richard pollard
Owner │ Designer │ Master Craftsman
Richard found his path to creating functional wood art through a circuitous route. His previous career path was within the fields of Engineering and Science. Starting in Electrical Engineering, his projects increasingly required incorporating mechanical designs that required both embedded and standalone software components.
This career path eventually led to full-time software development, initially within highly technical environments, then exclusively to business-oriented software development. Along this path, he had the opportunity to work as a Lead Engineer on the first U.S. National Ballistic Missile Defense program. Next, he led the design of the predictive statistical model used to characterize and control the industry's first Just-In-Sequence (JIS) automation system for Hyundai. After transitioning to full-time software development, he held the position of Lead Software Architect for the Executive Office of the President, Obama Administration.
After the birth of his daughter, and a career sabbatical, his passion turned towards the awesome, never-dull job of being a father. Ébéniste Treasures was the perfect solution to combine his love for creativity with the desire for a flexible home-based work environment.
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How was this transition realized? Around age five, Richard had began building things from wood in his father’s basement shop. However, the Black & Decker saber-saw he received on his seventh birthday may have been the official start of his woodworking hobby.
Growing up in Ohio, he had the incredible fortune of having Roman Yoder, an Amish Master Craftsman as a neighbor and mentor. During his early teen years, while he wasn't working for Mr. Yoder in his apple orchard, Richard monopolized every opportunity to learn from this woodworking wizard. More recently, he has enjoyed opportunities to be taught by extraordinary craftsmen in the South of France.
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Today Richard resides in Columbia, Maryland designing and making artful wood creations that are as beautiful as they are unique.
