Doug Auer, 34, co-founder and instructor, Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis.

FAMILY • Married to Karen Auer, a former teacher at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic School who has stayed home to take care of the couple's son, Jack, 2 1/2. The couple live in south St. Louis. Doug is the eldest of four children born to Larry and Margie Auer. Larry is a retired St. Louis firefighter; Margie is an analyst with AT&T. Siblings are Derek Auer, 30, an accountant with Bunge North America; Meredith Auer, 26, who works in sales for Appistry, an analytics firm; and David Auer, 22, a business student at Indiana University. Doug has two nephews.

EDUCATION • St. Louis University High School, 1995; Southern Illinois University Carbondale, BFA in industrial design, 2000.

A glass factory seems like an unusual idea to me. How did you ever come up with such an enterprise?

We are a lot of things. On a daily basis, it's a gallery. We also have classes and rent space to people who want to make glass. We also have a studio and event space that we rent out. We call it a public-access glass art education center.

So how did it come about?

I was teaching glass blowing at Wash U. in their art department. I needed more than that, so I applied for a job with Jim McKelvey at his digital publishing company, Mira, in 2001. I interviewed and it was clear that I didn't have the qualifications for the job, but Jim and I kept in touch. He was a glass blower who learned how at Wash U. in the '80s and loved it. About six months after I applied for the job at Mira, Jim and I were having lunch and talked about opening a glass studio. We figured if we were as excited about this as we were, other people would be, too. A couple of weeks after that, we took a drive along Delmar looking for "for sale" signs. We looked at a few spaces and it was clear that this one — the old Thom's Pontiac — was the best. Not long after that, Jim came over with a set of keys and a checkbook and told me to let him know when I needed more money — and I did. Jim likes to say he paid for it and I built it.

Did you just dive in?

No, I kept my job at Wash U. for two more years before I went full time at Third Degree.

As I'm sure you're well aware, it's not easy to make a living at your art, is it?

No, it's not. My mother tells people I'm living the dream, and I am.

But you're not actually making your living off of your glass, are you?

No, making glass is almost more like a hobby at this point. I'm too busy running Third Degree, but I love every aspect of doing that. I've always liked numbers and business. We have eight employees, including me, and have branched out in many directions. One thing that's very important to me is professionalism. Our core values are professionalism, craftsmanship and communication. When we get an order for custom awards, for instance, the people get an invoice and we approach it in a business-like way. That's not something people are used to getting from artists, but I think when you're spending a couple thousand dollars, you want it to be handled professionally.

Are you employing artists or people in other aspects of your business?

Both. We have three studio directors — the hot shop, the kiln and the flame — and a lead instructor, who are all glass makers. We also have an event manager, a marketing director and a gallery manager, who are not necessarily artists.

What do you do?

A little of everything. We built most of our equipment, so I do some of that. I've always been handy and have a mechanical bent. I also oversee everything to make sure it's all working like we want it to. We've changed a lot in the past 10 years and our goal is to keep stepping it up, but gradually. I don't think we need to be in a big hurry to change things.

What sorts of things would you like to change?

I'd like to keep more people coming through the doors. We have free open houses on the third Friday of every month, where we do narrated demonstrations and have some sort of entertainment. We've had belly dancing and fire jugglers and different sorts of musicians. People think it's a lot of fun. I also want to continue to increase our event business and do more custom work. And I would like to walk to work.

What do you like to do outside of Third Degree?

I love doing rehab work and house renovation. We just bought an old building that was built in 1903 and I'm acting as the general contractor on that. I also like to run, but I don't do much of that anymore. I do a little cooking, too.

What was the last best book you read?

"Dethroning the King," by Julie MacIntosh.

You drive a ...

Toyota Tacoma. A 2001. It's green. I'd be driving a Honda but they don't make a pickup. I don't know why they don't — it seems so obvious.