When Fiona and Kara Shedden, a wife-and-wife team, began Burnt Honey Dessert Company in Nanaimo over six years ago, they dreamed of a shop where people could enjoy sweet treats and be their true selves. What started in a farmers’ market stall has become one of Nanaimo’s favourite small businesses. Here, you can enjoy high-quality ice cream, French macarons, and a healthy dose of self-love. You can taste the care in everything they make, and even better, you can feel it in their space.

Values that Sweeten the Mix

Fiona and Kara began Burnt Honey with four key values: inclusivity, body positivity, sustainability, and community support. The values are at the heart of everything the Burnt Honey team does. From hiring to marketing to operations, these are daily practices. “We just don’t place any value that any body is any better or more welcome than any other kind of body,” Fiona explained. “We want people to come in guilt-free, feel comfortable, and order what they want. We’re never going to judge you.”

Their shop proudly shows its values. They source local ingredients and create a space (both online and in person) where everyone feels welcome. Fiona jokes that their garbage only goes out “because it’s been there too long”, which is a point of pride for a business that composts, recycles, and reuses almost everything. Even their pandemic-era delivery coolers came from customers who offered spares. “We learned so much,” Fiona recalled. “I have a whole new respect for delivery drivers after doing all that.”

Community, Connection, and Growth

When COVID-19 arrived in Canada, Burnt Honey had been open for only a year. They quickly pivoted and started hand-delivering orders from Parksville to Ladysmith. Kara explained that what began as a way to keep the business afloat became something much more personal, though.“The pandemic was a beautiful opportunity to build solid relationships with our customers.  It was so scary; everyone felt very vulnerable.  Now we’re going to them, we’re meeting their pets, we’re seeing their homes.  Up until then, everybody had been coming to us.  We built some very solid relationships with our customers that we wouldn’t have had the chance to develop otherwise.”

Not only have those customers stuck around, but the deeper relationships also help define the shop’s culture today. Many of their staff started as customers. Parents bring their kids in after school; couples stop by after dinner; tourists come once and leave as regulars. At Burnt Honey, it’s hard not to feel like family.

Family, Parenthood, and Perspective

Fiona says their partnerships, in business, love, and parenting, have always been a mix of beauty and challenge. In the early years of Burnt Honey, they were navigating new-business chaos, COVID, and a long stretch of fertility treatments all at once. “It added another layer that was very complex on top of being new business owners,” Kara acknowledged.

Eventually, they realized the universe had different plans. Bentley and Paisley joined their family in 2022 and 2023, and life shifted again. “We’ve always considered that we were a family right from the beginning,” Fiona shared. Parenthood, much like business, has taught them invaluable lessons and also reshaped how they think about inclusion and accessibility.

When Bentley began using a wheelchair, they saw their own shop through a new lens. Small things suddenly felt big, like realizing they needed an automatic door opener. Support for those upgrades wasn’t immediately clear, so Fiona and Kara made it happen themselves. “It was really important for us to save up and do.”

Inclusion and Visibility in Nanaimo

Inclusion is the main ingredient at Burnt Honey. From the “You Are Loved” sign on the door to the inclusive language guide at the counter, Fiona and Kara model what it looks like to lead with kindness. “We explain to customers and staff why we use gender-neutral language,” Fiona says. “Even terms like ‘guys’ for 95% of people, it’s harmless, but for some, it can cause gender dysphoria and be quite hurtful.”

When they post job ads seeking applicants who are members or allies of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, a few online trolls sometimes surface, but their fans and followers usually handle it before Fiona or Kara needs to step in. That’s the power of building community through education and empathy. “I’d like people to leave having had a really positive experience,” Fiona explains, “and maybe having learned something as well.”

That philosophy extends to their team, too, aiming for inclusivity that’s felt on both sides of the ice cream counter. “We want everyone who comes through our doors, whether to work or to visit, to feel that sense of belonging.” For Fiona and Kara, visibility as queer business owners isn’t about making a statement. It’s about showing up authentically. “We never decided to be visible,” Fiona clarifies. “That’s just who we are. I think it’s important for kids and teens to see that you can live your life, be yourself, and not have to hide.”

Creativity, Collaboration, and Storytelling

Creativity runs deep in both of them, with Kara working her magic in the kitchen and Fiona behind the marketing and service. Their storytelling shares the soul behind Burnt Honey’s menu. Every ice cream flavour has a story. For example, the blackberry upside-down cake ice cream comes from a Coast Salish family recipe, created with help from Team 700, a competitive Indigenous youth boxing team. Then there’s the Tropical Chamoy Ahoy, which is a collaboration with Nanaimo artist Kara Harrison of Crashing Cadence.

“We kind of have to pinch ourselves,” Fiona laughed. “Everything that we had thought up actually exists. It’s a very surreal experience.” The collaborative culture is growing inside the shop, too. Burnt Honey now employs more than a dozen people, many of them queer, trans, and neurodivergent. But their dreams go even bigger: “We would really like more space, and a bit more variety of jobs, to have more folks with disabilities on our team as well.” Fiona says she’s constantly learning from her staff, especially in communication, access, and listening. “I tell them, if we ever do something that bothers you, please tell us. We’re open to hearing that, you know, we’re learning as well.”

The Cozy Season and What’s Next

As the colder months roll in, Kara and Fiona lean into creativity instead of slowing down. Burnt Honey’s Nostalgic November series and Ice Cream for Breakfast Day are local favourites. Their “off-season” is full of tasty experiments and fun community events. “People are ready for spring before it’s spring,” Fiona laughs. “We bring out the mini-egg ice cream in January, and it kicks off our busy season again.”This winter, look for throwback favourites like Dunkaroos and Carrot Cake Ice Cream, late-night weekend scoops, and more collaborations that celebrate community.”

At the heart of it all, Burnt Honey is about care. It’s about the joy of treating yourself and being yourself. For Fiona and Kara, dessert is a celebration, and everyone’s invited.

About the author:
Lauren Semple (she/they) is an inclusive strategist, storyteller, lover of leisure, and the voice behind the queer travel blog, Sounds Gay Let’s Go.