Stitched Together, Created With Love
By Lydia Gleiser
Michelle was raised in a loving family in Allen, NE, that taught her the importance of kindness, faith, and hard work, values that have shaped every season of her life. The youngest of three children, Michelle was taught that showing up for others, doing your best, and trusting in God through change were not just ideals, but a way of living, building a strong foundation of who she is today.
Being busy and eager to learn were two things that always found Michelle. “I loved being active and involved, and it started when I was a child,” she shares.
In high school, Michelle was active in choir and competed in basketball, track, and volleyball. These experiences taught her discipline, teamwork, and perseverance, qualities that stayed with her long after graduation.
Creativity, however, was always Michelle’s true passion. “My father built houses for a living,” Michelle says. “As a child, my parents and I would drive around different neighborhoods, and I would admire the different architecture and design elements. I loved imagining how different spaces could be transformed.”
When she wasn’t busy with school or extracurricular activities, Michelle would paint houses, hang wallpaper, and sand and stain woodwork for her father’s business.
After high school graduation, it felt natural for Michelle to combine her love of creativity with practical skills. She pursued a degree in interior design with a minor in business at Wayne State College in NE. This career would allow Michelle to enjoy the best of both worlds: artistry and building connections with others.
Fresh out of college, Michelle lived in Bloomfield, NE, and worked in carpet sales and later at a local, family-owned furniture store. These roles helped her develop strong customer service skills and build meaningful relationships with clients. She also served as a paraprofessional in the local school, and it was during this time, Michelle also began the most important role of her life, becoming a mother.
“I was blessed with three children. Raising a family became the center of everything I did,” Michelle shares.
Following a move to Laurel, NE, Michelle wanted to have the same schedule as her children, and so she worked as a paraprofessional for the school district. This position sparked an interest in education, and soon Michelle decided to pursue a degree in teaching and went back to Wayne State College for a degree in Education.
“I spent the next 12 years in the classroom,” Michelle recalls. “While teaching was meaningful, over time I realized how much I missed having a creative outlet and needed a fresh change.”
“The growth of my business wouldn’t have been possible without the people who believed in me, shared my name, and welcomed me into their homes.”
Sewing was a skill that Michelle learned years earlier in college. Michelle beams as she thinks about an instructor she had at Wayne State College. “She was incredible and a very skilled seamstress,” Michelle remembers. “She was meticulous and made sure that what work we put out, no matter how big or small a project it was, that it was always our best.”
Creativity had never left Michelle; it was just waiting for the right moment. And after speaking with her daughter Katie and close family, Michelle was encouraged to leave the classroom and go back to her roots of creative design and start upholstering furniture.
“Change is always so hard,” Michelle notes. “It was scary because I didn’t know if I could really find work and be successful in a smaller area, but I trusted in God and was ready for a new beginning.”
What began as a full-time upholstery job for another local furniture store quickly grew into something much bigger. “I started off working out of my garage, one piece at a time,” Michelle recalls.
Before long, Michelle’s clients started talking. Her craftsmanship and attention to detail, along with her eye for design and genuine personality, started getting attention as her customized pieces were being seen around the area.
One recommendation after another kept Michelle flourishing, and she quickly outgrew the space that her garage had provided.
“I was blessed that I worked with such supportive people; my manager at HOM Furniture, Jeff, was amazing and saw how busy I was getting.”
Through kindness, consistency, and a reputation for doing things well, Michelle’s business expanded, as did her relationships with clients.
“Many of my clients became repeat customers and then friends,” Michelle shares.
Each project that Michelle worked on opened a door to another home, another conversation, and another connection built, something that Michelle values.
“The growth of my business wouldn’t have been possible without the people who believed in me, shared my name, and welcomed me into their homes,” Michelle says.
This trust and growth allowed Michelle to branch off and build a new space for her thriving business. Along with her husband and biggest supporter, Keith, Michelle opened the doors to her new shop twelve years ago, and business hasn’t slowed down.
Michelle has been fortunate to work with local furniture stores in the Siouxland area, along with other designers who have referred clients to her. She also credits the power of social media for helping advertise her quality and pieces that she has rebuilt.
The partnerships that have formed between Michelle and her clients is very meaningful to Michelle as she states that this has pushed her to become a perfectionist in her work as she takes great pride in delivering quality and care in everything she creates.
Michelle’s daughter, Katie, now works as her accountant and is also her best friend. “Katie and I have had many conversations about work and life in general,” Michelle shares. “I’ve instilled in her guiding principles that were taught to me from my parents regarding faith, kindness, and treating others with respect.”
Today, Michelle’s business is still thriving and busy, and each day she feels is a blessing that she is incredibly grateful for, something she is most proud of, built with her own hands… literally.
“Being able to stay creative, stay connected to design, and remain successful and busy doing what I love is nothing I take for granted,” Michelle shares.
Every step in her life, whether it was on the showroom floor, in the classroom, raising her children, or in her garage upholstering furniture, has taught Michelle patience, resilience, and the joy of creating something meaningful.
What started as a passion for Michelle became a permanent path as she now knows that a life well-lived is stitched together with love, strength, and faith.
More With Michelle
What started as a 4-H project of baking cakes in middle school became a side business for Michelle. Before COVID, Michelle’s ability to bake and decorate led her to start a profitable side hustle where she baked over 1,000 cakes for clients.
You can find Michelle’s upholstered furniture all over the United States. The furthest distance that one of her pieces has traveled was an upholstered couch, which flew to an Airbnb in Belize.
Years of upholstering have caused issues with Michelle’s right hand, leading her husband, Keith, to jump in and help out when needed. Among all of her projects, sewing handbags out of military uniforms and making teddy bears and pillows out of loved ones’ clothing are the most meaningful projects that Michelle has made.
Michelle loves all kinds of music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and you can find her working with the music on. She loves to attend concerts and watch live bands, and she’s a musical trivia wiz.
In her downtime, Michelle loves spending time with her grandchildren, singing in her church choir, and surrounding herself with like-minded, kind-hearted people.