Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaja Joyner.
Hi Shaja, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m Shaja Joyner, founder of Table Dress Boutique and inventor of the patented Brogil™ 6-in-1 Convertible Chafing System.
My background is in interior decorating, but hospitality and design have always been part of who I am. Long before I understood tablescaping as a concept, I was always the go-to person for parties and events.
For a time, my husband and I led the hospitality ministry at our church, and with my background in interior decorating, I naturally paid attention not only to the food and beverages, but to the presentation of it all. I saw the table as a canvas and drew inspiration from the occasion itself, the season, current trends, and meaningful details I knew about the invited guests.
Our gatherings ranged from intimate meals for one or two people to larger celebrations for dozens of guests. Whether I was setting a small table or helping transform the church fellowship hall, I approached the design process with the same intentionality. My reward was seeing how people responded to the care and thoughtfulness behind what I had created.
At the same time, I had a successful career in the federal government, yet I carried a persistent sense that there was something else I was meant to do. Becoming a mother deepened my desire to create a future that offered greater flexibility, more freedom to be present at home, and work that felt more naturally connected to who I was.
My original plan was interior decorating. I earned my professional certification in interior decorating with the intention of working for a design firm, gaining hands-on experience, and eventually building a business of my own.
Inventing a product was never part of my plan.
But during that same season, I became intrigued by Shark Tank and quickly found myself obsessed. I was fascinated by entrepreneurship and what could happen when ordinary people recognized an opportunity and had the courage to pursue it. I watched entrepreneurs build businesses around seemingly simple ideas that changed the trajectory of their lives. What struck me was that they saw possibility in something ordinary, believed in their ideas enough to pursue them, and found other people who believed in them too.
I remember praying, “God, give me an idea.” Little did I know, He had already answered the prayer. I just hadn’t recognized it yet.
When hosting events, cold foods gave me tremendous creative freedom. There were beautiful trays, bowls, platters, risers, and countless ways to make food an integral part of a tablescape. Hot foods were different. Maintaining temperature significantly narrowed my serving options, and the conventional chafing dishes I encountered were designed primarily around function.
Then came a church anniversary that brought the problem into focus. The color scheme was blue and gold, and I designed a buffet tablescape to complement it. But the chafing dishes available to me disrupted the cohesive look I had created. Determined to maintain my vision, I heated the food and transferred it into decorative platters and bowls that worked beautifully with the tablescape.
The presentation looked exactly as I wanted it to, but by the time our pastors finished greeting people after the service and made their way downstairs, the food was cold.
No one complained. No one reprimanded me. But I knew.
I had achieved the presentation I wanted at the expense of the function I needed.
I went home thinking about that tension, and eventually the question became clear:
Why should we have to choose between function and presentation?
That question became an idea. I began with patent searches to determine whether anything similar already existed, then moved into prototyping and product development, followed by the pursuit of intellectual property protection. I began creating what would eventually become the Brogil 6-in-1 Convertible Chafing System.
While I was pursuing the invention, our family entered an unexpected season of uncertainty. My husband’s position was eliminated during a workforce reduction. He later returned to graduate school, completed a double master’s program, and secured an exciting new career opportunity. Just as it seemed our family was preparing to move forward, an unexpected health crisis dramatically changed our plans.
Living in a season when I couldn’t see far enough ahead to know our next move was incredibly difficult. During that time, I heard a sermon that challenged me to stop focusing on what was wrong and focus instead on what was right.
When I did, something became evident. In spite of everything I didn’t know and everything that appeared to be going wrong, there was one thing I could see that was going right: the invention.
There were circumstances around me that were beyond my control and my ability to resolve, so I chose to focus on what I could do and kept moving forward with what was in front of me.
It ultimately took three years to get the first complete prototype of my serving system. There were moments when I wondered whether I would ever actually hold what I had spent years developing. Then one day, a shipping crate arrived at my front door. There it was—my prototype.
That very same day, I received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for my first patent.
I believed it was a God-wink to keep going.
Over time, I secured six patents—four design and two utility—and Brogil continued to evolve.
But perhaps the greatest evolution was realizing that I wasn’t simply redesigning a chafing dish. My experience in hospitality had revealed a larger market gap: the disconnect between event design and buffet presentation. While nearly every other aspect of an event is thoughtfully curated, the buffet is often treated as a purely functional necessity rather than a seamless extension of the celebration.
That realization gave Table Dress Boutique its larger purpose.
Today, Table Dress Boutique exists to reimagine the way people serve through beautiful, innovative serving solutions that elevate presentation, empower hosts, and inspire memorable gatherings where people feel valued and celebrated. Brogil is the first expression of that vision, but the vision is much bigger than a single product.
Currently, I’m pursuing manufacturing and licensing opportunities to bring Brogil to market while continuing to build Table Dress Boutique and advance that larger vision.
When I look back—from praying for an idea I didn’t realize I already had to continuing to move during a season when so much else became uncertain—I can see God’s faithfulness woven throughout the journey.
And that is what continues to empower me to build the next chapter of Table Dress Boutique.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It certainly has not. One of my greatest challenges has been navigating the path from invention to commercialization. Creating the idea was one thing; finding a manufacturing partner capable of producing it with the quality and consistency the design requires has been another.
Brogil is not a conventional chafing dish. It’s a patented, modular serving system with multiple interchangeable components, so the finishes, fit and functionality have to work together consistently across the entire system. That makes choosing the right manufacturing partner critical.
That lesson came through experience. I invested considerable time and resources working with an overseas manufacturer that had been vetted through a sourcing company I hired to navigate the manufacturing process, but ultimately realized the relationship was not the right fit. I had taken steps to protect my intellectual property, but the experience taught me that those safeguards have limitations when manufacturing internationally.
As a result, I became a more informed and discerning founder. I now approach potential partnerships with an even greater level of caution and due diligence.
It also broadened my strategy for bringing Brogil to market. Rather than relying on a single approach, I’m now exploring both manufacturing and licensing opportunities.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Table Dress Boutique is a home entertaining and hospitality brand focused on reimagining the way people serve. At the heart of that vision is Brogil Chafingware™—our patented convertible chafing system designed to bring beauty and innovation to food presentation.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
If I had to give one characteristic the most credit, it would be perseverance. At the same time, I’ve learned that perseverance and adaptability go hand in hand. Building a product and pursuing commercialization while continuing to grow professionally has required me to adjust, learn and keep moving forward even when the path wasn’t clear.
Discernment has also been important—knowing when to move forward, when to pause, and when to change direction. Creativity allows me to see possibilities beyond what already exists, while my willingness to learn keeps me open to new information, perspectives and opportunities for growth.
Together, those qualities have helped me navigate both the creative and business sides of this journey while remaining committed to the vision, even as the path to achieving it has evolved.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tabledressboutique.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brogilbyshaja
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/table-dress-boutique
