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When I started the journey of Treats & Chill, I was 21 years old in the beginnings of a pandemic that shut down my whole city. Trapped in my apartment with no job and no light at the end of the tunnel, I scrambled to come up with anything that would pay my rent. Hence, the birth of T&C, a company that would become a mirror of who I am as a person.
Everyone talks about starting a business young "so we can be millionaires by 25". Or maybe that was just my generation. The 'get rich quick' schemes always felt exactly like that... schemes. Even though I built an entire company in a short amount of time I made a point to build intrinsic values that would carry the undertones of this dream no matter where I went.
Now, when I'm about to turn 25, T&C has gone through two major evolutions. Each evolution mirrors major changes I've made to my own life, and has helped me remain passionate about my dreams. The first evolution occurred when I moved across the country to Tennessee, and the second one is now. Let's talk about it.
Why Make This Change?
Some history first. Starting this company at 21 I had no idea where life would take me. That pandemic, as I am sure most people experienced, changed the entire trajectory of my life. I came to realize things that truly mattered to me, and for four years I've been on a mission to grow and evolve as a person as well as a company.
Building a bakery was based on my love of creating food and bringing people together for a meal. I've always been that girl that dreamed of hosting dinner parties and bringing someone a sweet treat to make their day a little better. I left a career in the psychology field in order to pursue that dream. But I always made what others wanted me to make. I was happy that people even liked my food, but to give me suggestions of what they wanted to see? While that made my day, it wasn't a sustainable practice.
Moving to Tennessee gave me the opportunity to implement another dream I had, entwining together fresh baked desserts and a farm-to-table approach. Leaving the west coast and settling in Tennessee was the best decision I ever made, and I'm not sure this next evolution would've happened if not for this move.
Building a farm and following organic practices opened my eyes to another side of the food industry I wasn't expecting to uncover. You know those rabbit holes we tend to go down on the internet? Well mine led to growing herbal teas, building a library in my home, and pursuing a blend of baked goods that fed people but also healed them as well. Don't get me wrong, I never considered myself a health nut in the past and to this day I still enjoy sugar. That's probably what led to building a bridge between those two worlds.
For the past six months I had felt a little stuck. That feeling crept up during the busiest time of the year for me, when I barely had time to sleep let alone explore why I felt stuck. I close down the bakery and farm every winter to recuperate, seeing as everyone starts following their new years resolutions and there's nothing I can grow anyway, it's the perfect time to press pause. The downside to that though was when I was hoping to be my most creative, I actually ended up just enjoying the peace and quiet for a couple months. It wasn't until I got a bad review that I felt God finally slammed a door in my face that should've closed a long time ago.
Now bad reviews come and go, I know everyone says to not pay attention to mean comments, but this one bad review helped me grow as a person and as a company. I started making mini cakes last year, and pushing for wholesale connections to sustain me through the slow seasons. However, none of my desserts have any preservatives in it and only use organic ingredients. Not very shelf life friendly. Looking back I was very on the fence, or a 'lukewarm' brand that didn't know what side to stand on. Should I be full of sugar and additives? Or should I pursue healthier options even though stores may not be able to supply them? In the end someone who may not have noticed my cakes were allergy free bought one and hated it. She hated the cake, the frosting, everything. My heart broke hearing that from my wholesaler, who is also a good friend of mine, but now I'm so happy that this customer hated my products.
I want to create products and a brand that I strongly believe in. My passion is what has kept this brand alive longer than most brands these days. Statistics show 45% of small businesses fail within the first five years. A lot of this has to do with niching down, or putting ourselves into a box we can't quite escape in the end. Now entering year four, I feel like staying on my toes and pivoting constantly has been a lifesaver. That bad review made me realize, I had become complacent with what I was making. The excitement to experiment and explore had wavered, and while I love what I do, I had begun 'going through the motions'. It was time to pick a side and stop being 'lukewarm'. That all led to T&C's next evolution.
Core Values That Never Change
Remember when I said I built this company with intrinsic values? Well, here's what they are:
"Food that brings people together, heals the body, and builds a bigger table for our communities."
Up until now I only really focused on bringing people together and building a community. I focused on allergies that have made people feel like they can't enjoy the sweeter things in life. This whole bakery's foundation started with my mom who's allergic to dairy, a story I tell often. How her allergies brought other people's needs to my attention so I became a dedicated allergy friendly bakery. I tried to hang onto the healing aspect by simplifying ingredients as much as I could. "If you can't pronounce it, or it doesn't come from the ground in any way, then it has no business being in your body", something I also always talk about.
But now T&C's slogan is changing to better align itself with my original dreams of this company. Originally it was 'let's celebrate the little things in life', now it's:
"Indulge In Sweetness, Nourish With Wellness"
T&C's Evolution
When I talked to my family about this change, my mom and I both agreed that this change should've happened a long time ago. I just wasn't ready to admit it. No business owner likes admitting that what they're doing isn't working. What I was doing WAS working though, I had the most growth in the two years I operated in Tennessee than I ever did in my hometown. But that glass ceiling exists, and hits hard, when the passion wavers and you can't see the next step.
My family pointed out how just in the logos, they could tell how much I've grown as a person. The original logo was me still being a kid at 20 years old designing a logo and company with no experience, just a dream and a little delusion. The second logo was my first step towards finding my way in the world, and building something that could potentially become a legacy. Now, I've become a full fledged adult, and the brand reflects that.
My own evolution over the years...
Growth & Evolution in Brands
Treats & Chill the name will never be altered, but the look and the products can change to better reflect the company. In this case, I am going back to the basics, and then dividing things into multiple categories in order to plan for the future. I won't get rid of desserts entirely, frankly I'd miss them too much, so I am building a category where they will live instead.
Bee Sweet, Bee Well, And...?
Bee Sweet:
Indulging In Sweetness is where this company started. The roots that have built the foundation for the growth over these last couple years. This menu will be where all my classic desserts thrive. Instead of overcomplicating my menu, I will bake what I love.
Cookies - You can count on multiple flavors including seasonal and holiday specials
Brownies - My classic triple chocolate brownies, I could never get rid of these favorites
Scones - I have so much fun changing the flavors of these, so stay tuned to see what comes
Cinnamon Rolls - An obvious fan favorite for me and everyone else too
Cocoa Mix - This will be coming back under Bee Sweet, with new flavors available this fall!
This menu will be for anyone with a sweet tooth, we all want to be healthier but no sugar? That's tough to do even for me. These options will have organic, clean ingredients, and be healthier than most of the desserts on the market today while still having a little bit of that sweetness we all crave from time to time. If you think I don't make extra cinnamon rolls or brownies for myself, then I hate to break it to you but I always do.
Bee Well:
The new endeavor at T&C, the health & wellness brand. This will focus on the healing part of my values more, and will have a menu for anyone seeking allergy friendly options in their health food. I've personally struggled with finding things like protein bars and health foods that have no dairy in them, and I know many have struggled find nut free, peanut free, soy free, gluten free, and other 'frees' in the health world. So I am embarking on a journey to create health products that people can enjoy and nourish their bodies without all the additives, preservatives, allergens, and junk hidden inside with the health label slapped on it for marketing.
The herbal teas will fall under Bee Well starting now, and I'm hoping to amp up production this year! My first line of new products will be adding a health spin onto a classic... cookies. I know, everyone hears cookies and immediately thinks sugar and unhealthy but wait. T&C will be launching 4 cookie flavors that are dairy free, gluten free, nut free, soy free, and sugar free.
After a lot of research and a few different test batches, I was able to come up with a strong base cookie recipe. These will be T&C's official Bee Well Cookies.
With a base of banana, oats, honey, coconut, duck egg, and a little bit of GF flour, I was able to get a cookie that had very similar texture to a classic oatmeal raisin cookie. I am a big texture person, and most health foods have really strange textures to me, so if I was going to do this I wanted to create products that had inviting textures and big flavors.
Due to these being sugar free, all the 'sweetening' is due to my own homemade vanilla extract and honey, and is helped out with the natural sugars found in dried fruits. You'll never see sugar in this recipe guys.
In a world where health is getting more and more complicated, I am hoping to simplify it as much as I can. Personally, I've found that when eating with allergies and diets in mind, 'health' ingredients become less easy to pronounce and not all that healthy to begin with. Most artificial 'health' sweeteners generally have less than 5% of the healthy thing and generally over 90% of lab produced sugar. The most common one is erythritol, considered generally safe by the FDA since it occurs in small amounts naturally. However, using it in large amounts like as a thickener to monk fruit sugar, can be more dangerous to your health than normal sugar ever could.
At T&C I am striving to have simple, organic, and healthy ingredients. Sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, pure vanilla extract, and natural sweetness found in fruits will be at the forefront in the Bee Well brand. Food shouldn't be complicated, and everyone should know exactly what's in it. No fillers, no additives, just simple and fresh.
Personal Journey
My own personal journey has helped in making this decision as well. Last year I started to pay more attention to my health and make sustainable lifestyle changes. Listening to my body a lot more led me down a path of intermittent fasting, making simple switches in my diet, paying attention to what foods made me feel sick or great, etc. Making desserts and then not wanting to eat them? That doesn't work for a bakery owner.
I haven't owned a scale since I quit my competitive athletics life. Being a water polo player burned thousands of calories a day, and when I stopped all the muscle I had went with those memories. Owning a scale made me really self conscious about my weight, so at 19 I threw it out. When I started caring about my health again at 23 I went for a more sustainable approach.
Now that I'm nearing 25, I care not only about how I feel about myself but what I'm putting out in the world. Many people know the saying 'never trust a skinny chef' (the saying means a skinny chef isn't trying their own food or doesn't enjoy it and is therefore not trustworthy). I've spent that last three years now trying to simplify my life. From materialistic things, to hobbies, all the way down to the food I ate. I've worked to simplify, and heal. What if I want to be a chef and be healthy too? Well that question helped in the construction of T&C's new chapter.
Maybe this all ties back to my psychology studies and past dreams of helping people mentally, who knows. But here I am now, building a wellness bakery brand, hoping to heal people one cookie at a time. I hope you'll be able to join me on this journey, and help it grow to where it's meant to be. Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to make this next step without everyone's advice and feedback, whether it was good or bad. Until next time!
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