About the Owner
Rebecca Shorter graduated from Muskingum University with a B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Needs with a minor is Psychology and Art. From Ashland University she received a Masters in Early Education of the Handicapped Child. She has taught for 20 years in public and private schools. She recently attended Columbus Sate Community College and took business classes offered by the Ohio Small Business Development Center. Her interest in the arts began at the age of 4 when she took her first class at the Chagrin Valley Art Center. Throughout her life art has been a vital part of her inspiration. She took nine years of ballet, tap, and jazz from Eudi Tracey of Eudi Tracey -Bea Fried Academy of Dance in Chagrin Falls where she was an assistant for two years before attending college. She was a member of the Chagrin Falls Choir and Chagrin Falls United Methodist Church's adult choir for 4 years and took voice lessons from Sally Rohrman.
Rebecca is not the first family member to open a business and be self employed. Her maternal grandparents, Bill and Leah Whetsel, owned and ran Whetsel Brothers Red and White Store in Delaware, Ohio for over 40 years. He paternal grandmother, Phyllis O'Keefe, owned and ran Phyllis' Salon of Beauty in Delaware, Ohio for over 40 years also. Both sets of maternal great grandparents farmed in Powell and Worthington beginning in the 1900s.
The most influential force in her life was her parents. David and Diana O'Keefe owned Stitchin' Time Shop in Chagrin for 17 years. From the time she was in third grade she spent her afternoons at the store watching her parents run the business. She observed everything from salesmen showing their fabric lines to helping her mother assemble various sewing projects. Being able to teach an art form has been a childhood dream of hers and she is very excited to embark on this new endeavor and to see where it takes her and the family.
Rebecca and her husband Dan are raising their children submerged in the arts. Dan has a music education degree but currently works in IT. Their children will actively participate in many of the workshops/classes. This is truly a family endeavor.
