For Timothy, there is no greater reward than visiting with homeowners 2, 5, or 10 years after their renovation is complete and seeing that the home still looks and functions great. He loves stories about how an addition or new kitchen has enhanced the family’s life, both in daily experience and special events. Creating these one-of-a-kind, personalized home solutions for people is why he started in the remodeling business and founded Birch+Oak, and is what fuels his passion.

For Mark, great design is about creating a home that feels cohesive, intentional, and fully resolved. He has been designing homes since he was 10 years old, and that early instinct continues to shape how he approaches each project — considering the whole, not just the parts, and ensuring every element contributes to a unified result.

With formal training in landscape architecture, Mark brings a broad, site-aware perspective to residential design. He understands how a home sits within its surroundings and how interior and exterior spaces can work together to create a more complete living experience. Coming from a family of craftspeople, he also brings a deep respect for materials, detail, and the process of building. His professional background in theater design and production adds another layer to his work — strengthening his sense of composition, sequencing, and how people move through and experience space over time.

At the beginning of Bluestem, Mark was as the company’s sole designer, helping to establish the design standards and perspective that continue to guide the work today. Clients benefit from his ability to balance big-picture thinking with careful attention to detail, resulting in spaces that feel thoughtful, connected, and enduring.

You’ll always get a smile and an exuberant greeting when Cody enters the room. His technical proficiencies began with a background in theatrical and AV arts. Helping coordinate and running AV for large events are some of his favourite memories. Now, he is our guy who can “fix almost everything” and is an integral part of almost all Birch+Oak operations.

Tora has been making things in Photoshop for as long as he can remember. He started playing around with design at six years old and was creating ads by the time he was nine.

What began as a childhood hobby became something more serious when Ukrainian designer Alina Zabarina invited him to help develop the tourism branding for the city of Ostroh. Since then, Tora has worked in marketing, branding, design, and communications. He believes good business can make a real difference in people’s lives and prefers to work with organizations that are trying to leave their communities better than they found them.

After moving to Canada, Tora had the chance to work with the Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia, helping support newcomers as they settled into a new country. That experience meant a lot to him. When he learned about Bluestem Remodeling, he saw many of the same values: caring about people, strengthening communities, and improving everyday life through thoughtful work.

Outside of work, he enjoys hiking and is unusually serious about coffee, often importing beans he prefers himself. He misses his family and his two giant Newfoundlands back home, but he is grateful to have found a place where building a life feels possible

Celeste loves working in the home renovation industry because she’s motivated to help others. She wants to make each and every client’s experience with Birch+Oak a rewarding journey, and the end result to be everything they had in mind.

When homeowners talk to Celeste, she immediately puts them at ease. Her positive attitude is infectious, and her strong background in customer service makes client communication effortless and productive.

Celeste enjoys managing the diverse needs of our clients, and understands how important it is to answer every question promptly and accurately. Her motto: “Treat people exactly how I would like to be treated.”

Emma Fritz is an award-winning interior designer known for creating refined, highly personalized residential interiors. With a background designing luxury hotels and resorts, she brings a hospitality-informed approach to the home—pairing elevated design with personalized functionality, and has a deep understanding of how spaces are truly lived in.

Emma’s work reflects a sophisticated and flexible design sensibility, meticulous attention to detail and a strong foundation in both construction and space planning. Emma is highly skilled at guiding complex projects from concept through completion, collaborating closely with clients and building professionals to solve design challenges and bring personalized visions to life.

Now focused exclusively on residential projects, Emma creates homes that feel both beautiful and deeply personal—spaces that balance high design with warmth, livability, and a strong sense of home. She is passionate about creating space that homeowners will love, support their lives and feel like home.

Jen is a self proclaimed Home Renovation Enthusiast! She loves all things design: building, woodworking, painting, sewing, organizing, & graphic design. What she enjoys most about remodeling is finding creative solutions to problems, and being part of a collaborative team of designers & builders. She’s passionate about reimagining spaces to create final products that are both beautiful & functional. Jen has a strong desire to help others, and finds it fulfilling to help other homeowners create better spaces in their homes.

Growing up in 100+ year old homes, Jen appreciated the beauty and challenges of architecture at a young age. She was an avid fort builder and artist, and by age 10, knew very well how to reset blown electrical fuses. As a teen, she regularly rearranged her room and took advantage of every drafting, woodworking, photography and art class she could. She went on to earn a BS in Architecture from Ohio State University.

Today, Jen helps homeowners create spaces that are both beautiful and life-changing. Homeowners adore her attention to detail, strategic design solutions, creative space suggestions and design guidance. She is an active school PTO member, organizing events and helping her community any way she can. She values community, and encourages her kids to always be kind and inclusive.

Joey Mihm has a degree in Agriculture Systems Management/Agricultural Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Besides his previous experience in construction for residential homes, his wide array of experiences and expertise includes: being a groundskeeper foreman, metalworking, golf course maintenance and other outdoor and landscape work.

In his spare time, Joey enjoys golfing and fishing. When it comes to residential remodeling, Joey enjoys taking a homeowner’s vision on paper and making it a reality.

Shira has many years of experience working in both marketing and sales with varied companies throughout the Twin Cities, predominately in theater, attractions and entertainment. She’s an active part of the local theater community, though these days — most of her onstage time in her backyard, or miscellaneous public places, singing and dancing with her 6-year-old daughter and doing duets to songs from Gabby’s Dollhouse, K-Pop Demon Hunters, and other movie musicals.

One thing Shira loves about remodeling and the design-build process is seeing projects go from dreams and ideas to fantastic new spaces, through art, craft, creativity and innovation. She loves the collaboration and teamwork that’s involved in the process, and seeing frustrating home spaces transform into wonderful new ones that homeowners love and adore and make their lives better.

Having undergone home remodeling projects herself, she is very familiar with the process as a homeowner, and is passionate about doing her part to help others have a positive experience with it. She loves walking into homes after a remodel is complete and admiring the transformations in homeowners’ lives and homes, and oohing and ahhing at the new spaces and their amazing new function.

Born and raised in a small town in southern Italy, Nicola’s journey into the building world began at an early age, working Saturdays alongside his uncle, a general contractor specializing in custom remodeling. His uncle’s craftsmanship and thoughtful designs left a lasting impression on Nicola and continue to influence his career even after his passing.

After earning a degree in Engineering, Nicola started his own engineering company, where he developed a deeper appreciation for quality construction, creative problem-solving, and meaningful client relationships. This early experience helped shape the foundation of his professional approach.

After meeting his American wife, Nicola moved to the United States and began building a diverse professional portfolio. His experience spans high-end residential custom remodels on the East Coast as well as complex commercial and government construction projects in Minnesota. Throughout his career, he has developed a passion for solving the unique challenges of construction and creating cohesive design solutions that transform everyday living spaces. His focus is always on connecting design intent with seamless execution.