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

Shannon, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

While homeschooling my children, we began working on a project of making something from nothing..a trash to treasure kind of concept. The kids wanted to take the old broken crayons from around the house and transform them. So, that’s exactly what we did. We ended up making brick-shaped crayons and the kids LOVED them! They started asking about alllll the other potential crayon shapes they could make…animals, letters etc and I realized this could be something lots of moms may want for their kids as gifts. Before I knew it we had set a tent up at a local fall festival selling our upcycled crayons and by the end of the day we had a profit of $100 and a store approached us asking if we would wholesale to them. I realized we were onto something! I continued to make crayons for the next couple years and sold them at farmers markets, festivals and local shops. One day a friend suggested creating an online store so that I could spend more time at home with my family and still grow our business. We did exactly that and things just kept growing. I felt however like something was missing. I realized we needed to sell something to color alongside our crayons, but not something traditional. I started designing huge paper coloring tablecloths for various holidays and seasons and to my surprise, people loved them even more than the crayons! Moms would contact me for their kid’s upcoming birthday parties asking if I could create a design to color based on a certain party theme and incorporate their age and name and before I knew it we had a whole new line of creative coloring products that are now enjoyed around the world. It’s amazing to look back and see what has become of a child’s idea of what to do with broken crayons. Never despise small beginnings!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m Shannon Bennett, a homeschool mom of 4 turned entrepreneur in the e-commerce world! I have always been creative and loved a colorful life. Thinking outside of the box has never been foreign to me, now I just think outside the crayon box! The most rewarding part of creating coloring creations for the world has been the stories that come from them from our customers. For example, we once designed a farm-themed coloring table runner for a man who was turning 90. He was a dairy farmer and so the images reflected that highlight of his life. 4 generations of his family gathered around the table and colored that table runner together in celebration of his incredible 90 years. That really touched my heart knowing we created something that connected people in a memorable way that could not have been done otherwise. There are lots more stories like these. We have designed coloring posters for children and women fighting cancer, businesses launching their dreams all the way down to first birthdays and everyday anxiety release. It is amazing how coloring can enhance someone’s life and even bring healing in the process. If I only got to help 1 person with our coloring creations I would be more than satisfied. Never in my wildest dreams did I see my creations making international bounds and crossing barriers of languages I cannot even speak. As long as there is a need, I am here to serve people the most colorful way I can!

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We are an eCommerce brand that started with only our own platform and has found much success by now being on other sites as well. We are on Etsy, Amazon and Cratejoy to name a few. It has been a great way for us to reach and serve new customers who may not have found us otherwise. They all serve different purposes and interests. While we actually offer the same products on all sites, it is interesting how we have noticed pockets of design interest from platform to platform. For example, Cratejoy is where our monthly coloring subscription does very well, for whatever reason we sell our Wedding Coloring Design more on Amazon than any other platform and on Etsy we sell more birthday-themed versions than on the others. In my mind, I can relate it to when a person is hungry, they will go to a different place to eat based on what draws them there that connects with who they are. The Amazon customer is not the same as the Etsy customer. I am so happy to serve them all around. That’s the beauty of e-commerce! Of course, each site has its own fees rules and guidelines which can be time-consuming to conform to and learn, but in the end, they expand our footprint online so I feel like it all washes out for the best in the end.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After successfully making crayons for a couple of years, I was exhausted. The more the business grew, the more time it took away from me being with my 4 children and husband. Every crayon we make is peeled, processed and packaged by hand. No matter how much I sold it could not outweigh the loss of time from my family. Upon coming very close to throwing in the towel and calling it quits, I decided to try a new angle. That’s when I started designing our coloring tablecloths. I can design once and print a million times if needed and there is no less time taken. Having this new product line really rescued our business and my sanity and time. Sometimes you have to be pinned against the wall to figure a good way out. There are many hard days in business, lots of tears and days I feel like I am walking against really hard wind in the dark. But, I am not a quitter. I just keep learning to adapt and better serve the needs of the people around me which brings me joy and makes it all worth while.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://creativecrayonsworkshop.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativecrayonsworkshop/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeCrayonsWorkshop
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-bennett-83045925a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@creativecrayonsworkshop9171
• Other: Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/creativecrayonsworkshop/ TikTok @creativecrayonsworkshop

Image Credits
@fernandmaplestyle @celebrate.you.events