Ohana Hussle owned by Shanika
Shanika was born in Holyoke. She obtained her high school diploma through a non-traditional program and moved forward with her life. Shanika is currently a preschool teacher, and she is in school majoring in education.
Shanika says she always loved art and creating; she remembers when she was younger her room was “graffitied out”, as she exclaimed. She and her daughter shared a love of art and crafts. During the pandemic, being stuck in the house her daughter was making and selling items to people she knew until she lost interest.
Shanika started being a part of the pop-up shops at the Eastfield Mall in December of 2021 and will continue to do them this year. The pop-ups are being hosted by Ajalee Claudio. She has also done a pop-up at Breezeway, a local yogurt shop in Indian Orchard.
Shanika goes on to say that one of the other collaborating women at Fem Kollabs, Lia who makes candles, asked her if she wanted to participate in the yearlong pop-ups there.
Just as most small business owners Shanika encountered obstacles while building her business. She did not expect the speed at which her business grew. The popularity of her unique products skyrocketed. She was receiving more orders than she could manage at that time. Shanika found herself a little overwhelmed since her orders were out growing her ability to purchase the materials needed to fill the orders.
She had to purchase the product in bulk which raised her out-of-pocket costs. Shanika explains she lived in a small apartment which made it difficult to store her inventory. As a result of these obstacles, she decided to take a step back for a period.
I asked Shanika how she got involved with Sandra Gonzalez and Fem Kollabs, she explained that she followed Sandra on Facebook as Sandra was featuring her own products at that time. Sandra reached out to Shanika and explained what she was looking to do and to Shanika’s surprise, she had been thinking of a similar idea but knew it would take her longer because she was not in business school.
Of course, she loved the idea and gladly became involved. She loves collaborating with the other women at Fem Kollabs, she states “We promote and support each other.” She loves working with Sandra, she says Sandra bounces ideas off the ladies. She says Sandra tells the ladies to look at Fem Kollabs as their store, not just hers. She also says that Sandra shares what she learns in business school which is especially important.
Even though Shanika loves what she does, she does it to show her daughter about business and focus her time and energy on something. She is an example for her daughter showing her something positive to put her time into. Shanika believes “that this is the year of the small business owners, especially with women being most of them and she is proud to be a part of that. “
When I asked Shanika what advice she would give to others looking to go into business she said, “Keep going, never stop, you may get stressed out, but do not stop, just keep going, especially if you enjoy it.”
Featured at Fem Kollabs 342 Cooley Street – Hours of Operation (Monday – Saturday 10 am–6 pm) / Contact information Facebook; Ohana Hussle
