I am a huge fan of Kickstarter. I am also a huge fan of cookies. Kickstarter is a great place to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams. I have “kicked in” on quite a few projects over the years but the most recent one is the one that I love the most. And it involves cookies which makes it even better.
I first found out about Reason to Bake and their Kickstarter project through a post on our neighborhood Nextdoor page. Finding out about a local project piqued my interest and when I read what the project was and who was behind Reason to Bake I knew I had to support it.
Carolyn Sampson is a beautiful, charming, exuberant 22 year old girl who has a dream. Her dream is to be a baker. Carolyn and her mom, Elise, are the driving force behind Reason to Bake and their passion for baking is evident in all that they do.
Carolyn has Down Syndrome like my brother in law Carlton and many conventional jobs are just not a good fit. Reason to Bake has two main goals.
- To train and hire intellectually disabled adults as the company grows.
- To provide gluten free cookie options that use quality ingredients and taste good.
Carolyn and Elise have been baking for awhile and decided to focus on cookies. They have been able to use different commercial kitchens to make their creations and are currently renting space in the beautiful Elk Haven Wellness Center located on Elks Club Road in Brevard, NC. The facility is perfect for their business and they are able to maintain a gluten free kitchen to produce their products.
But the best part of this whole story is that I got to spend an afternoon with Carolyn and Elise baking cookies. I was over the moon excited and had been looking forward to meeting them and just spending time with this mother daughter team.
Carolyn greeted me with a hug and it was clear to me that this is a friendship that I am going to cherish. As we talked I was so impressed with their business plan and how hard they have worked to get the business going. The Kickstarter campaign has helped them move to the next level by allowing them to work towards creating packaging that will allow them to ship cookies. Their online presence will be an added bonus as the business grows and reaches its goal of hiring more intellectually disabled adults.
Carolyn was very precise in measuring out her ingredients.
Rolling the cookie balls takes a lot of concentration.
A final pat to make sure the cookies bake just right.
All of these delicious cookies went home with me—I have a freezer full!
Finished Spicy Ginger cookies by Reason to Bake.
We made one of their most popular cookies –Spicy Ginger—which is a recipe that they have perfected over time. Carolyn was meticulous in measuring her ingredients and the mother and daughter team was just that. A team. It was wonderful to be a small part of that experience for a couple of hours.
Elise, Beth Ann and Carolyn
As Elise and I chatted I discovered we had a lot in common and a lot of our beliefs are quite similar. As we talked Elise shared how God has been the center of this business from the very start and things have fallen into place, people have showed up to offer help when needed, and a Kickstarter campaign was funded to allow them to go to the next level. I love it when God moments happen and are recognized. On this Tuesday afternoon in the kitchen at Elk Haven Wellness Center I experienced a lot of God moments.
Reason to Bake has their cookies in the following stores:
Food Matters in Brevard, Morganton, and Hickory
French Broad Food Co-op in Asheville
West Village Market in Asheville
Appalachian Coffee Company in Brevard and Hendersonville
Market at 36 (Brevard)
Thompson Store (Saluda)
Hendersonville Community Co-op
Upstate Food Co-op (Six Mile, SC)
To say that I am hooked on these cookies is an understatement. I consider myself to be a decent cookie baker but these gluten free cookies have me hooked. Good thing Whistlestop Market is just down the road from me. I am going to be an even more frequent customer thanks to my new found love of Reason to Bake cookies.
Please check out their website and Facebook page by clicking on the links below. When they start their online ordering you will want to be first in line.
My favorite picture of the day has to be this selfie Carolyn and I took. I adore this girl.
28 Comments
Leave a commentCookies and love – life doesn’t get any better than that.
You nailed it! That is exactly what I experienced on this afternoon. Thanks as always for taking the time to stop by and comment, Bernadette.
Sweet! All the best to Carolyn and Elise. Beth- please keep us updated on this amazing team and their business!
I definitely will! They are amazing people and I had so much fun. AND Cookies!! So many cookies!
Oh, Beth Ann, this is the sweetest story. Kudso to this mother-daughter team for turning their passion for baking in to a business that will benefit others.
Thanks, Audrey. We had such fun. IT is such a great ambition and a real need to be able to have a safe place for intellectually challenged folks to be able to work. Carolyn and Elise are amazing people and I am blessed to now add them to my friendship circle.
I can smell them! 😊
They are so good. Honestly—I never would have guessed they were gluten free from how great they taste!
What an awesome day spent and what an exuberant young lady!!
She is an amazing young lady and I am so blessed to have met her and her mom. I think it is going to be a great friendship.
This is SOOOOO cool. So cool. Thank you for sharing!
Thank YOU for reading and commenting. I would love to shower them with love!
Best wishes for continued success to them! God speaks to us all in one way or another, all we have to do is listen! They certainly have.. Nice post Beth Ann.
Thanks, Jake! They are an amazing team and I am so blessed to have met them!
OMG I love this post and content for so many reasons. I love that you found this business and how successful (and delicious) it is. Wow! I think what they’re doing is absolutely fantastic! Someday perhaps they should go on Shark Tank! Hey, you never know.
Great find. And I never heard of “Nextdoor” before. How resourceful of you!
Thanks, Cathy, so much for stopping by and leaving a comment and for sharing. Yes, they are an amazing team and I would love to get them as much attention as possible because they are doing such good in our world. Nextdoor is a neighborhood app that connects you to folks within your neighborhood. Great for finding your way especially when you move to a new place!
The world needs cookies and love right now. I wish them all the best as they spread both!
Thanks so much, Diane. The cookies are as amazing as they look. Appreciate that you took the time to stop by and leave a comment.
I hope they can stay small, grow naturally, and thrive like Ben & Jerry. (Comment forthcoming in today’s Link Log, also.)
I love reading about businesses like this. Such an amazing story. Carolyn is a talented, young woman. I can see the love of God shining through their smiles. Thank you for sharing their story.
Cookies? Just another reason for me to return to Brevard one day – and such a heartwarming story. Love, love, love!
YES! Exactly. Thanks for stopping by!
Love this story!
It is a wonderful story. Thanks for stopping by! Had fun at lunch yesterday, by the way! Thanks!
This story is incredible! I wish I could try her cookies. They look amazing and I’m so excited about their success.
I will send you some! I have to get some today to take to Ohio so I will see what I can do for you! It is such an amazing story and the mother daughter team is magnificent!
This is so awesome! I love everything about this from the cookies to the people to the kickstarter effort to the local businesses carrying the cookies…so much to love in this post! 💛
I love it! What a sweet post (no puns intended, though the cookies look amazing).