A Sweet Beginning

Hello, my name is Sara, and this is “A Sweet Beginning”.
*and scene*

(Just kidding, I can make this a longer monologue…)

Hi, my name is Sara! I’m a sarcastic feminist and former farm girl in my late late 20’s trying to spread some sugar into this world, one cookie at a time. I’ve been baking with my family since I was a kid, though never really saw myself this far into it, if i’m being honest.

My first job was at a bakery in Bloomington-Normal, IL at the age of 18, where I also attended Illinois State University’s School of Theatre for Acting. At the close of my junior year, I made a gut decision to drop out and take myself on an adventure to Los Angeles. The film world was calling! While that adventure was cut short following an unexpected death in my family, I began Sara’s Sweets at the age of 21 to help save money for an eventual relocation. While helping raise my sister’s three kids and working a full-time job, Sara’s Sweets secretly thrived from the counters of my parent’s kitchen.

At the age of 25, I moved to Chicago to take on a new cake decorating job at Sweet Mandy B’s in Lincoln Park. Not long after, I started working as a freelance photographer and picked up a job at J.Crew. Over two years after moving to the city, I took my exit from the dessert world.

[Enter Pandemic]

In 2020, after being placed on furlough from my J.Crew Management position, I began looking more creatively into other sources of income. The theatre and film community had completely disappeared, and I’m not one to sit on a couch day after day with nothing to do.

A generous 50lb bag of flour from Sweet Mandy B’s later (in the midst of a mass flour shortage) and Sara’s Sweets was reborn! Except this time much different. With initial concepts of frozen cinnamon rolls and cookie decorating kits, Sara’s Sweets became a game of “When the world stops, how do I help spread joy to those in the community?”

A couple years later (yikes.) and here we are full of custom orders, new ideas, and the continuously growing support from my community. 2020 brought me a small photography studio in Fulton Market and a brand new outlook on being an entrepreneur. I’m still baking from my own kitchen, but perhaps will be able to grow this into something bigger one day. Until then, here’s to a sweet new beginning!