When was the last time you threw a really good tantrum? I mean, a let it all out, scream at the top of your lungs, break some stuff up…tantrum. Probably a while. Or maybe never.

But what if you had a place that let you do just that? Welcome to Tantrums in Spring Branch.

Tantrums is the brainchild of owner Shawn Baker.

Baker spent 20 years in the oil industry. After being suddenly laid off in 2015, she found a way to get out some of her own aggressions, help others along the way and start a business.

It was a telephone conversation with a friend that inspired Shawn on her new career path. She describes how she went to her husband Robert and explained that she was opening her own “rage room” —  a place where people could go and get out all of their frustrations in a controlled environment.

He appeared to be less than enthusiastic at her plan. Baker says really the only one who fully supported her decision was her sister Cynthia, who works for her to this day.

‘’She was the only one there from the beginning. She worked for free when we started. She is still with me but now I get to pay her.”

As for her husband, according to Shawn, he has since told her how proud he is of her and how he should have never doubted her.

Tantrums opened Dec. 5, 2015, Pearl Harbor Day, at its original location off Highway 290 and Mangum. The business struggled at first.

Focused on continuing to follow this dream, she took a grassroots approach and approached other businesses for support in exchange for free Tantrums sessions.

After Tantrums earned media coverage from local and International outlets, things began to turn around.

“We have been written about all over the globe, Germany, Israel. It really just went global suddenly,” Baker adds.

In 2017, she needed to relocate. Working with a real estate agent, she moved to the current location at 1730 Elmview, Suite A, Houston 77080.

“After moving to Spring Branch, business just skyrocketed. Here in Spring Branch, we are easily accessible to the city and the suburbs. We have clients from all over, the Woodlands, Katy, Pearland, Galveston and Alvin. But a lot of our clients are right here in Spring Branch, I believe the location has a lot to do with our growth and success.”

Tantrums offers these sessions: 5 minutes for $35, 10 minutes for $50 and 15 minutes for $65.

After signing a liability waiver and choosing your tantrum instrument — a bat, a golf club or a metal rod — and putting on the required safety equipment, you are led to your tantrum room. There are four rooms from which to choose.

Shawn Baker

Each is equipped with items for you to safely destroy. From dishes, electronics, furniture and a number of other breakables, you can let it all out. Leave it all in the room, so to speak.

This could be a great place for companies to bring staff for a team building session. Husband and wives come for date night. It makes a great group outing for friends. Tantrums tries to design the rooms to meet the requests of clients with particular items they want to break to smithereens.

“I think the thing I have been most surprised about is the amount of people that come here as a safe outlet to let out their emotions. We even have therapists who send clients to us. I have even had people who were contemplating suicide that told us that we kept them from hurting themselves,” Baker explains as she holds back tears.

“Our place is a safe, non-judgmental place for our clients to come release feelings. We can hear the emotions through screams and items being tossed and destroyed, and we know sometimes people just need to let it all out and then they are fine.”

Baker even helps non-profit organizations along the way, buying destructible items from  resale shops. She has recently been able to support another Spring Branch-based Memorial Assistance Ministries by purchasing dishes, furniture, fixtures, almost anything that could be used in the various rooms. It is her way of paying it forward.

Tantrums
1730 Elmview, Suite A, Houston 77080
832.804.8985
Open Tuesday-Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Friday – Saturday 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. 

— By Jessika Leal