At JSI, the idea of loving your work isn’t painted on a wall or tucked into a brochure — it’s woven into how the company operates. Walk through their shops in Jasper or Orleans, Indiana and it comes through in unmistakable ways: the confidence of teams that trust one another, the attention to detail that signals real pride in the craft and an underlying belief that joy belongs in the process. It’s this mix of heart and know-how that shapes the relationships they build and the spaces they help others create.
JSI’s spirit shows itself long before you ever see a finished piece of furniture. It’s there in the people who show up every day, in the deep ties to their hometown and in the way they build lasting partnerships. “Love What You Do” is not a slogan — it’s the rhythm of the place, shaping how teams move, connect and create. That sense of joy, care and optimism sits at the center of everything, giving the work its energy and its unmistakably human feel. From there, the story naturally widens into themes of research, community and craft, but it all starts with that core truth.
JSI is genuine. It is optimistic. And it is grateful for its success. The company will turn 150 in 2026 and it is fiercely proud of its history and optimistic about its future. That spirit comes from the community and from its workers. It comes from its customers as well.
On the surface, its focus on “Love What You Do” may seem to fly in the face of an industry that is obsessed with performance, productivity and return on investment. The company certainly measures itself with those metrics, along with lead times, quality and consistency, but it also works hard to create a culture founded on joy, care and craft. The company believes that when joy, care and craft are present, performance follows not by accident, but because people are able to do their best work.
“We talk a lot about joy, but for us it isn’t a superficial thing,” said Mike Wagner, JSI’s president and CEO. “It’s about care. It’s our job to translate joy into something tangible, into products and environments that support people’s energy, focus and connection.”
JSI feels that its job as a furniture maker is creating products that get the most talent and creativity from workers by getting them into the zone; the place where they are most productive, whether that is a heads-down space for independent work or a place where workers can gather and collaborate. JSI believes that when people are working in that zone (or flow) they are not only productive, they are happy.
JSI views its purpose as far more than placing furniture on a floorplan. The company designs with the aim of helping people slip into that rare rhythm where work feels natural; where they’re absorbed, attentive, and able to think clearly, whether they’re tucked into a quiet nook or gathered around a high-energy project table.
“We’re not prescribing exactly how people should work,” Wagner said. “What we’re trying to do is create a toolkit — settings, materials, details — that make it easier for designers and their clients to build spaces with the right mood and energy. Every leader wants their people to spend more time in that zone where they’re both productive and happy.”
This idea of gaining fulfillment and joy from work is backed by science. When people are engaged in their work, or in a state of flow, they are completely involved in the present moment and the specific activity at hand. Findings from Martin Seligman, a professor and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and other researchers in positive psychology indicate that employees are more likely to get into a flow state when they are using their top strengths in new and innovative ways and that doing so is correlated with higher levels of happiness and lower levels of depression. A study by the University of Kent found that strong bonds with family, friends and co-workers can help boost physical and mental health and well-being.
The science gives language to something JSI employees say they’ve felt for years: When people feel cared for and connected, they show up differently.
JSI’s unique culture is getting noticed. Rick Joutras, president and design director at Qdesign, a company that has worked with JSI on several product designs over the last decade and a half, said happiness and joy is apparent at JSI.
“JSI is one of the few manufacturers where you can feel the joy in the way they work. It’s not a slogan — they operate with genuine enthusiasm for design, for craft and for people. When I collaborate with them, there’s a level of openness and respect for the process that you don’t see everywhere. They approach problems with curiosity rather than resistance, and that creates momentum. You feel it immediately, and it ultimately shows up in the products,” he said.
At JSI, some of that everyday joy is rooted in the places it calls home. Jasper has been a furniture-making stronghold for generations, but like many Midwestern manufacturing towns, it’s weathered plant closures and the uncertainty that follows. Even so, the community remains resilient, grounded in gratitude, and JSI’s teams feel that deeply. Many employees who once faced job loss now work with a renewed sense of purpose — and it shows.
That commitment came into sharp focus when JSI purchased a shuttered factory in Orleans, Indiana. The closure had cost 200 people their jobs — nearly a tenth of the town’s population. JSI stepped in, revived the operation, and transformed it into “The Hub,” a 1.2-million-square-foot distribution center and the company’s largest manufacturing site. When the doors reopened, every returning worker was greeted with a $100 bill and a simple holiday message: Your job is back, and your future here is secure.
That kind of stability builds culture. Today, JSI’s facilities are filled with deep-rooted loyalty and multigenerational pride — including seven father-son pairs in the upholstery department alone.
For long-time dealer partners, the company’s culture is as memorable as its product. “Some of my favorite memories come from factory visits,” said Donna Petrelli, senior vice president of commercial sales at Price Modern who has worked with JSI for nearly 20 years and has countless stories about joyful encounters with the company.
She added that there is a warmth and a human touch to JSI’s furniture and that it is apparent the furniture was made by people who care about how others will use and experience it.
JSI works with both modern tools and equipment that has been part of its craft for more than 150 years. Yet what sets their products apart is never the machinery, but the hands that guide it and the care those hands bring to every step.
JSI’s craftspeople bring a deep sense of pride to the material and the work itself. Their understanding of the full piece, from its smallest parts to its final form, gives each product a warmth and presence that leadership regularly acknowledges and customers immediately recognize.
“When people know you genuinely care about them, it changes the way they work,” Wagner said. “There’s an energy you feel on the line, whether it’s someone sanding a component or an upholsterer getting the details just right. That care translates into people who will do what it takes to keep a promise to a customer. It shows up in the way we respond when something goes wrong, in the way our teams support one another and in the way our products feel when someone sits down to do their best work. To me, that’s what ‘Love What You Do’ really means, and I think that’s the spirit people are noticing in our industry.”
JSI’s “Love What You Do” philosophy isn’t marketing — it’s embedded in how teams operate, building trust, taking pride in craft and infusing joy into the process of creating furniture and spaces. That spirit shows up in the people of JSI, their deep hometown roots and the lasting partnerships they build, giving everything they do an unmistakably human energy that drives their approach to research, community and craft.