How I got my job: Andy Fein

Age: 52

Home: St. Paul
Job: Luthier (violin maker and repairman)

Education: B.A. in music, minor in chemistry (Wesleyan University); graduate of the Chicago School of Violin Making.

Salary: More than $50,000

How did you get a job here? Well, I own the place (Fein Stringed Instruments). I started working in the violin business after college. I apprenticed in Chicago and then I worked for a few other shops for a few years, then in 1982 I started my own business.

Did you have an interest in violins in college? I've played music all my life. I played violin in college and I played a bunch of other instruments, paid part of my way through college playing music.

Favorite part of the job? Working on instruments, which is what I do most of the time.

What's the hardest part of your job? We deal with such a wide range of players -- everything from beginners to very advanced players. Even in one given price range, a $4,000 violin could be used for anything from a very aggressive high school player to a retired person who just wants a nice, sleek, easy-playing instrument. Those instruments are crafted very, very differently. Figuring that out ... what they need and what they want is a very hard part of the job.

Career advice? Find what you love to do, and stick with it ... but also, realize that everything changes. If 20 years ago somebody had said to me, "Most of your business is going to come over the Internet and you're going to see very few of your customers," (I wouldn't have believed it). ... You have to somehow make a cold medium very warm and very personal.

Closing thoughts? Because the music world is small, it's connected me with people all over the world. I have very close friends that I work with ... in Tel Aviv, and they have friends who come here and play concerts, and friends of friends. ... The connections that you make through music and through the business are pretty amazing.