Oct. 18, 2023

Shennon Blake knew she had to leave nursing for her own good.

Dealing with bureaucracy and being immersed in health care’s traditional model had exhausted her to the point where she didn’t feel she could give her patients the care Blake demanded of herself, she said.

In the months since then, however, the Sioux Falls wife-mother-stepmother-grandmother has found a new way to care for people.

Blake does it through affirmation jars that she carries on her Etsy page, The Tired Nurse. Her affirmation jars contain 60 tiny scrolls. Each day, the recipient pulls out a scroll, unwraps it and reads a quote designed to uplift, inspire and entertain.

The entertainment factor is important.

“Humor is such a big part of our mental health and well-being,” Blake said. “I’m probably a little bit too funny at a time when I should be serious, but it’s a quirk of mine. I try to have fun with projects, and with the affirmation jars, I was looking for something to inspire women.”

Women tend to put each other down or knock each other down, particularly in the age of social media, Blake said. She wants to reverse that — one positive, uplifting message at a time.

“I don’t know what happened to us as a society, where we went sideways, but we’re in some hard times,” Blake said. “It’s mind-blowing how nasty we can be to each other. I want to be that silent voice saying through an affirmation jar to another woman, hey, you can do it, you matter.”

It seems to be working.

One client wrote Blake: “I got one as a Christmas gift for my very close friend, who’s going through a tough divorce. … It’s been a tough time for her. I wanted to help build her up, so I chose the jar as a gift. She loves it! She sends me pictures of them all the time.”

Another told her: “I have a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull and a blood clot in my head. I’ve been in meltdown mode and was literally sitting on my walker in my horse pasture crying when my daughter brought me the affirmation jar. It brought a smile to my face and laughter. It was totally what I needed.”

The jars have themes. Her bestselling affirmation jar, “Badass Bitch,” is designed for women, while another jar is aimed at men. Her fifth bestselling affirmation jar is aimed at people going through sobriety; Blake wishes those jars would sell better and help people on that path. Other jars deal with grief and workplace issues.

Blake draws on her background when preparing the quotations for the scrolls. She left nursing in a hospital setting about two years ago, but the health care profession hasn’t left her.

“My goal is to pull a little bit of nursing into my gifts,” Blake said. “There’s a lot of mental health components to it. When you physically suffer, you mentally suffer too and vice versa. It goes hand in hand. When a patient goes through your door, catching them at their worst minute, but life is still happening to them.”

An aunt inspired Blake to pursue nursing. But that career was delayed when the Sioux City native married young and began raising her family in Fort Meyers, Florida. Blake has lived near Sioux Falls since October 2020. She and her husband, Shane Blake, have been married for a year; they first met when they were in school together in Sioux City.

When Blake returned to the area, the couple reconnected through a mutual friend. Her husband, a journeyman plumber with Howe, totally supports her decision to go full time on Etsy, she said.

“Not too many people will say, oh, you have a master’s degree and you’re getting a good salary, and you’re giving it up to sell handmade crap on Etsy? But he said you do you, and follow your dreams,” Blake said.

Together, they have six children. Blake’s three are 30, 26 and 25 years old, while her stepsons are 15, 14 and 10. She also has three grandsons.

Blake began crafting and sewing in 2011 as what she calls a side hustle. Her goal then was just to be able to make a car payment, she said. Now, it’s a full-time occupation, one she turned to after realizing she no longer totally enjoyed nursing.

“When COVID hit, I thought, I have a master’s degree, and I don’t enjoy it,” Blake said. “I thought, how can I get my Etsy to match my nursing salary? As soon as it hits that, I’m out. And in my first year full-time doing Etsy, I had met my goal.”

Since then, Blake has learned that operating a business offering unique handmade gifts also can mean working seven days a week from her home, and with the holiday gift-giving season approaching quickly, she knows that 16-hour days won’t be uncommon.

Her Etsy site also offers “dammit dolls” with sharp needles for people who need to express their frustrations, jewelry made with old denim scraps, keychains made of blue jeans, scented eye pillows and cards that can be tucked under car windshields. The cards offer feedback on someone’s parking skills or lack of them.

“I got inspired because every time I go to Aldi, I think, does anyone use just one parking space?” Blake said.

In addition to her Etsy site, Blake also has attended craft shows in the tri-state area. Someday, she would like to have a brick-and-mortar store. In the meantime, she puts her gift items in outlets such as Art Moms on 41st Street and Mulberry Market on Marion Road.