There's no way Jimmy Beans would exist without the help of this entire group!
Jeanne
Jeanne came to us when she quit working as a Paralegal
and chose to pursue her true passion, fiber arts. She now has her own pattern line, Battle Born Knits, which you can check out here! She has plenty of experience running things in the legal world,
so she just naturally grew into an integral part in our storefront. Always willing to do anything asked of her and a
natural 'forewoman' type she has a great way of just seeing what needs to happen around the shop to keep things moving
along, but will always let you know if she doesn't have the answer you are looking for.
However, rest assured that if she tells you she will find the answer for you, she will!
Sandy
We are so glad to have Sandy in the shop, as she keeps things running smoothly and it often seems that she is the only one who knows for sure where everything is.
A former welder (yes, you read that right!), Sandy has both the technical and creative aptitude to help with all of your knitting projects. It seems like every week she's
coming up with a new and inspiring idea and all of us Beans just love having her around! Sandy spends her time pulling orders while dancing and singing around the shop. She
never ceases to put a smile on everyone's faces!
Terry
Terry calls herself a "Jack of all trades, master at none"... well except maybe getting close to mastering knitting.
She's done a little of a lot of things but fibers keep drawing her back. At one time or another she's done everything
from raising wool sheep, angora goats and rabbits, judging fibers and crafts, spinning, dyeing and knitting her own yarns!
She has a deep appreciation for all things handmade with care and a passion for learning "old" ways
of making things like foods, soaps, or clothes. When she's not helping customers in the store or knitting, she loves
to be out in the woods, traveling, reading mysteries, sci-fi and the latest science discoveries and enjoying good food.
Kathy
We hope you get to meet Kathy next time you are in the shop or call for help, as she adds a real
can do attitude to everything she does around here.
She comes to us from New Mexico (she is a former teacher and band director) and is working up to learning to knit, and/or crochet.
When she's not helping on our fabulous shipping team, she hangs out with her husband Mike and their 2 dachshunds and 1 schnauzer.
She now also has a beautiful son, Brandon, who is a "Dragon Baby"; he is already famous because has his own LLE color of the same name!
Erika
Erika was originally hired part-time to ship packages at night; however, when she impressed everyone with her speed, accuracy, and personality
we just had to bring her at full-time! Ultra computer savvy, Erika always has a great attitude while she packs orders and ships packages at lightening speed! A graduate from UNR,
Erika has helped us out in a bind in more ways than one! Originally a crocheter, Erika has now fanned out to the wide world of knitting - sometimes combining the two fiber arts into one!
Shevawn
Shevawn joined up with our team after she came back from a six month stay on an organic farm in India. She's filled almost every job here from
customer service and shipping to writing our newsletters. She loves learning new things so she took to knitting immediately! She's a third generation Nevadan and loves exploring the desert. On her days off, you'll most likely find her somewhere out in the wildnerness, smelling the flowers and making friends with the coyotes. :)
Nicole
One of our super-fast shippers, Nicole has carved out a very special nitch in our team. From ensuring that all of your packages
get out on time to answering shipping questions, packing orders, and basically just being an all-around fantastic
Bean-this gal can do it all! Always bright and cheerful, she even sang a little song for us for her bio: "These are
a few of my favorite things, (in the tune of Sound of Music): Disneyland and knitting, and bright colored gummie bears!
Reading and road tripping down to the bay area. Smiling, and singing and dancing around (when no ones looking!)!
Oh these are a few of my favorite things! :)"
Sharon
We are thrilled to have Sharon on our team with her lively spirit and amazing art skills--whether she's using a pen
or crochet hook or knitting needles. Sharon is so amazing at handling difficult questions and staying calm under stress that she
is currently our Customer Service Team Lead. In addition to being ridiculously nice, Sharon is also our in-store crochet expert and
never gets flustered no matter how many phones and e-mails she's handling! Somehow she also manages to take classes in her free time
while she works on earning her degree in Fine Art.
Leanne
Leanne is a ruffle-tastic, shinning ball of sunshine with a BA in French and Economic Policy. She's also a scholarship-level runner
and a talented musician. Talk about being well rounded!! On top of all of that, she knits and crochets and is one of our top yarn sleuths,
meaning it's her job to find all the newest, most fabulous yarns out there so we can offer them to all of you! Leanne was the first person
in the shop to fall in love with ruffle yarn and she continues to introduce us to all the most exciting new yarn trends. Sadly, Leanne is
moving to Los Angeles, where we won't be able to see her smiling face every day. Fortunately, she will continue to use her yarn sleuth skills
for JBW from her new home in southern California.
Kristen
Kristen re-joined the Jimmy Beans crew in August 2010 after a year-long hiatus serving a second term as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for
a local non-profit organization. Kristen's been knitting since she was 8 years old, but really became passionate about it in college at UNR
when she was studying History and knitting hats and scarves for all of her friends. She's also an up-and-coming knitwear designer (check out our Free Patterns page!)
with several self-published designs and a pattern in our book Knit Red. In her spare time (and when she's not knitting), she enjoys hanging out with her husband, Nick,
and their doggie, Wallace, cooking, hiking in the Sierras, running, doing yoga and tending to her garden and chickens!
Amanda
A returning bean, we all breathed out a big sigh of relief when Amanda came back to work for Jimmy Beans Wool.
Amanda was here when we first started out as the online store, shipping orders using stamps (my, how times have changed!)
Now, she's back helping us with vendor communications, purchasing and product management. When Amanda is not around to make all of our lives easier,
she likes riding her horses for fun and for work as she's also in the field of equine assisted therapy.
Allison
Making for a wonderful mother-daughter team, Allison returned with her daughter Amanda. She's been making all
of our lives easier by organizing yarn and putting away shipments in the morning before UPS comes with even more
packages of yummy fiber goodness! Not only is Allison an expert and superb knitter, she has a few horses of her
own and is quite the silly personality (lets just say, she fits in very well with the rest of this crazy crew)!
She even composed a little "alli-izza" rap to greet you all with: "Yarn-bombin', Knittin' momma, KnittinIt Chameleo...Former bossa,
Fiber movin', BIG BAD BEAN-EO!"
Ailene
Ailene is a student at the University of Nevada, Reno, and she is so close to graduating she can taste it. She
likes walking slowly and driving fast, both of which can be pretty irritating to others. Ailene is an avid Harry Potter fan,
enjoys Miyazaki animation films, and sleeping. She also dominates at Tetris. Ailene fully embraces her own brand of nerdiness.
Bethany
Although she started working out in our e-commerce, retail and special projects teams, Bethany has since moved
over to help support the overall operations here at JBW! Bethany's hands are sure to be busy with a baby and her puppy "Little Black Dog"
(Elbee for short).
Diana
Diana has done a little bit of everything here at Jimmy Beans Wool. She has worked in retail, answered phones, pulled orders
and now is a part of our backorders team. A self-proclaimed sugar addict, you will often find Diana eating HoHos and drinking Pepsi for breakfast.
She is a great knitter and lived in Australia for two years, where she hopes to one day go back and visit.
Elyse
For those of you who wonder how we manage to get packages to your door so quickly, our fabulous University of Nevada Reno student, Elyse is a huge help in that department!
Just about the only thing that can slow her down is her addiction to sweets. When she joined the team, Elyse was a quiet high school kid, but
she has certainly come out of her shell with a clever sense of humor--when she slows down enough to speak.
Courtney
Courtney recently graduated with her degree in Biology at UNR. She plans on attending Optometry school after she graduates!
She is always showing off her contagious smile and bubbly personality, which is why we love having her in customer service, answering your phone calls
and e-mails. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her husband, Tae, her sisters, and mom. She also enjoys music and drawing when school isn't taking up her time.
Kaity
A self-proclaimed Public Relations Junkie, Kaity joined the Jimmy Beans Wool team in November of 2011. When she found out about all the amazing projects Jimmy Beans Wool was involved with and got a glimpse of where the company was headed, she couldn't wait to join the ride! When she's not creating and executing marketing plans and showing the world the different facets of Jimmy Beans Wool, you can find Kaity at the movies, traveling, playing tennis, teaching horseback riding lessons or cooking up a storm for the ones she loves!
Irene
Irene helps to pack and pull orders at Jimmy Beans Wool and started
her first knitting project forever ago. She is trying to learn how to knit (she's not too
convinced she's successful but we know otherwise...). She is going for a dual major in Linguistics and
International Affairs at UNR (yep, she's a smart one!). She also has an unhealthy obsession with Hello Kitty and everything Harry Potter.
When she's not learning the complexities of knitting, language and what's going on out there in the big world, she spends her time reading, walking dogs,
and photographing.
Jenny
Jenny recently graduated from UNR where she majored in Anthropology and minored in Art Studio. When she is not knitting, she enjoys painting, drawing,
and being outdoors. In the winter, you can find her snowboarding or cross-country skiing, and in nicer weather playing soccer, tubing down the Truckee River, or up in the mountains
hiking, camping, and swimming in beautiful Lake Tahoe. Before working for Jimmy Beans Wool, she worked for Nevada Conservation Corps where she spent her days building trails and camping
in the Mount Rose Wilderness. It was an incredible experience and something she hopes to do again someday.
Monika
Monika has done all kinds of different things here at JBW, and is now part of the IT team. She somewhat misses unpacking yarn and fabric shipments
- she thinks it's like Christmas... Monika has become (in)famous around here for her Santa-Countdown, but working with computers is just as much fun and helps keep her yarn and fabric addiction somewhat under control.
She loves knitting, crocheting and sewing, and does it all in German as well as English. When she's not doing something creative or cooking, she enjoys being
in the great outdoors with her hubby.
Jenn
Jenn is a native Nevadan who learned to knit in college and has been a knitting fiend ever since! After earning Bachelor's degrees in English and Spanish
from UNR, she left the state to complete a Master's Degree in Linguistics at Indiana University. Now, she's back home in the desert and works in the fabric and backorders team for Jimmy Beans Wool.
She is also an avid reader who loves to play board games in her free time. If you ever need to know anything about Dr Who, Jenn is our resident authority - in the warehouse, she is often accompanied by her crochet version of the Tenth Doctor!
Chrissy
The first thing you notice about Chrissy is her bubbly personality - that's what makes her such a great jill-of-all-trades
around here. She pulls, she packs, she ships, she answers your customer service inquiries with a smile - she does it all! And when she's not being
totally awesome at work, she's sewing, crocheting, playing with her dogs, and generally living it up at home. Another thing about Chrissy: she always
has the best food! We're usually jealous of her lunches... maybe one day she'll share?
Cheryl
Cheryl is a former fruit and nut farmer, and comes to Jimmy Beans Wool with years of experience in customer service, logistics and warehousing in food processing.
When not having fun with returns and customer service at JBW, she raises Guide Dog puppies - the one in her video is Wendel, and he is sooooo cute! Cheryl also enjoys spending time with her two grandchildren,
who love dogs just as much as she does. In her spare time, she loves to knit.
Autumn
Autumn is a lover of the outdoors and natural sciences like Geology and Biology. She is one of those rare individuals who has
natural talents both in science AND in art with her inspirational knitting. She always has helpful tips to offer. We love her amazing T-shirt collection and good-natured
personality. If you're curious about her name, it came from the fact that she was born on the first day of autumn! We're pretty sure her red hair played a factor in her name too. :)
Gina May
Gina May recently moved to Reno with her husband to finish her degree in Speech Pathology at UNR. She joined the
customer service team at Jimmy Beans Wool and loves answering all your knitting and yarn related questions! Her outfits are always super-cute and
fashionable - and she has quite a few awesome yarny accessories, because she is one of the fastest knitters we have ever seen!
In her spare time she loves to hike, run, sing and - wait for it... KNIT!!
Amanda S.
Amanda was born and raised in Reno and is a student at the University of Nevada, Reno. From her super-speedy customer service and
general amount of things she can finish in a day, we can tell that she loves to run! She was also a member
of the UNR Cross Country and Track and Field teams. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and is a beginning knitter.
Rachel
Rachel is from North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in Anthropology and Biology.
She worked as an archaeologist for six years before her passion for knitting caused her to seek out a job in the crafty world.
She loves crafts of all types including knitting, spinning and sewing, which is what she spends most of her spare time doing. She also hopes
to become a knitwear designer one day!
Brooke
Brooke is another one of our speedy do-it-all beans with our E-Commerce Team. She always astounds us with
her eye for detail and her great stories from her time in the Army. Brooke is also tough enough to wear pink and still kick butt
while shipping out those packages! One day, she hopes to become a scuba-diving teacher and shark researcher somewhere where the
water is warmer than Lake Tahoe. Brooke is also a beginning knitter, but she's jumping in with both feet - she's already halfway through her first cowl!
Ashley
Part of our awesome E-Commerce Team, Ashley makes our customers and all the other Beans smile with her happy personality
and her fun clothing. Sometimes she even brings in some props from her favorite hobby, fire dancing (unlit, of course)! She is a beginning knitter,
but everything she makes is just as fun as she is. Our favorite is her fluffy Pep-Cowl that goes really well with her favorite light-up hula-hoop.
Heather
Heather is a newbie to Reno and to the Bean Dream Team, but she's already made the rounds in quite a few of the departments here and in
the retail shop, where you've probably seen her gushing about yarn and picking up dropped stitches. Now she's hard at work on the Marketing Team - we just
don't know where we'll see her next, because she loves doing everything! When she's not getting overly excited about yarn or baking up Southern-style biscuits,
Heather loves exploring Reno with her hubby and knitting with her precious dog/baby, Sammy, on her lap.
Gus
You might know Gus from our fabric department, where he is Grand Master Poo-bah of all things sewing and especially quilting - his amazing quilted creations
adorn the walls of the warehouse and get us all dreaming of our next fabric purchases! Quilting wasn't always his thing, though - he used to design and create beautiful
stained glass, but using fabric turned out to be safer for his fingers! We love Gus for all of his useful fabric tips and tricks, and for the stories he tells about Sophie,
his adorable Brussels Griffon.
Ruth
A Reno native and desert lover with an education in the arts, Ruth is currently studying to be an esthetician. She loves crochet and works hard "to break the toilet paper
cover stereotype". We totally think she does, as she wears her beautiful creations around the warehouse! She recently learned to knit via YouTube, and also spins fiber (art yarns, so far)
on her drop spindle. When she's not at JBW pulling orders at lightning speed or at school, she is having fun with her dog and her boyfriend, guaranteed!
Marilyn
As friendly and fun as she is fast, Marilyn is our secret weapon - this gal is a pulling, customer service, and knitting machine! We joke that she must have elves doing her knitting
while she sleeps, because it seems like every time we see her, she's finished an awesome new project! A Dental Hygienist by day, Marilyn moonlights at Jimmy Beans to support her secret yarn habit (shhh...)
and because she loves hanging out with the Beans. She's even convinced her daughter Carly to help with pulling and filling orders - it's a family affair!
Mindy
Organizing our ever-growing group of Beans is becoming quite the task, so Mindy has joined the admin section of Team JBW to help us from sliding into chaos and to support Bethany
as a Beany-herder. She is great at refereeing speed-knitting contests, as she is also a super-soccer-mom (which helps a lot with all the running around she's doing in the shop!). When she isn't
around to keep us organized, Mindy loves being out in nature with her kids, or restoring old photographs.
Emily
A recent addition to our new IT-team, Emily is one of our technically fearless support Beans who helps us keep that hardware and software running. Fearless also fits her outside of work,
as she is an online-warrior-princess gamer and always is looking for an addition to her spider photograph collection. She loves noodles, preferably with other mysterious ingredients, and she is one of
the few people we know who looks great in yellow - actually, we think she's the most stylish 'geek' ever!
Jake
Jake is another one of our IT-heroes here at JBW, and he also breaks the geek-mold... Not only does he prefer granola and apples over hot pockets, but he is really nice about sharing his knowledge
and can explain computer-related things in plain English to those of us who are a little tech-challenged. When he isn't helping to make our website look better, he is studying (okay, that one is a bit cliché)
Computer Sciences at UNR. Since he once came to work with a bullet hole in one of his car windows, we suspect that he has a secret identity like Clark Kent.
Jessica
Jessica is one of our all-round Super-Beans, working in Customer Service and answering phones and emails. She recently graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in
Criminal Justice, with a minor in Psychology.
She is still a beginning knitter, and is currently trying to learn how to knit a cowl - but she's sure to become an expert soon with all the knitoholics on the team helping her!
In her spare time she enjoys going to Tahoe, watching movies, eating Italian food, and reading.
Sam
A full-time student, Sam hides out at Jimmy Beans on weekends to get away from her homework... just kidding! She's an integral part of our E-Commerce team, and you can usually find her
pulling and shipping orders at lightning speed. Don't get her confused with Courtney, her sister, though - these gals are each one of a kind! Although they do have one important thing in common... fabulous hair!
They might even share some styling tips with you, if you ask nicely.
Shannon
Shannon works with our packing, pulling and shipping team, and we are so glad to have her - she is really great at getting orders to our customers super-fast. She is currently studying forestry and knows a lot
about our local flora and fauna and where to go to see it, which is really popular with all of our nature-loving Beans. When she isn't here at JBW or out in the wilderness, she is a mean vegetarian cook and regularly
shares yummy recipes with our bean-loving Beans.
Laura (Jimmy)
Well, we guess you might want know a little more about the person behind Jimmy Beans Wool. Originally from North Carolina, Laura earned a Master's in Poli Sci but switched gears while earning her PhD to computer programming (a favorite subject of hers). After lots of hard work, she landed a software developing job in Palo Alto, which is where Laura met her future husband, Doug! Wanting a change from the hectic pace of Silicon Valley, they moved to scenic Tahoe where Laura started to design websites for small companies. During this time, she learned to knit and loved it...which is how Laura met Lorna - owner of a local hand-dyed yarn company. She encouraged Laura to follow her true passion (knitting!) and voila! Doug and Laura emptied their savings account and Jimmy Beans Wool was born!
Doug and Huck
We would also like to introduce you to Doug, Laura's husband, and Huck, their adorable son! Doug grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. He basically built our website and computer system from stratch and is a wiz
on the computer. Doug loves to ski in his spare time and recently he went paragliding for the first time! Their son, Huck was born in 2009. This little boy has already made a splash at the shop. He loves to ski, go hiking, and eat spicy foods!
A born trouble-maker, he's hands-down the cutest one of us all... well, except for maybe Buddy and Wiley - we guess it's a three way tie :)
Buddy
Sadly, we lost Buddy this past year, leaving the Jimmy Beans team without either of its original doggy mascots. While we know he's happy chasing tennis balls in the Great Beyond, we'll miss his sweet face and willingness
to receive pats and belly rubs pretty much constantly. Both Buddy and Wiley will be remembered as important parts of the Jimmy Beans Family!
Wiley
Although no longer with us, Laura and Doug's german shepherd/greyhound mix Wiley was hands down the best product tester to date. He liked to make sure that our yarns were super soft & that they would keep
him plenty warm. He will certainly be missed and will always be dear to our hearts!
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