Exploring Life & Business with Kristina Schnepf of Green Door Folk School

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Schnepf.

Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We couldn’t find local woodworking classes, so we decided to create a space for our own.

Green Door Folk School was founded in 2024 by Kristina Schnepf, who, after a 30-year corporate career, was eager to find deeper purpose in her third chapter. That purpose began with her hands—starting small with household projects and eventually growing into woodworking and furniture-building ventures. Kristina’s skills evolved through a patchwork of education, from observing friends in their workshops to countless hours spent learning from YouTube videos.

But learning online had its limitations. Without the guidance of a skilled instructor, access to the right tools, or the camaraderie of a learning community, the journey often felt isolating.

Driven by a desire to refine her craft, Kristina sought woodworking classes in the Traverse City area but couldn’t find the intensive, hands-on instruction she craved. Her search, however, introduced her to the world of folk schools—places where people gather to learn traditional skills like basketry, woodworking, and beekeeping in immersive, community-driven environments.

Intrigued and inspired, Kristina embarked on her own folk school journey, traveling across the upper Midwest to attend courses at three different folk schools. Each experience left her intellectually energized and creatively fulfilled, sparking a vision: Traverse City needed a folk school of its own.

Thus, Green Door Folk School was born—a space dedicated to preserving and celebrating hands-on, traditional skills. Green Door Folk School is a low-profit, mission-driven organization (L3C) that hosts folk skill classes taught by local experts in the Northwest Michigan Region.

The name Green Door Folk School honors the vibrant green door of Kristina’s family home, a symbol of creativity, curiosity, and connection.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Green Door Folk School launched on January 20, 2025 and hosted it’s first class on March 15. We have enjoyed remarkable community response and support and our initial classes have been amazing. Since we have begun without a permanent location, we are hosting classes in various community space thanks to the generosity and willingness of our neighbors. While this is exciting and we love sharing a look into little known spaces around the area, putting our roots down in a more permanent space will simplify our operations quite a bit.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Green Door Folk School?
Step into Green Door Folk School, where life-long-learners come together to build, grow, and explore. Rooted in the folk school tradition, we offer hands-on workshops that connect folks to passions, new or old, the land, and each other. At the folk school you’ll get your hands dirty, share stories, and get the sweet feeling of exhilaration after trying something new.

Our classes are led by local and regional experts, offering a unique perspective that reflects the deep well of knowledge and traditions found in Northern Michigan.

We understand the vulnerability that comes with learning and focus on fostering a sense of connection and community among students. Our hands-on approach gives students the time to practice in community and with guidance to achieve confidence and competence. Folk school courses offer the the kind of learning that stays with you, long after the class ends, reminding you it’s never too late to learn a new skill, build confidence, and ditch perfectionism.

Our classes are rooted in place and in the particular. The materials we use come from a landscape shaped by sandy soils and miles of freshwater shoreline. Without rigid curricular guidelines or milestones, our instructors teach through their own lens, shaped by their experiences and philosophies. For example when you learn to spin yarn from Amy Tyler, you don’t just learn the mechanics—you learn her approach to movement, rhythm, and the act of making as an embodied practice. When you learn wet felting from Lauren Dahl, you’ll tap into the creativity and playfulness she cultivated while teaching the craft to Waldorf school students.

At Green Door Folk School biodynamic growing and permaculture classes are offered right alongside more traditional folk crafts like spoon carving and quilting. Because the presence of folk traditions and craft benefit our environment and our community, we believe it’s important to reimagine these traditions of the past in the present context. We might strive to be the kind of people that know how to darn our socks and fix our bicycles. To know the stories of this land and how to tell the ones we are living now.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The folk school movement has been picking up speed around the country. In 1980, only 10 folk schools were operating in the U.S. At last count, in 2025, there were more than 100—with the fastest-growing schools centering their economic and professional development goals in their own communities. Creating educational and agricultural tourism opportunities year round, as well as community support and economic growth for local artisans is one of the key goals of Green Door Folk School.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.greendoorfolkschool.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greendoorfolkschool/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greendoorfolkschool