Meet Estephanie (Aka: Fany) Cano-Baum | Henna, Braids, Baker, Bling and Custom artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Estephanie (Aka: Fany) Cano-Baum and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Estephanie (Aka: Fany), why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Growing up I was always surrounded by artistic women in my own family. My grandmother and Aunt in Mexico paint, and still do to this day. My other aunts were very creative too, with makeup, and drawing. Then there’s my mom, she started her own business doing baked goods like cakes and cupcakes. So with that, I had the foundation to pursue artistic talents, however, pens and paint were not my friends, so I took to other art mediums. At 15 I was beddazling anything I could get my hands on, I always liked things to be unique and with a bling. Now I’m confident enough to beddazle just about anything. At this time I started doing henna designs too, after getting it done I wanted more, but I also wanted more freedom, I didn’t want just traditional henna designs. Once I turned 18 I started doing them on the professional level, studying designs, the henna making process, and eventually getting introduced to jagua (like henna, but stains the skin a dark blue/black color) as well. But it wasn’t enough for me, so I started doing braids, growing up in Mexico my hair was always braided in two, and eventually ended up doing everyone’s hair in my family. I practiced my braids, design styles, and focused on primarily intricate designs inspired by African braid ancestry. I was quite content but then my mom got a Cricut and suddenly I started making shirts, cups, tumblers, anything that could be personalized. Now I do 3D paper crafts like cake toppers, custom party favors, anything that can make a party more special and unique, it’s all about those details. Finally, since my mom was a baker she always pushed me to at least try, by helping her with decorations and piping. At first I didn’t like baking, but then I combined the skills from henna and realized that holding a piping bag was practically the same thing as holding a henna cone. So I started doing more and now that is my biggest seller, from baby showers to weddings. Soon after I started doing more cupcakes, brownie squares, cakesicles, and even cakes. At first I started this because I wanted to be half as artistic as the talented Mexican women I grew up around, but now I do it because I can, because I love what I do, and the creative/financial freedom I achieve.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What I do you can certainly find thousands of people doing it, but I’d like to believe that I add my own twist to things. I believe in providing quality customer service, because without my clients this would just be a hobby. Practicing came easy, as soon I set my mind to practice and achieve my short term goals there was no stopping me. But that’s not to say I didn’t get here without any challenges. Over the years, what became difficult was the personal obstacle. Being a brown Mexican woman, and a victim of domestic violence at such a young age, I figured if I just focus on my crafts and continue to do what I love I would regain what was lost from being in a terrible situation and everyday prejudice. So with a little bit of therapy, self love, and lots of focus, I was able to work, work like heck to achieve my dreams. Fast forward to now, I’m still working and practicing to perfect everything I do. And just like the saying ‘Everything will fall into place’ I got married, had a wonderful baby, now I have a successful business, a wonderful family, support system, and I’m at peace. Now I’m a big advocate for DV, mental health, the fair treatment of minorities, and representation for darker minorities. Hopefully one day when my business grows more I’ll be able to not just advocate but also help financially to these causes.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Luckily I’ve been planning a itinerary like this for when my friends do visit! The first on my list is the NAS JRB base, they have a little spot next to the lake that has a amazing view, and it makes a great scenery walk. Whattaburger, because you can’t visit Texas without having whattaburger. The stockyards would be next, the iconic cattle drive is a must see, followed by some delicious food from Lucile’s, that bistro is one of our favorite restaurants. The water gardens is another one, just because if it gets too hot you can play with the water and they have cool water shows as well. The science museum or play street museum is a good one, specially for our little ones, it’s fun all around. Sea quest is also a great place, they have so much interactive activities. Another one of our favorite food spots is J’s casas on river oaks, we are huge on burgers and they make great ones. We are not outside people, we are home bodies so unfortunately we don’t do much exploring, but we always rave about these places and restaurants to everyone, including residents here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family deserves all the recognition, my grandma, aunts, Mom, sisters, mother and father in law, brothers and sisters in law, and most importantly, my husband and son. Without any of them none of this could have been possible, but without my husband or son I would never have been motivated to continue to do and practice what I love. From late nights to deliveries to last minute orders my husband and son have been my rock. Also can’t forget my puppies, they’re patient with me, just as long as I give them a treat or two.

Instagram: Fanys_customs

Facebook: @Fanyscustoms

Other: TikTok: Fanooki12

Image Credits
Photographer: William IG: isometric_media
Hair & Make-up: McKenzie IG: retro_dollz
Model: Bianca De Latorre IG: biancaadelatorre