West Valley High School: Michael Liberg finds time to be a student and an entrepreneur

Michael Liberg is an honor roll student at West Valley High School. He also is a small business owner in Spokane Valley.

“Hello, I’m Michael Liberg, a local high-schooler, entrepreneur, and owner-operator of Liberg Design, a woodworking and handyman company in Spokane Valley,” reads the about section on his company website, libergdesign.com.

Liberg’s interest in woodworking began when he was young, said his father, Brian Liberg.

“When he was little he liked to tinker around with things and figure out how things work,” Brian Liberg said. In elementary school, Liberg would make little things, like bird houses, with his grandfather.

When Liberg got into middle school, his grandfather died.

“I inherited most of his woodworking tools, so I started woodworking,” Liberg said. This got the attention of one of his teachers, who asked if he would make her a cutting board. So he did.

“It was pretty exciting and fun for somebody to want something that you built, and so that made me want to keep going,” Liberg said. “Just the idea of getting paid to do something fun really made me want to keep doing it and start the business … by sixth- or seventh-grade year I decided that it was fun enough to want to turn it into something serious.”

Since then Liberg has been doing odd jobs, like crafting cutting boards or mowing lawns for friends, family, teachers and strangers who saw his flyers at the Millwood gym he frequents.

When he has time outside of school, Liberg works on building his brand and his client base, and – now that he’s 18 – getting fully licensed.

“He’s amazing. He’s a real go-getter,” said Kevin Murphy, Liberg’s shop teacher. “He’s a young kid that wants to make this business and do it right.”

But when Murphy learned of Liberg’s plans to build a business a few years ago, he wasn’t so sure.

“I thought it was pretty aggressive for a young kid,” Murphy said. But after having him in class for a few years, he’s changed his mind.

“He’s going to make it happen,” Murphy said. “He is going to be very successful and it’s great to see that he is learning the skills he needs to get the job done.”

Still, Liberg isn’t putting all of his eggs in one basket. Even with the hours of work he puts into Liberg Design, he makes sure his academics get the attention they deserve.

“Nothing is 100% certain right now in my life. The business is awesome, and if it can take me where I want to go, I’d be really thankful. But college is a backup and I think doing bad, or not putting in the effort you can in high school, it would just be a waste,” he said.

Liberg will be a fully licensed general contractor when he graduates and he plans to become a licensed electrician as well.

“Right now my career path after high school would be to go into the electrician union and become a fully commercial electrician, but if the business were to blow up, I think I would go and get licensed as a residential electrician instead of a commercial,” he said. “I think having a career path like that is still my plan post high school.”

Murphy said he has enjoyed watching Liberg’s progress through high school.

“It’s real rewarding seeing someone, a young student, have a vision and actually do the things they need to do to get to it,” he said. “I can’t emphasize enough, he’s a great kid.”