Interview of Michelle Wildenhaus

Episode Summary:

Episode Summary:

In the latest episode of the InPowered Women Podcast, host Sharon Lee sits down with Michelle Wildenhaus, founder of Studio Twist.

Starting out as a designer, Michelle shares how her passion for knitting was shaped by the influence of her mother and grandmother. She talks about the importance of recognizing open doors and seizing opportunities when they arise. Michelle also opens up about the process of bringing her creative visions to life, how she adapted during the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown, and what exciting projects she’s currently working on.

Having worked with her sister in the company, Michelle credits her for helping bring organization to the team and playing an instrumental role in advancing its development.

Insights from this episode:

• An inside look at Studio Twist and its mission
• Her personal journey into knitting, shaped by early influences and a passion for design
• The story behind choosing the name Studio Twist and what it represents
• Why courage and bold decision-making are essential to growth and success
• How she brings her creative designs to life, from concept to product
• Adapting and staying resilient through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic
  

Quotes from the show:

• “I am much better off working with people who understand the process of whatever it is and are willing to make decisions and move forward” – Michelle Wildenhaus, InPowered Women, Episode #17
• How she settled on the name, “Studio for the artistic aspect of it, and Twist was a twist of yarn, a twist of fate: all these things came together to start Studio Twist” – Michelle Wildenhaus, InPowered Women, Episode #17
• “What I have learned over my lifetime is just learn to recognise the doors and have the guts to walk through the doors” – Michelle Wildenhaus, InPowered Women, Episode #17
• “I have had a decent percentage of success, but it doesn’t always work, and there were some missteps along the way. I went through the wrong door.” – Michelle Wildenhaus, InPowered Women, Episode #17

Episode Transcript:

Speaker 3

Welcome to the InPowered Women’s podcast, where we tell the stories of Unstoppable Female Leaders who Excel, Uplift, and Secure a clearer Path for Female Leaders in the Future. And I’m your host, Sharon Lee.

Speaker 2

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the InPowered Women podcast. I am Sharon Lee, your host, and I am so excited to dive into our guest and the conversation today. But before we do that, I’m going to introduce our sponsor. Thank you to Zenith Search Partners. At Zenith Search Partners, we believe strong businesses are built by strong leaders, many of whom are women, shaping industries and breaking barriers every day. We are honored to support the N Powered Women podcast as we continue to champion bold leadership and connect companies with the talent to match. Thank you, Zenith, and welcome, Michelle Wilden house. She is Founder of Studio Twist. Hi there, Michelle.

Speaker 1

Hello.

Speaker 2

Hello. Well, so I’ve got to tell you this was one of those random cold outreach. I saw your profile on LinkedIn and randomly sent you a connection request. You accepted. We just decided to jump on a call just so I could learn a little bit more about you. So I really appreciated the time that you gave me. And it absolutely solidified my thought that you would be such a cool person to talk to.

Speaker 1

I hope you’re right. Well, I am right.

Speaker 2

I know I’m right. Absolutely. Anyway, it was a fun conversation, and we just went all over the place. So this is going to be fun today. But before we dive into this, give us a high-level overview of what Studio Twist is.

Speaker 1

Studio Twist is a hospitality-focused and cruise-focused supplier for custom knit textiles for top of bed. We do pillows, we do blankets, and we have a patented box spring cover. We work with designers across the country and some internationally. We make traditional knits, we do cable knits, and we do all kinds of patterns. We have a great deal of custom flexibility. Pretty much, if an interior designer or an ownership group wants something done, we can turn it into a product that will work in the hotel guest room.

Speaker 2

How long have you been owner of this organization?

Speaker 1

I started the company 13 years ago.

Speaker 2

Thirteen years. Okay. You’ve got how many staff members?

Speaker 1

We have independent contractors that work with us. We have four internal team outside for accounting and things like that. Then we have 14 reps at present time across the country, and we are working to bring somebody on in the UK. We’re looking to expand, and we have shipped internationally in the past, and we would love to do it again.

Speaker 2

Oh, fantastic. A lot of those folks that are working with you are female, right? You got a very large percentage of female staff.

Speaker 1

Yes. All of the internal team is women, and we have two guys on the sales team. The rest of them are women. The gentleman who owns the mill that we partner with is a guy.

Speaker 2

He’s a dude. You mentioned at one point that your sister, now, does she work for you, with you, or did she just collaborate with you at one point?

Speaker 1

She worked with me. She is ex-military. At that point, we were running this very Jello-like organization. And she came in and she said, No, we’re going to tighten this up. We’re going to make procedures. So she really brought a lot of organization to the team. And she also helped us be in touch with someone who helped develop a customized system, an ERP system that runs all of our internal projects and has all the accounting and all of the back-of-house stuff in one piece. So She was very instrumental in advancing the technology capability of Studio Twist.

Speaker 1

Just a very small undertaking, yes.

Speaker 2

Sure. No problem. Just no fear. I’ve never seen the military. Exactly. Just add water and it all shows. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Well, let’s back up just a little bit in the story or a whole lot, and let’s talk about what is your origin story with all of this? Where did your career path begin?

Speaker 2

I’d like to think that it started extremely early. I was baptized in a gown that my grandmother and my great grandmother made, and it was all lace and tucked. I still have it. My children were baptized in it. I think in some way that just ooosed to my skin. I’ve been doing textiles ever since. My grandmother did tatting and knitting and crocheting. My mother made all of our clothes growing up. I’ve always had a textile portion in my life, and I continued that all the way through my education. It kept going all through my professional life.

Speaker 1

Wow. You started out as an interior designer, is that correct? Correct.

Speaker 2

I did residential interior design for two years and decided that due to the challenges of making a decision between a husband and wife and them trying to pick a sofa or whatever, I decided that I would probably have to kill somebody and put them in the backyard because I am a very decisive person If I’m going to buy a sofa, it’s that one right there, and I know it. The fact that these people take weeks to make a decision and they still aren’t finished, I’m like, Yeah, no, I can’t do this.

Speaker 1

Wedding planning would not be in your future working with bride Zilla. No.

Speaker 2

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I’m much better off with people who understand the process of whatever it is and are willing to make decisions and move forward. If you want to do a little run around the circle 16 times, I’m like, no, I need to go. I need to go now.

Speaker 1

Yeah, exactly. Well put. Oh, my goodness. Well, and so after the short time there, what was your connection to teaching? You were at a university for a little while. I was.

Speaker 2

I was asked to return to the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Ohio, where I went to school, my sister went to school, and subsequently my son went to school. It’s a family thing. They asked me to come back and teach entry-level interior design. I did that for a year. I was like, Okay, well, that’s only two mornings a week, and I need to have a job somehow. I started back to school, and I also taught as a graduate assistant at Miami University, which was an hour away.

Speaker 1

You stayed there for a while and then took a leap into carpet design? Am I remembering that correctly?

Speaker 1

You are. I did met my husband while I was in graduate school. We decided to move to Atlanta because I figured I could get a job in the carpet industry somehow with the background. I did eventually, and I ended up with Mohawk and Alexander Smith back in the day when that was the name of the company. It’s since changed. I painted hand-painted carpet designs before they were all computerized for woven Xminster carpet.

Speaker 1

Is this for commercial carpets or is this residential? Yes. Okay. Describe what the process is. Describe what the end result is. I’m having a hard time visualizing that.

Speaker 2

An interior designer would submit an idea or they would pick a pattern that already exists in the catalog from the company. You would have basically it looks like a piece of graph paper. Every little check on that graph paper is a tuft of carpet. If you paint it red, then they’re going to put a red yarn there. If you paint it blue, they’re going to put a blue yarn. You design the whole carpet and that gets fed into a system that translates it into the machine, and that’s how you developed patterned carpet. You would see them in large hotels. Convention centers generally have Aximister carpet or have had it in the past. It’s changed now. The industry has changed. But any place where you have a large design in a ballroom area, ask Mr. Carpet.

Speaker 1

How long did you do that?

Speaker 2

About two years. Then another opportunity opened up, and I worked with the wool bureau talking about the wool fiber because I had a textile background. I understood what wool was, and we represented the fiber to carpet manufacturers. Also, more importantly, to the interior design community. We taught them how to write a specification for a wool carpet and what it would do and how to give them the tools to help present that to their hoteliers or their convention centers so they could sell them on the idea of using wool carpet.

Speaker 1

Was that nationwide or was this worldwide or what was the scope of that?

Speaker 2

The organization itself was worldwide. The woolmark that you used to find on wool clothing, that’s the organization. I had a territory in the Southeast, and my position was replicated in a total of five territories across the country.

Speaker 1

Did that then pole vault you into where you are now or what is that?

Speaker 2

There were a few more steps. I ended up moving into sales for AXMinster Carpet with the wool background and the design background. I really helped develop some really extraordinary projects. The Grand Bretagne in Athens, Greece, we did Axminster in the entire hotel, including the guest rooms. It was very special and it was very big. That was really interesting. Then I moved into multi-line sales, which I had a carpet line, I had a textile line, I had a faux leather line. All different companies moved in and out. I did lighting for a while. I was in sales for 27 years.

Speaker 1

That was all within the hospitality industry?

Speaker 2

All hospitality-focused, primarily based in the Atlanta area. But my territories included Nashville, Carolinas, this corner of the United States.

Speaker 1

You’re just slowly but surely owning this whole industry.

Speaker 2

I think that might be an overstatement. Okay. A little bit.

Speaker 1

I love it. Then what was your next How did that come about?

Speaker 2

Among the companies that I worked with as a multi-line, I worked with a company that made the net product that we now know as Studio Twist. It was with another company, and the opportunity just opened up that I could do this I had a large team of people that were working with me. But I started Studio Twist. We worked with the manufacturer that we knew from its previous iteration. We just gathered people and made it happen.

Speaker 1

How did you settle in the name?

Speaker 2

Studio, I think, for the esthetics and the artistic aspect of it. And Twist was a twist of yarn, a twist of fate. All of these things came together to start Studio Twist.

Speaker 1

Okay. It’s funny because we were talking about you being the non-plan planner, that you’re more on the realm of what is that open door and how am I going to get through it or how am I going to see it and what is that journey that way? Let’s talk How did you think about that. You had this open door, you boldly went through it, and?

Speaker 2

Boldly, yes, in part. But also part of it was, Oh, my gosh, what do you think you’re doing? You know what? It was a risk. It was All the risks. I think I’ve mentioned to you that what I’ve learned over my lifetime is just learn to recognize the doors and have the guts, the chutzpah, whatever, to walk through the doors. It doesn’t always work. I’ve had a decent percentage of success Yes, but it doesn’t always work. There were some missteps along the way. I went through the wrong door and I was like, Don’t do that.

Speaker 1

That’s right. This one’s slamming. That’s not good.

Speaker 2

Close it quietly as I walk out the door. Hopefully, nobody will notice that I’m gone.

Speaker 1

I love it. Let’s talk about bringing an actual design to life. We had talked about the Alphand Inn, for example. Let’s talk through that story. It’s a pretty fun story.

Speaker 2

It is. We work with the design team out of Chicago, Shady De La Rosa, and their client was the Alfond Inn in Winter Park, Florida. We had done the Winter Park, the Alfond Inn, 13 years before when it first opened, and then they were doing the refresh, and they did a beautiful job. Our piece was one of the signature pieces in the room, besides the fact that it has a beautiful palate of yellows and turquoises and beautifully curated art and patterns that all speak to it. Then our throw is at the end of the bed, and it has an Alphonse monogram in the center of a herringbone pattern. When you walk in the room, you see all these beautiful colors in this lovely white bed with a throw at the end that really talks to property. It’s one of my favorite things to have in a guest room that we work on, is something that speaks to their sense of place, their location, their heritage. We’ve done one for a tribe in Arizona. We referenced their baskets, and we developed that into the border. When you walk in the room, one of the first things you see on the corner of the bed is those baskets.

Speaker 2

Many people wouldn’t even know what they were, but if you look at it, you can see the reference and the authenticity of speaking to where they are and the ownership of the property. That’s one of my favorite things to do.

Speaker 1

How would something like that conceptually work? Whether the idea came from the tribe itself or whether it came from someone on your staff, you see the connection with the baskets and the beautiful woven material and all of this. That’s a concept. That’s not taking it fully to life. I mean, how does the collaboration there work?

Speaker 2

In part because of my background in textile I can look at a design element and say, well, it’ll work well in a border or it will work well in the center of the blanket, or it can be an all over pattern. We do some preliminary work and just say, these are the options of what we can see and how we can use this design element. In the case of the tribal one, they knew they wanted that basket. That was part of their logo. They had gone down the road of a basic pattern. It was just like a herringbone or something, something that didn’t really speak to They said, Well, the elders in the tribe really like this basket design. It’s like, Okay, let’s use that. Let’s put it. They’re like, Well, we don’t know where to put it. I was like, I know where to put it. I got you. I particularly like opportunities where we can speak to something about where it is and what is important to whoever is there, whatever we can speak to, whether it’s really imprinting a brand or talking about something that is in the area. We We’ve done Blankets for Scamania, which is a lodge in the Northwest, and they picked a tribal pattern that we executed for them.

Speaker 2

I think that that really is an opportunity to tell a story and to make a memorable guest room that people will remember that place because it spoke to something that they understood.

Speaker 1

I remember you saying that you have this affinity for the beach and the beach feel and the beach colors and all of that. You created a design, what was it? Oceania. Yes. Tell us about that. That’s a neat story.

Speaker 2

Oceania started with a book, and I had just seen it online, and I was like, Oh, this is such a beautiful cover. I don’t know what’s inside, but I’m going to get it anyway because I like the cover design. Turned out that design was a carved wood paddle that they used in tribal dances for people in the Pacific region of Oceania, which includes Tahiti and all of those island nations in that area. It was different because many of the collections that we’ve done in the past have a textile history. They don’t have a traditional textile history because they don’t have the land to have sheep or to grow cotton or to grow linen. Any of those fibers that we use most often. There’s carvings, there are palm wavings, there are all kinds of things that we had never referenced before. I was like, Can we even make a collection? Is there enough opportunities here? And it turned out there was. I think that one is one of our most unique references that we’ve used so far.

Speaker 1

Wow. I’m curious, COVID was only a few years back. And so you’re working with high-end brands. It’s not like this mass-produced something. How does a company like that navigate a shutdown globally?

Speaker 2

We were lucky in that we already worked from home. We didn’t have an office. We just, Okay, fine. I’m working in my basement. I’m going to continue to work in my basement. We had clients that were able to move forward with some small projects along the way. We had a big order that we were making for a casino property in Las Vegas. The size of that order gave us enough to keep going. So we just patched it through, but we made it. Then there were new projects developing slowly at that time, but very, very slowly because everything was done remote.

Speaker 1

Then there’s your prison story.

Speaker 2

Yes, I didn’t go to prison, just so we’re clear. But the contract mill that we work with had a contract with the state of New Jersey to make striping for prison uniforms because they all have different colors, stripes on their pants to indicate something. I’m not exactly sure what. But in any event, because he was considered an essential worker, he was able to come into the mill every day. And in addition to working on this project for the state of New Jersey, he was able to continue to make our product. So we just got lucky again.

Speaker 1

Wow. Okay. That is fabulous. And then you came out of that on the other side. How did you grow from there?

Speaker 2

We just started building back up. There was still a lot of concern. Even towards the end of COVID, people don’t really understand how the virus was spread. And there was concern about textiles, and would the virus be able to live in a textile and reinfect another visitor to a hotel guest room? That was something that we were very involved with the Association for Contract Textiles at the time. As far as understanding that There was no documented transfer of the COVID virus on a textile anywhere in the world. Based on that, we started creating the information to help the designers and their clients understand that we were not the problem. Their air conditioning system was the problem. There were other things that contributed to the spread of COVID and could potentially affect guests at a hotel. The textiles were not the problem.

Speaker 1

Wow. I would never have even thought about that. That’s fantastic. But it’s that you did the work so that you could confidently educate them and know for sure that that was the case.

Speaker 2

Yes, it was important because I understand we were all scared out of our minds at that point. We had to be able to answer the questions and be able to back that up with the scientific information so that there was some level of assurance.

Speaker 1

Okay, well, that has blown my mind. Where I was going to go next just completely takes a pivot. Okay, we’ll just go with that. But I was going to talk about what that next open door? This is your non-plan plan. So fast forward to today, what is the vision?

Speaker 2

We’re starting to work on our collection for Beat Again Why, which is the big hospitality show in November, announcing here for the first time. We’re doing haberdashery. We’ve done these very exotic, far-flung collections for the last two years. So now we’re going back to a classic. We are doing haberdashery, menswear, herring bones, plaids. Unfortunately, the Met Ball played into this whole thing with their theme this year of dandyism and a lot of menswear references. I’m like, Okay, that’s great. Let’s talk about that. It accidentally worked into a theme that will carry us through the next market.

Speaker 1

When you go to a trade show or something along those lines and you’ve got your booth out, I mean, describe what all you bring. I’m guessing everybody have to be able to feel them because that is the things that we talked about before that people are very surprised that these knits and these fabrics are so comfortable. They’re not just beautiful.

Speaker 2

Right, they are. They are also built for the hospitality industry. They’re inherently fire retardant, they’re antimicrobial, they can be washed in the hotel property. Pretty much any pattern, we can find a way to make a version of it. We have color limitations, there are some repeat limitations, but bring the idea and let’s see what we can do. That’s why we have a lot of width and depth of what’s possible.

Speaker 1

Do you find that people do bring some sample or something? They know that they’re going to see you in person and they will bring something and bring a starting point?

Speaker 2

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they bring, Well, this is what the chair is going to look like, and this is the art. So they show us all the pieces in the room, and then we maybe find a point of extraction that we can work with. Or sometimes they will bring a fabric that they say, This is the look we want, but we need it in a washable textile that can be We use it on the bed, and we will work from that. Just about anything. I mean, doodle on cocktail napkins work.

Speaker 2

Whatever you got, we got you.

Speaker 2

We could be sitting at an event and having a glass of wine, and somebody will do a doodle on a cocktail napkin, and we’ve worked from that. That’s right.

Speaker 2

You spill your wine and you go, Okay, wait a second. Look at this. Perfect. I couldn’t have drawn it better myself. Okay, let’s get started.

Speaker 1

Right.

Speaker 1

Well, speaking of that, let’s segue into what do you do for fun when you are not doing all of this design and all of that?

Speaker 2

I’m sitting here at my desk looking out the lake. We have kayaks on the lake. That’s like, Oh, my gosh, I need to just go away. Don’t bring the phone. Do nothing. Just paddle. But the other thing that I really enjoy is any textile. I take classes literally all over the world in indigo dyeing and echo dyeing and stitching. I’m taking a class next week in weaving paper. Not quite sure where that goes, but it sounds interesting, and it will have an application that I can use in a textile somehow. Just all different things. Anything I can get my hands on. I have personally a large sewing community of friends that I go on trips with, and so that’s the outlet. That’s the creative break away from the other creative things I do.

Speaker 1

We were talking about on a previous conversation that even as a kid, you were the art kid. You were getting the ribbons, and you’re still the art kid getting the ribbons.

Speaker 2

Well, there aren’t any more ribbons. I enjoy it.

Speaker 1

I’m thinking if you and I sat down and we were weaving our paper next to each other, you would get the ribbon. I guess it just depends on how creative that person wants to be. Then, Maddie- Absolutely.

Speaker 2

Yes, there’s an opportunity for everyone to succeed.

Speaker 1

I love it. Well, with that, I’m sure there will be people that want to connect with you and hear more about your story and what you’ve got going on and that thing. If they do, tell us a way to reach you.

Speaker 2

I’m on LinkedIn and both Studio Twist and I have separate entries into LinkedIn. Our website for Studio Twist is www. Studiotwist. Net. If you are sitting at home and decide you need a new blanket, we have a small retail outlet, which is twistathome, all one word. Net. You can have one for your home.

Speaker 1

I can attest to the fact that if someone does connect with you on LinkedIn, you will respond because that’s the reason we’re here today.

Speaker 2

I will. I will take a shot at almost anything. So yes.

Speaker 1

Well, this has been so much fun. I knew it would be just to hear your story and to share what your past has been and how it all came together. So thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us today.

Speaker 2

I appreciate your time also. Thank you.

Speaker 1

We’ll be seeing you soon. Thanks so much. Yes. Bye.

Speaker 3

Thank you for listening to InPowered Women. If you like what you heard, please give us a five-star review and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to your podcast and share with those you think can benefit from this information. Please email all questions, suggestions, and compliments to sharon@pinnaclestrategicadvisors.net. The InPowered Women podcast is produced by the podcast laundry production company and executive produced by Sharon Lee.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.