Today we’d like to introduce you to Candy Keane. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Candy Keane won her first costume contest at age five and fell in love with the creativity that goes into making costumes and the excitement of dressing up as her favorite characters. She graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Journalism in 2000. She worked in promotions and marketing before following her passion for costuming and opening the Three Muses Clothing boutique in Jacksonville. During that time, Candy was featured in several publications for her cosplay, and her costume handiwork can be seen in movies and on TV. She became well known after appearing on the cover of the Jedi Junkies DVD. She was also a featured cosplay guest and costume contest judge at many conventions. After over a decade in the costuming business, she closed Three Muses in 2016 and became a stay-at-home mom. She started writing about her experiences, struggles, challenges, and occasional triumphs as a first-time parent. The result is her blog, GeekMamas.com – it’s like a mom blog, but geekier. In 2020, she released her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, now available on Amazon. Candy still enjoys cosplay and costuming as a hobby and shares her costumes and tutorials on her blog and social media.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No journey is smooth; mine had many ups, downs, and twists. I struggled with leaving a successful costume business I built but was burned out after 11 years of making costumes for others. Plus, after a 7-year struggle with infertility and eventual IVF, it seemed like I went through a lot of work to have a baby and then not see him all day while he was in daycare. My priorities changed, and I wanted to experience raising my son fully. So, I closed my store and became a stay-at-home mom. And that’s when I found out what a challenge that can be! My husband was deployed often, and I started writing with nobody to talk to. I poured my heart out about the daily struggle of raising a challenging child. He would later be diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome, ADHD, and OCD, which shed a lot of light on why things were so hard. But those struggles turned into a blog, and 8 years later, that blog is now a job I love and look forward to doing every day.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with what you do?
My blog covers the typical “mom life” sort of things, but I incorporate many of my costuming past into it with tutorials and costume guides. I enjoy sharing my costume photos on my @sewgeekmama Instagram and Facebook. I am still mostly known for my cosplay history since people often run across the Star Wars fan documentary Jedi Junkies with me on the cover. I was also interviewed in the film on how I made my costume. I’m proud of my children’s book, “I’m Going to My First Comic Convention.” It’s about a little boy going to his first Comic Con and all the neat things he might see or do there. I created it after reading a book to my son about going on an airplane for the first time. I noticed books about going to the museum, school, or other places, but none about a comic con. So I made one!
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
As a full-time content creator, I work with brands and companies in many different ways. I create blog posts, product reviews, videos, and social posts. I have a “Work with Me” page on the blog that outlines things in more detail. The best way for people to support me is to engage with my work, commenting, liking, and sharing. That is the best way to help a content creator.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.geekmamas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sewgeekmama
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sewgeekmama
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candykeane/
- Twitter: https://www.tiktok.com/@geekmamasblog
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sewgeekmama
- Other: https://www.momtasticmommyblog.com
Image Credits
Maleficent is by Forest’s Edge Photography. All other photos by Candy Keane.
