankerson who makes things out of hot-rolled steel and solid hardwood in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been doing it since 2009. This is my story.

The Wrong Greg

I grew up in Phoenix, spent my early years working in my family’s investment banking business, and had every reason to stay there. Then at 19, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

It was growing slowly, causing seizures. At 22, I had it removed. The surgery was successful — but it paralyzed one of my legs.

Through physical therapy, I learned to walk again. That experience has a way of clarifying things. Money stopped being interesting. Purpose became the only thing worth chasing.

In my mid-30s, I walked away from the family business — even though I was in line to take it over — and started looking for something that mattered more.

How the Furniture Started

My wife needed a patio table. I built one in the garage — raw steel, welded by hand. I thought it was incredible. I dragged it inside and said, “What do you think?”

She looked at it and said: “It needs to be warmer.”

I said, “You want me to paint it red?”

She did not want me to paint it red.

What she meant was that raw steel alone is cold — technically impressive, but not something you want to live with. Adding solid hardwood to the next build changed everything. The tension between the two materials — raw industrial structure softened by something organic and warm — became the foundation of everything Vintage Industrial has built since.

That was 2009. The garage became a workshop. Word spread.

What Vintage Industrial Is Today

Vintage Industrial is a custom furniture operation based in Phoenix, Arizona. Every piece is designed by me and built to order — handcrafted in hot-rolled steel and solid hardwood, made in the USA, with no overseas manufacturing.

I don’t keep inventory. I don’t pull from a warehouse. When you commission a piece, it is built for you — your dimensions, your steel finish, your wood species — and it arrives ready to be passed down.

Clients have included MGM, Four Seasons, Hilton, Google, the NFL, and Gensler, alongside private residences, law firms, and creative studios across the country.

What I Believe About Furniture

Disposable furniture is a design failure. A table that lasts three years isn’t furniture — it’s a placeholder.

Hot-rolled steel and solid hardwood don’t wear out. They develop character. The patina deepens. The wood gains history. A piece built this way in 2025 should still be in someone’s home in 2075.

That’s not a marketing position. It’s the reason I got into this and the reason I’m still doing it.

Since 2009, I’ve reviewed over a million pieces of furniture for inspiration. I’ve kept roughly 3,000. That library — which keeps growing — informs every design decision I make. It’s how I know what’s been done, what’s been overdone, and where there’s still something worth building.

Interior design’s biggest trend publications are now calling what we’ve been building the “Warm Warehouse” aesthetic — raw industrial material balanced with organic warmth. My wife figured that out in our living room in 2009. We’ve just been building it ever since.

Work With Me

Every commission starts with a conversation. There are no standard configurations, no fixed price lists, and no pressure. If you have a space and an idea, reach out here and we’ll figure out whether Vintage Industrial is the right fit.