DesignsbyChannynKay

I began working when I was a twelve years old in a family business. My grandmother owned her own mini-golf course in Northern Minnesota. My siblings & I all had the opportunity to work there during summer-times. I loved every single minute of it, as my grandma taught me the importance of hard work & how to make dreams a reality. There was a wall of newspaper clippings that I read often, that followed her business from the beginning stages to the current & it was inspiring to see how she started from the ground up. Many families came year after year, making my grandma’s mini-golf course part of their family traditions. This sparked my own dream to have my own business someday & to help create special memories for other people & their families.

Fast forward to my first year of marriage. My husband Sam & I lived in a very small town in Minnesota. I started to think about my dream of starting a business of my own someday. Throughout the years I learned that I was creative, had a good work ethic, a big heart for others & enjoyed making special gifts for family & friends. I still couldn’t connect what to do with all of those things quite yet.

Then one day I opened Pinterest for a project to do. I ended up searching for a recipe that would challenge myself & came across one for a three layered cake. It took me an entire afternoon, but I felt so much pride in this cake that I made entirely by myself. From that grew my love towards handmade items. Soon after I started a dessert blog & we moved to Southern Maryland. I re-examined my dream of starting a small business & prayed about where to go from there. Everything started to unfold seamlessly as I started my dessert business following Maryland’s cottage food laws.

Orders were coming in, but I was making desserts once every month or two. I was excited for each one, but I hoped for more out of my business. So I continued forward. During that time my husband & I went through years of infertility & managing my chronic pain from Endometriosis. Life started to take over & my small dessert business started to fade. My dessert blog also turned into a blog following my life with Endometriosis & infertility. However, I kept praying & dreaming of having a successful small business.

Throughout that time both my Sam & I had adoption on the back our minds. Then one day it became clear that we were meant to grow our family through adoption. We were excited to start the journey, but the costs intimidated us. Bringing that fear to God, we both felt that money should not be the thing to stop us from bringing our baby home. So we began brainstorming how to fund our adoption, which is when my dessert business started back up again. Instead of waiting for orders to come in I started learning how to make the most difficult dessert known: macarons. Once I felt confident in them we started selling them, which was also the start of more to come.

My macarons were/are a big hit. However, they’re a lot of work for one baker to handle. So we had to start limiting when to make them. I didn’t want my business to slow down, so I kept brainstorming about what I could create that wouldn’t take a lot out of me physically. This is when I heard about die-cutting machines. With the help of a machine, I could turn all of my ideas into products, but what would I make?

I started researching what could be made with a die-cutting machine. That’s when I started designing shirt ideas. I wanted to make special clothing for Endometriosis warriors, adopting families, babies & faith-based shirts. My original dessert blog was named Desserts For Sharing, which turned into Desserts For Sharing by Channyn Kay when I started selling desserts. Working with a friend, we decided to continue that & name my new business Desserts & Designs by Channyn Kay.

I’m so excited to be seeing my small business dream become real. From the first cake that I baked to the shirts that I create now, it’s important to me to have the love & passion that I hold inside of me to pour into each hand-made item. This isn’t just a business to me, but a way to connect with others & make special pieces for them to proudly wear. So, how does our adoption connect to my Etsy Shop? Well, opening my shop is a continuation of Sam & I working hard to raise all of the money that we need to bring our baby home. So 100% of profits benefits Hess Family Adoption (that’s us!)

My dreams are continuing to grow, & with it my shop will too. We’re currently working on adding handmade wood signs, cake toppers, cupcake wraps, kitchen towels & canvas bags. If you live local in Southern Maryland you will also find us at Craft Fairs this holiday season

Thank you for taking the time to read my story & for being part of making my dream a reality. If you'd like to follow our adoption story visit my blog at www.hopeandpatients.wordpress.com

Channyn, owner of Desserts & Designs by Channyn Kay.
channyn.kay [!at] gmail.com
Facebook & Instagram @bychannynkay