Last updated on 1 May 2020
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interesting humans podcast: episode four
Michelle Plucinsky is the epitome of a human passionate about evolving. Together with her husband Chris Nordin, Michelle has run Furnace Design Studio, and The Glass Academy, places where glassblowers create their incredible art and where individuals learn the art of glassblowing.
Michelle became fascinated with art early on, stemming road trips as a kid when her mom dropped craft kits into hers and her siblings’ laps to keep them busy. Her love of manipulating these little craft projects turned into a fascination with glass.
One of Michelle’s first jobs was at the Henry Ford Museum in the glass shop that turned into a role demonstrating glass blowing for tourists at age 20. There Michelle combined both her burgeoning love of art and history. She attended a seminar at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and studied under Italian master artist Lino Tagliapietra who, along with other teacher artists, opened Michelle up to a new world of techniques and where she discovered the “art” in glassblowing. Then she followed one of the teachers from Haystack to Alfred University where she found her advanced abilities helped her push her art even further.
Our conversation traces the lines in her evolution as both an artist and as a business person bent on ensuring she and her husband were able to sustain their art and raise their family. Some misfortune in the economy created a need for the couple to understand the business they were in and make some smart decisions. Michelle developed into a marketer, an accountant and a salesperson seemingly all at once in order to help the Studio grow.
Today, both the Glass Academy and Chris Nordin Studios are on solid ground. And Michelle is discovering some other parts of herself that had been hidden.
The conversation with Michelle is a testament to how a person can pivot in their career but not lose their essence along the way.
You can find Michelle at MichellePlucinsky.com and on social media @michelleplucinsky.
Hope you enjoy my conversation with Michelle.