“This was never a business venture that I actively sought out, it just organically came,” she said.
The name of the business reflects Bryson’s belief that the Bible calls people to be salt to the earth and light to the world.
“The collective part of it is bringing others from the community into this space to share what they know and their talents and skills,” she said.
What they offer
Salt and Light Collective offers a variety of creative classes for children and adults. Bryson partners with bakers and artists to host classes on sourdough baking, painting, photography, cookie decorating and terrarium-making, she said.
“[I] started really seeking out other creatives in the area to come join me in offering their gifts and talents in classes,” Bryson said.
She also does date nights, where couples can learn how to make tamales, paint pictures of one another or make terrariums. The class always has a food component, even when the activity isn’t food-related, she said. Couples can purchase one ticket for both of them and it’s for teens or adults.
“It doesn't have to be your significant other,” Bryson said. “You can invite a friend to come to a date night. You can invite your teen and [have a] parent-teen date night.”
Bryson also offers classes for children to learn how to cook with her supper club, which is an after-school class where children can make their own supper and take it home. She also does camps, which are multi-class options for children to learn kitchen skills and explore different foods.
“The mindset for these classes are building life skills, kitchen confidence [and] getting them familiar with working in a home kitchen,” Bryson said.
How we got here
Bryson learned how to make tamales with her mother and wanted to share that skill with her children.
“It wasn’t until I was married [and] had my own kids [that I] really wanted to learn the ins and outs of tamale making,” she said. “So I would carve out a couple of days every holiday season to go spend with my mom and learn the ins and outs.”
From there, friends would ask to learn how to make tamales and it became a tradition for Bryson to host a tamale-making class inside her home for friends, family and strangers to make tamales together. Bryson also hosted summer camps for children to learn how to cook.
“About ten years ago I started offering summer cooking camps for kids from my home, mainly because I wanted my own kids to have basic life skills in the kitchen,” she said.
The summer camps expanded as more families brought their children, she said.
“I love teaching in my home, but I always wanted to have a designated space to be able to offer classes that really didn't up-end my family with the kitchen space and our schedules,” she said.
That’s when she bought the Salt and Light Collective studio and opened it March 2024.
Looking ahead
Bryson is looking to expand the classes she offers, while keeping her staple tamale and children's cooking classes, she said.
She is looking to add parent-and-me classes so parents can bring their younger children to do activities together. She’s looking to add classes for hand-lettering or calligraphy, knitting and crocheting, and classes geared toward fathers and sons.
“We're just constantly seeking new ways to offer fresh classes,” she said.
- 138 Olive St., Keller
- www.saltandlight-collective.com
