PiBurner of the week: Liz Rivers

Stan Altshuller

Jul 9, 2025

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Let’s celebrate our PiBurner of the week!

Liz Rivers

owner at

The Laser Outpost

We are very excited to share the story of PiBurner Liz Rivers!

About Liz

Today, it's our great pleasure to share the story of Liz Rivers and to let you all in on her amazing journey in the world of lasers.

Liz is a law enforcement officer who lives in NY with her husband Tom. Together, they have four kids who are all grown up. While she loves serving her community and keeping the neighborhood safe, her true passion is to create. And with her success in the laser business, she is very close to making her dream a reality: She is going to pursue her creative talents full time. Liz is now planning on retiring from law enforcement and dedicating her energy to the maker community. In her own words:

I am a soon to retire law enforcement officer and I love being creative. Creating unique items provides me an outlet from my very demanding and stressful career.

How it started

Like many of the makers we talk to, Liz's creative journey started from humble beginnings: a Cricut machine. But she quickly followed the Rabbit hole down and found herself surrounded by like-minded people.

My creative journey started when I was gifted a Cricut die cutting machine, which led me to various Facebook groups.

And here is common thread we see with all successful makers. They don't stop on one success, they reach for more, learn, invest and deliberately work on growing. Her next phase took her into the world of Sublimation. This is a method to transfer a design to an object using heat, and it makes for some really beautiful art.

In my never-ending quest to expand my creative side and learn new hobbies, I joined a sublimation group and before I knew it, I was making things for friends and family who were willing to pay for my tumblers, ornaments and ever-growing assortment of items that I was creating.

The Journey

Sometimes taking that first step is enough, putting your work out there can lead to orders pouring in from family and friends, and even friends of friends. This is the time to make a choice. Are you going to grow this hobby into something bigger? For Liz the answer was YES. Here is how it came about:

It was when I realized people were willing to pay for my craft that my side hustle was born.

Liz started investing more time into perfecting her skills and reaching a wider audience. She made a website called River Barn Designs:

And things were going well, until one Holiday season, fate came knocking.

One Christmas, in the thick of the season I ordered some laser-cut blanks, but to my horror they arrived damaged, and I quickly started to research how to cut my own blanks. In January 2020 I joined various laser groups and by March I had ordered an Aeon Mira 9.

Isn't it incredible how growth comes in times of challenges? This is a beautiful example of how a maker stepped up, opened her mind, and expanded her capabilities instead of wallowing in despair at the damaged goods she was counting on.

Her Business now

Not only did Liz create a stable and consistent income stream for her and her family, but she also gives that ability to others. This makes the maker community so powerful - as people grow, they tend to help others reach their potential as well.

I now run a very successful small business out of my garage and an educational laser group where I help others learn their lasers and how to run a business or a side hustle.

My favorite projects are engraving tumblers and the items that I don’t have to paint. I hate painting.

Hey, can't love everything. Liz doesn't enjoy painting much, so she focuses on doing the things she loves.

What inspires you?

Part of the reason why so many makers choose this path is the inspiration they feel to get up and create every morning. And that energy is contagious. It's something that is worth spreading and sharing. And that is exactly what Liz is doing with the community The Laser Outpost.

The creative community inspires me to do more and better. Five months ago, I created a new FB community, The Laser Outpost. That is an educational community where I offer support to creatives on their laser journey. I also provide 1 on 1 classes to Mira owners and those learning Lightburn.

If you haven't already, check out Liz's group - it's full of helpful tips, videos and articles to move you forward with your laser operation.

Advice for makers starting out

We always ask successful makers what they would like to tell others who are just starting out in the laser game. There were some good words of wisdom from Liz:

My advice to others starting out is to educate yourself as much as you can and to enjoy the creative process.

Beautiful advice, and we hope you'll take it!

These stories are the real reason why Len and I are in this business. Makers like Liz inspire us, energize us to create even better products, and help us get through our toughest days - we know it's all worth it. Liz, thank you for creating, thank you for inspiring and sharing, and of course, thank you for being a PiBurner!! Happy PiBurning! Len and Stan Laser-focused on your success!

Your story is worth sharing too! Contact Stan to become our next PiBurner!