CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A mom from the northwest suburbs turned her hobby into a full-time small business.
Megan Steffen of Park Ridge is the owner of Dishique Boutique where workers at a studio in an Arlington Heights office park make ceramic tributes to local institutions from across the country.
Steffen said art was her hobby that she used to relax after her day job with a textile company in Chicago.
"I just dabbled with drawing and designing things on the side. It was my hobby, and I was looking at ways to utilize that art," Steffen told WBBM Newsradio.
In 2012, she and her husband turned that art hobby into a side business. She would sell art that had been transferred to ceramic. They would fire the ceramic in a kiln that was purchased on Craigslist.
"It just grew, where it got to a point where it was too much to do as a side gig. I went part time on my full time job, and then it became too much to do as a part time job, and then I went full time," Steffen said.
Dishique has been her full-time job since 2014.
Her first big hit was a Christmas ornament called "the anatomy of a Chicago Hot Dog.” that was based on what she said was an embarrassing moment at a hot dog stand. Steffen is from Alabama, and she made the faux pas of asking for ketchup on a Chicago hot dog.
"That was incredibly frowned upon," she remembered.
Steffen got the last laugh in the end.
"My whoopsie-daisy at the hot dog stand turned into this," Steffen said.
The success of the hot dog ornament led people to ask about items for other cities and states.
"People were asking for Wisconsin, and then they were asking for Michigan, and they were asking for their friends in Missouri," Steffen said.
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Now it's a thriving business with a shop full of employees making platters, ornaments, and other ceramic goods that pay tribute to the local customs of states across the country.
Steffen said she still can't believe she managed to get a small business off the ground.
"There are certain times that I definitely did not think I would be able to do this. But sometimes you surprise yourself," Steffen said.
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