We were lucky to catch up with Stephanie Santiago recently and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
One day when I was daydreaming, I came up with the concept for ZINEniac. What if students could create there own universe with characters and stories? What would that look like? From there, I piloted the program at a local school and it was an absolute success! I was so excited. I told my Mom, “Tomorrow, I am going to knock on some doors!” The next day, the world shutdown due to COVID.
Figuratively speaking, I was left standing in the middle of an empty room, with an idea and nothing more. So I started thinking again, “What do I do?”, and came up with Absalom Studios in March 2021.
Absalom Studios is an Experience Studio where people come and have fun! Since I have my Masters in Fine Arts, the space is heavily influenced by art and has a bunch of services like painting, dancing, music, and more!
In August 2022, my Mom said one hot summer day, “Why don’t you start up ZINEniac again?”, and I did! Now, we have over ten schools and Absalom Studios!
Stephanie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
ZINEniac is a STEAM / Literacy enrichment program. It is also available in ENL or Spanish. Scholars create a character and earn rewards while they explore and learn. Activities include writing stories, exploring science, interacting with a strategy driven storytelling campaign with academic trivia, working with technology, creating works of art, dueling utilizing mathematical principles
to win, and composing music. Scholars become published authors & their characters legendary as trading cards!
The cool part is that now we also offer more classes such as music, 3D drawing, arts & crafts, yoga, art, sports, and mindfulness!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My journey has definitely had its ups and downs. The up of creating ZINEniac, the low of COVID. The up of Absalom Studios, the low of starting with no money and the stress associated with that. The up of meeting so many amazing people, the low of having to do it all alone and figure out a way to make things work. There are so many ups and downs but sticking through it all has allowed me to be where I am now… The value of that has been immeasurable.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In October 2022, I had a really bad, near death car accident. It has left me in really bad shape. Things that I was able to do before are now super challenges for me. I had to pívot my whole world and still figure out how to run two full time businesses, be a single mother, and survive overall. It has not been easy. There have been plenty of failures. However, staying strong, learning to adapt, and the support of my family has gotten me this far. I am still blessed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AbsalomStudios.com
- Instagram: AbsalomStudios
- Yelp: Absalom