I frequently get asked why I started this business, and it all comes down to a scared little girl. My birthday is in May — right in the middle of Oklahoma’s tornado season—and I also had severe asthma and allergies. My early birthdays were often spent in the hospital on a nebulizer machine, and my other birthdays were surrounded by tornado seasons. Needless to say my birthday month was filled with fear. My mom seeing that her child was scared came up with a plan. She began to distract me during tornado season by having me prep our storm shelter and our items. I would prepare our go bags, our important documents, and even our items for our dog. This was a great distraction for me and helped with my fears. Then came the shelter cleaning. One time a storm was near our home and the sirens went off. I grabbed my bag and dog and proceeded to get in the shelter. As I prepared my sister decided that she would not be going into the shelter because she feared that it had spiders. By this point I was well versed in preparing for a storm so I did what came next and cleaned the shelter. In that moment Shelter Shiner was born. I grew out of my fear thanks to my mom’s patient, gentle lessons, and realized others needed the same peace of mind. Today, Shelter Shiner not only cleans and sanitizes shelters thoroughly but also helps you prepare ahead of storms so you can be confident your shelter is truly ready when you need it the most. Tornado season is stressful enough let Shelter Shiner help you be confident ahead of storm season.