Michael Schunke received a BFA in Glass at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Pennsylvania and the Rhode Island School of Design before founding his first company, Nine IronStudios in 1998.

Josie Gluck attended the Appalachian Center for Craft and was a member of Dale Chihuly’s and Lino Tagilapietra’s glassblowing teams before receiving a MFA in Designed Objects from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.