Meet The Crew
Robin Gillam
Robin Gillam
Robin Gillam
Owner
Robin has spent her entire life in the upholstery industry. When she was born she sat in a car seat beside her Grandma Carols sewing machine, she helped her mom Cindy as a teenager by selling fabric and helping with pickup and delivery. In her twenties she learned the insides and outs of the trade, textiles, and design with Tepe Furniture for ten years. She has earned two Associates of Applied Science in Design Technology and her passion for customer service and fabrics drives the company forward, with a unique story of how she came to own her own shop.
After work Robin spends time with her better half Jerrod and their seven pet turtles, drawing pencil portraits, writing, and reading.
Cindy
Robin Gillam
Robin Gillam
Shop Ma
Upholsterer
Cindy has a lifetime of experience. With 40+ years behind a sewing machine or holding a staple gun, she is knowledgeable and fantastic at working with our apprentices and troubleshooting. She is also Robins mom! Cindy oversees many different areas of the business as designated "shop ma", she loves to make our work areas even more efficient and organized with creative solutions she is the "foam whisperer" and can select the perfect grade of softness for anyone's' needs.
Cindy plays the saxophone, loves fishkeeping on a professional level, and she spends a lot of time spoiling her pet rabbit named Stew.
Mike
Robin Gillam
Mike
Lead Upholsterer
Mike has seen it all! An upholsterer since 1974 there is very little he hasn't tackled in his lifetime in the industry. From antique sofas and chairs, to automotive classic cars, to marine pontoons and speed boats, there is nothing he can't cover! He is a pro at problem solving and has a wealth of knowledge with fine tuned efficiency that puts him at the helm of most of our commercial projects. He enjoys teaching the apprentices, has sewn too many cushions to count, and you will always see him wearing a sarcastic and funny Tshirt.
Mike enjoys his time off with his wife Sue, dog Taffy, and many grandkids! When he isn't out for a ride on his motorcycle, that is.
Max
Max
Mike
Upholsterer
Max is tiny but mighty. She spent time with us as a finisher at Tepe Furniture before moving into an upholstery apprentice position when we formed Anchor Stitch. In just three weeks of training she was flawlessly restoring and upholstering antique sofas with large complicated patterns! She has a very meticulous eye for details and if it is not perfect she will not rest!
When Max isn't learning the trade she likes fashion and spending time with her chihuahua Willow. She hopes to master sewing to create and sell custom tailored suits one day!
Sam
Max
Sam
Apprentice | Foam expert
Shop Ma's finishing apprentice, Sam walked in through the door and we instantly knew she had a place with us. Years of experience working in the creative realm of anthropomorphic costuming give her the perfect edge already mastering many techniques used in upholstery. Sam takes on various other roles within the workshop and is aiming to eventually move into the upholsterer apprenticeship.
The creativity never stops flowing for Sam, after work she likes to create her art to sell at conventions, but when she does take a break she enjoys time with her cats Maxwell and Titi.
Bee
Max
Sam
Apprentice Upholsterer
Bee started as our on-call truck crew and naturally fell into the upholstery role apprenticing under Mike. A natural at pattern matching, Bee is our plaids master and can match a print down to a quarter inch on any piece thanks to his years of schooling in graphic arts.
Bee is a huge spiderman fan, enjoys antiqueing with his mom, and spending time with partner Tory when not knocking out pieces quietly in his corner workstation.
Jessica
Jessica
Jessica
Upholstery Apprentice
The newest brave soul to dive into the world of reupholstery with us! Jessica apprentices with Mike and has quickly picked up the trade, upholstering her first chair in just a day! Lightning quick with the staple gun and able to mimick anything Mike shows her makes her a force to wreckon with as she learns her way to upholsterer status.
Jessica spends her evenings with her two daughters and partner Alonzo spoiling their two cats, she loves her spicy books and to crochet in her spare time.
Daniela
Jessica
Jessica
Sewist
An on call sewist, Daniela LOVES to sew! We have to bribe her to take breaks and she puts miles on the machine any chance she can get. We've had to turn up the motor speed on the machine just to keep up with her precision and speed!
Daniela doesn't speak English as fluently as she does Spanish, so we do not know as much about her hobbies, but she always comes in with a huge smile and we love her.
Sue
Jessica
Sue
Sue is our dedicated part time custodian and shop support! Wife to lead upholsterer Mike, she loves to come spend time with us keeping our space spic and span and baking us new treats to try!
When she isn't making our shop sparkle she loves giving Mike a hard time at home or going to the casino.
Red
Bandrick
Sue
Our on call apprenticing marine upholstery specialist, Red loves the water and marine life! Scuba certified, a professional in cleaning boat interiors, and eager to meet and make connections among our Lake Life community, they are excited to take the journey from quoting to upholstering all boating needs apprenticing under Robin and Mike.
Bandrick
Bandrick
Bandrick
Our official roadie! Bandrick is on call for a multitude of helpful tasks from pickup and deliveries to office aid! An eager attitude, being an aspiring entrepreneur himself, and a very analytical mind make him perfect for extra hands around the shop.
We wouldn't be who we are without..
Carol Thompson
Carol, the loving mother of Cindy and grandmother to Robin, was the proud owner and operator of Thompson Upholstery in the Michiana area. She dedicated her life to her trade until she sadly passed away in 2004 after a courageous battle with cancer.
A true self-made woman, Carol faced an unexpected challenge when her husband left without warning after building a promise and dream of starting an upholstery company together. She took ownership of not only her business but a single mother life with her three children and a garage full of peoples furniture, and no prior upholstery knowledge. She was strong and determined, so she taught herself the trade and got to work.
Cindy always told Carol she was never going to work in upholstery (Robin would later tell her mom Cindy and grandmother Carol those same words) Eventually Cindy began apprenticing and trained to take over. Cindy became a single mom of two herself, and later went on to work for Tepe Furniture, where she convinced Robin to apply as a decorator/sales consultant where they both spent 10 years part of the Tepe employee family.
After Tepe Furniture announced retiring and closed its doors, Robin took the task of opening an upholstery shop with much guidance from her mother Cindy and Steven Tepe.
Robin and Cindy both believe Carol is laughing at them over the irony of the girls telling her they would never work for the family business, but ending up right where they were meant to be all along.
Richard Tepe
A legendary man who has left a mark on the local community for generations.
Richard Tepe was the 3rd generation to run his family owned business Tepe Furniture, which laid down the groundwork to provide so many opportunities to upholsterers in the area. Richard had remarkable integrity and truly loved coming in to work every day, we couldn't get him to ever retire!
That legacy lives on through his son, Steven Tepe, who put his heart into training and continuing on the traditional teachings of high quality upholstery. We did manage to get Steve to retire.
Every starting member of Anchor Stitch Upholstery has worked for and been trained by Steven at Tepe Furniture.
We wouldn't be here without either of these great men, and Steve's continuing support in us.