Meet Chantae Reynolds, the Woman Behind JK Woodworked Creations

Jacob Gauthier

October 14, 2026

By day, Chantae Reynolds teaches elementary school. The rest of the time, she brings Winston-Salem together through crafts, vendor markets, and support for local businesses.

October 14, 2026

The Backstory

A Winston-Salem native, Chantae followed her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother into teaching. She met her late husband, Justin Kankula, in high school.

The Early Days

JK Woodworked Creations started as Justin’s business. After several years in construction, he grew interested in woodworking and began honing his craft at Mixxer Community Makerspace, then launched the business in 2018 with just cutting boards before expanding to wooden boxes, furniture, and even sculptures.

Local Impact: Justin made custom pieces for several businesses around town, like the picnic tables at Cobblestone Farmers Market, Wise Man Brewing’s tap handles, and Dabble Art Bar’s tables.

Chantae first got involved in the business by engraving Justin’s logo onto his products using one of Mixxer’s laser cutters. She later joined him at vendor markets, selling her own laser-cut wooden earrings, and in 2022, she hosted her first sign-painting event at what was then Radar Brewing.

Jenn M., a regular attendee since 2023, said, “[Classes are] one of the few times I can completely unplug, focus on creating something with my hands, and spend two uninterrupted hours doing something different.”

With Chantae on board, JK Woodworked Creations grew from a woodworking shop into a full creative business, from painting parties to custom engraved gifts.

A Loss, and a Choice

In May 2025, Justin passed away unexpectedly, and the loss hit Chantae and the wider community hard. He had become well-known for his warmth and the way he welcomed people into his life.

“I would walk into Mixxer after work, and people who’d just met Justin an hour ago would know our whole life story,” Chantae said. “That was just the type of person he was.”

In the months that followed, Chantae wasn’t sure what to do with the business. Her son encouraged her to keep it going, and she did, finding new ways to get involved in the community along the way.

Cash Mob

To honor Justin’s love of downtown and its business owners, Chantae launched Cash Mob in November 2025.

The idea: pick a handful of local businesses, gather a group of people, and spend a little money at each spot on a given day to support them.

The first one was a hit with owners and shoppers alike, many of whom found spots they’d never visited. Chantae began hosting them once every few months, and now she plans for them to be a monthly event!

Made in Winston

Earlier this year, Catbird Events (long behind many of Winston-Salem’s vendor markets) shut down. When Chantae heard the news, she started thinking about running markets herself, since she’d spent so much time at them as a vendor and built plenty of connections. That same day, Wise Man Brewing called to ask if she could lead their Mother’s Day Market.

She agreed, creating Made in Winston, her vendor market business. Since the Mother’s Day Market, she’s also hosted Wise Man’s fall market and revived the Winston Junction Market alongside local artist Vikki (@thatblondegirlvikki).