Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelley McKann.
Hi Shelley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
For as long as I can remember I’ve held deep appreciation for authenticity, connection, and creative expression. In my teens and early 20s, I made a living working in the restaurant industry and began playing music and writing songs. I have been blessed with opportunities to play, tour, and record with talented and wonderful humans and musicians in groups including The Carrots and Knife in the Water, among other musical projects.
In my late 20s I began studying for my social work undergraduate degree, and during that time became a wife and mom. After graduating with my BSW, I worked as grants manager for The Center for Child Protection. This experience was powerful and intense. Although lived experience had motivated me to seek a career in child welfare, I found that more healing would be required for me to do this type of work.
Following the loss of a close friend in December of 2022, I needed a slower and gentler pace of life. The heavy subject matter at work, and a reckoning with my own CPTSD and substance use to cope presented a clear need for change.
Over the next couple of years, I worked various part-time jobs including caretaking for a dear elderly woman and at a local vintage store. This pause highlighted for me, the powerful healing qualities of aesthetics, art, connection, and slowing down.
In December of 2025, I opened 11th House Treasure, a tiny thrift store I started out of a 1972 Airstream Safari in my driveway. Open on the weekends in the North Loop neighborhood, I was lucky to be in a high foot traffic area that would bring neighbors and friends right past my shop. This was a magical beginning chapter for 11th House Treasure. As a collector of treasure, art, and vintage for over 20 years, curating spaces in my home always brought me comfort. I began rediscovering the joy and nostalgia in hunting for vintage treasures and sharing what I’d found with others. The shop became a metaphor for the healing and recovery process I was currently undergoing internally- hidden treasure found in the alchemy of pain into power and joy. New creative outlets, stability for myself and my kiddo, and comfort in community through the shop are priceless gifts.
This past August, we moved to a new neighborhood with less foot traffic, and I have shifted my business model to be primarily online and at vendor markets. I also offer personal shopping appointments in my centrally located home. The new chapter for 11th House Treasure has included just as many opportunities for connection and community in market and online settings. The networks and friendships built with other vendors, artists, makers, and patrons has expanded in new directions and exciting collaborations.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I launched 11th House Treasure amid recovery from multiple challenges that peaked simultaneously. I had no idea that it would become such an integral part of my healing. Navigating life as a newly sober person, engaging in deep personal healing work, and going through an amicable separation with my partner of 15 years have all taken place within the same year of opening the shop. Learning to build and maintain a business and website, curate an inventory, and grow an online/social media presence are all skills I work on daily. Taking risks and learning to believe in myself at age 40, largely through this process, has been wildly rewarding and equally challenging. Learning to trust my intuition and do this in a way that works for me- to prioritize my child, my healing, and my sobriety has been the most empowering piece. Maintaining motivation has required self-trust, discipline, supportive relationships, and trust in the unknown.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Please tell us more about your business or organization. What should we know? What do you do, what do you specialize in / what are you known for? What sets you apart from others? What are you most proud brand wise? What do you want our readers to know about your brand, offerings, services, etc?
My favorite part of sharing vintage treasure and art is the connections I have made with shoppers, artists, and other vendors. When someone lights up because they find a dish or trinket exactly like one they remember from their grandma’s kitchen, or they pick up a vintage locket they can’t leave without, or they connect to a political block print made by a local artist, the joy is palpable. Creating and sharing these experiences has been so valuable to me.
In addition to running my vintage, art, and thrift shop, 11th House Treasure, I also give astrological birth chart readings. Along my healing journey, I discovered astrology as a form of spiritual practice on which I heavily rely to maintain a sense of peace, purpose, and fulfillment. I began leading small spiritually focused meetings with individuals in substance use recovery in March of 2025. After studying astrology in unofficial and formal settings, drawing on my social work education and lived experience, I have begun offering birth chart readings though a trauma-informed and therapeutic lens. The name of my vintage, art, and treasure business is also an astrology reference. The 11th house, in astrology, is the house of friendship, community, networks, and good fortune. It represents the highest good for the collective and the way we fit into those spaces. I believe that each of our individual healing journeys, whether from trauma, substance use, societal and systemic harm, or just life, is crucial for collective liberation, especially in today’s world.
What are your plans for the future?
I will continue to share vintage, art, and treasure at markets and events, online, and in my home showroom for the foreseeable future. I will also continue to offer birth chart readings and astrology workshops (11th House Haven) for those wanting to use this powerful practice for their own growth and healing.
I plan to continue advocating for organizations leading the charge in fighting for our rights, such as Planned Parenthood. In the last year, I’ve gotten the opportunity to testify and share parts my story in the Texas Capitol and in DC, and about the life changing support and care they provide for our communities. I hope for more opportunities to do this type of work.
Newer creative endeavors include early stages of collaboration on arrangement of my original songs for performance and recording projects. I am also slowly working on a literary project based around my own healing journey. Creative expression, storytelling, and connection are some of my highest values in life, and I plan to keep them forefront in all that I do moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://11thhousetreasure.com/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/shelley.mckann / www.instagram.com/11thhousetreasure
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelley.mckann
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-mckann-bsw-64b417a3
- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/shelley.mckann
