A seasoned veteran in the hardwood manufacturing industry, Dwain spent his early career as President of LJ Smith Incorporated, one of the world’s leading producers of hardwood stair parts, from 1976 to 1994. 25 years later, he finds himself in familiar territory, trading oak ballusters and newel posts for solid slabs of walnut and ebonized maple. With the addition of his son, Phil, Dwain adds to his legacy in the hardwood business, operating on the same principles of high quality and excellent customer service.

While he’s not in the shop or spending time with his five children or eight grandchildren, Dwain and his wife enjoy relaxing at home in Northeastern Ohio with their dog, Elly.

It’s fair to say that Phil has been selling things since the time he could talk. Always hustling, always chasing the next deal, Phil cut his teeth in the car business, working his way up from used cars sales to General Manager of Germain Mercedes-Benz in Columbus, Ohio. But like his brother before him, he couldn’t resist the allure of the gorgeous wood slabs and the challenges and opportunities they presented, and joined the team in 2017 to head up the sales department. A self-proclaimed “people person”, Phil enjoys the everyday interactions with customers, the Created™ staff, and the network of sales reps he’s assembled throughout the US.

Phil lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and daughter and their three other “children”, who wear collars and bark when they want something. 

Mike came to us as a part time product specialist while attending Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. We will always remember Mike's first big day at our Columbus Showroom. He sold more in one day out of showroom than anyone had sold in the past two weeks. It's safe to say, we knew we found our man. We were fortunate enough to bring him on full time as our national sales manager after graduation and could not be any happier with his contribution. Mike prides himself on providing fantastic support to our commercial customers and reps, plus managing our Columbus showroom.

In his spare time, Mike enjoys playing basketball, sand volleyball, and the "occasional" whiskey drink.

The first time we met Solomon, it wasn't for a job interview, it was him visiting our showroom in downtown Columbus to indulge his passion for Art & Design. It wasn't until a year later that we found ourselves interviewing Solomon for our open Director of Design position, and we couldn't have been luckier to find him and ultimately hire him to take on this role. As an Alumni of Parsons School of Design, Solomon takes detail to the next level. Whether it's a simple dining table project, a completely custom reception desk design, Solomon always knocks it out of the park.

Much of Solomon's free time is spent with his wife and two daughters, but he also enjoys doing home improvement projects of his own.

Known as Arlin by very few, Hootie is a hopeless wood addict and only needed one look at Created’s raw slab inventory to be persuaded to head up the production team in charge of building anything and everything. A gifted problem-solver, Hootie’s attention to detail and perfectionist nature is ideally suited for the construction of Created’s one-of-a-kind pieces.

In his spare time, he spins extraordinary bowls from wood burls, plays an unhealthy amount of golf, and hunts mushrooms with his wife, Jen. (Don’t bother asking him for his favorite spots.)

Having come full circle from Ohio to Denver, CO and back to Ohio again, "Stokes" (more on that later) has more management and woodworking experience than most men twice his age. If there's a question he usually has the answer, and one way or another finds a way to get Created's products out the door on time and on budget.

He lists his hobbies as hiking, fishing, biking, woodworking (that's when we knew we had our man) and spending time with his wife and two children.

Jessica’s list of skills and responsibilities is a long one at Created where she manages everything from the books to shipping to customer service. Her cool calm demeanor is an invaluable asset to the company, constantly being tested and honed by her two teenage boys. In her "free" time, she's usually busy keeping up with their sports schedules (and is no slouch in a number of sports herself), and is active in dog rescue.

Jessica lives with her family in Dover, Ohio.

Nick has a passion for his work and it shows. Having over 20 years of construction experience prior to joining the team, Nick is a rock solid, can-do guy who can be counted on to tackle any challenge and boost morale doing it.

Nick lives with his wife and two kids who keep him plenty busy while Created doesn’t.