'Live what you love': House of Shan lifestyle company blends apparel, making connections

Austin has developed quite the reputation for hosting big tech companies, start-ups and recently, female-owned businesses. One such business, the online lifestyle company House of Shan, is making waves with its story and mission focused on charity. 

House of Shan wasn’t a twinkle in the eye of founder Shannon Buth when she started her website of the same name, which only featured a blog emblazoned with her signature imperfect heart logo. Buth worked in the fashion industry but decided to stay at home after the birth of her twin boys. After searching for connections with other mothers, Buth reignited a mom’s group in Chicago called 24/7 Moms. She coordinated the group for nine years, calling it her other baby. 

“We really created this beautiful tight-knit community where women really trusted each other, and it was awesome,” Buth said. 

While running the group, Buth found out her mom was sick with cancer. She started her blog to publish information about 24/7 Moms events and recap speaker topics, but also to talk about her grief. 

“I was really close to my mom,” Buth said. “I called my mom several times a day. … If I was having a bad day as a mom or just needed help with a recipe or anything, she was my person.” 

Near the end of her mother’s life, a friend of Buth’s gave her and her mother matching bracelets with the words “You live what you love.” The message stuck with Buth.

“It's everything, right? Like everyone should be living with passion every day," Buth said, "and living what they love.” Inspired by the words, Buth created the Live What You Love sweatshirt, with the imperfect heart from her blog as its logo. Buth picked the logo, designed by her brother-in-law, because it represents embracing the imperfect and lifting one another up, essentially love and community: all things she had felt while coordinating 24/7 Moms.

More:Yelp ranks Austin as fastest-growing U.S. city for women-owned businesses in 2023

Despite being unsure about the interest surrounding the sweatshirts, Buth decided to sell 30 and donate the proceeds to a women’s shelter. To her surprise, all the sweatshirts sold. It felt good. 

“I thought, ‘I want to keep doing this,’” Buth said. “I want to put this sweatshirt online, and I want to give a portion from each sweatshirt or order to whatever cause I'm supporting."

In January 2020, Buth launched the Live What You Love collection on her website. A couple of months later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Thanks to word of mouth and community support of small businesses, House of Shan still took off. Since then, it has expanded from sweatshirts to T-shirts, tank tops, a pickleball collection, a line for kids and a wallpaper collaboration with Sunday Social Club. Sweatshirts remain the most popular product, along with cozy socks and trucker hats. Buth moved to Austin 2½ years ago and regularly hosts community events around the city and sells merchandise. 

Since its founding, House of Shan has continued to be a business geared toward charities. Each month, the company partners with a different one and donates $5 from each sale. 

“I like to focus on women's and children's charities as much as possible,” Buth said. “I’ve met so many women along the way that have shared about charities they’re passionate about. … Once I learn more about it, I want to get involved, too.” 

Every February, House of Shan partners with the Children’s Heart Foundation, a charity that supports children born with congenital heart defects. The money raised by House of Shan goes toward research. Of course, partnerships like this can result in much more than just money for charities. With 18,000 followers on Instagram, a partnership with House of Shan means more exposure. 

“When (Buth) is posting and tagging and leading more people to our page, that's super beneficial to us to have more people know about what we do,” said Lauren DeVoe, the marketing and communications director for the Children’s Heart Foundation. "That’s always a really great thing that we don’t take lightly because awareness is a huge part of what we do outside of just raising dollars.” 

More:50 women-owned and operated restaurants in Austin area

In terms of dollars, House of Shan proceeds have raised more than $7,500 for the Children’s Heart Foundation since 2021

Buth is looking to expand House of Shan’s online sales and continue to host community events, including a special event for Mother’s Day. House of Shan has come a long way since her blog five years ago, but the heart and soul of the business are the same. 

“I like to tell people that for me the best part is something really beautiful came out of my mom’s passing,” Buth said. “I always say this is a love letter to her and her life, and I think she’s up there cheering me on.”