People often ask me how I got into furniture making. I became a furniture maker because I couldn't find the right chairs for my dining room table. During the search process, I thought to myself, "I guess I'll just have to make my own chairs!" At this time, I had never built anything out of wood so I enrolled in a community education class: Beginning Woodworking.
Three months later, I had built a coat rack - a long way off from those dining room chairs, but on track for a new career! I devoured all the local classes I could over the next two years and built as much as I could with all the community education class time I could buy (living in an apartment, this was the only shop space I had).
Realizing that my hobby had quickly turned into my passion, I left my full-time job to focus solely on furniture making.
Already a college graduate, I knew I wanted to take a different approach to traditional schooling, so I became an apprentice; first to Berthold Schwaiger at the Bauhaus Apprenticeship Institute (now defunct since the founder's death ) and then to the renowned maker, designer and author Jeff Miller of J. Miller Handcrafted Furniture, both in Chicago, IL. After gaining nearly a year and a half of invaluable experience, I moved back to Minneapolis and set up shop of my own.
Seventeen years later, I have earned a reputation as an accomplished furniture maker and craftsman.