We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mikhaila Thornton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mikhaila below.

Mikhaila, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Saw n Claw: The name is an ode to the source of our favorite building material…the beautiful trees that grow in our vast forests, and the animals them home. So may habitats have been destroyed through un-conscious logging traditions. We want the animals who’s homes have been destroyed to be honored with each product we make.

We only use materials that would otherwise be thrown away from mass manufacturing, millwork shops and even dumpsters. We also re-furbish and re-use furniture that people trade for newer and less durable pieces. We love breathing new life into the old. We do this in an effort to reduce the demand for logging more trees. There is a plethora of resources that have already been taken from the forests, and are in perfect condition for forming into new products. We believe that this form of material sourcing can be scaled in larger ways. It is our goal to continue this pursuit.

I grew up on a rustic fishing resort that my family owned in the Jefferson National Forest in Oregon. I experienced first hand the absolute beauty of untouched forest as well as the the destruction of human influences. A huge portion of our forest succumbed to human started forest fires as well as vast swaths of logging. I remember the pit in my stomach when we came back after a large fire in 2001 and seeing the barren aftermath. Though life slowly returned, as it always does. My parents instilled in me my creative nature and gave me the actual tools to make my dreams into reality. Some of my earliest creations were made from the charred remnants of that forest fire. Those memories from my childhood continue to influence my work to this day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Mikhaila, a lifelong learner with an insatiable appetite to create things with my hands. I design and make furniture out of rescued woods. I am IN LOVE with sculpting this amazing medium into beautiful functional art. I am often asked how I got into woodworking and furniture design. The simple answer, my Mom! She gave me a set of kids tools when I was young, and every kind of art and craft supply you can imagine. She instilled creativity and ingenuity in my every day thinking and learned to think of problem solving as something fun!

I started Saw n’ Claw out of a strong desire to learn how to make unique furniture in a sustainable way. I went to school for Industrial Design, where I learned the basics of woodworking in shop class. After nearly a decade working in the graphic design industry, I finally made the scary leap to starting my own business and pursuing my passion.

Saw n’ Claw has three distinct areas of focus; sculptural furniture development, custom furniture, and re-furbishing services. I enjoy projects in each of these areas and the unique lessons that are learned in each endeavor. I am really excited to continue developing my own line of sculptural furniture and sharing the stories behind the materials used.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I started Saw n’ Claw out of a storage unit for a year, which has a plethora of challenges. After making a few projects on my apartment balcony, my boyfriend told me I needed to find a place of my own to make sawdust. Unable to afford an actual shop space, I rented a 10’x 10′ corner unit at an outdoor storage facility. No light and no power outlets. So I used power tools and could only work as long as my extra batteries lasted. The winter was frigid and the summers were sweltering. I had to unload half the unit every time I went to work there, but my desire to create was so strong that all these challenges were minuscule compared to the satisfaction I got after every work session.

I made a couple of my favorite pieces in that storage unit, some I still either have in my home or displayed at my shop. Now that I have my own fully outfitted shop space, I try to offer it for others who have that same insatiable desire to create and learn woodworking to use. Though I learned a lot about my own resilience that year, I would honestly not recommend it as a safe environment for woodworking, haha.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Though my business is still technically a side hustle, it has transformed dramatically over the years and now provides me a large chunk of my yearly income. I am very fortunate to have a really balanced work life with my other job as a Landscape Designer at Urban Oasis Design. I spend about half the week in my shop working on Saw n’ Claw projects and the other half working my other job. It took a while to get to this point, and sometimes the flexibility in my work life has it’s own challenges. I have had to learn how to be extremely self-motivated and have good time management skills.

Contact Info:

• Website: sawnclaw.com
• Instagram: @sawnclaw
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikhaila-thornton-1a0a68101/
• Youtube: @SawnClaw