WHY DUNN BY HER EXISTS
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THE WHY
Is this page about me? A little bit. But mostly, it is about why I created this place and who I created it for. I created Dunn by Her from my own experiences as a Black woman. Because sometimes finding things that genuinely feel like us is more challenging than it should be.
You go looking for wrapping paper, home décor, artwork, clothing or a gift that feels personal, and somehow the choices get real small, real fast.
Maybe there is one option tucked away somewhere. Maybe it is almost what you wanted, but not quite. Or maybe you leave wondering why somebody has not created what you were looking for yet. I know that frustration because I experience it too. Isee you because I am shopping right beside you.
WHO THIS PLACE IS FOR
Dunn by Her grew from my experiences as a Black woman, but everyone is welcome here.
If something speaks to you, makes you smile, reminds you of somebody or simply makes you think, “I need that,” then there is room for you here. You do not have to look like me, live like me or think exactly like me to find something for you at Dunn by Her.
I created this place because I want people who have felt overlooked, especially people who look like me, to understand why it exists. We know what it feels like to search for ourselves and not see much.
And honestly, women know something about being overlooked too. We create. We build. We work. We carry families, businesses, ideas, responsibilities and sometimes everybody else’s problems. Yet women are still fighting to be seen, heard, respected, paid and treated equally.
Yes, that makes me mad. Probably because it should.
That is part of the reason “Her” matters so much to me.
There is room for you here.
WHY THE NAME DUNN BY HER?
Dunn is my husband’s last name. I never officially changed my name when we got married, but Dunn still became part of my life.
Then I added “Her.”
Because when you say Dunn by Her out loud, it sounds like done by her.
And “Her” is not just me.
Her can be the woman creating something from an idea. The woman building a business. The woman making a home. The woman finding her voice. The woman doing something people did not expect her to do.
That is why the name felt right.
It carries part of my married life, part of my identity as a woman and the belief that some things are simply better when they are Dunn by Her.
A LITTLE ABOUT
THE WOMAN BEHIND IT
Hi, I’m Sttarrkisha.
I’m a wife, a mother, a business owner and a woman with a pretty active imagination. Sometimes that imagination is a gift, and sometimes it gets on my nerves.
You know how something will make you shake your head and think:
“Why is it like this?”
Or:
“If it were up to me, I would do it differently.”
Yeah…that is me.
I’ll be minding my business when an idea pops into my head. Before long, I’m asking myself, “Girl…what are you doing?”
Instead of continuing to talk my husband’s ear off or calling one of my friends to explain another idea I cannot stop thinking about, I create.
Sometimes it is something I wish already existed. Sometimes it is something I want in my own home but cannot find. Sometimes it comes from a memory, a conversation, something funny or one of those random ideas that refuses to leave me alone.
Then I start working, change my mind five times, question why I started and keep going until the idea becomes something real.
That is usually how things happen around here.
SO, I CREATE.
I HOPE YOU FIND YOURSELF HERE
My hope is not that you will love everything here. That would be a little unreasonable, even for me. My hope is that somewhere along the way, you find something that feels like it was created with you in mind.
Maybe it reminds you of somebody, makes you laugh or says something you have been trying to say. Maybe it makes your home feel a little more like yours. Maybe it is exactly what you have been looking for without realizing you were looking for it. Or maybe you simply enjoy supporting small businesses, and the slightly crazy people brave enough to bet on the ideas in their heads.
Either way, thank you. Thank you for spending a little time here, for seeing what I am building and for supporting something that started as a thought in my head and somehow became real. Most of all, thank you for allowing Dunn by Her to make a little more room for people who are tired of feeling overlooked. It truly means more to me than you will probably ever know.
Life gives all of us ideas. The difference is…some of us decide to build them. I’m glad you’re here while I’m building mine, and I hope you find a little piece of yourself here too.
