SNAP MAGNETS — OUR STORY
It started with a gift she couldn't wait to give.
A simple Valentine's Day surprise. Twelve tiny magnets. Two students in love. A moment that would one day cross an ocean and change our lives.
The gift that started everything
We're Mykola and Yana. We trained as a physical therapist and a nurse, and we never spent a single day in either career. Business found us first.
It happened on February 13, 2017, one day before Valentine's Day. Yana couldn't wait, so she gave me my gift early: a small set of twelve custom photo magnets. Personal, simple, and full of meaning. I had no idea those little squares would change everything.
We loved them so much we wanted more, but the wait was about a week. So we didn't wait. We drove to a craft store, picked up ten magnetic sheets, printed our photos at a local studio, and started making them ourselves at our kitchen table. We spent our nights cutting, testing, and figuring out how to make each one a little better.
It wasn't a business. It was a hobby. Something we genuinely loved doing for the people we loved. And that feeling never left us.
From a hobby to a homeland favorite
In less than two years, that little hobby grew into one of the top magnet shops in Ukraine. Just the two of us, a simple idea, and a belief that memories shouldn't stay hidden inside a phone.
Then came the biggest decision of our lives. Moving to the United States had always been our dream. So when the moment came, we sold the business, packed up everything we owned, and left. Once we decided, we never looked back.
Starting over in Chicago
We arrived in Chicago in the middle of 2019. New country. New language. New life. Everything around us was unfamiliar, and we were starting completely from zero.
But one thing came with us in our suitcases: we knew how to make magnets, and we trusted that skill with everything we had.
So we did the only thing that felt like ours. We started again, right where we always had, at home. A passion first, a business second. Just like Ukraine, just on the other side of the world.
When our home became a warehouse
Word started to spread. Orders came in, then more, then more again. And slowly, our magnets took over the house.
What began on the kitchen table crept into the living room, then the spare room, then every corner we had. Photo paper, machines, packaging, and finished orders stacked higher and higher. Our home wasn't really a home anymore. It had become a full working warehouse.
One day we looked around and realized our dream had outgrown the four walls we lived in. So we did the thing that once felt impossible. We moved the business out and gave it a real home of its own.
Where we are today
Snap Magnets is no longer a kitchen-table hobby. It's a real studio in Chicago, run by the same couple who made those first twelve magnets, still caring about every single order that goes out the door.
More than 40,000 customers. Over 10,500 five-star reviews. Proudly made in the USA, and shipped to your door in 24 hours.
The numbers grew. The heart never changed.
From our home to yours
We started all of this because we believe your memories deserve more than a camera roll you scroll past. They deserve to be seen every single day, on your fridge, in your kitchen, in the middle of your everyday life.
When you send us your photos, you're handing us a piece of your story. We treat it exactly like the gift it is, the same way one little gift once changed ours.
Thank you for letting us be a part of your memories.
With love,
Mykola & Yana