The Honey Bee Inspires Creativity for Carrollton Entrepreneur

Beginning in the basement of her parents’ house four years ago, Shannon Holbrook launched a business that speaks to her creative mind. Now, the entrepreneur is the proud owner of a brick and mortar for her buzzing business TheHoneyBShop. 

Now with a storefront at 223 Bankhead Highway in Carrollton, Shannon is excited to help the community personalize items either as a gift for others or as a gift for themselves. She says, “One of my favorite things is to receive personalized things as they are. I love giving gifts, and to express my creativity and help people come up with cool gifts for others makes me very happy.” 

The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., selling custom apparel like t-shirts, totes, tumblers, planner accessories, stationery, and more. TheHoneyBShop has an array of items that can be customized. Embroidery starts at $8 and screen printing starts at $6. TheHoneyBShop also does out-store customization, so you can bring in your own items to customize as well. Some of the brands carried include Lily Grace, Gilden, Comfort Colors, Happy Planner, Tombow, and Hedi Swap. Custom stationery starts at $1.00 an item. Choose from a beautiful array of pens off their pen wall, starting at $2.

Looking back at Shannon’s story, her mother Shondell Brewer cheerfully told us, “She bought everything for the business on her own dime. She actually started in our basement and then moved to her own apartment, outgrew that, and moved to a four-bedroom house in Cartersville just to run her business, and now she’s back home in Carrollton and has chased the dream of opening a brick and mortar.”

She started building her dream at the age of twelve with her own photography business, which was formerly known as “TheHoneyBPhotography.” Shannon shared with us, “In high school I sold portrait design paintings for commission, and I’ve always had that entrepreneurial spirit. I guess I didn’t know it then, but I know now I always want to create things and be my own boss.” 

Shannon used the last bit of her paycheck before going off to college to purchase an Erin Condren planner, and that’s when she stumbled into the planner community. Being the artist she is, she wanted to create her own stickers to decorate her planner, and just after sharing her creation in a planner group on Facebook, she shortly opened up TheHoneyBShop on Etsy to sell digital planner stickers, which were just PDF files of her designs. Shannon humbly said, “I kinda stumbled into it. To this day I have over 100,000 followers across social media platforms, and all I had in the beginning was a planner, and some sticker paper.” She adds, “I’m self taught. I learned much of what I do through DIY YouTube videos and trial and error.”

Fans and followers of Shannon call her the “Queen Bee.” Shannon’s mom recalled a time when fans were waiting to get Shannon’s autograph at a planner conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Shondell commented, “It’s very humbling to see people wanting my daughter’s autograph. She is very special to people. When your dreams are set, you go for them, and she did.”

Shannon concludes, “Living here my whole life, the community is a gift to me; and it’s my turn to return that gift here at TheHoneyBShop. Not only just a gift to a friend, but a gift to yourself. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the things going on around us, that we forget about ourselves. Come in to TheHoneyBShop, and we’ll make a special gift just for you.”