Floral business blooms, bakery succeeds from scratch
By Kelly Youngblood
For local women Andrea Hunt-Shelton and Mary Enright, the road to a successful business has been paved with beautiful flowers and delicious cookies.
Hunt-Shelton, a florist and owner of CU flower house, and Enright, a cookie decorator and owner of Hunny Bunny Bakes, started out as at-home hobbyists. Over time, their passion turned into a profession and now the two are proprietors of their own individual business, sharing space at CU flower house in Champaign.
Hunt-Shelton opened CU flower house by A. Hunt Design at 2006 South Neil Street after outgrowing her home studio.
“2020 was a great year for A. Hunt Design and I knew it was time to find a location to open a flower shop. I was hesitant (of the current location) because I knew it was way more space than I needed and was out of my budget, but walking into that space, my dream and idea of what a flower shop could be morphed into something bigger,” she said.
Knowing the Champaign-Urbana area was full of creative mompreneurs working out of their home, Hunt-Shelton liked the idea of offering a shared work space with others in the community.
”I couldn’t help but think that if I built a space that could work for us all, we could all benefit from it and help build each other’s brands and businesses. I’ve always been a big advocate for community over competition,” she said. “The CO-OP portion of The CU flower house embodies that concept fully. We all share this beautiful space, promote each other, share a point of sale system, help each other, pitch in when someone is overwhelmed or understaffed. We’re all in it together and share a common passion to see each other succeed.”
The CU flower house currently offers:
- Flowers by A. Hunt Design. Everyday florals, weddings/events, funeral celebrations of life, floral subscription services, floral donation programs.
- Baked goods by Hunny Bunny Bakes. Custom decorated sugar cookies and cakes, semi-custom short order cakes, cookie decorating classes, and the fan favorite cake jars.
- Custom Invitations and Wedding/Event Signage by Apricity Ink. Thoughtful gifts, handmade goods, one-of-a-kind signage, and event rentals.
- Handmade Jewelry by Daisy Moon. The owner of Daisy Moon is an engineer at the U of I but her hobby is mind-blowing, says Hunt-Shelton. She makes jewelry out of pressed flowers, fruits, vegetables, and butterfly wings.
Hunt-Shelton, who attended Drake University and American Academy of Dramatic Arts, started A. Hunt Design 10 years ago in San Diego. With a background in the hospitality industry and event coordinating, Hunt-Shelton says she was looking for a fresh start when she started taking floral design classes. It was during those classes that the instructor took an interest in her work and gave her the boost of confidence she needed to take the next step.
She started doing flowers for friends and family and small events and things started to take off from there. As she moved across the country, the business moved right along with her and continued to grow every year.
After doing flowers out of a home studio for more than nine years, Hunt-Shelton is happy to be where she is today. “It is very cliche but when you work on something you love, a little every day, it’s truly amazing what it can turn into.”
“It’s such a rewarding job. I get to make my heart happy by doing what I love, make people who receive flowers feel loved, and make the people that order and send them feel great too. Is there anything better than that? Flowers = happiness,” she said.
Like Hunt-Shelton, Enright’s bakery business started out as a hobby.
Enright, a graduate of the University of Illinois with bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing and the mother to Hank, 7, and Ruby, 6, likes to joke that her successful career was a hobby that just got way out of control.
“I never intended for any of the amazing things that have happened over the last four years to happen. I am truly just someone who was lucky enough to stumble upon a pastime that I enjoy enough that I wanted to dedicate thousands of hours of practice to. I almost wish that this was an exaggeration, but it’s not,” Enright said.
Enright’s hobby-turned-business started out in an unlikely place-scrolling Instagram on her couch after her toddlers went to bed. She came across an account with hundreds of cookie decorating videos and watched a lot of them as a way to relax.
After a friend posted on Facebook asking where to find decorated sugar cookies, Enright reached out and offered her a proposition: “I’ve never actually decorated a cookie before, but I just watched a whole bunch of videos and I think I know *how* to do it and if you’re willing to let me try, I’ll only charge you for ingredients.” The friend agreed.
Enright made the cookies, posted them on Facebook and received a lot of positive feedback. Things started to snowball from there.
“Pretty soon the amount of time I was spending on cookies was cutting into my own leisure time and it was then that I decided that I had to make a decision about whether or not I wanted to keep going. I was still enjoying it so I decided to keep going. And I’ve been going and enjoying it ever since,” she said.
Enright loves many aspects of her job, including seeing a design come to life, her staff, and having access to a steady stream of treats is a sweet perk too. But bringing joy to her customers might be her favorite part.
“I love making my clients happy, especially the kiddos. Getting a picture of a birthday kid, mouth agape, eyes wide, when they see their birthday cake or cookies is just the best thing ever,” she said.
Hunt-Shelton and Enright, who were both born and raised in Champaign-Urbana, have faced some challenges along the way but neither feels that being a woman-owned business has been one of them. If anything, they’ve felt an amazing amount of support from the community.
“Truthfully, in this town, with this network of women-entrepreneurs, I think being female is an asset, if anything. C-U loves to support a small business and the women in this town sure do rally together,” Enright said. “The CU flower house, Firedoll, Oh Honey Pie, Farren’s, Circles, Whisk, Papa Del’s, Industrial Donut, Amy B Gardening, Pan and Cake, T-Stagg Photography, One Week Boutique … there are lots, lots, more, but these are all local women-owned businesses that I have been able to make meaningful connections with. It’s lovely.”
Hunt-Shelton shares a similar sentiment and says she feels like being a women-owned business has not been an obstacle to her success. “We live in an amazing era of female empowerment. We’re unstoppable and are grateful for the struggles that women faced before us. They paved an easier road for us, for sure. It’s amazing to watch these women in action.”
CU flower house is open Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit the website.