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Daydreams
by J.D. Hawk
Martha Stewart, look out. If fortune favors the bold, Jennifer Brennan's future is
golden. At only 28 years of age, she has studied Fine Arts in Belgium, jumped out
of an airplane 800 times, taught computer programming, waitressed in New York, served
cocktails in Paris, earned a BA from Loyola College, beat the paddles on their rowing
team and enjoys mountain climbing. Having such a deep appreciation for the more meaningful
things in life, she proudly boasts of never wearing Jordache Jeans, even when they
were cool. EastLake's Dynamo Darling could mop up the floor with Martha Stewart.
"I have a lot of first loves," Brennan said. "If I am not skydiving
or painting, I will get my kayak out of storage. But right now my priorities are
with the store, so I am going to do as much as it takes to get the job done."
Brennan opened up Daydreams, a ceramic cafe, on Nov.15, 2003 at EastLake Village
Marketplace. Being an entrepreneur for the first time may be her greatest challenge
yet. She said she has been living on Jamba Juice and working 18 hour work days in
order to ensure that her first-ever business succeeds and just as importantly, fulfills
a needed function in the community. "I felt the community needed something to
get children away from TV sets and video games--to let them be creative, to let them
learn about art," she said. The work that comes out of these kids, four, five,
six years old is amazing!" she said.
Parents bring their kids, grandparents take their grandchildren and girl scout troops
visit. EastLake Elementary School has even taken several field trips to Daydreams.
But the store is not only for children. Ceramic mugs, vases, picture frames, dishes
and model airplanes are among the various items that customers can pick out to paint.
Customers of all ages can then sit down, drink their coffee, and paint all afternoon
without a worry about being charged by the hour. Brennan is very proud of this point,
being an artist who has been charged by the hour in similar cafes. But the average
time people take to paint a ceramic item is usually an hour, less if they are children.
"The average attention span for a child is 30 to 45 minutes," she warns.
The paints used on the ceramic items are lead free. This means the finished product
will be safe with microwave, dishwasher, and food. The paint needs one day to dry.
Brennan then glazes the ceramic item with a substance she calls liquid glass. That
takes another day. Then it's placed in an oven called a kiln and baked at high temperatures.
That's when all the fun starts. "At 1800 degrees, anything can happen. Paint
can bubble. It can crack. Lots of things can happen that I'm not even in control
of. I can open the kiln and find a plate broken that somebody has put 20 hours into.
When that happens, I let them have it for free," she said.
But that is a situation that doesn't happen often. When the ceramic is finally ready,
approximately one week later, Brennan said she loves to see the expressions on her
customers' faces. The colors of the ceramics, have since, become vibrant. "It's
just like Christmas morning," she said. "It's not like food. It's something
that children can make and look back on it when they're 25. It will last forever...unless
it breaks."
But living a full life and having an understanding of fine culture doesn't necessarily
guarantee successful business. "You think you thought about everything when
you start a business, but there's a million things you haven't. Working with light
fixtures, finding out that they're four times your budget. What are you going to
do? That's part of taking the risk," she said.
Brennan said she had a difficult time getting the building permit from the city,
emphasizing that they were "very strict." She researched how to get loans
for a half a year, but couldn't find a way to be approved. She went to Barnes and
Noble and bought 5 books on how to start your own business and developed a plan.
She got some backing, but ran into what she calls a series of brick walls.
But that doesn't discourage Brennan, who more than makes up for her lack of business
experience with her insatiable drive--an American appetite to push it to the limit,
harnessed by her British discipline and resolve. "I have been raised to go after
what I want and take risks," Brennan said, who holds dual citizenship. "My
father was from England. He has a lot of English pride. Being from England, he wants
to make sure the job gets done right. I think that has rubbed off on me."
Indeed.
Contact J.D. Hawk |
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