Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shannon Frankhauser. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Shannon , thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My husband and I began our company about five years ago. At the time we were living in a neighborhood in a suburb of Columbus with our four young children. The school district was not great, and we were just entering school age. Similar to many other families in our neighborhood, we sent our oldest to private school, but knew with four children that would not be sustainable once all entered school age. In came the goal to move to a better school district, but at the same time the goal to open a business that needed a large temperature controlled space was needed, and quickly. The fabric printer had been ordered, and the timeline was tight. We had looked at homes over the previous year or two, but nothing ever stood out as being our forever home. It was like God knew when the timing was just right and all we had to do was trust. As I was scrolling through homes, one popped up that had two acres of land, a home with plenty of space, and a building out back as the owners called it “the carriage house”. This space included a 5 car garage on the main level, then an upstairs that had an open studio apartment. While the car garage had support posts that needed to be removed, and a wall that would also need to be removed, the overall space was almost exactly the correct size. Michael went back and forth with Kornit, the printer company with our printer somewhere in shipment on the Atlantic to arrive within a few weeks, and we presented the crazy idea to put a printer in what they started by calling the barn. It may have been the craziest idea brought to them, especially since they handle full installation. At closing on the house, Michael wore his work clothes and had a toolbox in the trunk. Papers were signed, and construction began. Not more than 48 hours later the printer arrived, and the carriage house was ready. This time included a lot of coffee, a crazy move across the city, and very little sleep, but we made it happen. It was not easy, as starting a business, or running a business never is, but it was a dream and it worked. The name “Carriage House Printery” was born simply out of the name on that listing, and where the business began.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our brand is Carriage House Printery, this company began with an idea of putting a wide format fabric printer into a barn, or as the original listing for the home said, the carriage house. The name seemed to center in where it all began, in a barn, with kids running barefoot, connecting with customers, and making some custom print work happen.

We custom print on about 30 fabrics, blankets, beach towels, golf towels, waffle towels, and so much more. Whether you’re a seamstress looking to sew for your children, your home, yourself, your quilts, or your business, we meet you where you are. There’s no order minimums, and on the opposite scale, we offer wholesale guides to keep it affordable when ordering higher quantities.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We are a husband and wife team run business, so the story of where we began and how we met begins way back before this business. While in college at Ohio State earning my BFA in photography, as most college kids do, I was scrolling through Facebook. This ad kept popping up to create a dating profile, and since I was single, this seemed like an alright idea. I created the profile and sort of thought to myself that this is very outside of my comfort zone. Within a couple of days I had received an abundance of emails requesting dates, which was overwhelming and a bit scary with being a young female and not knowing any history of any of the men contacting me. I immediately deleted my profile and thought, I won’t try that again. However, before I quit my now husband, Michael had been able to send a message. He talked about life back home with raising honey bees, and loving to be outdoors with his dog. It all seemed normal, so I emailed back, and so we began. A few weeks later we met at a Starbucks halfway between, and talked late into the night. And I guess you could say that’s when it began, nine months after meeting we were engaged, and two months after that we were married. Fast forward a bit, four kids later, a home on some land in the country, and a carriage house behind the home, we first launched Carriage House Printery. Going into business with your spouse is an incredible blessing and an incredible struggle. It’s something you can’t walk away from at the end of the day, it follows you, it challenges you, pushes you, and ultimately grows your relationship. We’ve had highs and lows in the business, and in that highs and lows in our marriage. It’s a tough separation between marriage and business. They go hand in hand, as it’s such a massive part of our life. It’s our full time job for both of us, we share an office, we shared a car for about a year and a half, and we share a life.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

This is my sweet spot, while Michael works the mechanical side of the business, my full time position is to reach clients. My job is pretty awesome in that I have the opportunity to reach out, meet new people, learn their need for their business or home in fabrics or promotional products, then I can produce something that works. In the fast paced society we live, social media is probably the most useful tool in sharing content and reaching out to customers, along with building an email and sms list to directly contact with coupons and blog posts. A variety of sharing is used, including video content, q and a, customer testimonials, new product reviews, and launches for new fabrics, products, and artist work. We create content, then blast that out to customers daily, take that back to the drawing table and chat about what worked and what didn’t, then make adjustments from there. The algorithms constantly change, and what was working last month, may not work this month, but it’s a challenge that keeps you motivated to try something new.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://carriagehouseprintery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carriagehouseprinteryfabric/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/270837413620703
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-frankhauser/
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/CarriageHousePrinteryCustomFabricPrinting