Kodi Shutt, Ohio County resident and owner of businesses The Event Kode and Price Ice Baby, has been successfully managing her thriving businesses, while also juggling the roles of a mother to three children – including two special needs children – in addition to navigating the challenges of postpartum anxiety and PTSD.
The Event Kode was officially established in September 2019, although Kodi has been crafting her skills in event decoration and design for her children’s birthday parties before turning it into a full-fledged business, specializing in balloon art and inflatables.
The business has really ballooned since its beginnings, enabling Kodi to hire on several full-time employees, which has allowed her to continue providing for her growing family without sacrificing time with her children.
On top of her business endeavors, Kodi and husband Lance Shutt have three children together – Easton (12), Aniston (9), and Embry (2). Kodi’s commitment to her children’s well-being goes beyond her business success. In January 2020, she decided to begin homeschooling her children, noting that her children’s education and her bond with them were incredibly important to her.
“I just want to be with them all the time. I didn’t like the idea of them spending so many hours away,” she said. “I want to breathe in my children as much as possible and experience their successes and be there for their failures … I get to see it firsthand instead of hearing about it in the car-rider line. And that has brought us much closer.”
Outside of her business endeavors and homeschooling, Kodi has also been working diligently on improving her mental health following a near-death experience during her last pregnancy.
Kodi is currently undergoing intensive therapy for postpartum anxiety and PTSD from a 27-day hospital stay while pregnant with her youngest child, Embry. She was hospitalized with bilateral COVID pneumonia for six days before returning home, only to develop pregnancy complications just days later, including cholestasis of pregnancy, uterine windows, and an allergic reaction to a necessary medication.
Due to these complications, Kodi had to give birth much earlier than originally expected, resulting in Embry staying in the NICU following his birth.
“He was due on Valentine’s Day, but he was born on New Year’s Eve,” she said. “I couldn’t leave the hospital, so I just had to stay there. I was there for 27 days, then Embry was in the NICU for 40 days, so we had 67 days total between the two of us, and we are literally just grateful that either one of us is here.”
Kodi said the experience not only left her with significant trauma, but also made her cherish each and every moment with her children that much more.
“We got to have Christmas in the hospital during COVID and there is a video of my kids walking in because I had told them bye through the window because we didn’t think I was gonna make it,” she recalled. “It was a really crappy situation that turned into a miracle … I went from feeling like I had good relationships with my children to now, I just want to be with them all the time and so my business and homeschool allows me to do that.”
The Juggling Act
While homeschooling her three children has allowed her to spend more time with them, the family always stays fairly busy, Kodi noted.
Between taking care of her businesses, schooling, her personal therapy and ensuring her children have everything they need, Kodi and husband Lance also have two special needs children that have their own unique set of needs.
Having special needs children, she said, is part of what helped influence her decision to homeschool, ensuring that their learning environment is comfortable and accommodating for their learning needs.
“We are always working around big emotions, so it’s a hard work and life balance to do that, but it’s important to me, too,” she said. “We do speech therapy and occupational therapy every week. And I try to always make sure that their needs are met first and foremost before the business.”
Kodi said making sure she is present with her children is the most important thing to her, and she always tries to be intentional with her time by making her schedule fit around her children’s and ensuring that there is a stopping time for work each day so that she is able to designate that time to the family.
A Mental Health Journey
Kodi said her hospitalization and pregnancy complications left her with postpartum anxiety and PTSD. Her fear of losing her children had become crippling, affecting her daily life and her family. She took the courageous step of seeking therapy to confront and overcome her anxiety and trauma.
Kodi’s therapy journey has been challenging and rewarding. Her therapist has helped her work through her fears and anxieties, as well as confront her PTSD. She has made significant progress, allowing her to even volunteer at the very hospital that she once had difficulties even looking at. She emphasized the importance of being open and honest with her family about her mental health struggles and has sought their support throughout her recovery.
“I used to not be able to look at the hospital if we would drive by it, or eat purple grapes because that’s the only sweet thing I could eat on my diet while I was pregnant and they gave it to me every day in the hospital,” she said. “I’m so much farther now in my therapy than a year ago. And now I can actually go to the hospital and volunteer.”
Not only does she volunteer at the hospital, but they are also her client for balloon art.
Kodi said she attends therapy every week and works on tackling something new each session and her mental health journey has made her an advocate for mental health awareness and therapy.
A Growing Family
Following the difficulties with her last pregnancy, Kodi said she and husband Lance are ready to grow their family again through adoption.
Kodi said the couple have always wanted four children, and they are determined to see that through and are hoping to adopt a little girl to complete their family. Though with their current schedule, she said, it would be too much, so they have decided to sell their second business, Price Ice Baby, a seasonal shaved ice business.
“We’ve always wanted four but I’m not allowed to have any more because of all the trauma during the pregnancy and birth,” she said. “As much as I absolutely love and cherish the three that I have, we both agree that we don’t feel done. It feels like there’s one missing, and so we had talked about adoption the past couple of years.”
The couple plan to apply for the foster care program at the beginning of the year and plan to list their business for sale around the same time. And her other children, she noted, are more than excited to welcome a new sister into the family.
“They ask about her all the time and there’s just pure joy and excitement. I’m excited for Embry to have someone that would be closer to his age and a built-in best friend. There is just a genuine, pure excitement in my kids for this journey to start.”