Lance B. – Shipping & Facilities Manager

Lance was born in Pella, Iowa, and grew up in Miller, South Dakota—a town of about 1800 people. He moved to Colorado in 2015, after spending a few years in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of his family still lives in Iowa, though one sister lives in Colorado. Lance just made a new addition to his household, a new dog, Chase.

Lance came to Schacht with no knowledge of the craft industry but lots of experience in shipping. Since then, he also demonstrated a flair for facilities management.

Lance has woven a scarf on a Cricket loom, which is his favorite Schacht product. He finds the Cricket a really cool loom and thinks anybody can learn to use it.

Outside of work, Lance hikes, fishes, cooks and barbecues, and watches Broncos games.

Russell C. – Material Handler

Russell was born and grew up in the Detroit area. He moved to Colorado in 2007 after visiting a few times and realizing how cool it was and has live in the Denver area.

Russell creates wood blanks which includes removing imperfections from wood. He works with (or wrassles with) the molder, the rip saw, and the cut-off saw. Of the 3 woods we use, Russell likes ash the best for its beautiful grain.

Russell wasn’t familiar with textile arts before he came to Schacht, but he had worked with wood before. His favorite wood is black palm, which has a striking and lovely end grain (unlike most species of wood).

When he’s not working, Russell enjoys the outdoors. He gardens, meditates, camps, hikes, and goes to festivals and other events in downtown Denver. Ask him about the bacon festival!

Benjamin K – Content Manager

Benjamin is a Colorado native. He was born in Federal Heights, lived in Boulder for 7 years, and now lives in Lafayette with his wife and two cats. He’s been at Schacht on and off since 2012. He first worked in the shipping department and in 2014, he joined the sales department.

Benjamin is responsible for writing blogs, making product videos, and generally creating content for the company website. He developed a deep and wide-ranging knowledge of fiber crafts here. He learned to weave and spin after he started working at Schacht. He now owns a Baby Wolf, six small looms (School, , and three Schacht spinning wheels.

When he’s not working, spinning, or weaving, Ben designs textiles and garments for his fashion company, continues to develop his painting and photography interests, plays video games, and enjoys the great outdoors.

Peter L. – Mirrycle Assembly

Peter has worked at Schacht for 13 years. He is here part time and one of this responsibilities is to open up the boxes for the Mirrycle Mirrors. Peter also carts pallets where they are needed. Peter is a drummer and once performed a noon time concert for us here at Schacht. Peter also lifts weights.

Guadalupe L. – Production

Lupe was born and grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico. She and her husband moved to Colorado in 1992 with their 2 daughters; Lupe had 3 more daughters after relocating. She now has a handful of grandchildren as well.

Lupe came to Schacht in 2000 to work in assembly. Lupe’s job duties mostly focus on sides of things: harness sides, Cricket sides, and Flip sides. She also has been involved in Ultra Umbrella Swift assembly.

Lupe’s favorite products to make include Cricket sides and Ultra Umbrella Swifts. When she came here, she had no background in spinning or weaving. Now she spins a little and weaves; she has a Cricket at home.

Outside of work, Lupe spends a lot of time with her family. On these occasions, the family eats together, plays sports, and goes to the park. She enjoys it until her grandchildren gang up on her, she says; then she tells their mothers to take them home.

Elliot M. – Shipping Clerk

Elliot was born in Virginia and grew up in Colorado. He’s lived in several parts of the state, as well as in Montana. Currently, he and his wife live in Boulder.

He came to Schacht in 2017 as a shipping clerk. Elliot’s mother is a quilter, so he had some awareness of the craft industry, though he hadn’t handled looms or spinning wheels before.

Elliot is responsible for all Mirrycle products, all international shipping, and the shipping of all floor looms. Packing floor looms correctly is essential for their safety: Elliot says he has to make sure nothing moves inside the box once it’s ready to go.

Outside of work, Elliot enjoys woodworking (especially making furniture and carving spoons) and fly fishing, for which he ties his own flies.

Carrie M. – Sales Associate & Educational Specialist

Carrie was born and grew up in Bemidji, Minnesota, on a farm with livestock. She’s also lived in Santa Cruz, California, and Olympia, Washington. She came to Colorado in 2015 for grad school. Currently, she lives with her daughter and two guinea pigs.

Carrie joined Schacht in August 2018 to work on the sales team. Her duties involve taking and placing orders, office management, and educational outreach. She especially likes talking to dealers and retail customers.

Even as a child, Carrie was interested in textiles. About half her creative time is devoted to weaving; she also dyes, sews, paints fabric, and adds surface decorations to fabric. She got her undergraduate degree in costume and wearable sculpture, and an MFA in fibers. She also works with a nonprofit group called WARP (Weave a Real Peace).

When she’s not making things, Carrie enjoys running and hiking.

Caleb R. – Planning Manager

Caleb has been working at Schacht since 2016. He was hired as shipping assistant just as he was moving to Colorado from Dallas; he’s also worked in Sales and Purchasing. Currently he’s Planning Manager.

Caleb’s work in different departments gave him plenty of insight into the shop that he needs for his current position. Essentially, Caleb performs a balancing act between materials we buy and products that we sell. He also has to forecast the orders coming up so that there’s no delay making and shipping the items.

Caleb came to Schacht on a fluke. He and his brother Woody had already decided to move to Colorado. While still in Texas, he came across a “help wanted” ad and interviewed here just as they were relocating.

He had no knowledge of the craft industry before joining Schacht, so he had to quickly learn about spinning and weaving to lead tours. He has since learned how to weave and how to spin, though he doesn’t consider them serious hobbies.

Caleb spends his spare time in the great outdoors snowboarding, hiking, and camping. He also enjoys good food and good beer, so he appreciates the breweries of Colorado.

Woody R. – Assembly & Inventory

Woody was born in California and grew up in Dallas. He’s lived in Colorado since 2016, when he and his brother Caleb decided to make a big change in their lives and moved to a place where it snowed in the winter.  Soon after they arrived in Colorado, Caleb got a job at Schacht and suggested that Woody apply as well. He appreciates his coworkers and managers here at Schacht.

Woody worked in Shipping first, then moved to Assembly prepping spinning wheel parts and accessories. Now he assembles Sidekicks, Ladybugs, and Matchless.

In 2016, Woody tried to learn spinning on a drop spindle and did not succeed. A year later, he took classes at Schacht—this time on a wheel—and became a spinning god. Woody’s numerous other hobbies crowd out time for fiber arts. He’s an avid sports fan, both as a viewer and as a participant. He follows basketball, football, and baseball closely during their respective seasons. He plays basketball and baseball, cooks, composes electronic music on his computer, and enjoys all the outdoorsy activities.

E.J. S. – Assembly

E.J. was born in Denver and grew up there. Except for a few years in Chicago and a few months in Virginia, she’s always lived in Colorado.

E.J. came to Schacht in 2017 as an assembler. She has a background in theater and in yarn-dyeing, so she knows how to build things and she knows about crafts. She once helped build a Flatiron wheel with a Schacht dealer. When she was looking for a new job, working at Schacht seemed like the perfect fit. As E.J. puts it, “I get to build all the props and I don’t have to deal with actresses.” She’s knitted since 1998 and in her time at Schacht has also embraced spinning and Zoom Loom weaving.

E.J.’s work in Assembly covers many accessories. She’s particularly adept with the Sidekick and Ladybug. Her favorite task involves branding because she’s developed an affectionate relationship with the branding iron, nicknamed Marlon. E.J. loves to tell people that she gets to work with Marlon Brando every day.

Outside of work, E.J. continues her fiber habit with knitting, spinning, and weaving. She also enjoys camping and four-wheeling. She lives with her husband and her dog Tesla.

Maria T. – Assembly

Maria was born in Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo. She grew up in Mexico City and moved to Colorado in 2005. She came to Schacht that same year, first making Mirrycle products, then switching to Schacht assembly. Maria was one of the first two assemblers to make Ladybug wheels. Now she specializes in Flip and Wolf Pup looms. The Pups are her favorite, because they’re bigger and have more parts.

Although Maria wasn’t familiar with fiber arts equipment before she came to Schacht, she learned to spin and weave. She’s got several Schacht tools at home: a Ladybug, a Flip, a Cricket, a drop spindle, a Zoom Loom, and all three sizes of Easel Weavers. Maria also knits and crochets, and made her children’s clothing when they were young. Maria’s children and grandchildren live in Mexico.

My L. – Assembly

My was born in Laos. She lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for about 10 years and moved to Colorado in the 1990s.

She came to Schacht many years ago to work in Mirrycle and Assembly. She doesn’t weave or spin, because her 4 children and 3 grandchildren keep her busy. In her spare time, My likes to cook.

Michael Y. – Technology Manager, Chief Operations Officer

Michael is a Colorado native: he was born in Denver, grew up in Bailey, and lived in Leadville. He currently lives in Lakewood with his wife, son, and daughter. Michael has worked in construction, ranch maintenance, the restaurant industry, and science education before coming to Schacht in 2010.

Michael first started with temporary work in the Production department. Once he came on board full time, operating a CNC, he became interested in programming and product design. Once he learned how to program the CNC computers, it was a short step to running technology for the entire company. Michael also oversees operations for the factory.

Michael still likes the CNC machines and the shop’s lathes, because much of Schacht’s product design begins with this equipment. Michael enjoys prototyping new products; it’s intricate, unstandardized work that the developers figure out as they go along. He played a big role in prototyping and then producing the Flatiron spinning wheel.

In his spare time, Michael enjoys the great outdoors—camping and fly fishing are his favorite hobbies. He also has woodworking and blacksmithing equipment, builds models, spins yarn, and warps looms for his wife Nora.

Trevor Y. – CNC Operator

Trevor was born and grew up in Boulder. He’s lived all over the state and in Missoula, Montana. He likes being back in Boulder near his sister and her young kids—he enjoys uncling.

Trevor enjoys learning.  All this training came with him to Schacht when he started work here in September 2018. Trevor first worked in the production department on CNC machines, then moved into making metal parts. He helped install the dust collector and constantly helps with maintenance on different machines and the buildings.

His family has always appreciated education, mechanical expertise, and the arts, so it’s not surprising that Trevor has a lot of hobbies. He’s visited 19 countries and 37 states and enjoys learning about the geopolitical history of the world. He invents things, sculpts and carves wood, digitizes hand-drawn art, pursues photography, and manages several websites. He likes outdoor activities such as mountaineering, climbing, and hiking. Trevor also makes time to help others: he volunteers for several non-profits.