FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – It all started with the Original, the Remix and the Encore, t-shirts designs by Ashley Green, founder of KaAn’s Designs. “I like to think of us as a millennial parenthood brand,” she said.

“We have the Original which is for mom and dad or the oldest sibling, the Remix for the first child, then we have the Encore because you went back and did it again.” Green, a retired school teacher who wanted to find a way to be a “work from home” mom began her business in 2014. Three years later KaAn’s Designs was featured on Positively Fort Wayne. This year during the pandemic, the business received a superstar endorsement.

“It came about because I wanted a mommy and me set with my son. When I brought the idea to Kenny, my husband, he was like um, I’m not sure people are going to get it but try it. Now, it’s on Oprah’s Favorite Things List!,” she said.

“So I guess I was wrong,” joked Kenny Green. “Yep! That’s my oh yeah, I’m right,” Ashley laughed.

What Ashley and Kenny started in 2014 is now one of the 72 gifts featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things List 2020 in O, The Oprah Magazine. The Greens’ showed WANE 15’s Terra Brantley their interview with CBS Morning anchor Gail King and Adam Glassman, creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine. During the interview, they got a big surprise.

“I love the Remix,” said Oprah.

“Yes!,” exclaimed Ashley. “All of a sudden Oprah pops on the screen. Ahh!! I was like give me a moment, give me a moment.”

“Yes I did fan a little bit,” laughed Kenny. “I couldn’t believe it! We didn’t talk with her until September, we had to keep a secret. That was hard but it was fun when we could finally tell people.”

“They never really told us how they found us but social media played a huge roll with different people commenting on our products,” said Ashley. She (Oprah) looks at small brands. Her team curates certain things to show her and they look from the smallest brand to the biggest brand.
So this year they decided to focus on Black small businesses so I thought that was awesome especially in 2020 and COVID-19 and just small businesses suffering in general.

The name of the business KaAn’s is an acronym for each member of the Green family: Kenny, Ashley, Aiden and Noah. When daughter Kensley was born they added the Mic Drop t-shirt to the Original lineup. “Then just in case you have a surprise baby, we added the Newbae.”

“So we have t-shirts, but we also have toddler bags, mom bags, we have pajamas.. key chains,” she said. “We have the Moms, Pops and Shorty set.”

“For Christmas we have Joy and Jesus and then one of my favorites is I’m going to tell Santa,” said Kenny. “The Oprah effect is a real thing. Our orders have increased. It’s so great to just be a part of it.”

“I believe God has his hands on this because it’s truly been a blessing to our family,” said Ashley. Ccelebrities like Kim Kardashian, Tori Spelling, and professional football players all like our products.”