Baltimore's Words with Boards Chosen for "Oprah's Favorite Things"

BALTIMORE – What started as a hobby for a Baltimore couple making holiday gifts for friends and family has turned into a full-time e-commerce operation garnering national acclaim this holiday season.

Words with Boards™, the brainchild of husband and wife, Mike Pararas and Kim Strassner, made the list of Oprah’s Favorite Things featured in the December 2015 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine – on newsstands Nov. 10.

“We are thrilled and excited to be selected for Oprah’s Favorite Things,” Strassner said. “Here we are a little start-up making it on the most talked about and viewed holiday list on the planet! Oprah got her start in Baltimore and now her holiday list is putting us on the map.”

Words with Boards is the only company which hand-carves words into wood cutting boards. Crafted from sustainably forested American hardwoods and designed to be long-lasting showpieces, the one-of-a-kind boards are made and hand-finished in the company’s recently opened 4,000-square-foot Hampden studio.

ORIGINS

Montgomery County, Md. natives with a product development and design background, Strassner and Pararas fabricated their first cutting boards in 2011 from leftover butcher block. For added interest, they personalized them by cutting names out of the wood.

The boards – each with hand-cut letters and hand-sanded and oiled with food-grade mineral oil – soon were selling at retail markets and gift shows. Words with Boards became an official company in 2013 and has sold over 5,000 boards to date.

Merchandise is available on wordswithboards.com, in more than 50 boutiques nationwide and in other retail marketplaces. In fact, Words with Boards was named a Martha Stewart AMERICAN MADE finalist in 2015.

MERCHANDISE

In addition to items for everyday use and home entertaining, the Words with Boards collection includes gifts for holidays, weddings, anniversaries, housewarmings and other special occasions. Best sellers are create your own cutting boards, which are carefully developed to reflect customers’ personalities. (The products featured as “Oprah’s Favorite Things” were large vertical and round boards customized for Gayle King and O, The Oprah Magazine.)

Words with Boards has grown each year since its inception and is projected to double income again in 2016, when it will launch a countertop wine rack in two sizes, meat board and chopping blocks − all of which can be personalized. The company also will offer more selections in cherry and walnut, as well as maple.

For more information about Words with Boards, call 410.419.0685, go to the website or visit the company’s social media pages: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest or Instagram.