Become a Guide
Heirloom gives guides who carry living knowledge a profile, a booking system, and a community of families and adults actively looking for someone exactly like you — then pays you fairly to pass on what you know. Traditional craft, forgotten wisdom, or new ways of making. At the kitchen counter, in the garden, in your workshop. No classrooms. No screens.
Keep 85% · Set your own rate · Paid weekly
A profile, a booking system, and someone in your corner.
We handle the vetting, the scheduling, the payments, and the paperwork. You show up, pass on what you already know, and get paid. Don't see your skill listed? From bookbinding to blacksmithing to beekeeping, from oral history to small builds — if you've spent years on it, someone wants to learn it.
Four things guides tell us, in this order.
Your knowledge is needed.
Schools cut shop class. Parents are stretched thin. The thing you've spent real time mastering — sharpening a chisel, proofing a dough, pruning a tomato, dialing in a weld, keeping a story alive — is exactly what a 9-year-old wants to learn from someone who actually does it. Whether you've been at it for 5 years or 50.
Wisdom needs a place to land.
Not every kind of knowledge has a classroom. Oral history, repair rituals, natural dyeing, small builds, bread cultures — if you know something the internet can't teach, there is probably someone nearby who wants to sit beside you and learn it.
People are already looking for you.
If you teach from your home studio, your backyard, or your kitchen, most people who'd love to learn from you have no way to find you. Heirloom gives you a profile that shows up to families and adult learners in your area — you don't have to market yourself.
Teach the way you wish you'd been taught.
Most guides say the same thing after their first session: it felt like teaching a younger sibling or their own kid. You set the pace, choose the project, and decide what's worth learning first. Nothing about it looks like school.
$25–$75 an hour, paid weekly.
You set your own rate within your tier. We keep 15% to handle vetting, payments, and insurance — you keep the other 85%. Teach two evenings a week and most guides clear $300–$600 a month without leaving the neighborhood.
Of every booking goes to you
Average guide commitment
Typical monthly earnings, 2 evenings a week
Re-vetting cadence — handled by us
What we hear, in the conversations.
In their own words — from the founding guides teaching on Heirloom today.
“A lesson in clay should be FUN, first and foremost. Things can and will go wrong, but in most cases we can wad that clay back up and start again, laughing as we do so.”
“Many people are interested but don't know where to begin. I enjoy breaking things into simple, practical steps and giving learners the confidence to keep growing on their own.”
“Kids want to learn and they want to be creative. I have a skill and I'd like to pass that on like my grandma did.”
“The more we can step away from our screens and have a meaningful interaction with someone, the more that skill will stick. It'll be sewn into us, if you will.”
Five steps to your first session.
- STEP 01
Tell us about your knowledge
A short intake — your craft or skill, years of practice, city, and availability. Traditional technique, forgotten wisdom, or new ways of making are all welcome. Takes about ten minutes.
- STEP 02
Verify identity + background check
Government-issued ID, live selfie, and a nationwide criminal records check via our screening partners.
- STEP 03
Chat with us
A relaxed video call to get to know you and talk through what you carry. Nothing formal.
- STEP 04
Build your profile
A photo, a short bio, and your hourly rate. Our team reviews and approves, usually within a few days.
- STEP 05
Add insurance, then teach
Upload proof of $1M liability coverage (~$25/mo). A parent or guardian attends every session. You're paid weekly.
We handle any issues between you and families. If a session doesn't go well for any reason, contact us and we make it right — including refunding your time if warranted.
The next family is already searching for someone like you.
We're vetting our first Northwest Arkansas guides right now. Tell us about your craft and we'll be in touch within two weeks.
Are you a studio or workshop looking to list your classes? Visit heirloomlearn.com/for-studios for a faster, simpler application designed for businesses.