Meet David and Rachel Olchowka of McLaughlin Glazeware in North Shore

Today we’d like to introduce you to David and Rachel Olchowka.

Rachel’s mom, Mary, started the company in the mid-1990s. She was a lifelong artist and former geologist, so the combination of enameling and art was a natural fit. Over the next 20+ years, she built the company, moving from the family basement to a studio, and building an impressive portfolio of clients, including the Clintons and Bushes during their White-House years, the United Nations, Secretary of State, Lyric Opera, and a number of charitable organizations, colleges and universities.

Years later, she founded and grew Trees That Feed Foundation, a charity focused on bringing food-bearing trees to tropical areas with food instability, Dave started working at Glazeware to learn the business. Rachel and Dave purchased the company and took it over completely just two weeks before their first son was born, in summer 2015.

Dave immediately jumped in with the wealth of business knowledge he’d gained running an insurance agency for nearly a decade at that point. He focused on bringing costs down and honing the product line to make Glazeware’s selection tempting for private buyers along with the big customers Glazeware had been doing business with for decades. He built up the staff, keeping all of the original staff members who’d been with Mary as she grew the business through the 1990s and 2000s, and added graphic designers and other staff to streamline the business, while running his insurance agency as well.

Rachel and Dave now work closely together on Glazeware, planning exciting new products, setting prices, and making plans for the future. They find time for this despite both having full-time jobs (Dave still runs his insurance agency, and Rachel is an attorney at a large public company) and growing family, which now centers around two-year-old Jack and one-year-old Charlie. On weekends, Dave is back and forth between Glazeware’s office, and Rachel works on graphics, marketing, and social media after the kids go to bed. You can find them sitting across from each other at a diner some mornings, laughing together while eating breakfast and brainstorming Glazeware’s next new products.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Taking over a company with a newborn baby at home isn’t easy — add two full-time jobs, time with friends and family, exercise, and sleep (who sleeps?!) and a normal couple may find their relationship fraying. For us, though, it’s been a blast. Sure, there’s stress, but we work so well together that we always stay on the same side.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about McLaughlin Glazeware – what should we know?
McLaughlin Glazeware creates high-end personalized and custom gifts on beautiful keepsakes. Porcelain boxes, trays, and plates, wooden boxes, cufflinks and pendants are our best selling products. We’re most proud of the work we’ve done for former Presidents and First Ladies, including the Bushes and the Clintons. We distinguish ourselves with the very highest quality products and beautiful, often hand-drawn and hand-painted artwork, while keeping prices accessible. We light up when we think of the look on a person’s face when they unwrap a McLaughlin Glazeware gift; they really show the recipient how much the gift giver cares about and appreciates them.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We’re best friends, and an incredible team. Family businesses can be dysfunctional, and can affect relationships. We’re hyper focused on not letting that happen to us. We always find time to be together, and when we talk business late into the evening, in the middle of the night, or early in the morning, we always do it from a place of love and fun. When we’re together, we’re almost always laughing, and that makes the business so much fun.

Pricing:

• Personalized gifts starting at $19
• Many gifts under $50

Contact Info:

• Address: 1750 Harding Road
  Northfield, IL 60093
• Website: www.glazeware.com
• Phone: 8474466861
• Email: info@glazeware.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mclaughlinglazeware
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/glazeware
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mclaughlin-glazeware-northfield

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