In this episode of the Mobile Alabama Business Podcast, we sit down with Freddie Blache, the artist and entrepreneur behind Muffinjaw Designs, a local glassblowing studio. Freddie shares his journey into the mesmerizing world of glass art, from discovering his passion to building a thriving business in Mobile. He discusses the challenges of mastering such a demanding craft, the creativity that fuels his designs, and the importance of supporting local artists. We also dive into the business side of running a glassblowing studio, the role of community in the arts, and how he balances artistry with entrepreneurship. Whether you’re a fellow creative, a small business owner, or just someone who loves unique handmade art, this episode is packed with inspiration and insight.

Transcript:

Freddie: Hey, my name is Freddie Blache and I'm a part of Muffinjaw Designs.

Marcus: That is so awesome, man. It is great to have you on the couch today because, um, well, we'll get into that a little bit, but it's, uh, it's really exciting to have you here.

Freddie: Happy

Marcus: to be here. very much. Well, when I call it, well, when we talked about getting you on the podcast, I mentioned that my fiance Chrissy is just like absolutely blown away by Glassblow and like, we're, you know, fans of, uh, blown away on Netflix and, um, We're recording this in late September of 2022.

Um, but last month, August, uh, August art walk, you guys had a display downtown right in front of the cathedral and you had a portable furnace and we're doing all this stuff. And when we walked outside, it was just like, Holy crap. Like I was just so impressed, man.

Freddie: So that kind of just came about because, uh, we haven't really set out to do a live glass demo during art walk on its own.

It's always been accompanied with south sounds or some other event that was happening in conjunction with, uh, Artwalk. So, this was the first time I was like, okay, we're blowing glass at Artwalk. Because it's taken us a while to really play with the settings and truly understand our equipment. Because Each time we set it up, it's like jazz, you know, something different is going to happen, whether like the it's a little bit colder outside or it's a little bit hotter or we're being a little bit more greedy with our propane consumption.

So we're cranking the thing up so it'll get hotter faster or, oh, well, we know we have a heavy lineup of shows this weekend, so we're going to turn it down to conserve energy, you know? So each one's kind of different. And, uh, this past summer, since we've had. a pretty busy spring and summer show schedule, um, for, you know, spring and summer 2022.

Uh, we kind of, you know, got a little bit more gumption to try it out for a little,

Marcus: yeah, a little more freedom.

Freddie: Yeah,

Marcus: no, I just, I thought it was so cool. And I guess for those of you that are listening, like, I guess we should say you are the owner of a glass blowing, uh,

Freddie: I mean, um, I, I definitely tell people it's not just me, you know, this is a team effort.

I would not be here if it wasn't for everybody that's a part of this. And that, you know, Caroline, Trace, Gage, um, and then all of our friends and family that come out and help us for these things.

Marcus: Um,

Freddie: you know, it takes a village, especially to run a little shop. Uh, you know, um, but yeah, yeah, I don't

Marcus: know. No, it's just cool.

I mean, I don't want to leave you hanging there. No, I mean, it's just so cool because it's not something that people see every day. Now, like I've been to a couple of like theme parks that have somebody that does glass blowing or something like that. But I just think it's cool that here in Mobile that we have a group of people that have kind of like taken on this.

Um, artisanal, you know, craft, and are, you know, are making a go of it, you know? Well,

Freddie: so, you know, like growing up in Mobile, we didn't have a quote unquote hot shop. Like, somebody that was blowing glass, at least not to my knowledge. And, you know, I've been here since the early 90s. Um, the only experience that I had to quote unquote glassblowing was in Bel Air Mall.

This guy used to set up a torch, and he would be making these little figurines, or he would be writing your name in cursive using just Yeah, standard clear rod. And so growing up, that's what I thought glassblowing was and it wasn't until that Trace and I stumbled into the hot shop at South Alabama that were like, oh, this is glassblowing.

I say that. Trace saw, was previously exposed to true, soft glassblowing, uh, in Dollywood when he was growing up. But for me, that was the first time I had stepped foot in a shop and, uh, Ironically, both him and I went and sat down behind the torches for the first day, like, syllabus day, because we thought that's what we were doing.

We wanted to be the first people to, like, get behind the torch and start melting glass and stuff like that. And so after our professor came in and introduced himself and started explaining what we were going to do, he's like, all right, well, let's take a walk out here and go out to the hot shop. You know, he kind of, like, lets us get acclimated, and it's loud, it's hot.

You know, different gas tanks or, uh, air compressors are decompression rising or like letting off steam. Um, you know, he opens up the door to the furnace and it's like staring into the sun, you know? Yeah. It is just this immense amount of energy that's pouring out of that equipment and, you know, it's behind this little.

Marcus: I just can't, I can't even imagine. You were talking earlier, and guys, we're gonna get back to the questions, I promise. I'm just so blown away by this. I mean, it's not every day you get to talk to somebody who has experience in this, but You were talking earlier about how the ambient temperature in whatever facility you're in is 20 degrees higher.

Freddie: So, you know, that, give or take, in our particular shop, we're not going to

Marcus: go out with a thermostat and measure it, but it's hot, is the point. But like

Freddie: in our particular studio, yes, you know, but like at Art Walk. It's not so much, you know, cause you're outside. Exactly. So the heat can dissipate a lot easier, but when you're in closed areas I mean we have ventilation system in our shop, but there's only so much that it can kick

Marcus: out How much how high or how hot is the furnace?

So

Freddie: we try to keep our furnace around 2, 000 degrees Um, again, give or take, you know, cause once you start taking, uh, measurement instrument to see how high it is, it's going to be a little distorted because of how close you are or, you know, The thermocouple might not be taking an accurate reading that day.

Right. Um, so there's a bunch of variabilities, but we try to hover around 2, 000 degrees.

Marcus: Now, that's really impressive. Well, let's, let's go back. I mean, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? You know, where are you from? Where'd you go to high school? Did you go to college? I think you've already mentioned USA, but tell us what you were studying there.

And then, you know, are you married? Just give us some of your backstory.

Freddie: Yeah. So, uh, born and raised in Mobile, uh, cut my teeth on Hollinger's Island, and then my folks moved out west of Mobile. Um, just so that it was a little bit easier commute and, you know, more centrally located. And then I did four years at McGill Tulin, and they let me out on good behavior, so I'm happy about that.

Yeah, um, and you know, like, I didn't really plan on going to college, because You know, ever since I was four, I was a musician, you know, like learned how to play piano and then learned how to play drums and guitar, piano, or I already said, you know, trombone. Um, so just, you know, multi instruments. And so that's really where, what I wanted to do.

Um, but I knew that like, you know, starting out as a 17, 18 year old and playing music, like you're not really gonna just immediately take off or start making like a living wage. Um, so I kind of had this idea. I was like, well, I'm going to go be a welder. Like I'm going to go to the shipyard or whatever, because Austal was offering.

the awesome program that they have at the time. Um, so I remember like turning 18, you know, middle of my senior year. And I'm telling my mom and dad, like, all right, I'm done with school. Like I can't handle this anymore. Cause I'm super ADHD and like, I have other, you know, learning issues. Um, so school was just not my thing.

That's what,

Marcus: that's why I'm the same. Yeah.

Freddie: Like I, you know, I referred to McGill, you know, like kind of as like a, You know, institution, because it was a prison sentence to me to sit down for eight hours a day and like, you know, okay Well remember this and have this and recall back to this past thing and do this this for all the different subjects You know, it was just I couldn't handle it.

You know, I was ready to get out So yeah, I just remember turning 18 telling my parents like hey, I'm gonna be a welder, you know This is I'm done. Yeah, and just like parents looking at me like You got four months left, you know, you're about to walk out with the degree just suck it up deal with it Yeah, you know just do it and then yeah, do whatever you want afterwards, you know Fortunately, both my parents are alumni from South and my mom actually worked for USA medical or university hospital.

Um, ironically, a burn nurse, like in the burn unit. Um, but, uh, so I had this sweet, uh, agreement with South or, you know, my mom did where it's like, you know, you retire through us and you go through that program, your kids get, Oh yeah. I mean, if it wasn't for that, like I would, I definitely wouldn't have gone to school, you know?

Um, so, you know, I'm really thankful for that. And the opportunity, one that like my mom did, uh, for me and my family. And then also, you know, that South does offer that. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's really generous.

Marcus: Yeah. It's getting really expensive for college. So the fact that they do that for people that work there is pretty impressive.

Cause I mean, it can be, they're saying now 20. You know, 20, 000 a year for in state, uh, students at Auburn and Alabama. Actually, it may be more than that. 25. Oh yeah. So USA, you know, it's probably, you know, at least 15, 20. And then, you know, I mean most people that go to university of South Alabama or commuter students, you know, drive there, take their classes and go home.

For sure. But I

Freddie: mean, it is definitely nice to get a discount. That is definitely changing, you know, like cause. You know, I live in my, the house that I went to college at, you know, like we just never left like, it's a great part of town. Um, you know, overhead, yeah, I say overhead, like it's pretty low. What'd you study

Marcus: at USA?

Uh,

Freddie: so all three of the guys in Muffin Joe, we all have a, uh, art degree of, you know, concentration, glassblowing, uh, secondary and metal sculpting.

Marcus: See, I never even knew that they, that was like an offering. So

Freddie: the, the glass program started in 2010. Um, and so I stumbled in there in about like 2013. Yeah. Um, so nine years ago, um, and took it as an elective cause I was bouncing around.

Like I mentioned previously, I was, uh, a musician, um, and then like working odd jobs here and there, uh, to help. fund being a drummer. And then, uh, yeah, I just took it glassblowing as a humanitarian credit. Cause it was like, you can either sit down, uh, in a lecture. For your art credit or you can get in and start playing with hot glass.

Yeah

Marcus: Married

Freddie: No so Significant other yeah, so Caroline's a better half. We've been together for eight and a half years. Um, yeah Don't know how she's been able to put up with me for this long, you know, we all feel that way But she best thing that's ever happened in next to our daughter Um, so we have a little, we got a five and a half year old, she's about to be six actually.

Um, and both of them have the same birthday.

Marcus: Aww.

Freddie: Yeah,

Marcus: so. That is so cute. Yeah. Well, um, tell me about your first job. And were there any lessons you still remember from it? And this is your first job like flipping burgers, cleaning. Scrubbing toilets, you know, that kind of thing.

Freddie: I mean, okay, so, and I went back and I was listening to what other people had to say about this.

Because, like, there's been multiple first jobs, you know? Sure. Um, you know, like the first job that you went out there and you got a couple bucks? You know, like, just doing random landscape gigs for, like, family, friends, or whatever. Um, and then right after I graduated high school, I somehow made an agreement with a lawyer and he was going to let me be like his understudy, essentially, because I was considering being a lawyer, you know, why not?

I don't know. I just, I had this idea like, oh, like being a lawyer would be cool, you know, like studying history and all that. Um, and so like I worked with him for about a week and again, like sitting in a desk

Marcus: inside. I can't think of anything, yeah, that would be more difficult for you to do. Yeah, so

Freddie: it was just like, okay, this is absolutely not what I want to do.

Um, after that I picked up a job at Jimmy John's. Just walked in because I saw that they had Help Wanted on Craigslist. And just Expecting to grab a, you know, a, not,

Marcus: whatever, uh. Uh, yeah, application. Yeah, yeah, the piece of

Freddie: paper that says like, hey, I want to take this job. Um, and ended up having to work like a five hour shift with a guy because he was short staffed.

And it was just like, this is not what I was expecting. So you

Marcus: walked in?

Freddie: I walked in, I walked into Jimmy John's, uh, you know, shorts, t shirt, flip flops, because it's like summertime. And I'm just like, Hey, I need a gig. Um, I saw that y'all were hiring. And he's like, Yeah, we're down three guys. I need you back here.

So like, fill out that paperwork. I'm going to give you a quick little thing. And then you're going to jump behind the counter. And we're just going to like show you how it goes. And I'm just like, Okay. Yeah, I didn't have anything

Marcus: planned

Freddie: for the rest of the day. Exactly. Um, so, and then that lasted about two shifts.

You know, it was just like, just the hectic work environment of working and that kind of You know, fast food industry, having to memorize every single sandwich. So that when someone says, Hey, I want a number 13, you have to know every single ingredient that goes in on it. And it was just like, okay, well, I'm in school, I'm playing music.

So I have this set list in my head and now I got to add these sandwiches to it. I was like, okay, this isn't for me either. Um, and then I ended up working for the girl scout. And so that was like my first real job. Yeah. Was, uh, I was helping distribute cookies to the cookie moms. So, you know, the Girl Scouts are going out door to door making their sales, and then we were the warehouse.

So, you know, moms show up in a cook or in a van, and we start boxing up cases of cookies. Right. You know, it's just like, I need X amount of Thin Mints. X amount, whatever. You know, and so you have to get it out, load it up, and send them on their way. Um.

Marcus: So what were the lessons from that?

Freddie: Um, I mean, you've got to make sure you got to make sure that your counts right.

Number one, because, you know, it's going to cost the Girl Scouts if you give the wrong amount to them, or you're going to upset your customer, your client, that they didn't get what they asked for. Or, you know, so it was,

Marcus: you know, what I hear when you tell me about your, you just told me about three, the three jobs you crave creativity.

I guess. And if it, and if it's not there, then it's not for you. Yeah. I mean, counting boxes is not creative. Sitting at the desk and, you know, being a lawyer is, well, it is creative, but yeah, we require a whole lot more schooling than what I, I

Freddie: need my hands, like I, I, I need to be into it. 'cause it's like for that full body connection, you know, like your mind and your physical being like Yeah.

Being in on it. Um, thankfully with the Girl Scouts, they did let me be like a park ranger. So after, after cookie season was done, I would drive up to Centronelle, to the Scout Shire, and, uh, go out and, you know, sit on a tractor all day and just mow the trails or go weed eat the entire lake or whatever. So that was nice being outdoors.

I did really enjoy that. But, you know. Summer camp ended and they're like, all right, well, we're gonna take a week vacation. Can you paint the whole building? I was just like, , you know? So that was that. Um, but yeah,

Marcus: yeah, I'm not, I'm not about to paint this, so, yeah. . Yeah. Well, you told us how you, I mean you, how you got started in glass blowing, but how did you get started with Muffinjaw?

So

Freddie: muffin and

Marcus: tell us what Muffinjaw really means. Yeah. I knew this

Freddie: was coming. It always does. You have have to explain that. I'm happy to tell people. Um, so, it's multiple things. Um, so, currently as it stands, Muffinjaw Designs is a collective of glass artists in Mobile. Uh, it's a team made up of Caroline Grayton, Trace Johns, Gage Nobles, and myself.

And we create handmade, functional, and decorative glass. and sell it at various stores and art festivals or markets in the area. Um, but the name Muffinjaw, it comes from my dad's old nickname for a small amount of time when he was growing up. Um, you know, not to get like super personal. Um, I mean, it will, and it's totally up to y'all, like.

No, no, no, no, no, I mean, because it's fine, but like, uh. You know, he had some issues, uh, he had some dental issues, uh, because he was growing up in a boy's home in New Orleans. Um, and one of the guys in the home commented on how his face was all swollen up from, you know, what was going on. And So they called it, it was like, you look like you got muffins, like, in your jaw.

Cause he had the, the Louis Armstrong, like, Dizzy Gillespie puffed up cheeks from all this. Um, so for a short time, he, you know, that was like his alias. Like, that was kind of like the little teased name from him.

Marcus: So it's a nod to your dad.

Freddie: Yeah, it's definitely an homage to my dad because once, like, AOL came about, that was his anonymous.

Persona online and then when I became old enough instead of him creating a new account, you know, because I'm a junior So I just kind of took over Muffinjaw as my alias, uh for both the internet and like playing video games online stuff like that Um, and he put up the original hundred bucks for the peddler's license for the city because you know We were creating so much stuff in school that There's only so much a mother can love and can take into her house before she's like inundated.

We've got enough of your glass. Why don't you try to like make some money on this stuff? And it's like, okay, sure. Like we'll just go downtown and sell for like five, 10 bucks. Like, you know, if someone gives us money, like You know, that's the difference between ramen and ramen with chicken in it for the whole week, so, you know, um, so, but yeah, with glass blowing, um, like if you look at our logo, we have the puffed up cheeks and you kind of have this thing, like you would see a trumpet player, a saxophonist or someone, whenever you're blowing, sometimes you gotta have a lot of pressure and so you have that buildup and you're out there, I'm over here blowing and we don't have any visuals But yeah, so it's kind of this homage to my father and, you know, the greats of like jazz because we're in like a jazz heavy area.

Um, and then also the glassblowers, like if you look at videos of factory glassblowers, you'll see them with those. Big ol puffed up cheeks like that, you know, under their eyes sag because of the skin expansion from day to day. Just constantly Yeah, you know doing that method. Um, so I don't know. I mean, it's unique.

Marcus: I like it. That's too cool Yeah, now if you were talking to someone who wanted to get started on running their own business What's one bit of wisdom that you would impart to them?

Freddie: You gotta have a team. You can't do this by yourself I mean, I don't know because I have to have a team. I don't want to speak for everybody But what I would say I wouldn't Be doing what I'm doing if it wasn't for tremendous help and support and like just people being behind you and like, you know, I got your back and like, let's, let's do this, you know, and because you, I don't know everything.

I can't know everything, you know. So you have to have certain people that can specialize in stuff. Like I mentioned that I've had troubles in school, so I can't spell to save my life. So I have to have multiple people check my emails, my social media posts, anything that I'm putting out and like. I, you know, just because of my own like cross wires and thread, you know, cross threaded bolts in my brain, I got to have someone else to like double check and make sure that I do it, you know, and then making sure, you know, just everything's in line.

Everybody has a certain job. And you go in you go check behind them just to make sure so there's a system of checks and balances

Marcus: Yeah, no, it's it's good to have people to rely on especially, you know, I think um, there was a time where the Thought was that if you had a weakness in an area Then you needed to work really hard on that weakness and make it not a weakness

Freddie: Yeah,

Marcus: right, but I think over the last 10 years or so thought has progressed to the point where You know, you need to stick to what is your, you know, what you're really good at and then hire for the people, you know, for those areas where you may have weakness.

Freddie: That kind of comes down to like efficiency,

Marcus: you

Freddie: know, if you're going to stumble at a particular But you know someone else that is better at it. Why not have one do it? Yeah, you know It just makes it easier for everybody and everybody benefits

Marcus: Can you tell me if there are any books podcasts people or organizations that have been helpful in moving you forward?

Freddie: Yeah I mean As far as like, so like, I have to preface, like, I don't see this as a business, you know, and it sounds strange, but you know, this is kind of just my, like what I want to do.

Marcus: It's your passion. Yeah, yeah.

Freddie: So I don't, you know, I'm not looking at like how to do QuickBooks for dummies and stuff like that.

You know, like I'll watch the videos. No, but you have

Marcus: to learn how to do class, Carly. Yeah,

Freddie: you gotta learn how to do that. I mean, as far as books. I'm not talking

Marcus: about business. I'm just talking about in general. Right. I mean,

Freddie: as, Like for books, you know, because I mentioned I was a musician, um, I'd read a lot of biographies and autobiographies about musicians like Willie Nelson, um, and like currently I'm reading the Dave Grohl storytellers, um, and just going in and seeing how they handled it because you know, they're working gigs.

Like it's not like they're punching in nine to five every day and they got a salary, you know, it's like if you don't do your tour. You're not getting paid, you know, if you, if you don't have the right merch to go with this, you're not getting paid. Um, and so I kind of read a lot of those kind of books. Um, and then like philosophy is particularly like Buddhist philosophy.

Um, you know, just accepting how things are and being content with what you have and, you know, working with what you've got to make the best of everything or the best of yourself. Um, podcasts, I mean, I listen to Recently, uh, the whole point of it is to get

Marcus: off. Yeah, you don't have to do that. Everybody wants to, it feels like they have to say, Oh, I've been listening to the Mobile Elevator.

I mean, um,

Freddie: so like, you know, Caroline and I will listen to the Office Ladies podcast. There you go. You know, we like that. Um, I definitely like film. You know, I enjoy directors and I take a lot of, uh, I take a lot of inspiration from people being able to Convey like an emotion for a scene without anything being said, you know Just the lighting or just the background noise and kind of subconsciously affecting how people are feeling during it But I guess that's like my art degree talking

Marcus: Well, no but see I love your answer because as somebody who is also a creative like so oftentimes I feel like I'm shoehorning people into oh, well, I have to mention this book by Gary Vee or oh, I have to mention this podcast that You know, so and so is doing it, or something like that.

And the truth is, like, you know, inspiration comes from a lot of different places. It could be a quiet, you know, evening, of just, you know, going for a walk and seeing the stars and feeling like I mean You know, getting some inspiration from that, but Like, I

Freddie: feel Incredibly fortunate to have grown up here in, you know, the Mobile Bay area.

I don't like to say like Mobile County or Ballin County, because I kind of view them as the same thing. They are. You know, yeah, I mean, we share the bay. And so to have the Delta behind us and then 7 miles does

Marcus: not separate us that way.

Freddie: Exactly. I mean, come on, like any other major metropolitan and you know, they're going to circle a 60 mile radius.

Yeah. So, you know, like we might as well rope in Pascagoula and Pensacola in with this.

Marcus: You know, actually when you go into certain, uh, applications, they include Mobile and Pensacola as a metro area.

Freddie: I mean, we 100 percent should, um, you know, just to kind of like, Jump off to a crazy far topic, but it's like, that was something that was kind of mentioned to me within glassblowing.

Um because It's a very small tight knit community. There's not that many people that are doing this in the country. And so the closest Public shop that you can go in and rent time, you know after you get done Done graduating at south is for city arts center over in pensacola It's an hour drive over there.

So like they have people that will drive over to mobile to go study at South and then they work over there or you know a bunch of alumni have ended up moving over there to work over there. And so to bridge this gap, you know, especially along the Gulf Coast, you know, of well, here's a shop here, you know, here's a shop in Pensacola.

So we need to, you know, build that connection. Um, you know, there's shops up in Hattiesburg, New Orleans, um, Southern Georgia, uh, further into Florida. And just to be able to, you know, extend out and be like, Hey, look, we all are kind of in the same boat as these, you know, Gulf Coast glassblowers. Um. You know, let's collaborate, let's work together, let's share our knowledge and figure things out.

Marcus: Yeah, it's not like you're in a big city where there are, you know, 15 people that are doing this. So, I'm sure, much like, you know, when I run into somebody that, you know, has similar experiences, like, you know, it's almost like a, hey, you know, just, it's cool to run across those people. So, what's the most important thing that you've learned?

I mean, I'm going to call it a business because you, you're selling stuff. So, what's the most important thing that you've learned about running a business then?

Freddie: Uh, you gotta learn from your failures. You can't get upset about it, you know? Um, and again, I'm gonna go back to glassblowing. Um, you have to break, like, you know, I brought in this cup.

To make a cup, you gotta make a hundred Fifty to a thousand cups and screw up at every single second. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and it should go wrong. Because when you finally have the understanding and you have the experience of, okay, this caused this to go wrong. So if I prevent this from happening, then it's going to go right.

And so, by being able to accept your failures, And know that you need to move on from it and take it as a learning experience as opposed to like oh man Well, I can't believe I missed this deadline or I can't believe I didn't get back to this person in time It's like okay. Well, why did I do that? Well, I had this xyz going on.

So, okay get away from that And don't let that happen in the future.

Marcus: Just putting processes in place that, you know. No, 100%. I don't, I don't think of failures as failures. I think of them as learning experiences. And so, I think the quicker that you can move on and not think of them as failures, the faster you progress.

Because I mean, they literally are, and it's interesting that you say that, but it's also like a choose your own adventure. So something happens, you prevent that. Well, that changes the trajectory and now something else happens. How do you prevent that? And you just keep going until, you know, it becomes a smooth process.

That's repeatable. And then, you know, you've got it down. So this is the hardest question I'm going to ask you. Uh, how do you like to unwind?

Freddie: Um, I mean, so I don't really have a lot of free time to just be honest. So a lot of the things that I have enjoyment is, is in like my daily life, you know, cooking, love to cook.

Um, uh, I really enjoy music. So do you still play? For myself. Yeah. Um, I don't really go out and gig anymore. It's just, you know, that I'd like to at some point, you know, maybe later on down the road, but it's not like, it's not a priority right now.

Marcus: You know, it's a lot of time.

Freddie: It's a lot of time and I don't have a space for a drum set anymore.

So like I've been teaching myself bass and guitar more so now. Um, mandolin, which is a whole nother ball game. But, um, yeah, like I'll play music, whether it's like. An instrument or, um, I collect vinyl, you know, the one, yeah, record stores. I'm your standard millennial hipster. He's even, he's got the boots. I got the boots, the cuff jeans, uh, you know, flat bill hat, like a flannel shirt.

Cause it's a little chilly wearing a flannel shirt. But I

Marcus: completely expected that with a glass blower. So,

Freddie: you know, I like. You know, I like well made things. I like a good album. I like a good, you know, craft beer.

Marcus: Well, you have an appreciation. I think I find that people that are creative. have a higher, um, attention to detail that they're gonna look at a piece of glass and they're gonna notice that imperfections but they're okay with that because the imperfections mean that it's handmade, right?

Yeah, I mean Or they're gonna, you know, they're gonna put together a dish, a spaghetti dish and, you know, they're gonna pay attention to the details of that and make sure that

Freddie: But even with, like, machine made things, there are imperfections. You know, nothing is perfect, nothing on this planet is perfect, you know, so, and then finding the beauty in that or finding peace with each thing being different, you know, everything's the same to a certain extent, you know, we all are made up of the same molecules and atoms, you know, if you really want to get down to it, um, but each little thing's got one little quirk, you know, whether it's something that's handmade, something that's machine made, like, you know, so just enjoying that and, um, yeah.

Marcus: No, I don't. No, it's awesome. Well, tell people where they can find you.

Freddie: Um, so, we have the domain MuffinJawDesigns. com and we also have Muffinjaw Designs on Instagram, Facebook, Etsy. Um, if you follow us on those platforms, you'll see like our tour dates, where we're out and about uh, bringing our own portable equipment and all the products that we're making at our home studio.

Marcus: Very cool. And, um No, I think so. That's like, I guess that's my last question, but, um, I want to thank you again for coming on the podcast to wrap up any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share.

Freddie: Uh, yeah. Um, you know, especially coming out of the pandemic, a lot of people in the craft industry or a lot of artists.

We had a hard time getting through these past two years and you know, we all know about how Jeff Bezos is doing great right now. He doesn't really need your money. So this holiday season, please, please, please go out and support your local makers. You know, whether it's you're buying your friend a coffee mug, that's going to be their next favorite.

You know, daily ritual when they go to make their morning cup of coffee or start their morning They're thinking of you and they're thinking of that person that made that ceramic piece or a small little painting or photograph so that when your family member wakes up and they see this thing that reminds them of you and also, you know, Downtown Mobile or whatever park or beach whatever that the subject was, you know, just support your local Neighbors and what they're doing Because we're gonna in turn support you and other local businesses.

So,

Marcus: it's fantastic. No, 100%. I mean, uh, and I, I actually, I'd like to kind of join in on that. You know, we are going into holiday season. And, um, I know how important it is for local folks to, you know, to, um, To support local folks because that money does usually stay here versus, um, you know, the money that, like you said, you used Amazon as an example, like that definitely doesn't stay here.

So, um, so

Freddie: I've stayed on the earth anymore.

Marcus: Well, Freddie, I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as a business owner and entrepreneur. It's been great talking for having

Freddie: me and

Marcus: it was great coming out.

Freddie: Can't thank you enough. Awesome, man.