About Us
Cindy
Woodworking in my shop, I found my happy place!
When I was a teenager, my Mom started a small candle business in our basement. I loved helping her and watching her create new candles and bring in business. It soon became the “Family” candle business because we all had to help after she kept getting larger and larger orders! Finally, when she had big orders from companies like Marshall Field’s, she sold the business for a nice profit.
That was my first experience with Entrepreneurship, so it has always been in the back of my mind. I spent my entire career working hard to advance to the next management level and I did enjoy managing teams of employees, but I knew it wasn’t my passion.
But, who gets to work in their passion?
When outsourcing came to the corporate arena, I changed careers and opened a Farmers Insurance Agency and later my own Independent Agency. Although I knew it wasn’t my passion, it was a good job…right?
Not long ago my life was thrown a curve, as sometimes happens in life, and I was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. After surgery and radiation and many, many months on the couch recuperating, I really started thinking about what would make me happy? I knew I didn’t want to go back to insurance or anything else like it. That’s when I saw a picture of a gorgeous Live Edge Epoxy Table and I fell in love! I knew right then that I was going to learn how to make that beautiful table – no matter what!!
As you can imagine most of my family and friends thought I was nuts for becoming a woodworker when I had never even used a saw! But I was very determined, and my mom always told me that, “Where there’s a will there’s a way!” Surprisingly, my wife Karen thought if it got me off the couch and out of the house – go for it! I started gathering equipment, then rented a place for a shop and found someone to “mentor” me. Before I knew it I was a “woodpreneur” creating beautiful live edge products and Karen even joined in! I have found my passion and when I am in the shop I know I have found my happy place!
Karen
My love for woodworking started when I was Four.
At the age of four I learned how to write my name. In order to practice my "K's", I quietly and diligently carved my initials in our living room coffee table! Though my parents weren't thrilled, my Dad did start helping me with more projects later on. In fact, the bookcase in our home today was handmade by myself, my Dad 😊, and Cindy.
My college major was Public Relations/Journalism. With this degree I plunged into the professional business world, never soul-searching for my perfect career. In my early 20's while focusing on my career, my hobby of restoring and refinishing older wood furniture went by the wayside. During those years I really missed working with tangible wood items, versus working in the service sector and selling intangibles. My heart may have been in woodworking, but my mind said I needed to grow a stable career.
Remember the “K” table? Well, it was stored in the attic for many years. Eventually I retrieved it for sanding and refinishing. I still have this coffee table, minus the K’s! Doing this revived my hobby of restoring and refinishing wood furniture back to its original luster and beauty and I really enjoyed it!
Recently my heart won. I took a major leap of faith and followed my passion. I hopped careers and jumped into the gratifying world of woodworking, making top quality original and exquisite wood pieces. I found my calling and love what I do.