Director, Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce
Leadership Role: TBD
Member Organization: Blackout Baking Co.
Contact Shana by email: info@blackoutbakingco.com
Bio:
Shana is the owner and founder of Blackout Baking Company. While living abroad in London, she saw the void of great American food, and Blackout Baking Co. was born across the pond through an obsessive journey to bring Londoners the perfect bite of Americana with a cookie (not biscuit).
Shana grew up in a small town in North Dakota (now you can say that you've met someone from ND!). She has very supportive and entrepreneurial parents that let her spread her wings and amazing grandparents that taught her to cook and sew. Being a lifelong figure skater and competitor she started designing and making her figure skating dresses. That love of creativity turned into a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and Textiles at Syracuse University. Shana then moved to New York City and worked as a designer in the fashion industry, most notably with Tommy Hilfiger.
She's had the opportunity to travel all over the world (Favorite places: Japan and Portugal) and live abroad in Helsinki, Barcelona, and London. While living in London, Blackout became the outlet for her creative energy and allowed her to focus her energy on food instead of fashion. Life happened and she moved to Chicago with her husband and newborn son. They stumbled upon Oak Park/River Forest and decided to make it their home. She started Blackout Baking Company up again from her very tiny kitchen and you can now find Shana at her bake shop on South Marion Street in Oak Park.
Shana joined the OPRF Chamber as soon as she officially re-started her bakery in the US. She loves the network of like-minded people and being able to share, collaborate, and make friends in the community. When she's not at the bake shop she's cooking and baking (yes, even outside of work), spending time with her husband, son, and corgi, teaching her son to ice skate, and always thinking about off-the-wall flavors and ideas for Blackout.
