Green Team Profile: Jake Friend

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:02 pm

Jake Friend Vermont Woods Studios

Jake joined Vermont Woods Studios in 2018, filling a role in shipping, customer service, and operations. Jake shares a downstairs office with Michelle and Liz and works closely with Dennis and Sean. We’re excited to have him on board! Read More

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Green Team Profile: Jake Checani

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:03 pm

Ethically Sourced Furniture | Vermont Woods Studios

2018 was Jake’s first year at Vermont Woods Studios, but you wouldn’t know it based on how many different roles he fills on a daily basis. In addition to keeping everyone warm in the winter and making sure Stonehurst looks her best, Jake also heads our delivery and furniture transport team.

Now, he’s #VWSGreenTeam featured.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Green Team Profile: Dennis Shanoff

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:03 pm

In this month’s #VWSGreenTeam profile, we’re meeting Dennis Shanoff. Dennis is the longest tenured employee at Vermont Woods Studios and has been with the company since it was run out of a spare bedroom in Peggy and Ken’s home. Read More

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Green Team Profile: Ken Farabaugh

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:03 pm

Ken is one of the co-founders of Vermont Woods Studios, along with his wife, Peggy Farabaugh. The original craftsmen at Vermont Woods Studios (Peggy started selling Ken’s furniture online in 2005), he’s got ~40 years of experience building furniture. Read More

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Megan Fulton: Welcome to The Woods

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:05 pm

Welcome to the team Megan!

Megan Fulton joins our Marketing team as the new Marketing Assistant. She will be taking the reins of our social media platforms, blogging and community involvement–as well as helping with marketing strategies and PR projects.

Megan Fulton

A graduate from Emerson College in Boston, MA with BS in Marketing Communications and minor in Psychology, Megan studied abroad in the Netherlands, in a refurbished 14th Century Castle, “Kasteel Well”. She’s traveled to 13 countries and some of her favorite cities are Amsterdam, Madrid and Lucerne.

Kasteel Well
Emerson College’s Kasteel Well-a view from the back of the Main Castle and inner moat.

 

Europe
Pictures from Megan’s time abroad-Sicily, Amsterdam, Barcelona

She has a passion for Human Rights that started when she was 18 and she began her journey with the non-profit organization, Calling All Crows. During her time with CAC she traveled alongside Boston bands, State Radio and Dispatch, first as an Alternative Break Tour Volunteer and worked her way up to an intern, Tour Leader and “Team Bostonia” Regional Coordinator.

Service Project Cologne
Megan at Service Project in Cologne, Germany with members of the band State Radio and Alternative Break Tour Volunteers

Megan is excited to join the Vermont Woods Studios team and use her passion and experience to help grow the mission of VWS.

Megan Dog Charlie
Megan with her dog Charlie and a picture she snapped during the Red Sox victory parade in 2013

When she’s not here at our Stonehurst Showroom she can be found walking or hiking with her black lab Charlie or cheering on the Red Sox and Patriots!

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Tristan Fletcher: Welcome to The Woods

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:04 pm

douglas-tristan
Tristan’s been learning the Vermont Woods Studios ropes from his dad since he was barely a teenager. I took this snapshot a couple years ago when we were renting a tiny office space from Teddy George at George’s Mill in Vernon.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had the pleasure of welcoming Tristan Fletcher into our family of hardworking fine furniture specialists at Vermont Woods Studios.  Tristan’s been helping us since back in the day when we were working out of the guest bedroom in my house.  He was barely a teenager when we started recruiting him to help with data entry and photo-shopping.  Over the years he’s added additional skills like computer networking and troubleshooting to his repertoire.  Not to mention lawn-mowing, wood cutting/stacking and showroom cleaning.

Come to think of it, Tristan’s probably a serious competitor to Ken and Loryn when it comes to winning the VWS “jack of all trades” award.

Here's Tristan and fellow "groundskeepers" at Stonehurst last summer.  The foursome (from left, Teagen Fletcher, Riley Farabaugh, Trenton Fletcher and Tristan)
Here’s Tristan and fellow “grounds keepers” at Stonehurst last summer. The foursome (from left, Taegen Fletcher, Riley Farabaugh, Trenton Fletcher and Tristan) managed to keep smiling (mostly) throughout  the process of cutting and stacking 40 cords of wood.

When I asked Tristan how he acquired his expertise with computers he said he got interested by playing online video games. “While at my friend’s house I saw his custom computer and at that moment it started my interest. As a computer gamer the technology is never enough so I tinker and get as much performance as I can. New leading edge things come out which make the computer work better/faster and instantly I need to have them.

I’ve been customizing computers for about 3 years.  There’s nothing like having all the separate parts and spending a day building and putting a computer together to experience the final product and being able to say “I made that”.

Tristan
“There is nothing like spending a day building and putting all the pieces of a computer together and being able to say “I made that”.
When he's not going to school, working at Vermont Woods Studios, building computers or hanging out with friends, Tristan likes to draw.
When he’s not going to school, working at Vermont Woods Studios, building computers or hanging out with friends, Tristan likes to draw.
Big sister, Taegen adds a little levity to the task of maintining our furniture showroom at Stonehurst.
Big sister, Taegen Fletcher also helps us out at Vermont Woods Studios.  No job is too big or too small

Everyone’s excited about having Tristan on board full time now at Stonehurst. We’ve stationed him in the Brainiac Room with Neville and Martin where he’ll be helping them turn our dreams into reality.  It’s great to have you on board full time, Tristan!

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

So Long Student Interns

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:17 pm

Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Interns: Taegen, Riley, Trenton and Tristan.
Vermont Woods Studios Furniture student interns: Taegen, Riley, Trenton and Tristan.

It’s a beautiful, warm sunny summer day at Vermont Woods Studios which makes it hard to believe Autumn is almost here.  But if the weather isn’t enough of a reminder,  the annual loss of our student interns is making it all too clear.

Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Interns: busy stacking 40 cords of firewood
The Fab Four gathered and cut 40 cords of firewood this summer!

Today we send them our heartfelt thanks for all the hard work they put in throughout the summer.  Perhaps the toughest job they had was gathering, slicing and dicing 40 cords of firewood to keep the rest of us warm during the winter.

Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Interns: busy stacking 40 cords of firewood
What name do you think this band of rock stars should take up?

They also pitched in on many other tasks required to maintain our woodlands and keep our Stonehurst fine furniture store looking clean, green & beautiful.  We wish them great success at school and in their other endeavors.  Hope to see you guys back here next summer!

Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Interns: managing our woodlands
Stay out of Taegen’s way when she’s driving the tractor!

 

Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Interns: and Wood Man
Name suggestions for this new member of the Vermont Woods team?

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Nina Markiw: Welcome to the Woods

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:06 pm

Nina Markiw | Welcome to Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture

Today it’s my great pleasure to welcome our newest team member, Nina Narkiw to Vermont Woods Studios.  As a professional photographer, Nina will be working with Dennis and Kelsey in our Marketing department.  Her focus will be on conveying the beauty and quality of Vermont’s fine furniture to those who are unable to visit our Stonehurst showroom and see it in person.

A graduate of Johnson State College with a BA in Studio Art and a concentration in photography, Nina made the Presidents List and graduated magna cum laude.  She owns White Blossom Art, a small business that offers wedding photography, fine art photography and paintings.  In her “spare time” Nina helps in the family’s floral business Checkerberry Hill, which specializes in custom floral designs for weddings and other special events.

Sheep | Nina Markiw | Vermont Fine Artist and Photographer
Here’s one of my favorite photos by Nina, as featured on her website White Blossom Art.
A babbling brook and autumn leaves by Nina Markiw
Photography isn’t her only expertise.  Nina also has a passion for painting.

For Nina, “art is a way of life and not just a hobby”.  At Vermont Woods Studios we feel very lucky to have her caliber of talent and drive on our team.  Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Nina on our Facebook!

This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios.  Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Martin Corbin: Website Developer by Day, Artist and Musician by Night

Last updated on March 13th, 2019 at 05:19 pm

Martin Corbin | Website Developer by Day | Musician by Night
Martin Corbin, website developer extraordinaire: with Stephanie Salasin (left), and performing on the mandolin (right).  Martin is our newest member of the IT/Website group at Vermont Woods Studios.

Selling handmade furniture online is considered preposterous by many. Fine furniture must be seen in person for one to appreciate the quality and workmanship that goes into each piece.  But at Vermont Woods Studios we’ve been hard at work making an exception to that rule for 8 years.  Much of our success is due to the talented group of web development professionals we’ve managed to persuade to join our cause– and Martin Corbin is the newest among them.

Martin’s interest in computers and digital art began when he was a young boy. As an adult, he enrolled in a PC repair course and entered the IT field, first working for a local computer shop then going freelance.  Martin enjoyed experimenting with digital art, and eventually combined his interests into designing websites.  However he hasn’t left his creativity behind.  On his personal website he shares a bit about his artistic side:

“I was raised in an artistic household and began drawing at an early age. My mother Rita Corbin was already an established artist before I was born.  I watched her work daily and used what I learned to try to make my own drawing come to life…. My approach is simple: draw or paint what I want, when feel like it, and don’t worry about how it comes out. Simple as this is, not over thinking remains a challenge. I believe this relaxed approach makes the process more enjoyable while still allowing for great results.”

Martin Corbin | Vermont Artist, Musician and Web Developer
Martin Corbin, Vermont Artist, Musician and Web Developer.  Help us welcome Martin to the Woods by giving him a thumbs up on Facebook!

I want to know how to relax and get as much accomplished as Martin has.   In addition to his expertise with computers, programming and art, he is also an accomplished musician.  We know Martin as a die hard Phish phan but I’ve recently learned that he has a long history with music.  During Brattleboro’s heyday, he was in a band called The Weld, playing acoustic, instrumental jazzgrass music at The Common Ground Restaurant and McNeill’s Brewery.  You can check out his artwork and music on his website, MartinCorbin.com.

We feel very fortunate to have Martin working with us at Vermont Woods Studios.  Stop by our fine furniture and art gallery at Stonehurst to see samples of his artwork.  And help us welcome Martin to the Woods by giving him a thumbs up on Facebook!

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Kelsey Eaton Dances into the Woods

Last updated on February 28th, 2019 at 04:07 pm

Kelsey Eaton, Marketing Maven at Vermont's Online Fine Furniture Store

Finding people who want to work at Vermont Woods Studios is easy, but finding just the right person for a particular job opening is hard.  Over the last few years, whenever we’ve advertised a job opening, we’ve had 50-100 applicants express interest.  About 25% of them are excellent candidates and we usually end up interviewing about 5-10 people for each opening.

As with any employer, we’re looking for people who are smart, hard-working, driven, creative and easy to get along with.  We also consider who the new employee will be spending most of their time with and try to make sure there is a good fit between the personalities.  Beyond that though, there is something intangible involved in selecting the right person.  In Kelsey Eaton’s case it was a spirit of determination and courage and a notion that anything is achievable.  Here’s a little bit about her background:

Kelsey’s a recent graduate of Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont where she earned her BS in Communications with a concentration in Media Practices.  She is now pursuing a masters degree in Internet marketing at Full Sail University.  Kelsey’s career in marketing began at age 11 when she created an e-zine called The Underworld– a weekly email publication that featured her own original poetry and photography as well as music reviews and celebrity gossip.

While at Green Mountain College, Kelsey was selected as Art Director and Marketing Manager for the school’s monthly publication, The Mountaineer.  Besides using social media to connect with supporters, Kelsey also employed telemarketing– a feat no ordinary person could ever survive, right?

After graduating from GMC Kelsey worked her own freelance designer business, doing a variety of graphic design, writing, and photography projects, including work for Poultney’s famous Full Belly Deli.

Now she spends her time working with Dennis in our Marketing “Department” (that would be Dennis and Kelsey).  She reaches out to customers and friends, promoting Vermont made fine furniture to local, regional and national media outlets as well as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Houzz and the Vermont Furniture Blog.  In her free time, Kelsey teaches belly dancing (Loryn and Liz are her star pupils) and enjoys music and writing.

Help us welcome Kelsey Eaton to Vermont Woods Studios by giving her a thumbs up on Facebook!

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.