Michael Baptista has made the transition from a successful finance executive to the founder of a modern design furniture company with a lot of hard work and commitment. He finds his new profession challenging, exciting, and also sobering.

He chose to leave his career in high finance to follow his dream of being an artist, and to fill what he saw as a gap in the market for modern hardwood furniture that was both beautifully designed and reasonably priced. He set up a warehouse in Clark, NJ and began his furniture line which he named stndrd. While he excelled in finance and quickly rose to the rank of VP at Goldman Sachs, he found that his job soon consumed his entire life. He craved a creative outlet, and found himself going back to his love of art as a way to restore balance to his life.