Meet Andrew: Atlas Wood Company's Founder and Maker
I’m Andrew Schatz, owner and operator of Atlas Wood Company.
I spent two decades leading data-driven insurance teams, until I saw the human touch I value slipping behind automation and profit dashboards. When my youngest daughter arrived, I closed the laptop, picked up a block plane, and founded Atlas Wood Company here in eastern Pennsylvania. Today, every frame, shelf, and furniture pieces comes straight from my one-man shop, guided by a promise I repeat like a mantra: “Meaning can’t be mass-produced.”
My work is rooted in a people-before-product mindset. I design for the hands and homes that will live with each piece, choosing locally sourced walnut, cherry, maple, and white oak, then finishing every surface with VOC-free hard-wax oil so the grain, not chemicals, does the talking. If a board isn’t perfect, I re-mill it; if a customer has a late-night question, I answer. Doing what’s right, never what’s easy, defines the Atlas standard.
When the dust settles, you’ll find me slow-dancing in the kitchen with my wife, Kate, laughing with our four kids and loyal dog, Frankie, or tending a backyard garden where patience and hard work take root, lessons that spill back into the shop.