Heather Barrow holds a Master’s in Accounting from the University of Florida and began her career in tax consulting before transitioning into nonprofit leadership. She founded and served as Executive Director of High Risk Hope, Inc. (HRH), a nonprofit that supported more than ten thousand pregnant women on hospital bedrest and families of premature infants in local hospital neonatal intensive care units. She later co-founded RareGuru, LLC, a mobile and web platform connecting and empowering patients and caregivers navigating rare diseases.

A Tampa native, Heather grew up sewing and learning punch pillow needlework with her grandmother. In 2024, after a lumpectomy with a fully clear outcome, she rediscovered her love of handwork and took up needlepoint. Since then, she has been designing, painting, stitching, and finishing her own canvases with growing creative passion.

Heather is the mother of two. Her daughter Claire is an actress studying at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and her son Hill is in high school in Tampa. She and her husband Bennett, whom she proudly describes as the most supportive husband and LNS landlord, have deep roots in the community.

With Claire off to college and the office space in the Ybor Historic District across from the Gasworx development available following HRH’s wind down after COVID, Heather joined her closest friends to launch their needlepoint business in 2025. Her interests include tennis, mahjong, creating intricate party decor, and needlepoint.

Courtney Lang grew up surrounded by needlepoint, with a mother and two grandmothers who stitched constantly. Creativity and craftsmanship were part of her earliest memories, and she picked up her first canvas in high school, carrying forward a family tradition that spans generations. A fourth-generation Floridian and the first woman in her family to graduate college, Courtney earned her nursing degree from the University of Florida before relocating to Tampa in 2012 when she married her husband, Jim. She spent thirteen years as a registered nurse at Moffitt Cancer Center, where she developed a deep appreciation for care, precision, and community. These values continue to shape her design sensibility and her approach to needlepoint.

Courtney is a devoted mother to Henry and Mims and a dedicated animal lover who shares her home with three adopted dogs. A collector at heart, she finds joy in hunting for vintage treasures, always drawn to pieces with history, character, and charm.

Deeply involved in her community and her children’s school, Courtney brings creativity and connection into everything she does. Inspired by her Florida roots, her love of color, and her belief in meaningful craft, she co-founded Sunshine Needlepoint to celebrate timeless design with a bright and joyful coastal flair.