Shannon
What Changed Me?
There were two moments that changed my life:
- When I was fired from my job (it was unfair and messy and a story for another day)
- When I opened my own shop two years later.
I don’t take experiences or interactions for granted.
They always shape how I navigate my life, work, and who I choose to align with. As painful as that first moment was, it turned out to be the greatest gift the universe could have given me. It revealed who truly understood me, what I value, how I identify as a person of colour, a woman, and the experiences I’ve held within that identity. I was fortunate to have a strong circle around me who validated my feelings and gave me the support and fire to take my next step. Which brings us to moment #2.
When I started KWENTO and became my own boss, I made a conscious effort to apply the lessons I’d learned from my previous roles. I set a few internal rules for myself:
- Minimize creative restrictions
- Let growth happen organically
- Never manage people in a way I wouldn’t want to be managed
I was lucky to start a business with the background I had. After years of management I understood how a day should flow, how each “department” should function, and my favourite: how to optimize efficiency. What’s been so rewarding is being able to build these systems from the ground up and continuing to adapt them. With more people in a kitchen, the work flows differently.
It’s like everyone gets to make their mark and we re-learn to move seamlessly together each time we add someone to the mix. It makes me very proud.
As KWENTO continues to grow, I constantly push my own boundaries.
With each project I research relevant themes, explore new colour palettes and shapes, and experiment with different techniques. I studied design first, then cooking, but baking? Baking was self-taught. It’s a lot of experimenting, failure, and rethinking, but that exploration is what keeps things fun and angled towards art. There’s no specific map when it comes to decorating.
Of course there are some parameters to each cake that I study (theme, colour, image references, overall vibes), but after that I’m a bit more fluid. Kind of like AI, I’ve fed myself through repetition and immersion so that my output comes like rapid fire. I’m able to decorate lines, curves, and frills quickly based on intuition. In the end no two cakes are identical.
As much as KWENTO is established, its charm comes from learning and creating space for new ideas and discovery. The best cakes are the ones we get to do with little or no instruction.
That’s when we really make art.
Enjoy Shannon’s kwento arts @make_kwento & @snocos__
A moment, a pause, a version of you that doesn’t need to change.
That’s what you’ll find in a Picture Studio Near Me like Monography.
