My name is Caroline Gann and I am the graphic designer in our team of three! I was born and raised in Louisville, KY. Growing up, I loved to play soccer, sing and discover new foods. I still enjoy all of these things, especially learning about food culture and traditions associated with cooking and entertaining. Thanks to this, I was also able to help compile nearly all of the recipes for our calendar project.
I was raised Lutheran (LCMS) and am still so, so thankful for my amazing family and extended family who created a Christian home for me and who encouraged my faith in any way they could. I graduated from the University of Kentucky where through the help of David, my husband-to-be, I learned about the Orthodox Church. David and I were married in 2013. After lots of learning, prayer, and thought, we were received onto the church on Pascha of 2014 at St. Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville, KY. Yes, I know, I'm just a baby Orthodox convert!
Those years after David and I got married we're a whirlwind! We converted, moved several times, bought a house, and had our little girl, Eleanor, before moving back home. I was finally able to get to know Marian and Abbi shortly after moving to Louisville to be closer to our families in 2015. I feel like we kind of danced around each other for a couple of years when David and I lived in Louisville and Lexington, but never really got to know each other until we moved back. Better late than never!
Last January, Marian approached me with the proposition of creating an orthodox children's calendar with illustrations, crafts and activities to correspond with each month on the liturgical calendar. Needless to say I was in love! I had been doing freelance graphic design for a couple of years at that point and was so excited to learn even more with this project (both about liturgical life, and about graphic design)! We got to work, and less than a year later, here we are! I'm so grateful to work with this team of ladies, who are so ambitious, but still recognize the need to stop and say a prayer or refocus before proceeding with most tasks. How often do you get to work with a whole team like that!
I'm so excited for the projects to come with this team! I've also been loving getting to know other Orthodox makers around the country. Everyone is so inspiring and it's fantastic to have a reminder of how very very much I have to learn!! AND thank you guys for all of your support! Our customers' desire to further educate their children on the beauty of God spurs me onward to do the same for my children, and to continue creating these materials that we can use in our homes.
